India's second-largest lender ICICI Bank today announced 35% drop in net profit at Rs 743.76 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 when compared to Rs 1149.84 crore in the year-ago period.

In addition, the lender's total income also fell to Rs 9203.36 crore from Rs 10390.92 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year.

For the full-year ended March, ICICI Bank's net profit fell 9.40% percent to Rs 3758.13 crore, as compared to Rs 4157.73 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008.

Property developer Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL) has informed that company's board of directors has finally approved a plan to raise $600 million (Rs 3,000 crore) through qualified institutional placement (QIP) of securities.

The QIP proceeds are expected to be utilized for funding its power projects, mainly a 1,320-megawatt project planned in Amaravati in Maharashtra.

The board of directors took a decision to this effect at its meeting on April 24 (Friday).

Leading drug maker Cipla on Friday reported 40.94% surge in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31.

The company posted net profit of Rs 252.92 crore, against Rs 179.45 crore in the same quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Further, during the quarter, total operating income of the company rose to Rs 1,366.74 crore, as against Rs 1,122.10 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

For the full-year ended March, the company posted a net profit of Rs 767 crore, as compared to Rs 701 crore in the corresponding period last year

Navratna defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) on Friday informed that its net profit for the January-March 2009 quarter grew by 10.6% to Rs 559.43 crore over the corresponding year-ago period.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 504.83 crore in the same quarter, previous year.

Further, company's total income also rose to Rs 2783.03 crore in the quarter, up from Rs 2339.16 crore in the previous year-ago quarter.

Royal Sundaram Online, one of the leading general insurance company, has entered into a tie-up with American Express Payment Gateway.

Under the arrangement, all existing and potential customers of Royal Sundaram, who have an American Express card can now log on to company's website and buy or renew their policies online through the American Express Online Payment Gateway.

The latest initiative is in addition to the existing Citibank Payment Gateway tie up, which allows online transactions by Visa or Master cards.

Covidien, a $10 billion global healthcare products leader, has announced its entry into the Indian healthcare market with the establishment of its headquarters at Gurgaon.

The company intends to collaborate with the region's healthcare providers to offer its cutting-edge medical solutions and services throughout the country.

According to sources, Covidien will setup three 'dry labs' this year to initiate training programmes for medical practitioners in the country. In addition, it will also introduce some of its patented products in India.