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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4159)	4/29/1999 11:09:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12475

India's VSNL Shares Surge on Strong Earnings Report (Update2) (Adds comments from VSNL chairman, and earnings details.) Mumbai, April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd., India's only international phone company, said its profit jumped 39 percent in the year ended March as Indians made more international calls. Profit rose to a higher-than-expected 13.4 billion rupees ($313 million), or 141.19 rupees per share for the fiscal year ended March 31. The 17 analysts surveyed by IBES International had predicted earnings of 132.53 rupees a share. ''Earnings were generally better than expectations because of their focus on value-added services like the Internet,'' which are more profitable, said Sheriar Irani, an analyst at Jardine Fleming India Broking Ltd. in Mumbai. ''They should be able to keep up the momentum.'' With a potential market of more than 900 million people and a monopoly on India's international phone service until 2004, analysts expect Videsh Sanchar, or VSNL's, profit to climb. Its earnings will get an extra boost this year once the government reduces overseas phone rates. The lower rates will lead to more calls but the amount of money VSNL is paid per minute by the government will not change. The company's sales rose 11 percent to 68.27 billion rupees Internet, Satellite ''This year we will see things pick up,'' with phone traffic climbing around 21 percent due to lower tariffs and better economic growth, said Amitabh Kumar, chairman and managing director of the company. Total phone traffic rose 15 percent to 1.94 billion paid minutes in the year ended March. VSNL will also make more money from its businesses other than international phone calls, such as the Internet and satellite phones, Kumar said. VSNL shares rose 46 rupees, or 7.7 percent, to 645.00 on the National Stock Exchange. news.com