The impact of recession on Google was apparently visible in the first-quarter financial results, which the internet search giant posted on Thursday, but Google posted better than expected financial results for the first-quarter, in spite of the recession.

Stockholm - Mobile telephone maker Sony Ericsson on Friday posted a loss for first-quarter 2009 in line with a profit warning it issued last month and announced further job cuts.

The pre-tax loss excluding restructuring costs was 358 million euros (473 million dollars), the group said. The net loss was 293 million euros compared to a net profit of 133 million euros in first-quarter 2008.

Turnover declined 36 per cent year-on-year to 1.73 billion euros due to "continued weak consumer confidence and de-stocking in the retail and distribution channels," the group said.

Chennai-based Raj Television Network has declared the results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2009.

For the period under review, the company said that it has posted a net loss of Rs 30.76 million, as compared to the net loss of Rs 3.42 million during the corresponding period of the last year.

The company’s revenue saw a growth of 84.45% during the quarter to Rs 204.05 million, while the income from operations and net sales was Rs 194.94 million from Rs 86.44 million in the prior year.    

BASF India Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of the German group BASF, has finally announced its financial results for the quarter ended on 31-Mar-2009.

The company has witnessed 3.25% surge in its net sales at Rs 20218 lacs for quarter ended on 31-Mar-2009, against Rs 19553 lacs for the quarter ended on 31-Mar-2008.

While on yearly basis, the company’s net sales grew to Rs.111560 lacs for the year ended on 31-Mar-2009, against Rs.91267 lacs for the year ended on 31-Mar-2008.

On the sidelines of a press conference in Kolkata, the city-based Allahabad Bank’s Chairman and Managing Director, K R Kamath, said that the public sector lender has posted an 18 percent year-on-year growth in deposits and advances in 2008-09.

Kamath informed reporters that out of the bank’s total business of Rs 1.44 lakh crore as on March 31, 2009, deposits account for Rs 84,865 crore, while advances comprise Rs 59,177 crore.

According to the Wednesday announcement from National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the company’s year-on-year net profit figures for the fiscal ending March 2009 rose 5.56 percent, after deducting Rs. 1,400 crore for the employees’ wage revision in 2008-09.