NIIT Tech Q4 net up 139 pc
New Delhi: Shifting from voice to non-voice services and increased emphasis on research and analysis has led New Delhi-based NIIT Technologies to report a consolidated net profit of Rs45.90 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2007 (Q4FY07) -- an increase of 139 pc from Rs19.2 crore in same quarter last year.

The company's revenues for Q4FY07, too, grew by 47 pc to Rs243.50 crore as compared to Rs166.20 crore in Q4FY06.

Sequentially (compared to the previous quarter), NIIT registered a 32.65 cp rise over the previous quarter's (Q3FY07) figure of Rs34.60 crore. Its revenues recorded a 5.18 pc increase over the previous quarter's figure of Rs231.50 crore.

The company saw a contribution of Rs15.2 crore from its business process management (BPM) segment, which was previously running at a loss.

IT solutions contributed 94 pc to the revenue to Rs228.3 crore while the rest was filled in by the BPM segment. The company supplemented its order book by committed business of $72 million (around Rs300 crore) during the quarter.

For FY07, the company's net profit stood at Rs129.20 crore, a 95 pc increase from the last financial year's figure of Rs66.30 crore. The company's full year consolidated revenues too jumped to Rs885.90 crore -- an increase of 46 pc from Rs607.5 crore in FY06.
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Volvo, Ford to tie up in India
New Delhi: Volvo is planning to increase its operations in India with help from Ford India, the US parent of which owns Volvo's car business. The two companies are planning a joint strategy under which Volvo will cater to the high-end market, while Ford will feed the mid-size segment, as it did with the Ikon earlier and does now with the Fiesta.

The two companies would work on a common platform to launch their cars in the country and would bring in vehicles having shared technologies (platform) with Ford Motor to increase our presence in India.

Volvo plans to bring in its C30 and C70 cars, which share the platform with Ford's Focus range of cars, to India sometime next year.

The platform-sharing strategy stems from the growing luxury car market in the A4 segment, which grew by 49 per cent last fiscal - to 40,964 units in 2006-07 from 27,529 units in 2005-06 and is at present dominated by DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Audi and Porsche.
Volvo will debut in India with a sedan (S80) and a sports utility vehicle (XC90) which is priced between Rs45 lakh and Rs60 lakh.
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Alembic enters into licensing pact with Belgian co
Mumbai: Drug maker Alembic has signed a licensing agreement with Belgian drugmaker UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, engaged in R&D and commercialisation of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products in the fields of central nervous system disorders, for its Novel Drug Delivery Platform for epilepsy drug Keppra XR (Levetiracetam extended release tablets).

As per the agreement, Alembic will provide the technology to reduce the dosage for the twice-a-day Keppra drug to make it a once-a-day tablet. The tablet will then be sold in dosages of 500 mg, 1000 mg and 1500 mg and will be called Keppra XR.

Alembic would receive milestone payments of $11 million and additionally get royalty payments on future worldwide net sales of the Keppra drug, subject to necessary legal and regulatory approvals. Phase III clinical trials on Keppra XR (Levetiracetam Extended Release tablets) are ongoing and results are expected in the fourth quarter of 2007, the company said.

Keppra is UCB's leading anti-epileptic drug, with sales of 761 million ($1 billion) in 2006.

In 2006 UCB had a turnover of 2.5 billion.
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Bharti Airtel has more than 40 mn subscribers
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel has crossed the 40-mn subscriber mark and has become the tenth cellular operator in the world having more than 40 million customers from a single country.

Operators like Vodafone and SingTel, which have subscribers in multiple countries, are not in the reckoning for the rankings.

Further Bharti Airtel achieved this landmark customer base in just 12 years, making it one of the fastest companies to make it to this exclusive list.

Also it took Airtel 11 years to reach the 20-million customer landmark, and just another 13 months to add the next 20 million customers said a press release from the company. At the current growth rate, Bharti is expected to add another 20 million subscribers over the next year, which will probably make it among the top 5 global mobile operators.
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H&R Johnson acquires 50 pc stake in Sri Venkateswara Udyog
New Delhi: Tile maker H&R Johnson (India) has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Sri Venkateswara Udyog, a faucet-manufacturer in Baddi (Himachal Pradesh).

Following the acquisition, the Baddi-based company has been renamed as Milano Bath Fittings (P) Ltd. H&R Johnson markets its sanitary ware and bathroom accessories through its brand, Milano which contributes 3 per cent to the company's revenues at present. The company is planning to expand the distribution network for its bathroom business. Milano is now retailed through 300 dealers across the country.
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Divi's Labs Q4 net up 4 times; announces stock split
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad-based Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients manufacturer Divi's Laboratories (DLL), has posted a net of Rs101 crore for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2006-07, registering a 341 per cent jump over the previous year's comparative quarter's Rs22 crore.

The turnover also grew by 97 per cent to Rs256 crore (Rs130 crore) for the last quarter of fiscal 2006-07, on a standalone basis. The company's board, which took on record the financial performance, also recommended split of equity shares from the face value of Rs10 each to Rs2 each, subject to approvals.

On a consolidated basis, DLL's net for the fiscal 2006-07 stood at Rs186 crore, showing a 167 per cent growth over the Rs70 crore reported the previous year. The turnover stood at Rs738 crore, an increase by 88 per cent over Rs392 crore the previous year. The results include the financials of its subsidiaries, Divi's laboratories (US) and Divi's Laboratories Europe.

The company said its high growth rate during the past few years is due to its strategy to work with multi-national innovator companies developing compounds under custom synthesis, besides a strategic positioning in the generic products, duly supported by capital expenditure programmes.
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NDTV brings down Q4 loss to Rs17 lakh
New Delhi: Media company NDTV has brought down its losses to Rs17 lakh during the fourth quarter ended March 31 2007, compared with a net loss of Rs196.7 lakh reported for the corresponding quarter last year. Net sales for the quarter were up 22 per cent to Rs67.3 crore, against Rs52.5 crore reported during the corresponding quarter the previous year.

However, for the year ended March 31, the company reported a loss of Rs6.89 crore, against a loss of Rs6.24 crore reported for the financial year 2005-06. Net sales grew by 18.73 per cent to Rs235.38 crore against Rs191.29 crore for the same period in the previous year. The company said its consolidated results were not comparable to last year's as they included costs incurred in setting up new businesses under NDTV Network Plc, the company's UK subsidiary.
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ICRA Q4 net rises 34 pc to Rs4.35 cr
New Delhi: Credit rating agency ICRA has reported an increase of 34 per cent in its net profit for the quarter ended March 31 to Rs4.35 crore as against Rs3.25 crore in the year ago period.

Total income of the company for the fourth quarter rose 22.60 per cent to Rs12.28 crore as against Rs10.02 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, the company said in a release on Wednesday.

For the year ended March 31, net profit of the company rose to Rs16.1 crore as against Rs12.65 crore a year ago. Total income for the fiscal was Rs46.76 crore compared to Rs38.6 crore a year ago.

Consolidated net profit for the fiscal rose to Rs19.99 crore from Rs14.23 crore a year back. Total consolidated income of the group stood at Rs76.57 crore as against Rs59.31 crore in fiscal 2005-06.
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Buyers line up for Citi's BPO biz
Mumbai: The first round of bidding for Citigroup Global Services (formerly known as e-Serve) which is Citi's BPO biz- is likely to be over this week. IBM, Automatic Data Processing (ADP), Genpact, Infosys and private equity firms such as Blackstone and General Atlantic are vying to buy a stake in Citi's BPO business.

However, Citi is likely to sell off over 50 pc stake in the BPO firm and may retain a part of the stake in the firm so it can not only get the benefits in case of a future listing but would also handhold the firm. According to sources, one of the main reasons that the group is looking at bringing in a strategic partner is to bring down the overall costs and not monetising the stake.

The group is most likely to sell the operations to an operator who has experience in the field and would want a strategic partner in the firm. ADP and Genpact are said to be the front runners for the deal.

Citi which held 44.4 pc stake in the BPO company had delisted it in 2004 and accepted an exit price of Rs975 per share while delisting. At that price the company was valued at around Rs1,200 crore. According to i-bankers the value of the company now would be at around $700 million. Citi globally has been on a major cost cutting spree and recently announced that it would cut 17,000 jobs on the back of a restructuring plan that is targeting billions of dollars in cost savings over the next few years.
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Merged airline to be named Air India: Patel
New Delhi: The new company emerging out of the merger of state-run carriers Indian and Air India would be called Air India and would have the 'Maharaja' as the mascot, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel announced on Tuesday.

The new logo would reflect the continuity of the Indian Airlines chakra and Air India's insignia, he said.

The merged entity's registered office would be in New Delhi and corporate office in Mumbai, he said, adding domestic operations and special business would be based in the national capital. The merged entity would start functioning from July and the new company is to be called National Airline Company Ltd. The new airline would also go for an initial public offer in 2008, he added.
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