The positive bottomline was primarily due to the net gain from the sale of the chemicals plant and investments which contributed Rs 10.6 crore to other income.

The company's sales & other income increased to Rs 687.9 crore from Rs 679.1 crore. Gross profit in the first six months of the current fiscal jumped to Rs 34.9 crore from Rs 30.7 crore in the same period of last year.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal it had posted a net loss of Rs 7 crore and had recorded a net loss of Rs 9.3 crore for the 1997-98 fiscal. It had posted its first ever loss of Rs 16.8 crore in 1996-97 which saw its then managing director stepping down.

Voltas has been able to lower its interest cost at Rs 20.6 crore from Rs 24.8crore in the same period of last year. The cash profit was substantially higher at Rs 14.3 crore as compared with Rs 5.9 crore in the first half of last year.

The company has not made any provision for taxation which will be made at the end of the year, if any. Company officials said that historically the second half has always been better, in particular, for the capital equipment business.

The company has said that due to the slowdown in the economy, the engineering business of the company is under severe pressure. It recently received a major Rs 270 crore order from Coal India, for which Voltas will get commission income of more than Rs 5 crore which will get reflected at the end of the year.

The first half results do not include the transfer of part of the white goods business to a separate joint venture with Electrolux, which will become effective from the third quarter. The net gain from the transfer is likely to boost its bottomline further in the second half.