The Hindu Business Line : Geojit full-year net rises 11% to Rs 25.21 crore

Kochi May 20 The net profit of Geojit has grown by 11 per cent to Rs 25.21 crore (Rs 22.71 crore) for the year 2006-07. There was a 31.22 per cent growth in revenue at Rs 133.79 crore (Rs 101.96 crore). Earnings per share with a face value Re 1 grew to Rs 1.63 compared with Rs 1.49 for the previous year.

The profit level would have been much higher had it not been for the rapid branch expansion last year and the spate of fresh recruitments, Mr C.J. George, Managing Director, Geojit said.

While the Dubai-based Barjeel Geojit Securities LLC is today a dividend paying company, the new Saudi venture will go on stream only in July-August 2007.

For the last quarter of the fiscal, the company reported a net profit of Rs 5.74 crore on a total revenue of Rs 36.13 crore. Total revenue increased by 7 per cent from the same quarter of the previous year.

Geojit Commodities, a subsidiary of Geojit Financial Services Ltd posted a 123 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 4.88 crore (Rs 2.19 crore). Total revenue of Geojit Commodities jumped to Rs 26.53 crore (Rs 10.99 crore). Income from distribution business of the company grew to Rs 9.55 crore (Rs 6.5 crore), registering a growth of 47 per cent.

The company now has over 400 offices across the country with almost 2,300 employees. With a client base of over 4.25 lakh, Geojit's manages assets worth Rs 5,500 crore.

During the year, the company's Internet platform registered 117 per cent growth in the number of clients.

In March 2007, the French banking major BNP Paribas, one of the leading banks in the euro zone, had taken a 27.2 per cent stake in Geojit Financial Sevices Ltd, which will eventually increase to 34.35 per cent, a press release issued here said.