Ranbaxy net profit up 68 per cent
Mumbai: The net profit of Ranbaxy, which has declared results for the quarter ended September 2001, has gone up to Rs 89 crore from Rs 53 crore last year - a jump of 68 per cent. Net sales have gone up to Rs 538 crore from Rs 464 crore last year - an increase of 16 per cent. The results include an extraordinary inflow of Rs 72.7 crore on account of the sale of stake in Ranbaxy Eli Lilly and a provision for loss of investment of Rs 30 crore in the same subsidiary.
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Hughes Software Q2 net down 52%
Mumbai: IT company Hughes Software's second quarter net profit fell to Rs 6.3 crore from Rs 13.10 crore a year ago - a decline of 52 per cent. Net sales but went up from Rs 44.4 crore to Rs 53.6 crore - an increase of 20.72 per cent. The company has suffered on its profitability mainly because of a huge rise in its manpower cost, which has risen by 84.67 per cent during July and September 2001. The company's growth numbers reflect the slowdown in the world's telecom sector and its parent company Hughes Telecom, which is the Indian counterparts largest client.
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10 Indian firms in best small companies list
New Delhi: Ten Indian firms have made it to the Forbes Global list of 200 Best Small Companies in the World. These include Global Telesystems, Infosys, NIIT, Rolta India and Satyam omputer in the information technology sector, Cipla, Dr Reddys Laboratories and Sun harmaceuticals in the pharmaceuticals space and HDFC Bank and Zee Telefilms. The list is a part of Forbes Globals October 29 issue. Forbes Global is the international edition of the American business magazine Forbes Magazine Only three countries - the United Kingdom with 18 entries, China with 15 and Denmark with 11- have more companies in the list than India
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TVS Suzuki Q2 net profit down 48.67%
Chennai: TVS-Suzuki has reported a net profit of Rs 103.9 million for the quarter ended 30 September 2001 as compared to a net profit of Rs 202.4 million for the quarter ended 30 September 2000. Net Sales declined from Rs 4601.2 million in SQ-00 to Rs 4282.5 million in the current quarter ended 30 September 2001. Other income increased from Rs 17.7 million in the quarter ended 30 September 2000 to Rs 42.8 million in the current quarter ended 30 September 2001.
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Govt amends Companies Act
New Delhi: The Central government has amended a vital schedule of the Companies Act for facilitating disinvestment of five sectors of coal, minerals, metals, including zinc, petroleum products and petro chemicals. The move is being seen as part of efforts to speed up the divestment process. The list of sectors would cover companies like Hindustan Zinc and IBP. The amendment withdraws exemptions granted to state monopolies in these sectors. Through this amendment, the divestment of these sectors would no longer be under the purview of the Companies Act, 1954.
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UTI board clears steps for HR overhaul
New Delhi: The board of trustees of the Unit Trust of India on 11 October cleared a slew of steps that would lead to a virtual overhaul of the human resources systems at the mutual fund behemoth. The UTI is also likely to hire the services of an HR consultant to give concrete shape to its proposal of introducing a variable component in the pay packet for its managers, which would be linked to performance.
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Arvind Mills sells properties
Ahmedabad: Arvind Mills, reeling under cash crunch, has sold off its realties in Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad for around Rs 100 crore. The assets have been sold as part of an agreement with the lenders, who have agreed to the Rs 2,500-crore debt-restructuring plan of the company. As part of debt recast plan, the consortium of lenders has asked Arvind Mills to raise fresh funds of Rs 275 crore at the time of its implementation.
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Escorts tractor units close shop
New Delhi: Tractor production at Escorts groups flagship company Escorts has come to a complete halt with the workers at the plant manufacturing Farmtrac tractors joining the striking workers at the unit that produces Powertrac and Escort brand tractors. Both the units have an installed manufacturing capacity of 72,000 tractors every year. Though the production loss at both the units put together is about 150 tractors per day, going by the previous years production figure of 45,000 tractors, the management and the unions are sticking to their guns and the impasse could continue for several weeks to come.
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IA may levy new surcharge
Bangalore: Indian Airlines may levy an additional surcharge of Rs 175-200 on every sector flown by a passenger from January to February 2002, if the government does not extend the time-frame of its bail-out package. The surcharge will be used to pay for the enhanced war risk cover of up to $500 million. Since the Cabinet note put up for clearance is only meant for a government guarantee for 90 days or till mid-January, IA may be forced to generate additional funds from its passengers to cover the third party insurance liabilities. The airline flies about 70 lakh passengers annually.
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ABTO complains about loss to BSNL
The Association of Basic Telecom Operators (ABTO) has sent a letter to TRAI pointing out huge losses being borne by basic phone operators, which are happening on account of cellular operators carrying STD traffic. According to the ABTO, the losses accruing to BSNL could be as much as Rs 3,000 crore per month. This is happening because the cellular service providers are transferring calls from landlines to cell phones all over a circle at local call rates.
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