All those who had said 'Tata' to Ratan Tata, say hello instead. Many of his group companies have posted excellent results: Tata Engineering (Telco) has upped its profit before tax (PBT) by Rs 1,000 crore, from a loss of Rs 500 crore three years back to a PBT of Rs 510 crore; Tata Chemicals improved its net profits by 55%; Tata Telecom by 18%; CMC by 85% and Nelco by 124%. Tata Steel (Tisco), too, is expected to report a 250% jump in profits.

It may be a bit early to celebrate - when we went to press, Tisco, VSNL, Tata Tea and Indian Hotels were yet to announce their results but the feeling is just beginning to sink in at Bombay House. "There's a definite change in focus in the group companies. There's a realisation that we must measure up with the new business world,'' says a senior executive. "There's a change in the culture and mindset which has helped us achieve the performance. It started with Tata Steel and Telco, and is spreading to other group firms,'' adds another executive.

Tata Engineering achieved net profits of Rs 300.11 crore for the year ended March 2003 against a loss of Rs 53.74 the year before. "It was a combination of disciplined clean-up of balance-sheet, focused cost reduction and new launches which helped us turn around,'' says V. Sumantran, executive director (passenger cars), Tata Engineering.

Even Tisco is likely to post its best-ever results, thanks to better price realisations, better product mix, and lower process and interest costs. "Once you come to the cold-rolled (CR) stage, it's a question of what steel you produce, and not tonnage. There's much more value addition now,'' says a Tisco executive. So, if it was supplying inside door panels for white goods when the CR mill started, it is now supplying exterior body panels for those white goods.

But the splendid profits for FY 2002-03 comes on the base of depressed profits (Rs 270 crore) last year. It was an abysmal year for the steel industry when prices of hot-rolled coils fell to $200 per tonne. Tisco may sustain the momentum in the next few quarters as steel prices remain firm, but Tata Engineering can't expect to sustain the same kind of growth. "We expect to grow by 6-8% and outpace the industry,'' adds Sumantran.

But not every company has had a dream run. Tata Power could barely retain its profits (net profits increased by 2.3%) on a sales growth of 13%. "We have done well to surpass last year's profits. This is despite higher depreciation and a lower other income (Rs 152 crore against Rs 265 crore last year,'' says Pheroze Vandrevala, CEO, Tata Power. And VSNL's profits are expected to drop over 50% this year. Still Bombay House has more reasons to cheer than mourn.