18-02-2011

                                                                     

Lupin wants faster, easier regulatory nods from Japan

Lupin said it wants Japan to fast track and ease regulatory approvals to facilitate the entry of Indian generic drugs into the world's second largest pharmaceutical market. The company hopes that the Japanese government fast tracks regulatory approvals and time-lines for the same, and see some meaningful relaxation in regulatory norms. (Source: Bussiness Standard)

Marico may restructure portfolio, divest brands

Marico, speculated to be selling its edible oil brand Sweekar, will look at restructuring its portfolio, including divestment of some of brands as part of its growth strategy. All growth-oriented companies, including Marico, do scrutinise their portfolio from time to time and explore opportunities of restructuring. (Source: Bussiness Standard)

RCom signs pact with Radio Netherlands Worldwide

RCom announced signing an agreement with broadcast company Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Under the agreement, R World -– the mobile portal from RCom -- would offer 24/7 live streaming of Radio Netherlands Worldwide and will showcase its RNW WAP news feed on RWorld which includes regularly updated international news.  (Source: Bussiness Standard)

Satyam preparing to sue Price Waterhouse, Ramalinga Raju

Satyam Computer Services is now gearing up to sue others. The fraud-hit software company is evaluating the option of suing its former auditor Price Waterhouse over the accounting fraud inflicted on the company by its founder B Ramalinga Raju and aides. Though a formal decision to sue PW is yet to be taken, Satyam officials are internally debating the matter. (Source: DNA Money)

Gujarat NRE raises Rs 320 cr, to expand capacity in Australia

Gujarat NRE Coking Coal, an Australian subsidiary of Gujarat NRE, has raised Rs 320 crore through an institutional placement and will use the proceeds to expand capacity at two of its hard coking coal mines in Australia. The company has raised its capacity at the Australian mines in the past year from one to two million tonnes.                      (Source: Economic Times)

16-02-2011

 Sterlite Industries announces Completion of Acquisition of Lisheen Mine in Ireland

 Sterlite Ind has completed the acquisition of the Lisheen Zinc Mine from Taurus International S.A, for a share value of approximately $546 million, which includes approximately $275 million against cash balance available at Lisheen as on date. (Source: BSE India)

Indian Bank ties up with TVS for vehicle finance

Indian Bank has entered into an agreement with TVS Motor Company for financing the company's vehicles. The MoU will help to bring three wheeler drivers into structured banking and enhance Bank's collateral free lending. (Source: EconomicTimes).

Polyplex Corporation Sales rise 474.86% in the December 2010 quarter

Net profit of Polyplex Corporation stood at Rs 90.25 crore in the quarter ended December 2010 as against Rs 0.84 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2009. Sales rose 474.86% to Rs 308.87 crore in the quarter ended December 2010. (Source: Capitaline)

M&M Financial Services raises $94 mn in share

M&M Financial has raised $94 million through a share sale to institutional investors. JM Financial Services and Kotak Mahindra Capital, a division of Kotak Mahindra Bank, managed the offering. The company earlier said the floor price of the issue was fixed at Rs 672.75 a share. (Source: Business Standard)

HCL sets up Global Enterprise Mobility lab in Singapore

HCL Technologies launched a Global Enterprise Mobility Laboratory in Singapore, aiming to further enhance its expertise and capabilities in offering the next generation integrated software solutions. The laboratory, HCL's second after one similar facility was set up in London in December 2008, would spearhead the Indian software group's global research and development efforts. (Source: Business Standard)

NMDC expects 25% jump in FY12 iron ore output

NMDC expects output to touch 30 million tonne in 2011-12 from a likely 24 million tonne this fiscal year, as bottlenecks clear. NMDC has managed to clear inventory which had accumulated in mines where production was hampered by attacks from Maoist rebels, allowing output to increase. NMDC expects to export about 2.5 million tonne of ore this year to Japan and South Korea. (Source: Business Standard)

India Cements says Indonesia mine buy delayed beyond June

India Cements had initially planned to start mining from its Indonesian coal mine by May 2010, is still awaiting environmental clearances from the government there. The company had announced the acquisition of the Indonesian mine in October 2009 and has since then extended the target to commence operations to March 2011. (Source: DNA Money)

GMR Infrastructure gets Rs 520 cr from IIFCL for Delhi airport

GMR has raised around Rs 520 crore of debt from India Infrastructure Finance Co Ltd for modernising Delhi Intetrnational Airport Ltd (DIAL). The company has raised a total of around Rs 2,600 crore to fund the modernisation plan, including the debt from IIFCL. DIAL is a joint venture consortium of the GMR Group, with majority holding of 54%.               (Source: Business Standard)

Unitech to launch 10 mn sq ft area at Rs 2,000 cr

Unitech will launch various projects across the country with a saleable area of 10 million sq ft. The majority of the projects would be mid-segment housing. The company would incur a cost of Rs 1,500-2,000 crore over the next three years on construction of 10 million sq ft of area.  (Source: Business Standard)

15-02-2011

Crisil Q4 net up 17% to Rs 46 cr

Crisil reported a growth of 17.29% in its net profit at Rs 45.72 crore for the fourth quarter (Q4) ended December 31, 2010. It had a net profit of Rs 38.98 crore in the Q4 of the last fiscal. It also reported an increase of 24.67% in its total Q4 income at Rs 148.35 crore as against Rs 118.99 crore in the year-ago period. (Source: Business Standard)

Reliance Communications to exit PCO and fixed wireless phone business

RCom has decided to exit from PCO and fixed wireless phone business in view of low margins and blocking of precious spectrum. Revenues were down this quarter as a result of rebalancing of product portfolio. The company has rolled out CDMA network in 500 towns and 3G services in 150 towns. (Source: Economic Times)

Steel Authority of India, Kerala to invest Rs 45 cr steel mill

SAIL along with Kerala government will invest Rs 45 crore to set up a 65,000 tonnes per annum capacity new rolling mill at Steel Complex, Kozhikode to produce high-grade steel bars. The SAIL-SCL JV will set up a new rolling mill of 65,000 tonnes per annum capacity for producing high grade TMT bars. (Source: Economic Times)

Reliance Infrastructure to buy back shares at Rs 725/piece

R-Infra would buy back Rs 1,000 crore worth of shares at a price of Rs 725. R-Infra will buy back shares up to a maximum price of Rs 725, a premium of about 17% to the last closing share price. The company has done three buy backs for an aggregate amount of Rs 923 crore. R-Infra posted a 10.16% rise in net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2010, to Rs 405.25 crore. (Source: Business Standard)

NIIT ties up with Zend Technologies for PHP training

NIIT Ltd has tied up with U.S.based Zend Technologies to provide training for hypertext preprocessor (PHP). Zend will provide NIIT with its training curriculum for PHP, Zend Framework, Zend software product training and the two companies will customise the content for the Indian market. (Source: Economic Times)

State Bank of India to offer 15-year retail bonds at 9.95%

SBI will sell bonds to retail investors offering returns of 9.75% and 9.95% on 10 and 15 year bonds, respectively. The board has approved raising funds through the issue of subordinated debt (lower tier II bonds). It has approved selling bonds worth Rs 1,000 crore, with an option to retain oversubscription of up to Rs 1,000 crore.                       (Source: Economic Times)

Jaiprakash plans to raise Rs 3,500 cr for power unit

Jaiprakash Associates is planning to raise Rs 3,500 crore for Jaiprakash Power through a follow-on share sale or global depository receipts. Jaiprakash Hydro Power has been renamed as Jaiprakash Power. The engineering and construction firm also has interests in hospitality and power. (Source: Business Standard)

Punjab National Bank (International) opens 6th branch in UK

PNB (International) has opened its sixth branch in UK and expects to chart a growth of 30 to 35% in its business during the current financial year. Within four years of commencing operations in the UK, the bank has more than 22,000 customers and total business of nearly $1.20 billion.   (Source: Business Standard)

GSK Pharma to launch vaccine, cancer drugs in 2011

GSK Pharma plans to launch pneumonia vaccine Synflorix and at least two oncology drugs in 2011 as part of its strategy to drive sales in India. The two oncology drugs, Revolade and Votrient, would be launched by end of first quarter or early second quarter. (Source: Business Standard)

14-02-2011

                                                                   

RIL plays volume card for cheaper tower rent

Reliance Industries subsidiary Infotel Broadband has told telecom tower companies that it will pay only half the prevailing rental for towers taken on lease. Infotel has told the tower companies that it will pay only Rs 16,000-18,000 a tower every month as rent. Sources said Infotel is playing a volume card. Its initial requirement is 26,000 towers, but will step that up to 60,000. (Economic Times)

Bajaj Auto will focus on bikes, not scooters

Bajaj Auto want to re-enter the scooter segment considering the revival of market, but at the moment the company will focus only on bikes. In December 2009, the company had announced that it would stop making scooters by end of 2009-10 fiscal, thus bringing down the curtains on 'Hamara Bajaj', which revolutionised the two-wheeler market in the country. (Economic Times)

CIL eyes buying another US-based firm's coal assets

Coal India is eyeing the West Virginian assets of another American company. CIL has earmarked Rs 6,000 crore to fuel its inorganic growth overseas over the next 2-3 years in order to expand its coal base and meet burgeoning demand at home. Due diligence is on to buy up to a 15% stake in the Australian assets of US-based Peabody Energy. (Business Standard)

HDFC Bank to ride growth opportunities in emerging "Bharat

HDFC Bank aims to ride the growth opportunities thrown up by the increasing affluence of "Bharat" (rural India) and expects to grow higher-than-industry over the next few years. The bank will also focus on organic growth, having completed the acquisition of CBoP a couple of years ago which has given it a strong footprint pan-India. (Economic Times)

Dabur's 'Oxylife' to tap professional beauty care Market

Dabur has developed products to cater to the segment as it looks to take on the likes of French cosmetic giant L'Oreal and Lakme. The company, which has only been selling its products through retail outlets, has introduced its new skincare range 'Oxylife' to tap beauty parlours and salons. It has made the range available to 26,000 beauty parlours across the country since the beginning of this month. (Business Standard)

Tata Motors to spend £1 billion on JLR R&D

Tata Motors will spend about £1 billion on JLR towards research and product development expenses this year. This is about 10-11% of the two brands' annual revenue. R&D expenditure is shortly expected to reach an annual £1.2 billion per year. (Source: Rediff)

Indian Overseas Bank looks for opening in Africa

IOB is eyeing entry into Africa and convert its representative offices in Guangzhou, China, and Dubai to full service branches. The bank would seek regulatory approval from the regulator concerned for the same. The Bank has six full-fledged overseas branches along with two remittance centre in Singapore at Boon Lay and Serangoon. (Source: Economic Times)

Mahindra Satyam Q3 net up two-fold to Rs 59 cr

Mahindra Satyam reported two-fold sequential jump in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2010, to Rs 58.9 crore. The company had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 23.3 crore for July-September quarter of 2010. (Source: Business Standard)

Firstsource to focus on Organic growth

Firstsource Solutions plans to focus on organic growth and expand its existing platforms, with acquisitions not a priority for the moment. The firm operates in four verticals-healthcare, financial services, telecom and an Asia Business Unit. (Source: Economic Times)

MId Day 11-02-11

NEWS

December industrial output up 1.6 pct y/y – govt

Industrial output in December rose a slower-than-expected 1.6% from a year earlier. Manufacturing output, which constitutes about 80% of the industrial production, rose an annual 1%. Industrial output grew 10.4% in the 2009/10 financial year, faster than the 2.8% clocked in the previous fiscal year. (Source: Reuters)

RIL set to roll-out USD 30 bn mega capex plan

Reliance will invest USD 10-12 billion in petrochemicals, and USD 10-15 billion on exploration and development of oil & gas discoveries in India and US shale gas. It will invest USD 4.5-4.7 billion in telecom, where it has already pumped in USD 2.8 billion on 4G license and spectrum. (Source: Money Control)

Hero Honda lines up Rs 1000 cr for new biz plans

Hero Honda has hired a global agency for a new branding and has lined up approximately Rs 1000 crore investments in FY12. Investment will be done in phases and the money will be pumped in rebranding exports market entry for distribution, new network and service chains.           (Source: Money Control)

Lanco to invest 3,000 cr in solar photovoltaic unit

Lanco will invest 3000 crore to set up a solar photovoltaic manufacturing unit with an annual capacity of 250 MW for local sales and exports to Europe and USA. The manufacturing unit shall be fully commissioned by 2014. (Source: Money Control)

Morning Bell 11-02-11

                                                                    Morning Bell

Tata Motors bags order of 250 Tata Prima trucks from LINFOX

Tata Motors has won an order for supplying around 250 Tata Prima trucks to LINFOX Logistics. Tata Motors has started deliveries and by March 2011, it will add 50 Tata Prima 4928.S tractors to LINFOX’s fleet. Tata Motors plans to complete deliveries in the next two years. (Business Standard)

SAIL to invest Rs 5,000 cr in Chiria mines

SAIL will invest Rs 5,000 crore to develop the mines in Chiria and start mechanised mining in the next three years to feed its plants in Bokaro, Burnpur, Durgapur and Rourkela. Mechanised mining is expected to become operational in Chiria in around three years' time. The estimated cost for the development of the Chiria mines is about Rs 5,000 crore. (Business Standard)

L&T in pact with EADS arm

Larsen and Toubro and Cassidian, a division of leading European aerospace and defence group EADS, have formed a joint venture aimed at the global defence electronics market. As per the agreement, both companies will transfer their existing contracts to the joint venture. L&T will hold 74% and Cassidian the rest in the venture.          (Economic Times)

IOC's $4.4 bn share sale on hold

Indian Oil Corp's planned share sale of up to $4.4 billion will be delayed due to unfavorable market conditions and rising global crude oil prices. The public issue, earlier planned for the first quarter of 2011, includes a 10% stake sale by the Indian government and an equal number of new shares by IOC. (Economic Times)

SBI raises Rs 1,500 cr via foreign bond issue

SBI has raised around Rs 1,500 crore via an international bond issue to meet its increasing forex needs. The issue is in the form of senior debt fixed rate bonds with a maturity of five years and comes under the medium term notes (MTN) programme. The current issue carries a coupon rate of 3.37 percent. (Business Standard)

MId Day 10-02-11

 

Food inflation at 13.07 pct

India's food price index at 13.07% and the fuel price index climbed to 11.61% in the year to Jan. 29. In the prior week, annual food and fuel inflation stood at 17.05% and 11.61% respectively. (Source: Reuters)

Punj Lloyd forms JV to enter aerospace sector

PL Engineering, a Punj Lloyd Group company, has signed joint venture agreement with GECI Transportation and Engineering, a subsidiary of French company GECI International. The JV firm will focus on providing services to the growing Indian aerospace sector on supporting activities in Europe. (Source: Economic Times)

Britannia Q3 net rises 28%; sales up 22.5%

Britannia Industries clocked a 22.5% growth in sales at Rs1,080 crore in Q3 FY 11.Its net profit grew 28.3% at Rs37.3 crore in the quarter under review. The company has maintained its growth trajectory in an intensely competitive market and continued to drive innovation in the industry by focus on cost reduction and driving consumer off-take to generate profitable growth. (Source: DNA Money)

Telecom stocks in doldrums on new 2G pricing

Three telecom stocks tumbled by 3.15% to 10.18% as telecom regulator's new recommendations on 2G spectrum pricing will force mobile operators to pay hefty amounts for spectrum they are holding. Idea Cellular (down 10.18%) and Bharti Airtel (down 5.12%) tumbled. However, Anil Ambani controlled Reliance Communications rose 1.21% to Rs 96 on bargain hunting after the stock tumbled 14.3% to Rs 94.85 on Wednesday. (Source: Capital Market)

Morning Bell 10-02-11

Morning Bell

SAIL gets clearance for mining Chiria reserves

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has given conditional clearance to SAIL’s proposal for diversion of 595 hectares in the Saranda forests in Jharkhand for mining the Chiria reserves. 13 specific conditions have been imposed, over and above the standard conditions that govern forest clearances. In giving this clearance, Ramesh overruled the recommendations of the Forest Advisory Committee.  (Source: Economic times)

Wipro bets on growth in BFSI, healthcare

Having fallen behind its peers in revenue growth, Wipro Technologies now says its "chasing hyper growth" through select verticals. Spaces like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, retail, manufacturing and utilities have been identified as high-growth verticals for the company. (Source: Economic times)

Tractors India draws Rs 200-cr expansion plan

Tractors India is on an Rs 200-crore expansion drive and will also introduce 4 new products this year. They have already invested Rs 150 crore in the first phase of the upcoming plant at Kharagpur near Kolkata. Another Rs 50 crore is being pumped into mother plant in Kolkata to up capacity. (Source: Business Standard)

CIL may buy 15% in Peabody's Australia assets

Coal India may buy up to a 15% stake in US-based Peabody Energy Corp's Australian assets early next fiscal for an estimated $100 million (about Rs 450 crore),according to sources. Peabody Energy is the world's largest private sector coal company, with sales of 246 million tonnes in 2010. The company claims to have 9 billion tonnes of reserves and manages and owns interest in 28 mining operations in the US and Australia.          (Source: Business Standard)

BPCL Q3 net declines 50.57% at Rs 187 cr

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd reported a sharp 50.57 % dip in its net profit at Rs 187.38 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2010.The Company had posted a net profit of Rs 379.09 crore in the October-December quarter last fiscal. The income from operations of the company rose to Rs 39,572.57 crore in the December quarter from Rs 34,624.88 crore in the year-ago period. (Source: Business Standard)

Morning Bell 09-02-11

Morning Bell

Coal India fit for coveted Maharatna tag

The Department of Public Enterprises has found that Coal India meets the criteria for the Maharatna status, which will provide it with more autonomy. DPE said that the case is fit for Maharatna because the turnover of the company is more than Rs 52,000 crore, the net worth is Rs 25,000 crore and average profit is about Rs 6,000 crore and it has an international presence. (Source: Business Standard)

GAIL in talks with GVK, GMR for LNG terminal

GAIL (India) Ltd is in talks with GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd and GMR Group to set up a 5 million tonne per annum liquefied natural gas terminal estimated to cost Rs.4,000 crore. The proposed joint venture will ensure the two private sector firms, both of which have investments in power, have assured infrastructure for a crucial fuel supply—natural gas. (Source: Live Mint)

TIL Ltd to expand crane range, double capacity

TIL Ltd is planning to expand its mobile crane range and take its manufacturing capacity to 400 cranes a year. TIL currently produces 200 mobile cranes a year with lifting capacities of 20-75 tonne at its Kolkata facility. The second facility in Kharagpur will make cranes with a capacity of up to 150 tonne. (Source: DNA MONEY)

ICICI Bank, Aircel sign MoU for financial inclusion

ICICI Bank and Aircel announced a joint initiative to drive financial inclusion in the country. Under the MoU, the partnership will offer various financial products including savings accounts, prepaid instruments and credit products. (Source: Bussiness Standard)

Tata Steel may raise $500mn for capex, debt clean up

After the successful follow on offer for Rs 3,700 crore, Tata Steel is all set for another round of fund raising. Sources indicate that the steel giant is looking to raise about USD 500 million for long term capex plans and to reduce debt. The company may opt for the perpetual bond route to raise the amount. Sources say this is so that there is no dilution promoter stake further. (Source: Moneycontrol)

Morning Bell 08-02-11

Asian Paints re-starts Egypt operations

Asian Paints has commenced operations partially, at its two manufacturing units in Egypt. The company had shut down operations at the two manufacturing units last week, in the wake of the ongoing political crisis in Egypt. Other leading FMCG companies, Dabur and Marico , have temporarily shut down their plants in the Arab nation. (Source: Economic Times)

BPCL to lift 75% products of Rajasthan Refinery

The Rajasthan state government signed a MoU with Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) for marketing refined petroleum products of its Rajasthan Refinery. As per the MoU, BPCL will lift minimum 75% of the product volume of the total marketable refined petroleum products of Rajasthan Refinery. (Source: Business Standard)

Eicher looking to double capacity in 5 years

Eicher Motors expects to raise its capacity for trucks and buses to 100,0OO units per year from current 48,000 units over the next five years. The company will invest about Rs 500 crore in the next three years for the capacity expansion plans. Eicher will finance the expansion plans at its Madhya Pradesh plant through internal cash flow.         (Source: Business Standard)

JSW Steel's January crude steel production up 9%

JSW Steel reported 9% increase in its crude steel production in January to 5.8 lakh tonnes from 5.33 lakh tonnes a year earlier. The Sajjan Jindal-led firm's flat rolled products' output increased by 39% to 4.62 lakh tonnes during the month from 3.34 lakh tonnes in the same month last year. (Source: Economic Times)

Punj Lloyd announces results for the quarter ended December 31, 2010Punj Lloyd has posted a net loss of Rs (22.70) million for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to net profit of Rs 1175.20 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009. Total Income has decreased from Rs 21393.20 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 to Rs 11147.20 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2010. (BSE India)

MId Day 08-02-11

Mahindra ventures into construction equipment bizz

M&M will launch its first indigenously developed - Mahindra EarthMaster- backhoe loader. The company has invested Rs 300-crore in manufacturing and product development and will manufacture 200 units per month at its Chakan Plant. (Source: Business Standard)

Hindustan Construction Company bags Rs 232 cr thermal power project order

HCC has bagged a contract worth Rs 232.07 crore by Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited, a joint venture company of NTPC and Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB). HCC will construct 2 X 195 mega watt (MW) Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Project, Stage II in Bihar. (Source: Business Standard)

Mundra Port Q3 net up 40% at Rs 228 cr

Mundra Port posted a 39.94% jump in net profit to Rs 228.46 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010. Total income of the company swelled to Rs 450.76 crore in the December quarter from Rs 337.83 crore in the year-ago period. (Source: Business Standard)

Suzlon to start payments on Rs 10K-cr debt

Suzlon is set to resume making payments on 10,000 crore in borrowings in April next year. The company’s cumulative orders rose 35% from October to a record $7.3 billion, equal to about 5,000 MW of power capacity. (Source: Economic Times)

Mid Day 07-02-11

India FY11 GDP estimated to grow at 8.6%: govt

India's GDP for the 2010/11 fiscal year is estimated to grow at 8.6%. India's farm output is expected to grow 5.4%, while industry growth this fiscal is expected at 6.2% & the service sector growth is projected to grow 11% this fiscal. (Money control)

Allcargo Global eyes acquisitions in India, east Asia

Allcargo Global Logistics is scouting for acquisitions in the fast growing markets of India and east Asia , after taking stakes in a couple of Hong Kong-based logistics firms last year, as the Indian firm looks for strategic fits to its container load and multi-modal transport operations . Allcargo is a market leader in the less-than-container-load (LCL) segment. (Source: Economic Times)

UBI to enter 1880 un-banked villages

The United Bank of India has decided to extend services in 1880 un-banked villages with a population of over 2000 in 85 districts in 12 states and one union territory by March 31. (Source: Economic Times)

CareerPoint to acquire cos in education sector

Career Point plans to acquire companies in the test preparation and education business to mark its foray in the related segment where it is not present. Further, the company is setting up two private universities, one in Rajasthan and another in Himachal Pradesh.          (Source: Business Standard)

Morning Bell 07-02-11

Morning Bell

Aurobindo Dec net up 9.8%

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd witnessed a 9.8% increase in its net profit to Rs 188.6 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, as compared with Rs 171.8 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net sales were Rs 1,192.2 crore during the quarter, as against Rs 915.2 crore, reflecting growth of 30.3%. (Source: Business Standard)

Coal India to invite bids this month for drilling Mozambique blocks

CIL will float bids this month to hire an agency for exploratory drilling of its two coal blocks in Mozambique to assess the reserves estimated to be at about one billion tonne. The exploratory drilling of the twin blocks is likely to begin in May 2011 while the production is set to begin by 2015. (Source: Business Standard)

BHEL, Yemen in deal for $393 mn power plant

Yemen signed an agreement with BHEL for a USD 392.7 million power plant in the Arab country. The 400-megawatt gas-powered project in Maarib province is funded by the Saudi Fund for Development, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and the governments of Yemen and Oman. (Source: Money Control)

Hindustan Unilever to foray into fruit-based beverages market

HUL will soon launch its first fruit-based drink under the Kissan brand to cash in on the increasingly health-conscious mindset of the Indian consumer. The entry will potentially shake up the fast-growing 1,500-crore fruit-based beverages market, currently dominated by Dabur, Parle Agro, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. (Source: Economic Times)

RCom, Bharti seek early exit from rural telephony scheme

RCom and Bharti, have approached the government seeking to prematurely exit from the rural telephony scheme under the USO subsidy without fulfilling the commitment they had made by winning bids in 2007 to provide telecom services in villages. The government has an over Rs 14,000 crore corpus under the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. (Source: Economic Times)

Mid Day 04-02-11

Indian FMCG companies temporarily hit by Egypt crisis

The ongoing political turmoil in Egypt has forced many Indian consumer companies to temporarily suspend operations, giving rise to fears that earnings might be affected in case of a protracted crisis. Firms such as Marico, Dabur and Asian Paints have shut down their Egyptian units and are watching the situation closely. (Source: Economic Times)

BHEL unit likely to achieve over Rs 12,750 cr turnover

BHEL’s Tiruchirapalli plant is poised to surpass Rs 12,750 crore turnover at the end of this fiscal. This fiscal BHEL end with a turnover exceeding Rs 12,750 crore as against Rs 10,008 crore achieved during the previous fiscal. BHEL had already accrued a fat order book to the tune of Rs 38,000 crore here as of December 1, 2010 and many more orders were in the pipeline. (Source: Economic Times)

Jain Irrigation in advanced talks to sell 30% in NBFC

Jain Irrigation is in advanced talks with two to five entities, including private equity players to sell 30 % stake in its non-banking financial venture. The company expects its receivables to come down by 10 billion rupees in two years due to its non-banking finanical venture. (Source: Economic Times)

DB Realty hits record low on BSE on reports of CBI probe

DB Realty slumped over 8% hit by a report that the CBI is scrutinising the transfer of over Rs 200 crore by the company to Kalaignar TV in FY2009-10, which came to light during investigations into the allocation of 2G spectrum. (Source: Bussiness Standard)                      

Morning Bell 04-02-11

                                                                        Morning Bell

NTPC not to open bid after HC intervention

NTPC will not open price bids for 11,000-crore bulk equipment supply tender after the  High Court admitted a plea from Ansaldo Caldaie, challenging its disqualification from the bidding. The state utility would initiate bidding for Rs 19,000-crore equipment supply contracts for three upcoming power projects. (Source : Economic Times)

Nalco may invest Rs 700 crore in Hindustan Copper mines

Nalco may invest about Rs 700 crore for picking up stake in two mines of Hindustan Copper. The Mines are located at Ghatshila in Jharkhand and Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh. A detailed framework is likely next week to determine the form of the strategic alliance. Nalco's stake could be up to 50% in both the mines as the lease ownership is with Hindustan Copper. (Source: Business Standard)

RPower expects to earn Rs 2000 crore from clean technology at Sasan

RPower expects to earn over Rs 2,000 crore for using energy efficient and environment friendly coal technology at its 4,000 Mw power project at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh. The Company has registered with CDM-EB which allows Sasan Project to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2. The CERs can be traded and sold, and will result in significant additional revenues for the super-critical Ultra Mega Power Project. (Source: Business Standard)

Jet Airways to repay Rs 1,000 crore of debt each year

Jet Airways plans to repay about Rs 1,000 crore of debt each fiscal. The company is looking to prepay its high-cost debt amounting to between Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 3,000 crore of Indian rupee debt to start with. Jet Airways has a total debt of around Rs 13,000 crore. (Source: Moneycontrol)

IDFC, BoI may lead India Inc in $2-bn overseas borrowing spree

IDFC and Bank of India may take the lead in India Inc’s around $2-billion overseas borrowing spree in the next few months as the window may begin to close, with investors worrying about deteriorating macro fundamentals. (Source :Economic Times)

03-Feb-2011

Food inflation at 17.05% YoY on Jan 22

India's food price index rose 17.05% and the fuel price index climbed 11.61% in the year to January 22.The primary articles price index was up 18.44% in the latest week, compared with an annual rise of 17.26% a week earlier. The wholesale price index, the most widely watched gauge of prices in India, rose 8.43% in December from a year earlier, compared with 7.48% in November.(Source : Moneycontrol)

ONGC’s Tripura Power Project may get delayed.

The commissioning of ONGC 727MW gas-based power project in Tripura may be delayed because of hurdles posed by a difficult terrain. Fourteen by-pass roads have to be constructed to transfer the equipment. The project is ONGC's first initiative into power generation and involves an investment of 8,000 crore.(Source: Mint)

Bajaj Hindustan takes Rs. 400 cr loan

Bajaj Hindustan Ltd. has borrowed Rs. 400 crore via a loan to refinance maturing debt. SBI and IDBI Bank led lenders helped arrange the six year facility. That loan pays an interest rate of 11.5%. (Source : Mint)

Oracle Fin Services plunges on dispute with Irish customer

Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd. declined after media reports that Allied Irish Banks Plc had dragged the Company to court over its Flex cube banking product. The Irish bank has also claimed a compensation of Rs 5.29bn. (Source :Business Standard)

03-FEB-2011

Asian Paints temporarily shuts two Egypt plants

Asian Paints has temporarily shut down operations at its two production units in Egypt in the wake of the ongoing political crisis in the country. "Due to the unprecedented situation and prolonged curfew in Egypt, the company's subsidiary, SCIB Chemicals SAE has temporarily shut operations of its two plants from January 29, 2011," Asian Paints said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. (Source: Money Control)

L&T Infra prices retail bond issue

L&T Infrastructure Finance, a fully owned unit of Larsen & Toubro has priced its retail bond issue at 8.2% annually, and 8.3 % for the cumulative option. The 10-year bonds will have a buy back option at the end of fifth and seventh years .The sale will open on 14 February and close on 4 March. The company will raise a maximum of Rs. 400 crore through the sale. The proceeds will be used for ongoing lending to infrastructure projects in Asia’s third-largest economy. (Source: liveMint)

Nestle buys medical start-up CM&D Pharma

Nestle SA has acquired CM&D Pharma, a UK-based drug-maker start-up testing a chewing gum to help kidney-disease sufferers, the first move in the company’s effort to build business selling food products that targets diseases. CM&D was started in 2007 by former Sinclair Pharma PLC executive Danilo Massari. Though the company has yet to fully launch any products, it has a number of medical foods in trials. (Source: liveMint)

Mercator Lines to invest Rs 200-250 crore on coal mine in Indonesia

Mercator Lines will invest about 200-250 crore in developing a coal mine in Indonesia as part of its strategy to increase its presence in the high-margin mining industry. The company will invest via a JV with an Indonesian firm PT United Coal to develop the infrastructure for the mining project. Total reserves in the Indonesian mines owned by Mercator Lines are about 70 million tonnes and the company plans to raise the total deposits to 100 million tonnes. (Source: Economic Times)

02-Feb-2011

ITC to raise packaged food prices by 7-8%

ITC plans to raise packaged food prices by 7-8 % going forward. The prices of agri-commodities are on the rise and have risen by 30-35 % in the past two years. There is also simultaneous rise in freight rates and packaging costs. (Source: Business Standard)

Bajaj Auto sales up 18% in Jan at 3, 13,583 units

Bajaj Auto reported an 18% jump in sales during January, 2011, driven by growth in demand for the company's popular Pulsar and Discover motorcycle models.  The company sold 3, 13,583 units during the month, with Pulsar and Discover constituting 68 %of the total volume. The company witnessed a 44 % jump in exports during the month. (Source: Business Standard)

Bharti Airtel Q3 net down 40.62% to Rs 1,303.3 cr

Bharti Airtel posted a 40.62 % dip in third quarter net income to Rs 1,303.3 crore, hurt primarily by an increase in spectrum charges and one-time costs related to its brand relaunch. Total revenues of the company, however, were up by 51.14 % at Rs 15,576 crore in the December quarter, compared to Rs 10,305.3 crore in the year-ago period.  (Source: Economic Times)

RIL calls tower firm tenders for broadband

Taking its plans to roll out fourth-generation (4G) broadband services a step further, Infotel Broadband has invited bids from telecom tower operators willing to lease out around 26,000 towers across India, according to Sources. (Source: LiveMint)

                     

    

01-FEB-2011

Aurobindo gets USFDA nod for generic anti-herpes tablets

Aurobindo Pharma has received tentative approval from the US health regulator to manufacture and market generic Famciclovir tablets for treatment of herpes virus infections in strengths of 125 mg, 250 mg and 500 mg. Famciclovir tablets are generic versions of Novartis Pharmaceuticals' Famvir tablets. (Source: Economic Times)

Nalco Q3 net jumps 65% to Rs 256 cr

National Aluminum Company reported 64.93 % jump in net profit at Rs 255.95 for the quarter ended December 31 on higher sales. Net sales of the company rose to Rs 1,425.02 crore from Rs 1,386.47 crore in the October-December quarter of the last fiscal. Its board has approved payment of an interim dividend of Rs 2 per share.          (Source: Business Standard)

Jagran Prakashan Q3 net up 32.5% at Rs 52 cr

Jagran Prakashan has reported a 32.50% growth in its net profit at Rs 52.64 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010. The total income of the company also grew to Rs 286.03 crore in the December quarter from Rs 226.91 crore in the year-ago period.  (Source: Business Standard)

HCL Infosystems gets Rs250 cr order from BSNL

HCL Infosystems will be responsible for deploying a modern facility for printing and managing BSNL customer bills and make the entire capital investment to upgrade the existing systems for higher efficiency. The company will manage the BSNL’s billing system process for North Zone and West Zone for a period of seven-year.                     (Source: Live Mint)

Oil firms hike jet fuel prices by 4.5%

State-owned oil firms hiked jet fuel prices by a massive 4.5%, the biggest hike in almost a year, on the back of spiraling international oil prices. This is the eighth straight increase in jet fuel prices since October 2010, when international crude oil prices started soaring. (Source: Business Standard)