Heavy Engineering Corp net profit up 286 percent

Ranchi, April 4 (IANS) State-run Heavy Engineering Corp (HEC) Saturday reported a 286.33 percent jump in its net profit last fiscal.

'During 2008-09, the company has posted a profit of Rs.16.11 crore, compared to Rs.4.17 crore in 2007-08,' HEC Chairman-cum-Managing Director G.K. Pillai told reporters.

This is the third consecutive year HEC is clocking net profit, a 'considerable improvement' given the fact that the company was on the verge of closure in 2004 because of bad performance.

The company's net sales stood at Rs.420.95 crore last fiscal, 13 percent up from Rs.372.53 crore a year before, an official statement said.

HEC has also reported 7.78 percent growth in production.

The engineering major expects its sales to grow to Rs.550 crore and profit to touch Rs.25.12 crore in 2009-10.

'At present HEC has orders worth Rs.736 crore from Rourkela Steel Plant, Rs.493 crore from Bhilai Steel Plant and Rs.135 crore from Bokaro Steel Plant,' Pillai said.

The company is also working on some space projects of the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) and others.