Power Finance Corporation on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 1,174 crore (Rs 11.74 billion) during the first six months of the current fiscal, a massive jump in profits compared to last year, which is largely due to the change in method of accounting.

PFC has changed the method of accounting of income from interest including service charges and commitment charges, on loans for a period of five years or more, from cash basis to accrual basis with effect from April this year, a company statement said in New Delhi, adding that prudential norms have also been adopted from the current financial year.

Going by the old method - cash basis - the company's net profit stood at Rs 596 crore (Rs 5.96 billion) during April-September 2003, up from Rs 516 crore (Rs 5.16 billion) in the same period last year. PFC's total income stood at Rs 2,173 crore (Rs 21.73 billion).

PFC has approached the Reserve Bank of India for raising $100 million through syndicated loan, A A Khan, chairman and managing director, PFC, said, adding that loan agreement for the second tranche from Asian Development Bank was likely to be signed shortly.

The corporation has already crossed the target of sanctioning loan at Rs 11,478 crore (Rs 114.78 billion) in the first half itself against the full year's target of Rs 10,500 crore (Rs 105 billion) and has disbursed Rs 3,878 crore (Rs 38.78 billion) so far.

PFC, which has taken the initiative to offer loan facilities to the private power sector, sanctioned a total of Rs 202 crore (Rs 2.02 billion) to five private companies.