Bajoria barred from accessing markets for one yr
Mumbai -- Arun Bajoria and associates have been barred from accessing the capital market and dealing in securities - either directly or indirectly - for one year, over violation of the takeover code in Bombay Dyeing case.
Bajoria came into the limelight in 2000, for buying into the Nusli Wadia-controlled Bombay Dyeing in what appeared to be a hostile takeover attempt.
Sebi took action against Bajoria and persons allegedly acting in concert with him for violation of the Sebi takeover code. The persons/ firms acting in concert with Bajoria are: Mega Resources, Mega Stock, The Hooghly Mills, Pooja Bajoria, Mohini Devi Bajoria, Lata Devi Bajoria and Meenakshi Jatia.
Bajoria says he will challenge the Sebi order and file a writ petition against the order barring him from accessing the capital market and in dealing of shares. He says that the market regulator has taken a harsh decision against him and that the Sebi order is totally malafide and politically motivated decision.
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Sun Pharma stock gains, volumes rise
MumbaiThe Sun Pharma stock edged higher in continuation of broad-based buying in the pharma industry on Wednesday. Sun is a niche player in some therapeutic segments of the local drug market.

Suns share moved up over 2 per cent to Rs 546.15 in afternoon trading, but was off the days high of Rs 557.40. A total of 25,492 Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SPIL) shares changed hands in the first half of trading on BSE compared to 33,197 shares that were traded in the entire session on Tuesday.

Analysts said that buying in the counter was purely as a result of the spillover effect of the rally in pharma pivotals like Cipla, DRL and RLL in recent weeks on the back of their good first quarter ended June 2001 results and positive developments related to launch of new drugs in the overseas markets.

Sun Pharma operates in select therapeutic segments like psychiatric, neurology, cardiology and gastro-enterology.
Six of the companys brands come in the top 300 pharma brands selling list in the domestic market, said analysts.
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Asianet raises Rs 236 cr via pvt placement
MumbaiRajan Raheja-owned Asianet Satellite Communications has raised Rs 236 crore through private placement of debentures.

Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IFDC) is putting in around Rs 130 crore, while Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) is putting in Rs 80 crore. The balance is to come from HDFC.
The NCDs would be due for redemption from 2004 onwards while the CDs would be up for conversion 30 months after the date of agreement. The interest rate is pegged at 14.5 per cent.
The CDs can be displaced by repayment after 30 months, said a senior company official but refused to remark on the amount of equity dilution this would involve.

IOC raises Rs 135 cr through online trading
MumbaiIndian Oil Corporation (IOC) has raised Rs 135 crore through a commercial paper (CP) issue on Tuesday using the online trading platform of Riskxpress.com.

The previous day, Bharat Petroleum had mopped up Rs 100 crore through a CP issue at a record low rate of 7.74 per cent.

IOC has hit the market with a Rs 50 crore CP issue with a greenshoe option. The company has received total bids worth Rs 220 crore and has retained Rs 135 crore for coupon rate ranging between 7.77 per cent and 7.82 per cent. The entire issue proceeds has been raised through French auction at different yields between 7.77 per cent and 7.82 per cent. The 90-day tenor issue has a highest rating of P1+ from Crisil.

According to debt market sources, BPCL raised Rs 100 crore through a similar CP issue at a record low rate of 7.74 per cent on Monday using the same trading platform.
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Fitch rating agency says Indian regulatory framework weak
MumbaiUS-based Fitch rating agency in a report says instances of fraud, which surface from time to time in Indian institutions, reflect the inadequacies in the regulatory set up in the country.
Also the health of the financial sector in India is relatively weak and a vast majority of Indian banks are severely undercapitalised if international provisioning norms are taken into account.

The fact that one crisis has followed the other in rather quick succession, has certainly raised fresh questions on the health of major institutions in India, says the report. So far, the government has come to the rescue of the affected institutions. But given its own fiscal problems and the regularity with which such problems are surfacing, it may be only a matter of time before the government has to review its options in future cases, said the report.
The agency has therefore sounded a warning that ratings of systemically important banks and FIs like IDBI which factor in government support, may face downward rating pressure due to their weak stand-alone credit quality which may be exacerbated by the lack of timely government support.
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Infosys scrip dull despite removal of Esops lock-in
BangaloreDespite the ending of the five-year lock-in period of the biggest employees stock option plan (Esops) of Infosys saw little action in the software majors scrip reflects the uncertainty prevailing in the market as well as the industry.

Though five days have passed since the end of lock-in period of the 1994 Esops plan given to 1,525 employees amounting to 1,22,230 equity shares, the market has not witnessed any major movement in the scrip.

Most of the employees of Infosys said they were not very keen to offload the shares right now. This came as a surprise to many analysts here.

The employees also took a stoic position on the erosion of the scrip value over the years. "It was always a case of notional wealth and a person accepting Esops is aware of the fact," an employee pointed.

If the employees sell the shares at the current price it would be worth Rs 47.75 crore. The market also does not expect any significant impact even if all the Esops holders decide to sell.
Daily trading volume is about 4 lakh shares on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) alone and total volumes are about 10 lakh on all exchanges.

So, any Esops shares being sold in the market would have no impact on price, said an analyst with a Chennai brokerage firm.

The price has been trading range of Rs 3,570 and Rs 3,985 for a quite sometime and is expected to continue in that range in the near future, an analyst said. The scrip closed the day at Rs 3,741, down 4.9 per cent due to selling pressure in technology stocks. About 5.69 lakh shares were traded on the NSE.
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US stocks fall on dull commerce department report
New York---US stocks prices slid on Wednesday on a Commerce Department report showing that gross domestic product--the country's total output of goods and services - inched up just 0.2 per cent in the April-June quarter, the weakest performance in eight years.
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 114.59 at 10,107.44.
The broader market was also lower with the Nasdaq composite index falling 18.01 to 1,846.97, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index declining 8.21 to 1,153.30.
The losses were spread across risky and safer sectors. Among the decliners, Gap slipped 52 cents to $19.78 after Banc of America Securities reduced its rating on the retailing stock.
Microsoft fell 69 cents to $60.05 on news that the justice department had asked the new judge in its antitrust case against the software company to discuss a schedule for moving the case along.
Among the few modest winners was Gateway, which inched up 22 cents to $8.82 after announcing a restructuring plan late Tuesday. The computer maker plans to cut 25 per cent of its global workforce and shutter operations in Asia.
Xerox was up 1 cent at $9.45.
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Buyback news makes Bombay Dyeing stock rise by 2.3 per cent
MumbaiBombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co Ltds announcement of its share buyback programme helped the stock make good gains.
The share was up by 2.3 per cent to Rs 40 and around 20,000 shares were traded on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE).

The company plans to open the buy-back offer in the first week of September and has appointed JM Morgan Stanley and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) as merchant bankers to the buyback offer.

The company will strive for around 1.02 crore of equity shares (25 per cent of the total existing share capital of the company) at a maximum price of Rs 60 per share.

After the successful open offer, the promoters stake in the company will rise to a majority level of 54 per cent. BDMCL has a total equity capital of around Rs 41 crore. Raising the stake in the company would help its promoter, Mr Nulsi Wadia to thwart any takeover bid from corporate raiders like Arun Bajoria, who was reported to have accumulated a huge stock of the company.
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