Indian securities brokerage firm, Geojit Financial Services Ltd, plans to start its joint venture in Saudi Arabia by May, a top official said on Tuesday. The JV, Aloula Geojit Brokerage, was announced last year. Geojit already operates a JV in the United Arab Emirates, which has been granted regulatory approval to serve the local market and would start operation by July-Sept, Managing Director C.J. George told Reuters. On Sunday, Geojit posted more-than-doubled its Jan-March net profit to 118 million rupees on strong growth in distribution as well as brokerage income, George said. Geojit expects to raise the contribution of its international operations to 15 percent of its revenues by March 2009 from the current 10 percent, he said. Last year, it has formed a 50:50 joint venture with French bank BNP Paribas for the institutional brokerage and hopes to start operations by May. __
