AM Naik, the non-executive chairman of the country's largest construction and engineering firm L&T, has recalled in his biography how he thwarted hostile takeover bids from the Ambanis and Birlas in early 2000s when the company had almost slipped from his hands.

Speaking at the launch of his biography titled 'The Nationalist', authored by columnist Minhaz Merchant, here last evening, Anil M Naik also reminisced about the historic three-phased demerger of Larsen & Toubro (L&T),

Larsen & Toubro announced that the heavy civil infrastructure business vertical of L&T Construction bagged an order worth Rs 8,650 crore from Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the construction of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, Package 01 & 03.

The project involves the construction of a 21.8 km bridge connecting Mumbai mainland with Navi Mumbai.

L&T Infotech (LTI) said it would acquire Luxembourg based Syncordis S.A., a leading core banking implementation services provider for 15 million euros.

LTI would acquire the firm along with its subsidiaries in France, UK, Luxembourg and India.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which was among companies barred from bidding for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects a fortnight back, sees an amicable solution to the row.

Meanwhile, it will continue to bid for projects that come along.

Engineering conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) on Saturday reported a rise of 31.86 per cent in its consolidated profit after tax (PAT) for the second quarter (Q2) ended September 30.

The company’s PAT for the quarter stood at Rs 2,020.30 crore against Rs 1,532.15 crore reported during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said its construction arm has won orders worth Rs 4,023 crore across business segments.

"The construction arm of L&T has won orders worth Rs 4,023 crore," the engineering and construction major said in a BSE filing.

Shares of two Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Group companies – Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) and L&T Technology Services (LTTS) – hit their respective 52-week highs on the BSE in an otherwise subdued market.

LTI is a global technology consulting and digital solutions company, while LTTS focuses on engineering and R&D (ER&D) services.

L&T Finance Holdings (LTFH) reported a strong PAT of Rs 3.6 billion, up 45.2 % y-o-y, primarily on a lower tax outgo. Loan book growth was healthy at 19% y-o-y. Headline asset quality was largely stable with GNPAs at 5.8% and NNPAs flat q-o-q at 3.3 % along with comfortable PCR of 43%. LTFH’s RoE has been steadily increasing from 9.8% in Q1FY17 to 15.2% in Q2FY18 led by growth in focused business, run-down of non-core book with minimal hit to the P&L, improvement in fees and control on expenses.

Larsen & Toubro, Godrej and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd will join a consortium, being put together by Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), to build Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs).

The vehicles will launch small satellites, and the first launch is being planned by 2020. A pact is to be signed by January for this initiative, said a source.

L&T Finance Holdings on Thursday reported a 45.22% rise in its second quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 360.24 crore compared to the same period last year.This growth has been achieved after taking accelerated credit cost of Rs 277 crore in order to further strengthen the portfolio, the company said in a statement. Income from operations rose 14.19% on a year-on-year basis in the second quarter to Rs 2,383.82 crore. Total income rose by 16.49% to Rs 2,494.72 crore.The Average Assets under Management (AAUM) in the Investment Management business increased by 61% to Rs 52,749 crore.

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