BANGALORE, July 1: HMT Ltd has pruned its losses three times over to Rs 18.78 crore for the year ended March 31, 1997, from Rs 55.89 crore last year.The net loss has been brought down chiefly on account of profit generated by the tractor and machine tools businesses of HMT, said a company official.

HMT Tractors made a net profit of Rs 32 crore, up 28 per cent. "The product mix in the tractor business was changed to suit market conditions," he said, adding that more models in the high horse-power category were introduced. As a result, 30 per cent of HMT Tractor's turnover was derived from new models compared with 27 per cent last year.

The machine tools' division also registered a profit of Rs 16 crore, marking a 13 per cent increase. The group's subsidiary, HMT Bearings, too doubled its profit to Rs 4.2 crore and increased its turnover to Rs 44 crore.

Net sales (including excise duty) of HMT during the year were pegged at Rs 956.80 crore, an 11.4 per cent increase over last year's Rs 858.18 crore.

As per the financial results approved by the HMT board on last Friday, the other income rose marginally by 0.9 per cent from Rs 82.2 crore to Rs 83 crore The company disposed of land worth Rs 24 crore and made a special o.ne-time leave encashment and arrears provision of Rs 22 crore.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.