ABB Q1 net up 31%
Mumbai: Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) has reported a 31.35% rise in net profit to Rs 6.20 crore for the first quarter ended 31 March 2002 when compared with Rs 4.72 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

The total income has increased 19% to Rs 243.67 crore as against Rs 204.02 crore in Q1FY01.
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IOC to go it alone for IPCL
New Delhi: IOC has decided to bid alone for IPCL with the ONGC likely to join IOC at a later stage.

IOC, which is vying with Reliance and Nirma for IPCL, has held parleys with ONGC on financing its solo bid.
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Satyam net up 55.02%
Mumbai: Satyam Computer Services Ltd has posted a profit after tax of Rs 1151.53 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2002 as compared to Rs 1113.43 million in the corresponding period last fiscal. Total income has increased from Rs 3842.42 million to Rs 4825.59 million.

The company posted a profit after tax of Rs 4901.28 million for the year ended 31 March 2002 as compared to Rs 3161.63 million in the year ended 31 March 2001.

The company incurred an extraordinary expenditure of Rs 407.53 million for the year ended 31 March 2002 after consideration of which the net profit for FY-2002 is at Rs 4493.75 million as compared to Rs 4862.88 million for FY-01 which is after consideration of an extraordinary income of Rs 1701.25 million for the financial year ended 31 March 2001.
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Bottlers keen to pick Coke stake
New Delhi: Coca-Cola's domestic bottlers are willing to acquire a stake in its Indian bottling operations in case it decides to divest 49 per cent stake.

Coke has the option to place 49 per cent equity if it does not get a waiver on the mandatory disinvestment condition that it has sought from the government.

The US beverage major has 16 franchisee-owned bottling companies and 33 company-owned bottling operations.

The Ladhani family of UP, the Kandharis of Punjab, the Aggarwals of Delhi and Goenkas of Kolkata, who own the bottling companies, said they are willing to participate in any private placement by Coke.

While the company has asked the government to waive off or at least defer the divestment clause by at least five years, Coke was also exploring the possibility of private placements.

Coca-Cola is hopeful that the government will consider its request for a waiver or the deferment of the divestment more leniently.
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Sundaram Newton to launch five schemes
Chennai: Sundaram Newton Asset Management Company (AMC) is planning to launch five new schemes.

The launch includes three equity plans, aggressive growth, mid-cap and value funds, and two debt products, income plus and select debt fund. The launch will see the AMC cross Rs 1,000 crore in terms of assets under management by this year-end. At present, it manages assets worth Rs 700 crore.

At present, Sundaram Newton manages six funds: pure growth and bond fund, balanced fund, money fund and gilt fund and tax-saving fund.
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Gillette kicks off World Cup football campaigns
New Delhi: Gillette India has announced two mega promotions aimed at Indian football fans and consumers. The Duracell Cup of Joy and Win Rs 5 crore are part of its strategy to leverage the forthcoming soccer World Cup. One winner from each campaign will be chosen through a lucky draw.

These two lucky winners along with a partner will be entitled to an all expenses paid trip to Yokohama, Japan, and will get to attend the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in addition to other prizes.

For the Rs 5 crore mega prize, the winner will compete with winners from 50 other countries to qualify for the final kick. Sixteen contestants who win the pre-qualifying Spot the ball competition on 28 June will move on to a kick-off in Yokohoma on 29 June, one day before the final match.

Gillette, which is probably the longest standing corporate sponsor of FIFA World Cup, is also planning to bring the prestigious FIFA World Cup Champions Trophy for the first time to India.
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Silverline sets up techFusion
Hyderabad: Silverline Technologies has formed techFusion, a strategic group within the company, to conduct industry-focused technology study.

The new group will provide thought leadership and deliver competitive business advantage for the company and its constituents, including new and existing clients as well as partners, a company statement said.

The mission of the group is to pursue advanced strategic research on industry-focused emerging technologies, collect and disseminate acquired new knowledge, investigate and build competencies and components and to develop best practices and standards around them.
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Telco arm develops wheelchairs
Mumbai: TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a company carved out of Telco a couple of years ago, is developing motorised wheelchairs, powerised beds and artificial limbs, which are to be introduced in the domestic market shortly.

The artificial limbs which will be introduced in the market next month will be priced at Rs 18,000 a pair, and will have a life of 10 years.

TAL was formed by spinning off the engineering capabilities of Telco a couple of years back, and the company has been in a restructuring mode ever since.
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Cummins Info to merge with KPIT Infosys
Mumbai: Cummins Infotech plans to merge with Indian software services firm KPIT Infosystems.

The board of the two firms based in Pune would meet on 30 April, to discuss the terms of the merger.

KPIT Infosystems would be renamed KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd after the merger.

Cummins Inc holds a 49 per cent stake in Cummins Infotech while Cummins India holds the rest.
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Tata Chem-Rallis fertiliser deal set for split
Mumbai: The decade-old fertiliser marketing arrangement between Tata Chemicals and Rallis India is heading for a split. Tata Chemicals, which sells branded urea through the marketing outfits of Rallis, is set to make its own arrangements for marketing.

The move, caused by the restructuring initiatives in both Tata group companies, will be taken up by the respective boards for approval shortly.
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Hyatt to buy 50% stake in Mumbai hotel
Mumbai: Hyatt International is investing Rs 312 crore for a 50 per cent equity stake in Grand Hyatt, Mumbai.

This is one of the largest foreign direct investments (FDI) in the Indian hospitality sector.

Hyatt International is investing in the Grand Hyatt jointly with the Delhi-based RS Saraf group. The Saraf family, along with Sushil Gupta and Shiv Jatia already has an equity stake in the Delhi-based Asian Hotels, which manages the Hyatt Regency brand.
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P&G Health Q3 net down 42%
Mumbai: Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Healthcare has posted a 42 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 12.1 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2002, compared with Rs 20.8 crore in the corresponding previous period.

However, the net profit for the previous quarter included an extraordinary income of Rs 10.5 crore. Excluding extraordinary and other income, net profit rose 8 per cent, the company said.

The companys sales have dropped by almost 10 per cent to Rs 90.9 crore from Rs 101.1 crore.
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IDBI, Exim move to recall Daewoo loan
Mumbai: Industrial Development Bank of India and Exim Bank are moving in to recall loans of Rs 400 crore to Daewoo India.

The financial institutions would be simultaneously filing for an invocation of guarantee given by Daewoo Corporation against the loans.

IDBI, ICICI and Exim Bank have a total exposure of around Rs 900 crore in Daewoo India.
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Asahi India net up 49%
New Delhi: Asahi Safety Glass has announced a 49 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 11.86 crore for 2001-02 over Rs 7.96 crore in previous year.

The companys subsidiary Float Glass India also turned black during the fiscal by posting a net profit of Rs 4.30 crore after incurring losses of Rs 13.24 crore a year ago, an Asahi India statement said.

Asahi Indias total sales grew by 4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 233 crore from Rs 224 crore. Float Glass, in which Asahi India had acquired 80 per cent stake recently, clocked a 25 per cent jump in total sales at Rs 243.93 crore against Rs 194.94 crore.
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Syngene to spend $5m for expansion
Mumbai: Syngene International, a contract research firm, is planning to invest $5 m to fund the companys future growth plans.

Additional facilities, including pilot-scale facilities in biology and chemistry which meet internationally acceptable manufacturing standards, will be set up within the next three months.

The research firm will be adding new services like high throughput screening to its portfolio while also enhancing the scope of existing services.
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DIC Asia Pac to buy 59% in Coates
Kolkata: Singapore-based DIC Asia Pacific has decided to acquire 59.42 per cent stake of Coates of India (COIL) for 1,15,94,000 euros (Rs 50 crore).

DIC Asia Pacific is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dalnippon Ink & Chemicals (DIC) of Japan.

DIC Asia Pacific is proposing to acquire 40,91,174 equity shares of Rs 10 each representing 59.42 per cent of COIL.

The shares are currently held by Sun Chemicals Group BV of Netherlands, which is also a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese firm DIC.
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Rittal India to expand Bangalore unit
Bangalore: Rttal India will invest Rs 5.5 crore to expand its facility in the city.

The company plans to invest Rs 3.5 crore on its electrocoating facility to be set up on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Rittal India will also pump in additional Rs 2 crore to set up a facility to make enclosure cooling units.

This facility, which will commence production by June 2002, will initially employ 40 to 50 personnel, mainly drawn from its enclosure manufacturing unit.
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PTC ventures into futures trading
New Delhi: Power Trading Corp has made a small start in futures trading, committing to pick up power produced by an upcoming project for 30 years.

PTC has tied up with private developers for offtake of power for 30 years from a new 37-megawatt hydropower plant being set up in Orissa.
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Union Bank gets RBI nod for IPO
Mumbai: Union Bank of India has received an in-principle clearance from Reserve Bank of India and Central government for its proposed Rs 300-crore IPO slated for end-June.

The bank proposes to return Rs 58 crore equity to the government, bringing down its equity capital to Rs 280 crore before the issue.

Although the pricing of the shares would be decided closer to the issue date, the bank proposes to have a public shareholding of around 32 per cent. Indications are that the issue would be priced at Rs 23 per share.
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Maheshwar Hydel to issue Rs 330cr bonds
Mumbai: Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation, which is setting up a 400 mega-watt, Rs 2,254-crore hydel power project will soon float optionally convertible bonds of Rs 330 crore to bridge the gap created by the exit of its foreign partner, the US-based Ogden.

The company has received a Madhya Pradesh government standby guarantee for Rs 330 crore bonds.

The power project has suffered major time overrun after its foreign equity partners walked out for various reasons.
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Archies launches stationery for children
New Delhi: Archies Greeting and Gifts has launched its kids stationery division as part of the expansion plan.

Through this division, a new range of stationery products like crayons, pencils, erasers, rulers etc would be rolled out in the market.

To start with, AG&G would launch crayons in the Delhi market and then penetrate other regions.

The crayons range is available in two variations: wax crayons and plastic crayons. The product is claimed to be easy to hold, non-toxic and can be erased and sharpened easily.
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UB to offer Rs 108 cr for Empee arm
Bangalore: United Breweries (UB) is making a Rs 108-crore offer to acquire the Chennai-based Empee group's brewing business. The deal is likely to be formalised in the next few weeks.

Empee has operational breweries in Chennai and at Palakkad in Kerala. The cumulative monthly brewing capacity is estimated at 4.6 lakh cases.
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Mukta sells film rights to Sony
Mumbai: Mukta Arts Ltd has sold the satellite telecast rights of its entire movie library of 11 films to Sony Entertainment Television India Private Ltd (SET) for Rs 16.1 crore.

The contract is for a period of five years.

The company's library include films such as Hero, Karma, Trimurti, Karz, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Pardes, Taal, Yaadein and Rahul.
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Applogic to offer Net telephony
Hyderabad: Applogic Broadband Systems Ltd will be shortly launching Internet telephony in Andhra Pradesh.

The company proposes to connect all the district headquarters and other potential places through a network of PCOs, cyber cafes and voice cafes. Applogic has applied to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for the necessary amendments to its ISP licence.
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GSPL to build pipeline
Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSPL) has firmed up plans to lay a massive gas transmission trunk line between Hazira and Bharuch at an outlay of Rs 190 crore.

The infrastructure is being created for the offtake of gas from the Royal Dutch Shell group's LNG regassification terminal at Hazira, an integral part of the port being constructed by Shell Gas BV.

GSPL has signed a memorandum of intent with Shell Hazira Gas Pvt Ltd, the first step towards signing a gas transportation agreement (GTA), to this effect.
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Hughes ties up with NavinMail
Mumbai: Hughes Tele.com India Ltd has tied up with NavinMail Services (India) Pvt Ltd (TeliVoice) for their Voice Messaging Service (VMS).

This service priced at Rs 6 per minute will allow Hughes Tele.com users to send voice messages to any phone in the US or Canada, both cellular as well as fixed lines. The service will be launched in June 2002.
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Mascot signs pact with Singapore co
Bangalore: Mascot Systems Ltd has entered into a three-year $1.5 million offshore-centric contract with an international corporation in Singapore. As part of the arrangement, Mascot will provide support and maintenance to the client's critical business applications.

The engagement will commence with the initial knowledge transfer phase at the client site during which the Mascot project team will get a detailed understanding of the client's requirements. Subsequently, a significant part of the delivery will be transferred offshore. The project team was expected to comprise six onsite and seven offshore resources, said a company press release.
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Henkel relaunches Fa toilet soap
Chennai: Henkel Spic India Ltd, makers of the Fa range of deodorants, talcum powder and toilet soaps has relaunched the Fa toilet soaps range.

Launched first in April 2000 with three variants - Caribbean Lemon, Aqua and Exotic Garden, the relaunch has seen a new variant in Wild Sandal being introduced while Exotic has been dropped from the portfolio.

The price has also seen a substantial drop by Rs 3 to Rs 12 for a 75 gms cake of soap. A new communication campaign for the relaunched brand will be aired from mid-May.
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Makino India lines up Rs 150-cr investment
Bangalore: Japanese machine tool major Makinos fully-owned Indian subsidiary Makino India plans to invest Rs 150 crore in the country in the next three years. The new investments would also cover the costs for setting up a software development centre and call centre.

The technology centre with an investment of Rs 36 crore would focus on locating global machine design, technical and application support, manufacture of critical components for machine centres, sourcing precision components and sub assemblies and R&D for machining processes and machine design.
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