SAP to invest 23 m euros in India lab
Bangalore: SAP AG has earmarked 23 million euros for investment in expanding the operations of SAP Labs India during the current calendar year.

Fresh investments of 23 million euros, up two million euros from the previous year, is being made in expanding the infrastructure and would also be utilised for the development activities.

SAP Labs India is also planning to increase its headcount to 750 by the end of the year from the present 500.

SAP Labs India is an integral part of SAP's global development environment with a distributed and collaborative network.
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Zenith acquires Sai Global Tech
Bangalore: Zenith Software Ltd, part of the Rs 300-crore Zenith group of companies, has acquired Sai Global Technologies.

ZSL provides software services to clients in the US, UK, Singapore and Sweden in the areas of insurance, banking and financial services.

The acquisition of Sai Global will help the company expand in a big way into telecom, embedded system and VLSI design in India and abroad.

Sai Global's focus is chip design, embedded and high-speed board design. The company works with several global majors in the areas of design for testability, Giga Hz board design and validation and verification services.
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Birlas buy out Yamaha in genset JV
Mumbai: Yamaha Motor Company has sold its entire holding of 27.9 per cent in Birla Yamaha to Birla International.

After the acquisition, Birla International will hold 29.8 per cent stake in the company and the acquisition is part of exchange of stakes between the Indian promoters and the foreign collaborator.
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Reliance Infocom eyes Sifys corporate Net biz
Mumbai: Reliance Infocom is keen to buy the coporate services business of Satyam Infoway.

Reliance would like to use Satyam Infoways readymade network infrastructure instead of building a network of its own.

Sifys corporate services business includes Internet commerce, high-end data transfer, electronic data interchange, virtual private network, Web-hosting, Net venture, e-communities, corporate training and Web-conferencing.
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Coca Cola India can go for pvt placement
New Delhi: Coca-Cola India has the option of privately placing up to 49% equity in case the government does not grant a waiver of the mandatory disinvestment condition sought by the company.

As per the collaboration agreement Coca-Cola signed at the time of its re-entry into India, the company will have to divest up to 49% stake by July this year.

Coca-Cola has approached the government on several ocassions seeking a waiver from the condition, citing accumulated losses and its nability to come out with a public issue.

The case is likely to come up for discussion before the FIPB within a couple of weeks.
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Reliance Capital net up 8.31%
Mumbai: Reliance Capital has posted an 8.31 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 101.22 crore for the year ended 31 March 2001 as compared to Rs 93.45 crore last year.

The board has recommended a 29 per cent dividend (Rs 2.90 per share) for the financial year 2001-02, the company said in a release here.

The net income from operations grew to Rs 136.58 crore for 2001-02 while it stood at Rs 128.43 crore in the previous fiscal, it said.

The company said it had changed the basis of providing depreciation from straight-line method to written down value method in respect of buildings.

For the fourth quarter ended March 2002, the company's net profit slumped by 6.36 per cent to Rs 25.75 crore as against Rs 27.5 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

The total income has increased from Rs 129.7 crore in Q4 2000-01 to Rs 138.87 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2002, the release added.
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Bharti announces up to 50% reduction in ISD rates
New Delhi: International long distance telephony tariffs are set to fall significantly with Bharti Group announcing up to 50 per cent reduction in call charges.

Bharti has decided to charge Rs 24 a minute for an ISD call to the US and American subcontinent during peak hour compared to Rs 40 being charged by Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL), as and when the company launches its services on commercial basis.

The consumers, however, will not be able to enjoy the benefits that Bharti promise till VSNL matches the rates.
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Hughes Software Q4 net down 43%
Mumbai: Hughes Software Systems has reported a 42.53% fall in net profit to Rs 12.7 crore for the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2002 when compared with Rs 22.1 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Total income has decreased to Rs 61.2 crore from Rs 64.5 crore.

The company's net profit in FY02 has fallen 17.01% to Rs 52.2 crore from Rs 62.9 crore in FY01. Total income has increased to Rs 248.10 crore from Rs 209.5 crore.

The board recommended a dividend of 40% (Rs 2 per share with a face value of Rs 5).

The stock was up 2% (Rs 6) to Rs 275 at 1430 hrs on the BSE.
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Camlin India net up 49.27%
Mumbai: Camlin India, makers of stationery and art materials, has posted a 49.27 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 3.09 crore for the year ended 31 March 2002 compared to Rs 2.07 crore for the same period the previous year.

Net sales for the period under review showed a 9.01 per cent growth at Rs 182.26 crore (Rs 167.19 crore), a company release said here adding that Rs 69.34 lakh has been set aside as deferred taxes for last fiscal.

The company said higher profits were largedly due to tight control in inventory, substantial reduction of debtors and cost savings. This year, it plans to focus on modernisation of existing plants and focus on new range of products on fashion, hobby and writing instruments.
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Guj Ambuja Q3 net down 9%
Mumbai: Gujarat Ambuja Cement has reported a 9.27% decrease in net profit to Rs 54.38 crore for the third quarter ended 31 March 2002 when compared with Rs 59.94 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

Total income has increased to Rs 381.75 crore from Rs 344.56 crore.
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Fiat to ramp up production by 50%
New Delhi: Fiat India will be increasing production at its Kurla, Mumbai unit by around 50 per cent this year.

It currently produces 200 cars (Palios and Unos) a day through two shifts.

The production will be going up from around 5,000 vehicles now to 7,500 per month.

The company wants the production to stabilise between 7,500-10,000 a month in the short-term.

The company has so far invested Rs 2,200 crore in India. Fiat India is a 98 per cent subsidiary of the Italian giant, while the balance 2 per cent is held by the Doshis of Premier Auto.

Fiat will also launch an upgraded version of the Siena next month.

The new Siena will sport either a 1.2 litre or a 1.6 litre engine with at least two variants in each engine category.
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VisualSoft Q4 net crashes 59%
Mumbai: VisualSoft Technologies has reported a 58.94% fall in net profit to Rs 6.44 crore for the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2002 when compared with Rs 15.68 crore in Q4FY01. Total income has decreased to Rs 27.54 crore from Rs 34.52 crore.

The company's net profit in FY02 fell 58.89% to Rs 25.39 crore from Rs 61.78 crore in FY01. Total income fell to Rs 108.07 crore from Rs 135.60 crore.
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Ericsson likely to cut 17,000 jobs
Stocklomn: Ericsson is expected to announce 17,000 job cuts globally. Around 10,000 Ericsson workers are expected to lose their jobs in Sweden.

Analysts' forecast a pretax loss of 4.9 billion Swedish crowns ($475.6 million) for the world's biggest mobile networks maker in the first quarter.
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German Remedies net falls 24%
Ahmedabad: German Remedies, a Zydus Cadila group company, has posted a net profit of Rs 24.91 crore for the year ended 31 March 2002, a decline of Rs 24.58 crore compared to Rs 33.03 crore in the previous year.

The companys sales posted a marginal decline of 2.8 per cent, from Rs 226.66 crore to Rs 233.11 crore. According to a company release, the decline in the net was due to the agreement for the Agilax Plant, which stipulates a progressively reducing rate of recovery.

The board of directors of GRL announced a hefty dividend of 80 per cent for the financial year 2001-02.
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GM may make Panther in India
Bangalore: General Motors is considering manufacturing the Panther in India next year to compete with the likes of Qualis and the Sumo.

The company is evaluating the market for introducing the Panther with significant localisation.

In India, the nine-seater MUV, powered by a 2.5 litre direct injection diesel engine, may come with the Chevorlet brand tag.

GM may also look at bringing forward some more variants of the Corsa and the Astra in India.
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ITC to introduce Wills sub brands
Hyderabad: ITC will launch sub-brands for its formal wears and accessories with Wills as its mother brand. The first brand from the ITC stable for its diversified business happens to be Wills Sport under which the company has launched relaxed urban wear.

ITC plans to open 100 stores in India targeting a turnover of Rs 200-250 crore from the apparel business.

The plans to launch its lifestyle stores in international markets like Middle East, Far East and Europe.
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M&M to expand fleet management
Bangalore: Mahindra & Mahindra is planning a big push for institutional sales. Part of the strategy is to grow its already robust government bulk sales, which currently comprise 10 per cent of its annual production. M&M is also looking to expand its presence in the fleet management and corporate logistics business through subsidiary Transport Solution Group (TSG).

The company is targeting cargo and passenger movement for bulk users like corporate entities, the retail sector, townships and even state transport corporations.

M&M is already handling cargo movement for 225 companies like ITC, P&G, Britannia, Nestle, Smithkline Beecham, Goodyear, LG, BPL, Godrej, Apollo Tyres, Monsanto, Mother Dairy and Pepsi. As part of its corporate transport solutions foray, TSG is currently managing the entire Coke fleet along with warehousing and cargo movement for Philips and Mother Dairy.
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HPC to invest Rs 150 crore for expansion
Kolkata: Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd (HPC) has earmarked an investment of Rs 150 crore for capacity expansion of its two paper mills.

The company is planning to expand capacity of Nagaon Paper Mill (NPM) and Cachar Paper Mill (CPM) in Assam by 30 per cent.

The company, which had an accumulated loss of Rs 520 crore, was also confident to wipe out the loss by next two years following the governments approval for waiver of outstanding interest to the tune of Rs 442 crore.
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Mahindra ind park to set up new facility
Chennai: The Chennai-based Mahindra Industrial Park Ltd is planning to set up an inland container depot terminal-cum-integrated logistics centre within the park. The company is in talks with a slew of infrastructure providers and logistic suppliers for setting up the facility and is expected to finalise suitable partners soon.

MIPL is a special purpose vehicle floated by Mahindra and Mahindra, IL&FS and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco) to develop a state-of-the-art industrial park near Maraimalainagar in the outskirts of Chennai. The capital outlay of the project is around Rs 230 crore.
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BSES accumulates Rs 960 crore losses
Mumbai:  The accumulated losses of the three distribution companies of power utility major BSES in Orissa is close to touching the Rs 1,000-crore mark as on 31 March 2002. The total accumulated losses since 1 April 1999 are estimated to be Rs 960 crore.

The total losses for the three distribution companies in the first year of business post-privatisation, that is, 1999-00 was Rs 190 crore, while the losses for 2000-01, stood at Rs 350 crore. The losses for 2001-02 stand at Rs 420 crore. The accumulated losses thus stand at Rs 960 crore.

The major reasons for the losses in the Orissa distribution companies are the furnishing of inaccurate baseline data by the government at the time of privatisation which has led to tariffs being fixed at unviable levels.
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15% drop in Bilt net profit
New Delhi: The net profit of Ballarpur Industries Ltd (Bilt) declined by 15 per cent to Rs 17.34 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2002 against Rs 20.45 crore in the corresponding period last year.

In the nine-month period ended 31 March 2002 also, the company registered a 12 per cent lower net profit at Rs 51.53 crore against Rs 58.36 crore in the same period last year.

The operating profit of the company for the nine months ended 31 March 2002 was Rs 230.44 crore against Rs 229.89 crore.
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