Infosys net up 156%
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies has posted a net profit of Rs 60.61 crore in the first quarter of 1999-2000. This represents a 156 per cent increase over the figure of Rs 23.67 crore for the corresponding period of 1998-99.

The company's total income during the period rose by Rs 85.63 crore, or 87 per cent, to Rs 184.06 crore. Net income in terms of the US generally accepted accounting practices was Rs 57.12 crore.

Chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy said the growth has been driven by tapping both new and existing market opportunities. The company added 19 new clients in the quarter, including Amazon.com, EC Cubed and Value America in the e-com area.
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HDFC's net profit rises
Mumbai: The Housing Development Finance Corporation has recorded a 15.28 per cent growth in net profit during the first quarter of 1999-2000. The company posted a profit of Rs 75.6 crore, against Rs 65.7 crore during the corresponding previous period.

Its income during the period was at Rs 448.9 crore, 13.5 per cent from Rs 395.4 crore earlier.
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Wipro appoints new vice-chairman
Bangalore: Wipro is in a staff restructuring mould. The company has brought in Vivek Paul, global head of the computerised tomography business of General Electric, as its vice-chairman, and president and chief executive officer of the Wipro Infotech Software and Services group.

Azim Premji, chairman of the company, said Mr Paul will have the mandate to globalise Wipro's software business, "make Wipro's software business grow faster than now and faster than the industry, make it India's No 1 software exporter in another 4-5 years, change Wipro's basic business model to do large projects and do more value addition for customers."

Mr Premji want the Wipro's new chief executive to "globalise this company".

Ashok Soota, vice chairman of the company, has resigned. He says he will join a start-up firm.
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Tata Industries exempted from prudential norms
Mumbai: Tata Industries, the Tata group's arm for investments in new areas, has been exempted by the Reserve Bank of India from complying with the prudential norms relating to concentration of credit and investment till 31 January 2001.

Tata Industries will stop taking public deposits. It will also cease to be a non-banking finance company. By 31 January 2001 it will not hold any public deposits.

The company will convert itself into a holding company for the group's new ventures from being a finance company involved in public business.
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Kinetic manages to thwart Honda's plans
New Delhi: Kinetic Engineering has been able to prevent Honda Siel from entering the two-wheeler segment in the country. The company's letter of objection to the government has done the trick. The government has now amended its earlier blanket permission to Honda Siel to manufacture "automobiles" and made it specific permission to manufacture only motor cars.

This is perceived as a setback for the Japanese automobile company. Honda had a joint venture with Kinetic for manufacture of scooters till 1998 before Honda broke it  with a view to enter the two-wheeler segment in the country on its own.
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Crompton Greaves gives division-wise results
Mumbai: Crompton Greaves, the flagship company of the L.M. Thapar group, has started disclosing division-wise results in its annual statement to shareholders. The company has revealed sales and operating and pre-tax profits of its various divisions in its annual statement for the year ended 31 March 1999.

The Rs 1,800-crore company has recorded growth of 6 per cent in 1998-99 with sales of Rs 1,791 (Rs 1690 crore in the previous year) and a profit before tax of Rs 24.12 crore (Rs 20.62 crore). The company has four strategic business units -- power systems, industrial systems, consumer products and digital and informatics. The first three divisions recorded profits before tax, while the digital and informatics division has reported a huge loss.
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AV Thomas group comes with open offer
Mumbai: The promoters of Chennai-based AV Thomas Industrial Products want to increase their stake in the company from the current 54 per cent to 74 per cent.

They are doing so via an open offer for 7,61,420 shares (20 per cent) of the equity capital at a price of Rs 48 per share. The price of the share is quoted at Rs 44 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Indal plans stake in Annapurna Foils
Calcutta: The Indian Aluminium Company is planning to acquire a 24 per cent equity stake in the ailing Annapurna Foils. This will give Indal a 50 per cent stake and control of Annapurna Foils.

Annapurna Foils has sought the help of the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. The public holds a 18.37 per cent and financial institutions 31.1 per cent stake in the company.
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Compaq for Indian alliances
Calcutta: Compaq Computer Corp is all set to identify independent software vendors in India to be partners in the company's global Compaq Solutions Alliance programme. Under the programme, the company will have strategic alliances with Indian companies keen to develop e-commerce and internet solutions on Compaq's Tru64 Unix operating system.

Compaq also proposes to market the solutions jointly with Indian partners across the globe in the second phase.
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Mauritius company to hike stake in Ajanta Pharma
New Delhi: TCW-ICICI India Partners, a Mauritius-based joint venture company, is increasing its stake in Ajanta Pharma. The herbal products major is looking for funds and an international partner.

The Mauritius company is expected to route the investment through two affiliate Indian companies, TCW-ICICI India Private Equity Fund and TCW-ICICI Private Equity AMP Fund.
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ABCL formally declared sick
New Delhi: The Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction has declared Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd a sick company. BIFR has appointed the Industrial Development Bank of India as the operating agency to rehabilitate the company, setting a six-month timeframe.

BIFR has noted that the net worth of the company has been completely wiped out by its accumulated losses.
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Century Textiles to exit shipping business
Mumbai: B.K. Birla group Century Textiles is likely to exit its shipping business under a restructuring plan. Sources in the company said the company will sell its ships in phases in three to four years. Shipping contributes about Rs 80 crore to the Rs 2,000 crore turnover of the company.

The company plans to focus on rayon, paper and cement, which at present contribute significantly to the company's turnover.
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M&M, TVS in infotech JV
Mumbai: The Mahindra & Mahindra group and the TVS group have floated a joint venture to provide software solutions to automobile companies.

The agreement establishing Logisoft was signed recently. Mahindra & Mahindra will hold 80 per cent stake in the company and the TVS group the rest.

Logisoft will provide software solutions to the dealership network of the TVS group.
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Novartis sells off   land to Toyota
Mumbai: Novartis India is understood to have sold off a portion of its land in Goregaon in Mumbai to Toyota for Rs 1 crore.

The land belonged to Hindustan Ciba Geigy, now shared between Novartis India and Ciba Speciality Chemicals following the merger of Sandoz India and Hindustan Ciba Geigy into Novartis.
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Kirloskars to restructure
Bangalore: The Kirloskar group is restructuring its operations and looking at the possibility of closing down one of its plants, merging a loss-making group company with a profitable firm and introducing a voluntary retirement plan.

One of the plants of the ailing Mysore Kirloskar at Hubli may be shut down, while the group may merge Shivaji Works with Kirloskar Oil Engines in Pune. It is also designing a voluntary retirement scheme.
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SocGen may enhance offer
Paris: Societe Generale is considering whether to add another euro 1.5 billion to the cash component of its offer to Paribas shareholders, La Tribune paper reported.

Meanwhile, Banque Nationale de Paris chairman Michel Pebereau said he was convinced that BNP will gain more than 50 per cent control of both Paribas and Societe Generale via its sweetened offer, which represents a premium of 24.9 per cent and 45.6 per cent respectively to the 9 March closing prices of Societe Generale and Paribas.
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Fiat celebrates 100^th anniversary
Milan: Fiat is celebrating its 100^th anniversary on 11 July. Italian prime minister Masimo D'Alema and president Carlo Azeglo Ciampi are expected to participate in a supper at Turin with Fiat honorary chairman Gianni Agnelli, 78, the man often described as Italy's uncrowned king. There will be some 3,000 guests, including diplomats, at the supper.

On 12 July, Fiat is presenting a new version of Punto, Europe's best-selling car in 1996 and 1997.
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Elf chief says TotalFina bid will fail
Paris: Elf Aquitaine chairman Philippe Jaffre says the hostile $42.9 billion bid for his company launched by Franco-Belgian rival TotalFina will fail. In a communication to senior executives at Elf's La Defense headquarters, Mr Jaffre said TotalFina was coming to Elf to look for what it lacks.

"It is coming to do its shopping by breaking and entering," Jaffre said in the strongly-worded communication.
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Cargill gets nod to buy Continental Grain
Washington: Cargill Inc has won approval from regulators to buy the grain business of Continental Grain Co. However, the US justice department has forced the company to part with its prized assets in exchange of the mega deal.

The department required the largest privately-held company in the US to agree to give up four lucrative export elevators to make sure farmers get fair prices for the corn, soyabeans and wheat. The export elevators handle millions of bushels of corn, soyabeans and wheat headed for foreign markets.
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Volvo's shady deals exposed
London: Volvo Motor Corp admitted that it supported secret agreements to fix car prices in Britain, keeping them higher than in mainland Europe.

British trade practices regulator, the Office of Fair Trading, said Volvo Car UK, the company's British arm, had given written assurances that it would not repeat the offence. The regulator said following a year's probe, it had gathered evidence that Volvo Car UK had forced its dealers to follow set discount levels and those who did not toe the line were punished by not being offered bonuses.
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Disney merges TV unit with ABC
Los Angeles: The Walt Disney Company said it is merging its TV production unit with the ABC TV's Prime Time broadcast group.

The merger points to the way entertainment companies like Disney, Time Warner and Fox Entertainment Group are changing the television business through their ownership of production studios and broadcast networks and cable outlets.

The chief aim of putting together ABC Prime Time and Disney's TV production unit Buena Vista Television Group is to put more Disney-produced shows on Disney-owned ABC, cut programme costs and streamline operations. 
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