Anderson backs 'world-class' Morgan post Boycott's criticism

London, Feb 14 - England pace spearhead James Anderson has backed out-of-form skipper Eoin Morgan to regain form, describing him as a world-class and destructive player ahead of the World Cup.

Earlier in the week, former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott had slammed misfiring skipper, calling him as a player who lacks cleverness while facing top-class bowlers of the World.

Boycott said that Morgan was not as good as he thinks.

In response, Anderson said that it was rich coming from him, adding that Morgan was a world-class player and had been for however many games he had played, the Mirror reported.

The right-arm pace bowler further said that they were just hopeful he could get some form as they had seen how destructive he could be when he was in form.

Sensex regains 29K-mark, Nifty tops 8800 level after SBI results boost

Mumbai - The benchmark Sensex gained 289.83 points to reclaim 29,000 mark and Nifty jumped 94 points to end above 8,800 level Friday on stellar SBI earnings, rising hopes of a pro-growth budget and positive global cues.

Logging their fourth successive session of gains, benchmark indices wrapped up the week in style after ending in the red for the preceding two weeks.

Shares of FMCG, healthcare, banking, auto and metal sectors were the major gainers of the day.

Country's largest public sector lender SBI today reported over 30 percent jump in net profit December quarter. Its shares zoomed nearly 8 percent, adding about 86 points alone to Sensex's 289.83 point surge.

BPCL reports Q3 net profit at Rs 551.16 crore

New Delhi - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 551.16 crore for the December quarter on the back of full compensation for losses on fuel sales.

The company had reported a net loss of Rs 1,088.94 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal, BPCL said in a regulatory filing.

The government paid Rs 1,079.92 crore in cash subsidy while upstream oil producers like ONGC extended an assistance of Rs 2,332.88 crore to make up for all the losses that the firm had incurred on selling domestic LPG and PDS kerosene at rates lower than cost.

BPCL earned USD 1.54 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the quarter as compared to a gross refining margin of USD 1.76 per barrel in third quarter of previous fiscal.

M&M posts Q3 net profit of Rs 930.32 crore

Mumbai - Home-grown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 930.32 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014.

M&M had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,230 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Its revenue stood at 18,371.91 crore in the latest quarter, as against 20,679.92 crore in the same period last fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company said the figures are not comparable from the year-ago levels due to the merger of its associate companies.

Reliance Infrastructure signs MoU with US-based Innovari Inc

Mumbai - Reliance Infrastructure has signed an agreement with US-based Innovari on expanding Automated Demand Side Management (ADSM).

The MoU, inked during US President Barack Obama's visit to India, will reduce power purchase for Reliance Infrastructure and ensure reduction in carbon footprints for consumers, Reliance Infrastructure said in a BSE filing.

"This further extends the existing strong business relationship between Reliance Group and companies from the United States such as Caterpillar, Bucyrus, Atlas Copco, Forst Solar, etc in areas of solar power, power generation equipment, LNG imports, coal mining, and entertainment," Group President, Corporate Affairs, A Sethuraman said.

SBI Q3 Net surges 30% on improved income; shares soar 6.8%

Mumbai - Improvement in asset quality and high interest income pushed State Bank of India's net profit in December quarter by 30 percent to Rs 2,910 crore, boosting the shares of country's largest lender by 6.8 percent.

The bank had reported a net profit of Rs 2,234 crore in the October-December quarter of previous fiscal, SBI said in a statement.

The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of total advances came down to 4.90 percent at the end of third quarter from 5.73 percent in the year-ago period while net NPAs stood at 2.80 percent.

During the quarter, the net interest income increased by 9.20 percent to Rs 13,777 crore as against Rs 12,616 crore in the October-December period of last fiscal.

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