Kuwait Petro evinces interest in MRPL again
Mumbai--Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) seems to have expressed an interest in picking up a stake in Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) again.
Sources said KPC representatives met Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), officials three days ago to discuss the modalities of equity participation in MRPL.
MRPL is a joint venture between HPCL and the AV Birla group, with each holding a 37 per cent stake. KPC had last year expressed interest in picking up a 26 percent stake in MRPL out of HPCLs holding.
It is, however, not clear whether KPC is also eyeing the equity stake held by the AV Birla group, as the latter has announced its decision to exit from the joint venture.
Aditya Birla group has appointed SBI Capital Markets and Arthur Andersen to carry out a valuation of their stake in the joint venture.
MRPL reported a net loss of Rs 185.04 crore for the year ended March 2001.
MRPL is now banking on direct marketing of its products to make a substantial profit margin, possible after the dismantling of the Administrative Price Mechanism (APM) in April 2002.
At present, MRPL markets its products through HPCLs network of 4,000 outlets.
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A-I announces Rs 5-cr profit in Q1
Bangalore-- Air-India has posted a profit of Rs 5.1 crore in the first quarter of 2001 largely due to the Middle-East bound traffic which has been quite unaffected by the western recession.
The months of July and August are also expected to make a positive contribution to AIs bottomline on softening of fuel prices and high seat factor wave.

The April-July period may yet see A-I record a profit of Rs 14 crore.
A-I officials said that AIs fortunes reversed in June as the airline recorded Rs 5 crore loss in April, while May was a nominal improvement with minus Rs 1 crore.
In June, the airline recorded Rs 11 crore plus profit, wiping out the losses of the first two months of first quarter.
The reasons for the good tidings are the steadily rising passenger loads, which rose from 67 per cent in April to reach 70.1 per cent in June, 72 per cent in July and may stretch out to 73 per cent in August.
Secondly the aviation turbine fuel bill has also shown a downward trend this year.
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UB to demerge and form dedicated company
BangaloreUnited Breweries said it planned to demerge its "brewery business" into a dedicated company from August 1, 2001.
Under the demerger scheme, based on the joint recommendations of two leading independent valuers, Deloitte Haskins and Sells and IL&FS, the board of UB has recommended four new equity shares in the brewery entity for every ten shares held in UB with a corresponding reduction in the share capital of the company.
The brewing entity is a 100 per cent subsidiary of UB.
It has an equity capital of Rs 2.8 crore comprising 28 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each.
Consequent to the demerger, the equity capital will stand expanded to Rs 18.37 crore comprising 183.7 lakh shares of Rs 10 each, and the share capital of UB will stand reduced to Rs 22.4 crore.
The demerger is expected to enhance shareholder value, as it would create a focused non-brewery related demand on its capital. It would have a level of debt that would be serviceable by its cash flows, stated a press release issued by the company.
The brewery entity will be a focused brewery company and will carry out all the brewery business of the UB group. Last fiscal, UB's brewery business sales approximated Rs 460 crore.
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VSNL; no more free business e-mails
Mumbai--Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) has put a stop to its free business e-mail service from early this week and instead will charge users an additional fee of Rs 600 a year for routing their e-mail through VSNL servers.
In a move aimed at raking in additional revenue and lowering the burden on its overloaded servers, the company is now asking corporates without individual domain names to subscribe to the recently launched V-mail service, a senior VSNL official said.
V-mail offers corporates mail solutions under their personal domains and also includes domain mail servers (DMS) of users. Firms that may benefit from V-mail are small and medium service companies, banks, mutual funds, e-magazines and portals.
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Reliance WLL dream hits roadblock
AhmedabadWith Samsung not agreeing to lower the prices of its handsets from the present level of Rs 10,000 per piece, Reliance Infocoms grandiose plans of capturing the limited mobility (Wireless in Local Loop) market, through its state-of-the-art value-added services and affordable CDMA-compatible handsets, seem to have hit a roadblock.
Sources close to the companies said negotiations between Reliance Infocom and Samsung have reached an advanced stage and if handsets have to be acquired by Reliance, it will definitely be from Samsung as per available indications.
But the South Korean multinational does not have any intention of slashing the handset prices, which are "at least four times more than what Reliance was hoping to offer."
Further, the uncertainty shrouding the fate of WLL services has put a question mark over whether the company would be in a position to achieve its ambitious targets of enlisting 0.3 million subscribers within the first six months of commencing services in select cities of Gujarat.
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Daewoo staff takes 10 percent salary cut
New Delhi--Daewoo Motor India Ltd (DMIL) is trying various means to arrest the sagging fortunes of the company.
Now its employees want to help it out. They had written to managing director Young-Tae Cho offering to take a 10 per cent cut in their salaries and Cho has accepted the offer and, in return, has declared Saturday a holiday for all employees. The arrangement has now been extended to all employees of DMIL. In another development, Cho has declared that smaller Daewoo India dealers across the country would have to be closed down and all dealers would have to stock at least 30 cars. The message Cho sent out was that either the dealer should upgrade his showroom or exit, sources said.
The company has 118 dealers across the country at present. Daewoo India under Cho is also launching "Fresh Beginning 2001", an exercise aimed at improving the environment at its Surajpur plant.
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Sail to work out Iisco revival plan
Kolkata--Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) will work out a revival plan for ailing subsidiary Indian Iron & Steel Co, according to Sail chairman Arvind Pande.
However, he said Sail alone could not take up the revival plan alone and required support from the government.
Iisco is facing threat of closure by the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).
Sail insiders said details of the revival plan have not been finalised, but the options are being reviewed. It is expected that a formal decision would be taken by the end of the month. The BIFR is to discuss Iisco at its meeting on September 15.
Sources in Iisco said that the revival plan envisaged optimal use of its captive collieries and ore mines and marginal technological upgradation for value-added products at Burnpur plant.
The sources said that with this plan in position, Iisco would break even in just 18 months. Iiscos losses have already reduced from Rs 210 crore in 1999-2000 to Rs 187 crore in 2000-01.
Moreover, the government has written off Iiscos loans and interest of Rs 1,940 crore as a part of Sails financial restructuring.
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19 percent rise in Indica's July sales
MumbaiThere seems to be a silver lining in Tata Engineerings black cloud, as sales of heavy and medium commercial vehicles and small car, Indica, recorded a significant growth in July 2001.
While Indica clocked a 19 per cent growth in sales during the month, at 4,205 vehicles over its sales in July 2000, sales of the company's sports utility vehicle, Tata Safari, also grew 21 per cent. This is also the second month in a row that Indica sales have registered a growth, after the 16.5 per cent jump in June 2001 over June 2000 period.
However, there was a decline in the overall sales of the company's utility vehicles.
Inspite of this, cumulative sales of Indica during the first four months of the fiscal, at 16,973 units, were lower than the 18,083 units (SIAM figure) during the same period last year.
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Wal-Mart to put up sourcing base in Bangalore
Bangalore--US-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, has decided to set up a regional office of its Wal-Mart Global Procurement Company in Bangalore in order to source merchandise worth over $100 million annually from India. The new development follows Wal-Marts decision to stop sourcing merchandise from Hong-Kong-based Pacific Resources Export Ltd (PREL). Henceforth, Wal-Mart will source all its merchandise through its own subsidiary, Wal-Mart Global Procurement Company.
During 2000, Wal-Mart sourced merchandise including apparels, textile material, steel and brassware from worth around $200 million from India.
The regional office based out of Bangalore will support Wal-Mart's global procurement activities within India for export to all the countries the retailer operates in. The annual purchases from India is expected to exceed $100 million and will cover a wide range of product categories including apparel, home furnishings, furniture, handicrafts, giftware, toys, seasonal products, housewares and jewellery.
Wal-Mart stores are popular because of their discounted prices. Wal-Mart is mainly engaged in the operation of mass merchandising stores and operates discount department stores and full-line supermarkets.
Wal-Mart was listed in the Fortune magazine as the third most admired company in the US in the current year. More than 1.2 million people are employed in Wal-Mart stores. The company sources merchandise from various parts of the world to ensure that it can sell products at extremely low rates. Its founder Sam Walton started Wal-Mart in 1962 and since then the company has grown to become a $48.57 billion retailer.
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Star in JV with UTV for Vijay TV
Chennai--The Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star Group today announced the formation of a joint venture company with United Television (UTV) promoted by Ronnie Screwvala-promoted to provide content, distribution, marketing and advertising services to Vijay TV, a Tamil satellite channel.
Star will hold 51 per cent stake in the joint venture and the remaining 49 per cent stake will be held by UTV.
Vijay TV Broadcasting Company, a wholly owned company of UTV, will continue to provide uplinking facility for the channel.
Rohit Adya, the present CEO of Vijay TV has been absorbed into UTV. At present, Vijay TV is yet to reach break-even and commands around 12 per cent of the estimated Rs 200 crore market.
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Netkraft receives $2.5m from JumpStartUp
Bangalore--JumpStartUp Venture Fund has announced that it is investing $2.5-million in Netkraft, an e-business consulting and net centric technology service provider.
Netkraft, which has received funds to the tune of $7 million over the past three years, is looking at revenues of $10-12 million by the end of this year.
The investment will help Netkraft build its worldwide sales strategy focussing on the North American and European markets.
To support this strategy, Netkraft would build industry-focused practices around retail and distribution, healthcare and manufacturing segments, said Prashanth Prakash, president and CEO, Netkraft.
The money would also be used by Netkraft to expand themselves further and scale up their operations in the US, including hiring appropriate front- end staff.
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Tata Power front runner in fibre optic project
MumbaiTata Power recently emerged the front-runner in the second round of bidding process for BEST's aerial fibre optic project in which the fibre optic would be strung over BEST's electricity poles.
The Mumbai-based power major, which was sole bidder for a tender for BEST's right of way in the city, will pay BEST Rs 110 crore over 20 years.
This amounts to a net present value of Rs 61.2 crore.
In the first round of bidding, Tata Power emerged winner with a Rs 100.22-crore bid a few months ago.
However, the BEST Committee had refused to award the project to Tata Power, claiming that the NPV quoted, which was Rs 56 crore, was too low.
The BEST OFC network in Mumbai will form part of the Tata Power's national broadband network. Last year, Tata Power had announced plans to foray into broadband solutions, as part of its convergence strategy.
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Bayer slashes 1,800 jobs globally
Frankfurt The Leverkusen(Germany)-based chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant, Bayer said it planned to cut 1,800 jobs worldwide and close 15 plants as part of a restructuring programme announced recently.
It said part of the restructuring would affect foreign units, including its US unit.
Bayer said it planned to save 1.5 billion euros ($1.3 billion)per year by 2005 as it tries to shore up earnings after withdrawing a key drug.
Bayer on Wednesday recalled its anti-cholesterol drug Baycol amid reports its side effects could be deadly and said the withdrawal would slash 2001 profit by 600-650 million euros.
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