Sunday, February 20, 2011

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)


Friday, February 11, 2011

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)