Facebook, Skype challenge telcos' free cash flows: Fitch

Ratings agency Fitch today warned that the acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook and the former's plans to enter voice calls will further dent global telcos' ability to increase free cash flows, but ruled out serious impact on the Indian players in the near-term.

"Over-the-top (OTT) operators which also include Skype, Twitter and Google, apart from WhatsApp, provide a cheaper substitute for telcos' traditional voice and text messaging services. But the resulting surge in data use is not translating into proportionally higher Ebitda for telcos as data services have lower margins than traditional services they replace.

"Thus, while investment in data networks is still economically justified, weakening cash flows from traditional services means that telcos have to spend more capital simply to maintain Ebitda at the same level," Fitch said in a report.

Also Read: WhatsApp to offer voice svcs: Should telcos start sweating?

Typically, OTT operators tend to substitute texts first and then voice as quality of data improves over time.

However, it said, "Markets including India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka are currently less exposed as voice and text pricing is relatively low and smartphones have yet to reach significant penetration."

But, it said, the threat of OTT operators is more pronounced in some Asian markets like the Philippines, where telcos derive a significantly high portion (30 per cent) of their revenue from text.

It can be noted that for the domestic telcos, which have one of the lowest Arpus and lowest call rates, the going may get tough as entry of deep-pocket Reliance Jio into both voice and data will have a more debilitating impact on their revenue
as Reliance is expected to offer deep discounted tariffs.

Fitch attributed its pessimism to the ever-increasing proliferation of smartphones which will help OTT operators ride telcos' infrastructure for free and generally have a stronger brand connection with their customers than telcos.

Globally, almost all telcos are facing declining margins due to these trends as few have a strong enough market position to price data high enough to maintain margins. But the impact can vary significantly, it added.

However, the report said those telcos which have anticipated the changing market by moving to integrated tariffs, where calls, texts and data are all included for a single price, face less pressure as it is mainly their out-of-bundle revenues, like metered calls and texts, which are at risk.

For instance, the report said in the Netherlands, in 2011, KPN saw its consumer revenue fall 13 per cent in Q4, and had warned of a poor 2012, while Vodafone's Dutch business saw a much smaller impact due to its early introduction of integrated tariffs.

However, it warned that not investing in data networks is not an option, though, as telcos will have to continue to spend on capex to increase network capacity as data use rises.

All will face the challenge of retaining a share of the telecom value chain to avoid becoming a 'dumb pipe' for OTT operators with stronger brands, it warned.

Bharti Airtel stock price

On February 24, 2014, Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 282.90, down Rs 5.3, or 1.84 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 373.50 and the 52-week low was Rs 266.95.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 14.07 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 20.11. The latest book value of the company is Rs 135.70 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.08.

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Jhunjhunwala's Rare Enterprises buys 15L shares of HT Media

Rare Enterprises has bought the company's scrips on an average price of Rs 71.25 apiece, valuing the transaction at Rs 10.69 crore, as per bulk deal data available with BSE.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's firm Rare Enterprises today picked up 15 lakh shares of  HT Media for nearly Rs 11 crore through open market route.

Rare Enterprises has bought the company's scrips on an average price of Rs 71.25 apiece, valuing the transaction at Rs 10.69 crore, as per bulk deal data available with BSE.

However, the seller(s) of the shares could not be ascertained immediately.

Also read: HT Media Q3 net profit rises to Rs 67.02 cr

The billionaire investor owns stake in a dozen listed companies.
 
Shares of HT Media spurted 8.01 percent to settle at Rs 77.50 a piece on BSE today.
     
HT Media had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 67.02 crore as for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013.
     
Consolidated net sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 573.04 crore.

HT Media stock price

On February 24, 2014, HT Media closed at Rs 71.85, up Rs 0.90, or 1.27 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 123.70 and the 52-week low was Rs 69.50.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 0.94 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 76.44. The latest book value of the company is Rs 55.87 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.29.

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Steel cos' pricing power to remain under pressure: Analysts

They also said any price hike announced by the steel companies in the recent times will be compensated through deep discounts to customers.

Despite the price hikes by steel companies in recent months, their pricing power is likely to stay under pressure in the near-term on the back of demand-supply mismatch seen in the first nine months of the current financial year, industry experts said.

They also said any price hike announced by the steel companies in the recent times will be compensated through deep discounts to customers.

"Pricing power of steel companies will remain under pressure in the near-term due to subdued demand environment. While there is a large inventory of long-products, inventory is lesser in case of flat products due to rising exports," senior analyst at Angel Broking Bhavesh Chavan told PTI.

An analyst from India Ratings said real pricing power would come with revival in demand.

"For price hikes to be sustainable, there has to be a significant improvement in steel demand from end-user industries...steel demand has remained weak during the last 10-12 months," Director for corporate ratings at India Ratings Ashish Upadhyay told this agency.

Chavan also said that despite the price hike by some companies in the recent past, they would not be able to hold on to it due to low demand.

"Discounts will be offered to the customers, which will somewhat nullify the impact of price hike announced by them," Chavan said.

Recently, Icra said in a report that domestic demand is likely to grow at a slower pace in the current fiscal than 3.3 per cent growth rate achieved in previous financial year, notwithstanding a typical pick-up in demand in the last quarter.

It also said double-digit production growth rates by several large steel companies in the April-December period is creating a mismatch in domestic supply and demand situation.

"Unless demand environment improves, such price hike by steel companies is not sustainable," Icra Senior Vice-President and co-head Jayanta Roy said.

Most steel firms have increased prices of steel products in the last few months on the back of rise in cost along with uptick in demand in the first two months of this year.

Tata Steel stock price

On February 24, 2014, Tata Steel closed at Rs 369.20, down Rs 4.7, or 1.26 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 435.40 and the 52-week low was Rs 195.40.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 59.13 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 6.24. The latest book value of the company is Rs 568.46 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.65.

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Coal India officers serve three-day strike notice

State-owned  Coal India (CIL) today said a group of executives has served a three-day strike notice from March 13 for not finalising their demands for performance related pay and new pension scheme, among others.

"Coal Mines officers' Association of India (CMOAI) has served strike notice for 3 days with effect from March 13, 2014 to March 15, 2014 against non-finalisation of PRP (Performance Related Pay), New Pension Scheme and other demands," CIL said in a filing to BSE, adding that efforts are being made to reconcile the same.

The CMOAI had earlier said that it may resort a three-day strike if its demands were not met.

"Significantly, all the Maharatna PSUs except Coal India Ltd have already been given order for payment of Performance Related Pay (PRP) by their ministries concerned...We are constrained to communicate to you our strike notice w.e.f
March 13, 2014 to meet our genuine and justified demands," CMOAI had said in a letter to Coal India CMD.

(Also Read: Infra story has derailed; coal must be privatised: Parekh )

The demands include finalisation and payment of PRP pending since 2007, immediate refund of recovered performance-linked pay advance from retired executives, immediate implementation of new pension scheme and removal of pay anomaly of different grades in general and in particular junior grades among others, it added.

Earlier, the Department of Public Enterprises had strongly objected to the Coal Ministry's proposal on PRP for executives of CIL's subsidiaries from its consolidated account, stating that this would have wider ramifications as other PSUs may seek similar dispensation.

As per the DPE guidelines, in the absence of sufficient profit before tax (PBT), loss-making CPSEs are not allowed to distribute performance related pay and there is no concept of providing PRP based on the consolidated account of holding company.

However, the Coal Ministry had sought permission for allowing CIL to determine the corpus of PRP due since 2007 on profit before tax based on its consolidated accounts and not from the individual accounts of the subsidiaries.

CIL will have to shell out about Rs 200 crore on account of PRP to loss-making subsidiaries, including Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), if the proposal is accepted.

The Coal Ministry in its proposal had said that CIL is the holding company which appointed executives and controlled the cadre, also transferring functionaries from one arm to another on promotion.

At present, as per the 2007 pay revision, PRP is directly linked to Profit Before Tax and the rating of a PSU besides performance of individual executives.

CIL produces over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. It has 8 subsidiaries: ECL (West Bengal), BCCL (Jharkhand), Central Coalfields (Jharkhand), South Eastern Coalfields (Chhattisgarh), Western Coalfields (Maharashtra), Northern Coalfields (Madhya Pradesh), Mahanadi Coalfields (Orissa) and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (Ranchi).

CIL achieved an output of 366.57 MT between April-January, missing the 383.88 MT target for the period.

Coal India stock price

On February 24, 2014, Coal India closed at Rs 252.05, up Rs 0.85, or 0.34 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 334.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 238.35.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 26.41 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 9.54. The latest book value of the company is Rs 32.48 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 7.76.

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Govt to sell 5% stake in BHEL to LIC; may get Rs 2,046 cr

The Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister, P Chidambaram met today to decide on the timing and mode of disinvestment in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).

The government will sell a 5 percent stake in power equipment manufacturer  BHEL to state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India, fetching the exchequer about Rs 2,046 crore.

"BHEL disinvestment will happen this fiscal through a block deal to LIC," said Ravi Mathur, Disinvestment Secretary.

Also read: Bhel wins Rs 321cr order for Hydro Electric Proj in Punjab

BHEL shares gained 3.18 per cent to Rs 167.20 apiece at the close on the BSE today, valuing the company at Rs 40,923 crore. A 5 per cent stake would be worth about Rs 2,046 crore.

The Department of Heavy Industries, which is the administrative ministry of the company, has for long opposed the proposed disinvestment in state-run BHEL, citing unfavourable market conditions.

It wanted the issue not to look like a "distress sale" but rather one that would reap "good value."

"As far as the BHEL stake sale is concerned, we have ruled out going to the market for 5 per cent divestment because we feel that market conditions are not suitable for the moment for such a valuable company to be sold in the open market," Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel had said.

In August 2011, the Cabinet had cleared the sale of a 5 percent stake in BHEL through a follow-on public offer (FPO).

The government holds a 67.72 percent stake in the Navratna company.

However, market conditions led to a delay in the issue and the company in April 2012 withdrew the draft prospectus filed with market regulator Sebi.

Bhel reported a net profit of Rs 694.81 crore in the October-December quarter, down from Rs 1,181.85 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier. It was the sixth straight quarterly drop in profit for the PSU, mainly due to a slowdown in sales.

The company's order book stood at about Rs 1,00,600 crore at the end of December 2013.

The government in July 2011 had appointed Morgan Stanley, DSP Merrill Lynch (Bank of America), ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital to manage BHEL's follow-on offer.

The government has so far raised about Rs 5,093.87 crore through stake sales in PSUs. As per the revised estimates in the Interim Budget, the disinvestment target was lowered to Rs 16,027 crore in this financial year from Rs 40,000 crore.

Earlier today, the EGoM had cleared a 10 percent stake sale in  Indian Oil Corporation to  ONGC and Oil India , which would fetch the exchequer about Rs 5,300 crore.

BHEL stock price

On February 28, 2014, Bharat Heavy Electricals closed at Rs 167.20, up Rs 5.15, or 3.18 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 210.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 100.35.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 19.83 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 8.43. The latest book value of the company is Rs 124.38 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.34.

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CCEA clears fixed cost price hike in urea sector

Hailing Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs' (CCEA) move to hike the fixed cost for urea plants by Rs 350/tonne, experts believe the government has given some relief, but is yet to meet the industry expectations.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Friday okayed Rs 350/tonne increase in the fixed cost for urea plants in accordance to the Group of Minister's recommendations.

Fixed cost include salary and wage expenses, contract labour, repair and maintenance, and selling costs. Experts say, the fixed cost increase, which has been a long-pending demand of the industry, will not be sufficient to cover the incremental jump in actual costs.

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Real-estate cos' ponzi scam worth over Rs 45,000 crore: CBI

CBI today claimed the documents recovered by it during searches at the premises of Delhi-based business groups PACL and PGF show they allegedly used ponzi scheme to cheat nearly five crore investors of Rs 45,000 rpt Rs 45,000 crore.

In its case against PACL and PGF, CBI has named PGF DirectorNirmal Singh Bhangoo andn PACL Director Sukhdev Singh besides six other directors of the companies.

The groups had allegedly raised investments from over five crore gullible investors through collective investment scheme under the garb of sale and development of agricultural land, CBI spokesperson said here today.

She said that after preliminary analysis of documents the agency came to know of the enormity of the scam.

In Ponzi schemes, returns are given to investors from the money collected from other depositors in a pyramid-like structure.

"Initial investigation by CBI has revealed an alleged scam to the tune of Rs 45,000 crores in a case relating to an alleged fraud by Delhi-based private company and others through raising investments...through collective investment scheme under the garb of sale and development of agricultural land," CBI said.

PACL and PGF did not respond to emails sent seeking their comments.

The sources said CBI at first did not realise the gravity of the scam and it was only when some laptops were opened they came to know that their earlier estimates about the size of the scam were just a tip of the iceberg. CBI sources said the agency had carried out an inquiry, on the orders of the Supreme Court, into allegations that the companies had collected crores of rupees through deposits from public at large through their ponzi scheme promising land.

CBI sources said that during the searches it has recovered documents which show benami properties worth crore in India and abroad. The investments made by the company in a hotel in Gold Coast, Australia, have also come under the scanner of CBI.

The spokesperson said CBI has found prima-facie evidence which shows that PGF, having an office in Pashchim Vihar in West Delhi, has raised investments by issuing bogus land allotment letters to induce the investors.

"It was revealed that PGF, on being directed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana to wind up the scheme and refund the money to the investors, a similar fraudulent scheme was operated under the name of PACL with office at Barakhamba Road," CBI alleged.

It is alleged that funds collected from new investors of PACL were used to repay the earlier investors of PGF to stave off criminal prosecution. The agency has carried out searches at the offices of PGF and PACL at their offices in New Delhi, Chandigarh,
Mohali, Ropar and Jaipur.

CBI sources said the accused persons have been called to appear for questioning even as a preliminary round of interrogation has been done by the sleuths. "Funds have been raised by the two companies through a vast network of lakhs of commission agents spread all over the country who were being paid hefty commissions for luring the investors," the spokesperson said.

The searches were conducted at the premises of Directors Harcharan Singh, Chandra Bhushan Dhillon, Prem Chand, Gurmeet Singh, Subrato Bhattacharya among others.

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Tech Mahindra to acquire IT services arm of BASF

IT services major Tech Mahindra today said it has signed an agreement to acquire the IT and consultancy services business of chemical giant BASF in a bid to strengthen its presence in Western Europe.

IT services major  Tech Mahindra today said it has signed an agreement to acquire the IT and consultancy services business of chemical giant  BASF in a bid to strengthen its presence in Western Europe.

Financial details of the deal, made through its German subsidiary, were not disclosed. It is expected to close by June this year.

The Mumbai-headquartered firm, in a statement, said Tech Mahindra GmbH, Dusseldorf has signed an agreement with BASF Business Services Holding GmbH "to acquire its business with third party customers. This includes the wholly-owned subsidiary BASF Business Services Consult GmbH, based in Hamburg."

BASF Business Services Holding will, in future, focus on providing information services, supply chain operations and business process management for BASF Group, it added.

"Legal closing of the transaction is expected to happen in the first quarter of FY 2014-15. All 60 employees of BASF Business Services Consult GmbH will be transitioned to Tech Mahindra as part of this transaction," the company said.

Tech Mahindra already has a presence in Germany across three centres and employs more than 100 people.

BASF Business Services Holding GmbH (earlier called BASF IT Services Holding GmbH) is an indirect wholly owned group

company of BASF SE. Its service portfolio includes consulting, development and operation of IT systems to the design and optimisation of business processes.

"It is a strategic move and a testimony of our commitment to the region. It will bring us closer to our customers and will help us to deliver holistic solutions. I'm confident the acquisition will spur rapid growth in this region," Tech Mahindra Europe (Enterprise) Head Vikram Nair said.

The acquisition will see creation of a strong ICT player in the region with strengths in application and infrastructure business services, he added.

Earlier this week, Tech Mahindra acquired a Sweden-based Type Approval Lab for undisclosed amount to strengthen lab presence in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions.

In the past two years, Tech Mahindra has acquired stake in Comviva, Hutchison Global Services (call centre arm of Hutch) and Dion Global Solutions Ltd. Its biggest acquisition till date is Satyam Computers.

Tech Mahindra stock price

On February 26, 2014, Tech Mahindra closed at Rs 1821.65, down Rs 17.5, or 0.95 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1906.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 895.25.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 98.50 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 18.49. The latest book value of the company is Rs 183.78 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 9.91.

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Truck financier Shriram Transport enters used-car space

Used-truck financier Shriram Transport Finance (STF) today said it has entered the pre-owned car segment through its 'auto malls'.

Used-truck financier  Shriram Transport Finance (STF) today said it has entered the pre-owned car segment through its 'auto malls'.

"We were financing passenger vehicles under our commercial vehicles business, but now we have started doing passenger cars exclusively, wherein an individual can buy or sell using our auto malls," STF Managing Director and Chief Executive Umesh Revankar told PTI.

The business kicked-off about six months back and STF is clocking Rs 50-crore turnover a month, which it aims to ramp up to Rs 100 crore by September, he said, adding at present the average ticket size per transaction was around Rs 2 lakh.

However, he clarified that entering the used car space had nothing to do with the slump in the truck business due to economic woes and called it an expansion of overall business.

The mall will act as a catalyst for bringing together the buyer and the seller, Revankar said, adding once the deal is sealed, the company will help the buyer with financing.

STF is primarily looking at institutional sellers like manufacturers/dealers, banks who have taken possession of the car for non-payment of loan by a borrower and fleet owners.

Buyers largely consist of individuals buying their first car manufacturers like Maruti ,  M&M and Hyundai already have a presence in the used-car selling space, while there are other dedicated chains and online portals as well.

Revankar, however, said unlike the fixed prices for vehicles, the malls have a system of buyers bidding at a pre-determined time after checking the vehicle. "We offer full transparency and genuine price discovery," he said, adding the company is also tying up with many existing sellers.

Additionally, the company is also partnering with car makers for a deeper penetration.

"Car dealers offer a 'buyback' when someone is upgrading car. They can come to the mall to sell the used car at any time. Our idea is to tie-up with the manufacturers so that their dealers can associate with us," Revankar said.

He said the company has already tied up with one car manufacturer and was in talks with some others. He did not name the manufacturer.

In FY'13, the company earned a post-tax profit of Rs 13 crore from the auto mall vertical, which Revankar said will be flat in FY'14 but rise considerably in FY'15.

STF is planning to double the number of auto malls to 60 by March 2016 from the current 31, he added.

Shriram Trans stock price

On February 24, 2014, Shriram Transport Finance Corporation closed at Rs 576.80, down Rs 11.65, or 1.98 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 841.80 and the 52-week low was Rs 465.20.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 58.38 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 9.88. The latest book value of the company is Rs 317.11 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.82.

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Tata Power to benefit from CERC order, says Moody's

"The tariff increase will reduce CGPL's financial losses and benefit Tata Power Company's (TPC) credit quality. CGPL is a material part of TPC group and its debt accounted for approximately 30 per cent of total consolidated debt as of 31 March 2013," Moody's Investors Service said.

Global rating agency Moody's today said CERC order on Mundra project would benefit Tata Power 's credit quality. The 4,000 MW Mundra project is being operated by Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power.

"The tariff increase will reduce CGPL's financial losses and benefit Tata Power Company's (TPC) credit quality. CGPL is a material part of TPC group and its debt accounted for approximately 30 per cent of total consolidated debt as of 31 March 2013," Moody's Investors Service said.

Also Read: CERC ruling to bring down Mundra project losses: Tata Power

Last Friday, India's central power industry regulator issued a tariff order granting CGPL, a tariff increase retroactive from April 1, 2013 to cover fuel costs. "Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) also ordered CGPL's customers to pay back losses that CGPL incurred in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2013, via 36 monthly instalments," it added.

The CERC has allowed a compensatory tariff of Rs 0.524 for every unit of power from Mundra plant. This tariff is for the period beyond April 1, 2013. It has also directed the procurer states to pay a compensation of Rs 329.45 crore for the period from April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013. Electricity from Mundra project is supplied to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. The power purchase agreements with distribution companies (discoms) from these states is for selling electricity at a price of Rs 2.26 per unit.

Mundra project has been hurt by rise in price of Indonesian coal that is used to fire the plant. Moody's said the tariffs under CGPL's current power purchase agreements do not allow it to fully recover the cost of fuel and consequently have dragged on Tata Power's group performance.

"TPC took an Rs 18 billion (USD 331 million) impairment relating to its CGPL investment in fiscal 2012 and another impairment of Rs 8.5 billion (USD 156 million) in fiscal 2013," Moody's Investors Service said. According to the agency, CGPL can only partially pass through this coal-fired plant's fuel costs to customers, given the terms of the power purchase agreements. "Although the tariff structure for CGPL's power purchase agreements includes fixed and variable elements, only 45 percent of the variable portion relating to coal fuel costs can be passed on to customers," it added.

Tata Power stock price

On February 26, 2014, Tata Power Company closed at Rs 79.45, down Rs 1.5, or 1.85 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 102.45 and the 52-week low was Rs 68.25.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 4.51 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 17.62. The latest book value of the company is Rs 51.67 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.54.

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Sugar production estimated to decline in SY14: ICRA

Apart from lower sugar production in UP, lower rainfall in Tamil Nadu is likely to impact sugar production and the output is expected to decline by 15 percent, ICRA said. Further, there has been a delay in the commencement of crushing across the country due to a delay in the fixing of the cane prices.

Domestic sugar production is estimated to decline in SY'14 (sugar year beginning October) due to excessive rains in Uttar Pradesh and previous year's drought in Maharashtra, according to a report by ICRA. "ICRA expects the domestic sugar production to decline in SY'14 following a lower sugar production in UP on account of excessive rains and diversion of crop to alternate sweeteners while sugar production in Maharashtra is likely to get affected by the previous year's drought," the report said.

In addition to this, lower rainfall in Tamil Nadu is likely to impact sugar production and the output is expected to decline by 15 percent, ICRA said. Further, there has been a delay in the commencement of crushing across the country due to a delay in the fixing of the cane prices.

However, high opening stock of 8.5 million tonnes coupled with limited scope for exports with continuing low global prices are likely to result in continuation of sugar surplus in the country in SY'14, the agency said. "Notwithstanding the expected decline in the domestic sugar production during SY14 and lower imports, surplus sugar in the market coupled with the suppressed export scenario due to low global sugar prices, ICRA expects the domestic sugar prices to remain subdued in the near term," ICRA Senior VP, Co-head corporate sector ratings Sabyasachi Majumdar said.

He said even as the government has announced export subsidy of Rs 3,333 per tonne for 4 million tonnes of raw sugar for February - March 2014, ability of the sugar mills to sell the raw sugar in the international markets remains critical as the global prices are declining. Going forward, with the continuing cost pressures and declining sugar prices in the international markets, the rationalisation of the cane costs remains critical for the profitability of the sugar mills.

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Lanco Infratech bags Rs 3,960 cr contract

Lanco emerged as the successful bidder for the contract which has been awarded by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd. With this contract, the group's order book now stands at Rs 27,005 crore.

Diversified  Lanco Infratech has won a contract worth Rs 3,960 crore related to a power project in Tamil Nadu. The Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for 660 MW super critical Ennore thermal power station expansion project is worth Rs 3,960 crore, the company said in a statement.

Lanco emerged as the successful bidder for the contract which has been awarded by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd. With this contract, the group's order book now stands at Rs 27,005 crore.

According to the statement, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa handed over the confirmation letter to Lanco Infratech's Executive Chairman L Madhusudhan Rao. "The Letter of Intent would be issued shortly as confirmed by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corp Ltd," it added.

Lanco Infratech stock price

On February 26, 2014, Lanco Infratech closed at Rs 6.31, up Rs 0.01, or 0.16 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 14.25 and the 52-week low was Rs 4.96.

The latest book value of the company is Rs 15.09 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was 0.42.

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Archana Bhargava: Tracing a chequered career

Last week, one of the country's top women bankers, Archana Bhargava, tendered in her voluntary resignation as chairperson and managing director of United Bank of India , a year ahead of the expiry of her tenure.

The news came amid rising troubles for the state-run lender, which has come perilously close to flirting with the collapse line, even as news reports are emerging of a deep-running malaise of asset mismanagement, under-reporting of financials and activities that may not necessarily qualify as legal.

But more unsavory are details coming out about the chequered career of the former boss who won admirers for her go-getting ways as much as she came in for criticism for pushing the line of acceptable.

A gold medalist biochemist by education, she worked in a bevy of public banks in varying roles and her journey to the top was characteristic of a woman in hurry, according to an Economic Times feature, who could "get work done" even in the staid PSU culture.

And while it would be a exaggeration to state Bhargava was responsible for the non-performing asset mess that United Bank finds itself in -- hers was only a 10-month stint after she came in after serving as Canara Bank's executive director -- the stark worsening in the bank's state of finances coincides directly with her tenure.

In the first quarter on Bhargava's watch, United Bank's profits fell 74 percent to Rs 44 crore (from Rs 174 crore in the year-ago quarter), after which it notched up losses of Rs 489 crore and Rs 1,238 crore.

In three quarters, gross NPAs shot up from Rs 2,963 crore to Rs 8,545 crore, while its capital adequacy ratio (comprising of Tier I and II capital) fell to 9.01 percent, close to the 9 percent required by international Basel norms. An investigation by the Reserve Bank of India is on to find out what went on.

But the ET report lists several things about Bhargava -- reportedly christened Jhansi Ki Rani by some colleagues for her aggressive style of doing business -- that may not qualify as becoming of a top banker: the least being sending subordinates on a hunt to look for her missing dog.

But more than that, it is reports of a known past willingness of the banker to classify good loans as bad and speculation that the Central Vigilance Commission had found her not fit to lead a bank (including a negative appraisal from her own boss at Canara Bank), which may likely to raise eyebrows.

A Business Standard report attributes her resignation to a rift between other top executives over classification of assets and reporting of NPAs rather than her cited reason of "ill-health".

Whatever the case may be, it is likely the former banker has walked into the sunset quietly but certainly not in a blaze of glory.

United Bank stock price

On February 24, 2014, United Bank of India closed at Rs 25.80, up Rs 1.45, or 5.95 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 68.15 and the 52-week low was Rs 23.40.

The latest book value of the company is Rs 94.89 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was 0.27.

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Hope to complete K'taka land acquisition by March: Arcelor

ArcelorMittal plans to put up a 6 million tonne per annum steel plant with a 750 MW captive power plant in Karnataka with a projected investment of USD 6.5 billion.

Having acquired most of the land for its USD 6.5 billion plant in Karnataka, world's top steel maker ArcelorMittal hopes to complete the acquisition of the remaining 136 acres by March.
     
NRI billionaire L N Mittal-led ArcelorMittal has 2,659-acre private land already in possession. It had acquired 1,827 acres and 832 acres in December 2011 and December 2012.
     
"This leaves a balance of 136.33 acres land owned by the Karnataka government which is being processed for allocation is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2014," ArcelorMittal said in its latest annual report for 2013.

Also read: ArcelorMittal willingly surrendered stakes in 2 coal blocks
     
In the 2012 annual report, the company had said that balance (136.33 acres) was being processed for allocation by the state without giving any timeframe.
     
It also hopes to start fencing the entire area by March.
     
"The company is also in the process of finalising the subcontractor agreements related to fencing and safeguarding the entire land in Karnataka, which are expected to start during first quarter of 2014," it said.
     
ArcelorMittal plans to put up a 6 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel plant with a 750 MW captive power plant in Karanataka with a projected investment of USD 6.5 billion.
     
The draft feasibility report for the proposed steel plant has been completed and hydrological and environmental impact assessment studies have been initiated.
     
"The Karnataka government has also approved the project's use of water from Tungabhadra River. The company has applied for mining leases, although following a recent Supreme Court order relating to illegal mining activities in the state...the allocation of new mining leases in Karantaka have been put on hold," it said.
     
Last July, ArcelorMittal decided to scrap its proposed steel project in Odisha due to delay in getting nods for land, mining, construction and so on.
     
However, it is working on setting up the proposed 3 MTPA steel plant in the first phase in Jharkhand. "Adequate land is sought under the State Government Consent Award scheme," it said.
     
Under this scheme, the state government would facilitate the legal transfer of land for a project after an investor has secured the landowner's consent to the sale of the land.

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Overdrive gets you all the action from Auto Expo 2014

Here is a look at all the action that you missed out on from India's largest automotive show.

I must admit that we have struggled to pack in every thing that we wanted to from the Auto Expo 2014 into 21 minutes - that is the time that we have on the show.

Here is a look at all the action that you may have missed out on, from India's largest automotive show - Auto Expo 2014.

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Idea partners Opera for affordable internet packages

Using 'Idea Web Pass', users can access mobile Internet services on the Opera Mini web browser. The packages, which can be bought from within the Opera Mini browser, will cost Rs 7 (weekly Facebook pass), Rs 8 (daily Internet pass) and Rs 30 (weekly Internet pass).

Idea Cellular , India's third largest mobile operator, has partnered online browser Opera Software to offer Internet access to its subscribers for as low as Rs 7 per day.

Using 'Idea Web Pass', users can access mobile Internet services on the Opera Mini web browser. The packages, which can be bought from within the Opera Mini browser, will cost Rs 7 (weekly Facebook pass), Rs 8 (daily Internet pass) and Rs 30 (weekly Internet pass).

"At Opera, we work towards connecting the world, and we believe that the web is for everyone. We trust that this partnership with Idea Cellular will help us to reach out to first-time users who have not been exposed to the web," Opera Vice President (South Asia) Sunil Kamath said.

Idea Web Pass will entice more users to get online and serve as a catalyst to boost mobile Internet usage, he added. "Idea has consistently focused on growing data penetration across the country, we understand that a lot of Idea users choose to access a few preferred sites rather than buying full data plans," Idea Cellular Chief Marketing Officer Sashi Shankar said.

This partnership will help us to reach out to those users and provide them with a convenient data-plan option, he added. "We believe that more and more Internet users accessing web via mobile phones will usher in a new wave of mobile-data growth in the country," Shankar said. Idea Cellular subscribers can download Opera Mini from app stores or by visiting m.opera.com from their mobile devices.

Once Opera Mini is installed, they need to click the 'Idea Web Pass' Speed Dial entry to select data packages.

Idea Cellular stock price

On February 26, 2014, Idea Cellular closed at Rs 126.15, down Rs 1.15, or 0.9 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 188.35 and the 52-week low was Rs 101.10.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 4.34 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 29.07. The latest book value of the company is Rs 42.26 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.99.

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Timeline of the Sebi-Sahara case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against Sahara chief Subrata Roy for non-appearance despite a summon. This was in connection with the almost two-year long Sebi-Sahara legal fight, which started in August 2012.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had asked Sahara to refund over Rs 20,000 crore to investors.

We bring you the background and timeline of events which led to this ruling.

November 24, 2010: Sebi restricts the promoters and directors of two Sahara group companies, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, from raising any capital through the issue of securities: either equity shares, convertible debentures or any other securities.

December 13, 2010: Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court stays Sebi order

January 2011

*SC turns down Sebi's plea to stop two firms from raising money from investors, but empowers it to seek information and issue advertisements to inform investors that the matter is pending investigation.

*Sebi issues a public notice on its website cautioning investors against the buying debentures of Sahara India Real Estate Corp and Sahara Housing Investment Corp.

*Sahara India Real Estate sends a legal notice to Sebi.

April 2011

*The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court vacates stay

*Sebi issues a public notice alerting investors about a ban on money mobilisation by two Sahara group firms.

*Sahara Group files a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which asked it to share full details of investors participating in its fund-raising exercise with Sebi.

*Sahara accuses Sebi of defaming the company.

May 2011

SC directs Sebi to proceed with its investigation into financial instruments used by two Sahara group companies to raise money from the public.

June 2011

Sebi directs Sahara firms to immediately refund the money collected through sales of optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs) with annual interest of 15 percent.

July 2011

*Sahara appeals in SC that Sebi has no jurisdiction. Seeks notice to Centre.

*SC directs Sahara to approach SAT against Sebi order on OFCDs

October 2011: SAT upholds Sebi order against Sahara to refund money.

November 2011: SC stays SAT order

January 2012: SC gives Sahara group companies three weeks' time to choose between two courses to secure the investments made by the public in the OFCD scheme -- either to give sufficient bank guarantee or attach properties worth the amount.

August 31, 2012: A Supreme Court bench of Justice Radhakrishnan and Justice Khehar rules in favour of Sebi and orders the two Sahara companies to return to its OFCD investors the full outstanding amount of over Rs 20,000 crore, alongwith 15 percent interest, within three months.

October 2012: Sahara companies file a review petition in the Supreme Court. Sahara claims it sent a truckload of documentation to Sebi within the 10-day limit. But Sebi did not accept it as the documents arrived on the 10th day, after office hours.

October 19, 2012: Sebi approaches Supreme Court alleging Sahara's non-compliance with the main order.

November 2012: Sebi files a contempt petition against Sahara claiming it had not furnished the investor documents within the court stipulated time.

December 2012: The Sahara Group gets a temporary reprieve from the SC. The apex court grants it more time to repay the money.

January 2013: Sahara misses the repayment deadline set up by SC. The company fails to deposit the second installment amount with market regulator. It was required to submit Rs 10,000 crore by January first week.

February 2013: SC refuses to hear a plea asking for extension of deadline to refund investors' money. Sebi moves in to attach properties of the group and group chief.

March 2013: Sahara approaches special appellate tribunal against Sebi move to attach properties. Sebi seeks arrest of Roy. Sebi also says most of records provided by Sahara untraceable, implying several accounts were fictional.

July 2013: Sebi files a contempt petition against Sahara in SC. Says company flouting SC direction to make refund.

November 2013: SC bars Subrata Roy from leaving country. Sahara attacks Sebi, calls it a "sarkari gunda" which is working with political patronage.

February 2013: SC issues non bailable warrant against Roy for failing to appear at a court hearing.

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Overdrive celebrates 300 episodes with 3 special cars

It has taken a little over 6 years of consistent road tripping to hit a triple century. Overdrive turned 300 and Mr Overdrive himself Bertrand D'Souza puts together a very special line-up of some very sexy machines.

Overdrive prides itself on its unbiased and ruthlessly objective road tests. For over 15 years and 299 weeks on CNBC-TV18 it has done just that. As a celebration of Overdrive's 300th episode, there will be not one, not two but three rather special cars.

Once a Bavarian Roadster, a long hood sweeping beltline, a long wheelbase with short overhangs, a low slung drivers seat nestled over the rear axle. A fitting take on a classic roadster concept. The successor to a car that James Bond himself drove. It is a car that got the ball rolling for entry level sports cars in India – the BMW Z4.

The next one bears a rather important role that of introducing sports car fans to the illustrious world of Porsche and it has got all the makings, precision to the Tee, super normal dynamics and flat six heart of gold that is mounted in the right place – the Porsche Boxster S.

Finally an element from history's pages, the successor in spirit to the iconic Jaguar E Type which in the words of Enzo Ferrari was the most beautiful car ever built. The next letter is succession is what every automotive enthusiast, historian, collector and day dreamer has waited for nearly half a century – the Jaguar F-Type.

The one thing they all have in common, they take their tops off and that gets the little boys in us all excited.  

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Post fire, production resumes at CEAT plant

Situated in the north-east part of the city, CEAT's Bhandup plant is the oldest manufacturing unit of the company and has a 250 metric tonnes a day capacity. It rolls out farm, truck and OTR tyres.

Production at tyre manufacturing company CEAT 's Bhandup facility, which was halted due to a massive fire at the plant last Sunday, resumed today, the company said here.

Situated in the north-east part of the city, CEAT's Bhandup plant is the oldest manufacturing unit of the company and has a 250 metric tonnes a day capacity. It rolls out farm, truck and OTR tyres. "We have resumed production at our Bhandup plant. Meanwhile, we are trying to find out the cause of the fire and will take corrective action so that such an incident doesn't reoccur," company's managing director Anant Goenka said in a release.

The operations at the facility were suspended last Sunday following a major fire at its raw material store which left one person injured. The company said that there was no loss of life due to the accident and the person who received superficial burns was taken to hospital and was being treated.

"We stringently adhere to all safety measures and standards prescribed at all our manufacturing facilities and are always striving towards creating a better and safe work environment for our employees," Goenka said. A major fire had broken out at the premises of the company at Nahur near Bhandup on Sunday. The incident also disrupted train services on the central line.

Ceat stock price

On February 25, 2014, Ceat closed at Rs 278.65, up Rs 0.30, or 0.11 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 384.65 and the 52-week low was Rs 87.15.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 71.23 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 3.91. The latest book value of the company is Rs 207.12 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.35.

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Infosys: Innovating for better tomorrow

How do societies progress? They progress through innovation –innovation in science and technology, innovation in business, innovation in the social sector, innovation in community living. What is the role of innovation in India? Is India an innovating culture? Is there enough innovation happening in India?

How do societies progress? They progress through innovation –innovation in science and technology, innovation in business, innovation in the social sector, innovation in community living. What is the role of innovation in India? Is India an innovating culture? Is there enough innovation happening in India? To talk about that executive chairman of Infosys Narayana Murthy is joining us.

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AirAsia offers half-a-million free tickets on select routes

Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia, which is awaiting flying permit from the DGCA to launch its services in the domestic market, today said it is offering half a million free seats along with 1.8 million low fare promotional seats from Kuala Lumpur on select routes.

The bookings under the offer, which commenced yesterday, can be made till March 2 and will go on till March 2 for the travel period from October 1 to April 30 next year, AirAsia said in a release.

As part of the scheme, the airline has offered an all inclusive fares starting from as low as Rs 6,999 from Kochi, Kolkata, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai, Bangalore to Kuala Lumpur, the airline said adding, the fares for Chennai-Bangkok sector have been fixed at Rs 7,999.

"This free seats promotion allows everyone to enjoy exquisite holiday destination options at very fair and realistic prices," AirAsia group chief commercial officer, Siegtraund Teh said.

Also read: AirAsia India gets closer to getting flying permit

Apart from domestic destinations (in Malaysia), the international destinations which are being offered under the promotion include Singapore, Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Bali, Bangkok, Hat Yai, Surat Thani, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh among others, through AirAsia's five Malaysian hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, the release said.

The promotional offer is available for booking at airline's website as well as via AirAsia's mobile apps which are available on iPhone, Android devices, the Blackberry Z10 and the Windows Phone platform, the release said.

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New Sebi norms will make 91 independent directors to resign

A total of 97 persons would have to resign from 283 independent directorship positions in NSE-listed companies by October 1, 2014, according to data compiled by indianboards.com, a website created by Prime Database in association with the NSE.

Market regulator Sebi's decision to restrict the number of companies independent directors can serve simultaneously will make 97 of them to resign.
     
As per the new corporate governance norms cleared by Sebi, a person can serve as an independent director on boards of a maximum seven listed companies.
    
Besides, if an individual is a whole-time director in a listed firm, he can serve as an independent director in a maximum of three companies.
     
A total of 97 persons would have to resign from 283 independent directorship positions in NSE-listed companies by October 1, 2014, according to data compiled by indianboards.com, a website created by Prime Database in association with the NSE.

Also read: Independent directors will have to give reasons to quit
    
"This is a welcome move as independent directors would now be able to spend more time on a company," said Prime Database, Managing Director, Pranav Haldea.
     
As per the data, one person is independent director of 14 companies, while four each are on boards of 13 firms. Yet another serves on boards of 12 entities. Three of them serve 11 firms, while seven persons hold directorships in 10 entities.
     
The report said that more worrying was the present state of compliance with Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement regarding composition of the board.
     
"As many as 17 percent of the NSE-listed companies (247 companies) are presently non-compliant. With Sebi's new norms of not treating nominee directors as independent, the non-compliance will go up to 22 per cent (319 companies)."
      
At present, nominee directors are being considered independent in as many as 382 cases in 227 companies. In 104 firms, conversion from independent to non-independent will make the firm non-compliant with Listing Agreement norm.
      
Regarding tenure, Sebi has mandated that an independent director cannot serve on a company's board for more than two successive terms of five years each. Haldea said "this is on a prospective basis, which means that this provision would take effect only after 10 years".
     
"What is welcome is that Sebi has at least prescribed that if a person has already served as an independent director for 5 years or more in a listed firm (as on October 1, 2014), he shall be eligible for appointment for only one more term of 5 years," Haldea said.
      
The report said: "1,287 of a total of 6,050 independent directorship positions in as many as 660 of the 1,456 firms listed on NSE have already crossed tenure of 10 years."

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JSW Steel hikes prices by up to Rs 750/ tonne

JSW Steel  has increased prices of its products by up to Rs 750 per tonne, or about 1 percent, across the board for March, its third hike in three months. Other producers such as SAIL , Essar Steel, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and  Jindal Steel and Power are also expected to hike prices in the coming days due to rise in input costs, increasing international rates of steel and demand uptick in the current quarter, industry sources said.

However, it could not be confirmed from the respective companies. "We have roughly increased the prices of long products in the range of Rs 500-750 per tonne for March. For flat products, the increase is Rs 500 per tonne," JSW Steel Director (Commercial and Marketing) Jayant Acharya told PTI.

Despite three consecutive price hikes in 3 months, we are still Rs 3,500 per tonne behind the price of April 2012 for long products while prices of flat products have now come to the level of April 2012, he added. "So prices are still lagging behind while input costs have increased tremendously. On the cost side, if you see, price of iron ore sold through e-auction has increased. Coal prices have decreased to some extent but its benefit could not reach us due to exchange rate fluctuations," Acharya said.

Indicating better times in the coming months, he said there has been a surge in demand in last few months and automobile and construction sectors have shown some growth. The trend is expected to continue for the time being due to Interim Budget announcements of across the board duty reductions for the automobiles and capital goods sector. This in turn will lead to rise in steel demand, he said.

However, the company has not raised the price of its long term contracts and accordingly, there has not been any changes in quarterly prices, Acharya clarified. For the last two months, most of the steel producers, including JSW Steel, had increased prices expecting demand surge during the last quarter of the fiscal, considered as the strongest quarter as companies rush to meet their annual targets.

The input costs, largely due to rise in iron ore prices and logistics rates, have also led to increase in steel prices. The steel manufacturers are also hoping a surge in demand due to the upcoming general elections. At present, ex-factory prices of long products like TMT bars and structures are hovering in the range of Rs 37,000-39,000 per tonne, while prices of flat products like HR-coil and CR-coil are at about Rs 39,500 and Rs 43,500 per tonne, respectively.
Flat steel products are used in industries like automobiles and consumer durables, while long steel products like TMT bars and angles are used in the construction sector.

JSW operates a 10 million tonnes plant in Karnataka's Vijayanagar (running at about 80 percent capacity) and a 3 MT plant in Dolvi, near Mumbai. It is the second largest domestic manufacturer after state-owned SAIL.

JSW Steel stock price

On February 25, 2014, JSW Steel closed at Rs 857.30, down Rs 24.65, or 2.79 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1046.75 and the 52-week low was Rs 451.50.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 45.75 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 18.74. The latest book value of the company is Rs 811.51 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.06.

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Firms to pump in Rs 28,000 cr in CSR activities in FY15

About 16,000 companies under the ambit of new Companies Act are estimated to pump in Rs 28,000 crore on Corporate Social Responsibility in the next financial year starting April 1.

The huge sum of money – estimated to be as high as Rs 28,000 crore - that is likely to flow in as part of CSR activity should be used on low-cost solutions to meet the crucial needs of the people, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said today.
     
About 16,000 companies under the ambit of new Companies Act are estimated to pump in Rs 28,000 crore on Corporate Social Responsibility in the next financial year starting April 1.
     
"According to the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, a minimum of 16,000 Indian companies fall under the ambit of the law and that entails approximately Rs 28,000 crore of funds that would be pumped into the system," Assocham President and Yes Bank MD & CEO, Rana Kapoor said at an event here.
     
Sibal, chief guest at the event, said that the amount is going to be huge and can be used for serving crucial needs of people in innovative ways.
     
He further said: "Instead of looking at cost structure and then finding the market, look at the market and then innovate cost structure. If you are able to do that, that will be true corporate social responsibility."
     
The minister cited the example of Aakash tablet where the cost worked out was based on the need for affordable computing devices for students.
     
"When I talked about it (Aakash), the world said that it cannot be done in India... Four big multinationals are part of tender, including Intel which said India cannot produce it. We are producing first Aakash 4 at Rs 3,500 without taxes and for about Rs 3,900 with taxes one tablet," he said.
     
Aakash tablet will support 3G and other network like any modern tablet PC, Sibal added.
     
"When you produce it in millions, the cost will come down to 2,000 and hopefully Rs 1,500," Sibal said.
     
The minister said that companies should look at basic need of people and make products that are affordable for them instead of looking at profit first.
     
"What happens in most businesses is that you have profit and then you say lets see the market that can serve this profit. That's the normal business model. Once I make that profit, I'll plough part of that profit back in society. I think this business model must change," he said.
     
Sibal said that as Minister of Science and Technology earlier he asked his officers to work out low cost battery operated rickshaw that can solve the problems of rickshaw pullers who at early age start suffering from tuberculosis.
     
"I saw rickshaw puller in Chandni Chowk at very young age get TB because there is so much pollution and when they gasp for breath, all that intake results in TB. We started with a thought, got design in 6 months and thousands of battery operated rickshaw are now plying on roads of Delhi. We didn't look here for business first," Sibal said.
     
He said there are about 800 million people in India who have little to afford but who have the possibility of being customers, provided the cost of products is right.

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Tata Motors, MM, Maruti January sales degrow

Tata Motors  reported a 34 percent decline in total vehicle sales to 40,481 units in January.

The company had sold 61,660 vehicles in the same month last year.

Domestic passenger vehicle sales dropped to 10,974 units in January, down from 15,209 units a year earlier.

Tata Motors sold 8,463 units of Nano, Indica and Indigo cars and 2,511 units of Sumo, Safari, Aria and Venture vehicles, the company said in a statement.

In the commercial vehicles segment, domestic sales declined about 40 percent to 25,683 units from 42,571 units in the corresponding month of the previous year.

Exports were 1.44 percent lower at 3,824 vehicles, Tata Motors said.

Maruti Suzuki

Country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) reported 10.3 percent decline in total sales in January at 1,02,416 units as against 1,14,205 units in the same month last year.

The company said its domestic sales declined by 6.3 percent during the month to 96,569 units as against 1,03,026 units in January, 2013.

Sales of mini segment cars, including M800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR, declined by 17 per cent to 38,565 units as compared to 46,479 units in the year-ago month, MSI said in a statement.

The company said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz increased by 1.9 percent to 24,473 units in January this year as against 24,006 units last year.

MSI said sales of its popular compact sedan Dzire rose by 12.7 percent during the month under review at 19,232 units as against 17,060 units in January, 2013.

The company's mid-sized sedan SX4 registered a decline of 81.1 percent to 191 units as against 1,012 units in the same month last year. There was no sale of premium sedan Kizashi during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, stood at 4,763 units in January this year, down 21.9 percent from 6,095 units in the corresponding month last year.

Sales of vans--Omni and Eeco rose by 11.6 percent to 9,345 units in January this year as compared to 8,374 units in the same period of previous year. Exports during the month declined by 47.7 percent to 5,847 units as compared to 11,179 units in January last year, MSI said.

TVS Motor

Two-and-three-wheeler maker TVS Motor Company has registered a 5.90 percent increase in total sales to 1,86,313 units in January 2014.

The city-based company had sold 1,75,931 units in the same month of the previous year, TVS Motor Company said in a statement.

Total two-wheelers sales in January 2014 rose to 4.70 percent to 1,79,576 from 1,71,513 units sold during the same month of the previous year.

Domestic two-wheeler sales grew to 1,56,138 units in January 2014 from 1,54,107 units sold in the same month last year. Sales of scooters grew by 19.1 percent to 45,198 units in January 2014 from 37,946 units sold during the same month of the previous year.

Sales of motorcycles grew to 65,449 units in January 2014 from 64,555 units sold during the same month of the previous year.

Three-wheeler sales during January 2014 grew by 52.4 percent to 6,737 units from 4,418 units sold during the same month of the previous year.

On exports, the company witnessed a 39.3 percent increase in its sales to 28,875 units in January 2014 from 20,723 units sold during the same month of previous year.

Sales of two-wheelers in overseas markets grew by 34.6 percent to 23,438 units in January 2014 from 17,406 units sold in the same month of the previous year.

Mahindra and Mahindra

Auto-maker Mahindra & Mahindra reported 13.77 percent decline in its total sales at 42,685 units in January.

The company had sold 49,503 units in the same month previous year, the company said in a statement.

In January, M&M's domestic sales stood at 40,324 units as against 47,841 in the same month previous year, down 15.71 percent.

Total sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, stood at 19,792 units during the month as against 26,555 in January 2013, down 25 percent.

Sales of the company's four-wheel commercial vehicles were up 4 percent at 15,100 units as against 14,451 units in January 2013, it said.

M&M's exports were up by 42 percent to 2,361 units during the month from 1,662 units in January 2013.

Commenting on the sales performance, M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said: "The first month of 2014 did not witness any improvement in the overall industry performance and the situation remains subdued."

The recent repo rate hike will in coming months will escalate the rate of interest on car loan impacting customer sentiment, he added.

"We hope the upcoming Auto Expo which will showcase new products and technology will provide a trigger in giving a much needed boost to the auto industry and the overall sentiment," Shah said.

Mahindra's tractor subsidiary

Mahindra Group's tractor arm reported a 15 percent growth in sales at 20,109 units in January, driven by a robust Khareef crop and an expected good rabi crop.

The company had sold 17,473 units in January 2013, a company release said here.

The domestic sales stood at 19,389 units, a growth of 18 per cent over January 2013, it said.

"We have achieved a cumulative domestic growth till January 2014 of 23 percent. This is primarily due to a bumper kharif crop and the anticipation of a good Rabi crop," Mahindra & Mahindra Tractor and Farm Mechanisation chief executive Rajesh Jejurikar said.

The company expects the good run to continue for the rest of the March quarter, he said.

However, exports declined by a steep 33 percent to 720 units in Jnauray 2014 as against 1,071 units in January last year, the release said.

Honda Cars

Honda Cars India posted nearly three-fold rise in its domestic sales at 15,714 units in January, 2014.

The company had sold 5,451 units in the same month of the previous year, HCIL said today in a statement.

During January, the company sold 1,015 units of its small car Brio, 7,398 units of its latest sedan Amaze and 7,184 units of the premium sedan City.

Besides, the company sold 117 units of sports utility vehicle CRV. In addition, the company exported a total of 88 units during the month.

"We have received an overwhelming response to all new Honda City and the Honda Amaze continues to do strong sales," HCIL Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said.

Ford India

Ford India today reported 49.45 percent increase in total sales at 10,634 units in January 2014.

The company had sold a total of 7,115 units in the same month previous year, Ford India said in a statement.

Domestic sales were up 10.62 percent to 6,706 units in January as against 6,062 units in the same month previous year, it added.

The company exported 3,928 units last month as against 1,053 units in the year-ago period.

Ford India Executive Director (Marketing, Sales and Service) Vinay Piparsania said: "Ford has ushered in the new year on a note of growth and commitment, and our commitment to India is not just business-centric...".

Toyota Kirloskar

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) reported 18.14 percent decline in its domestic sales at 10,910 units in January 2014.

The company had sold 13,329 units in the corresponding month previous year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.

During the month, the company exported 1,530 units of Etios, it said.

"The market continues to be sluggish and the market sentiments remain low," TKM Senior Vice- President, Sales and Marketing N Raja said.

The company will be unveiling the all new Corolla Altis and Etios Cross at the Auto Expo 2014, he added.

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Maruti Suzuki sales dip 10% in January

The company said its domestic sales declined by 6.3 percent during the month to 96,569 units as against 1,03,026 units in January, 2013.

Country's largest car-maker  Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Saturday reported 10.3 per cent decline in total sales in January at 1,02,416 units as against 1,14,205 units in the same month last year.

The company said its domestic sales declined by 6.3 per cent during the month to 96,569 units as against 1,03,026 units in January, 2013.

Also Read: Bajaj Auto introduces new four wheeler for personal use

Sales of mini segment cars, including M800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR, declined by 17 per cent to 38,565 units as compared to 46,479 units in the year-ago month, MSI said in a statement.

The company said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz increased by 1.9 per cent to 24,473 units in January this year as against 24,006 units last year.

MSI said sales of its popular compact sedan Dzire rose by 12.7 per cent during the month under review at 19,232 units as against 17,060 units in January, 2013.

The company's mid-sized sedan SX4 registered a decline of 81.1 per cent to 191 units as against 1,012 units in the same month last year. There was no sale of premium sedan Kizashi during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, stood at 4,763 units in January this year, down 21.9 per cent from 6,095 units in the corresponding month last year.

Sales of vans--Omni and Eeco rose by 11.6 per cent to 9,345 units in January this year as compared to 8,374 units in the same period of previous year. Exports during the month declined by 47.7 per cent to 5,847 units as compared to 11,179 units in January last year, MSI said.

Maruti Suzuki stock price

On January 31, 2014, Maruti Suzuki India closed at Rs 1635.35, down Rs 2.65, or 0.16 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1864.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 1217.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 106.68 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 15.33. The latest book value of the company is Rs 615.03 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.66.

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Drugs going off patent is a positive: Merck

Survivor of the 'Patent Cliff', Dr. Stefan Oschmann, global CEO-Pharma,  Merck talks to CNBC-TV18's Senthil Chengalvarayan about the significance of innovation in Research and Development (R&D) along with his diversified business in pharma, chemicals, biosimilars and consumer healthcare.

Merck Darmstadt was founded in 1668, making it the oldest operating pharma and chemical company in the world but after the first world war its foreign subsidiary was taken over and in America it got to be called as Merck and outside America it is called Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) while Merck Darmstadt can use Merck outside America but is called by another name in America. A publicly listed company with 70 percent of their capital held by the Merck family which is in the 12th or 13th generation, all the shareholders within the family are descendants of Emanuel Merck, the founder of the German company.

While the company is active in several areas; pharmaceutical being the biggest business but are also an important player in chemicals with most performance materials, i.e. display materials, liquid crystals, and life science tools; Dr. Stefan Oschmann heads Merck's pharmaceutical business, which is the company's largest division.

Below is the edited excerpt of the interview:

Q: Apart from being on the executive board of the parent company, you specifically look after healthcare and consumer healthcare?

A: Yes, which are again four different businesses; our largest pharmaceutical business is Merck Serono – that's our biopharmaceutical business. We have a consumer health business, we have business in the field of allergy and we are in the process of setting up a business in biosimilars where we are in partnership with an Indian company, Dr Reddy 's Laboratories.

Q: You have worked in the American Merck before you joined Merck. Is there some kind of relationship both the companies share?

A: We share some history and MSD use to be our US subsidiary until 1917. Currently the companies are totally separate.

Q: Let us get on the business side. You survived the 2012 'Patent Cliff' as it was called, when a lot of drugs went out of patent largely due to the fact that we had less drugs going off patent at that time? Was it just delaying the evitable or was it planned and is this patent cliff waiting to hit your company?

A: Any company that is active in innovation that is R&D based faces a situation that their patents go eventually and that is a positive thing because it forces companies to continue to invest in R&D and we believe that intellectual property protection is a very important driver that enhances the quality of medical care in many other areas. We were hit less because many of our products are biologics; these are very complex molecules, large proteins, monoclonal antibodies and they are difficult to make and therefore a patent expiry is not as radical as it is for so-called small molecules, products that can easily be copied by generics.

Q: But are they more expensive to make than small molecules?

A: They are generally more expensive to make, they are more complex, they have been made by cells either by mammalian cells or by microbial cells, they require very complex manufacturing.

Q: What is your R&D pipeline looking like? How much of that is in small molecule and in biologic?

A: It is balanced, about 50-50. We have a lot of investment; in cancer we search in oncology and in immuno-oncology there are a lot of biologic targets therapies, monoclonal antibodies and other advance technologies that are much targeted towards specific receptor or other mechanisms but we also compliment this with small molecules. Combination therapy is very important in cancer and currently there is a trend that the so-called noval combinations are researched because if you use several approaches to tackle cancer, the cancer cells have less of a chance to evade.

Dr Reddys Labs stock price

On January 31, 2014, Dr Reddys Laboratories closed at Rs 2607.00, down Rs 12.25, or 0.47 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 2690.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 1720.50.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 91.88 per share as per the quarter ended September 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 28.37. The latest book value of the company is Rs 457.56 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 5.70.

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US to help India get back Category 1 aviation rating

Air passengers to and from the US may have to face the brunt as Indian airplanes would have to go through more engineering and other safety checks on the American soil.

The US has said that it was committed to work with India to help it get back the Category 1 aviation safety rating "as soon as possible", a day after Washington downgraded India's ranking, bringing it below Pakistan and at par with countries like Ghana and Bangladesh.

"Both the US and India are fully committed to restoring India to a Category 1 rating as soon as possible," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters here. "There is currently a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA team in India, in part to discuss how to go about doing just that," she said yesterday. "When a foreign country's civil aviation authority has international flights into the US, the FAA is required to periodically evaluate whether that CAA is overseeing the safety of its international civil aviation operations according to the ICAO standards," she added.

Earlier, the FAA announced that India is not in compliance with international safety standards set by the UN agency International Civilian Aviation Organisation (ICAO). "The FAA therefore downgraded India from a Category 1 to a Category 2 rating," Harf said.

Air passengers to and from the US may have to face the brunt as Indian airplanes would have to go through more engineering and other safety checks on the American soil.

Responding to questions, Harf said this is a process with consultations and discussions that began many months ago. She said that the assessment was conducted in New Delhi in September. The assessment team returned to India on December 11 for follow-up discussion. "Our understanding is that while India has indeed made significant progress, a determination was made that it was not enough to meet the ICAO standards, hence the step that we saw today.

But again, we're committed to working with India to get them to take the necessary steps to get back to a Category 1 rating," she insisted. Harf refuted allegations that this has anything to do with the recent Devyani Khobragade row. "Again, this was a regulatory decision. I don't know how much leeway we have in those, but it's my understanding that this was all made inside a regulatory framework that has very specific criteria countries have to meet under ICAO standards that we're all party to," she commented.

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SpiceJet, IndiGo launch second fare war with 30% discount

With the peak travel season coming to an end, Indian carriers, barring Air India, triggered the second fare war offering low fares across several sectors within the country.

A second round of fare war was unleashed by  SpiceJet today, with  Jet Airways and no-frill carriers IndiGo, GoAir and JetKonnect jumping into the race to offer limited period, low-priced air tickets to customers.

With the peak travel season coming to an end, Indian carriers, barring Air India, triggered the second fare war offering low fares across several sectors within the country.

SpiceJet was the first to launch the fare war, announcing a 'Second Chance' sale of 30 per cent discounted tickets on domestic routes for a limited number of seats, which was soon followed by IndiGo's sale of a 'Happy Weekend' offer.

Also read: How FAA air safety downgrade impacts Indian carriers

Travel industry sources said GoAir also followed suit with a similar scheme, while JetAirways and JetKonnect offered a 30 per cent discount on the base fare and fuel surcharge like SpiceJet, but did not put any restriction on the weekdays when such tickets would be available for travel. Air India did not join the fare war.

SpiceJet's discounted sale is applicable to customers who book at least 30 days in advance for travel till April 15, the airline said in a release. The bookings under this scheme will remain open from January 31 through midnight Sunday.

The seats under this offer are, however, limited and availability depends on specific date and flight. The offer was being extended following the overwhelming success of its super sale programme announced two weeks ago.

Ten days ago, SpiceJet had triggered a fare war by offering 50 per cent discount on domestic travel for a limited period to beat the March quarter blues.

Soon after SpiceJet announced the sale of heavily discounted tickets, other carriers--IndiGo, GoAir, Jet Airways and Air India too wooed customers with similar marketing tactics.

SpiceJet stock price

On January 31, 2014, SpiceJet closed at Rs 16.05, up Rs 0.05, or 0.31 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 48.85 and the 52-week low was Rs 15.50.

The latest book value of the company is Rs -3.50 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was -4.59.

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Week that was: Maruti`s idea; Kejriwal`s power woes

SLIDESHOW

Sat, Feb 01, 2014 at 17:07

| Source: Moneycontrol.com

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