Srei Infrastructure Finance today posted a 51.78 per cent decline in net profit to Rs 19.40 crore for the quarter ended December,2011,due to higher interest outgo. The Kolkata-headquartered company had posted a Rs 40.24 crore net profit for the year-ago period. The company's outgo on interest and finance charges stood at Rs 501.85 crore in the period under review,as against Rs 195.69 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal,it said in a filing to the BSE. The Reserve Bank of India raised interest rates 13 times between March,2010,and October,2011. Total income of the company rose to Rs 687.32 crore during the quarter from Rs 326.93 crore in the same period last fiscal,it added. Shares of the company settled at Rs 32.20 apiece on the BSE today,up 2.22 per cent from their previous close.
