Jet matches rail fares with Super-Apex rates
Mumbai: Jet Airways has launched a new category of heavily discounted, advance purchase fares called ‘Super-Apex’ fares. The new air-fares, which are 65 per cent lower than the normal rates, are only marginally higher than first-class rail fares on most routes.

The Super-Apex fare on the Mumbai-Kolkata sector, for instance, is Rs 3,600, while the first-class train fare is Rs 4,336. These fares are inclusive of inland travel tax and passenger service fee. The earlier category of apex (advance purchase) tickets were roughly 50% of normal fares and had to be purchased 15 days in advance. The Super-Apex tickets have to be bought at least 30 days before the date of travel. The cancellation fee for ‘Super-Apex’ tickets is a flat rate of 50% for all tickets cancelled within a month of travel. If the tickets are cancelled before a month, the passenger has to bear only an adminstrative charge, airline sources said.
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Birla VXL to delist from 3 SEs
New Delhi: Birla VXL Ltd has decided to delist the equity shares of the company from the Saurashtra, Delhi and Calcutta Stock Exchanges. This is, however, subject to approval of shareholders. The decision to delist the shares was taken at a meeting of the committee of directors.
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Apollo board clears buyback, cancellation
New Delhi: The board of director of Apollo Tyres Ltd (ATL) on Friday approved the buyback and cancellation of 36.90 lakh shares of the company. This represented about 10.16 per cent of the equity capital of the company prior to the buyback. These shares, which were held by the notified parties including the Harshad Mehta Group, have been purchased and cancelled by the company in line with the final directives of the Supreme Court and the Special Court in Mumbai that went into the Securities Scam of 1992. Consequent to the share buyback and cancellation, the equity capital of the company stands reduced to Rs 32.63 crore.
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BEL gets BgSE `best co' award
Bangalore: Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has become the first PSU to be adjudged the `best company' for 2002-03 by the Bangalore Stock Exchange (BgSE). BgSE has been giving the award for the past six years to the best company chosen by experts based on criteria such as wealth creation, transparency in disclosures, corporate governance and compliance with statutory and listing requirements. The evaluation for the award was made by Prof M.S. Narasimhan of IIM-Bangalore.
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Medicorp repays high-cost debt
Hyderabad: The board of directors of Medicorp Technologies India Ltd, the pharmaceutical company promoted by the Chennai-based Shriram group and currently in the process of merging with the Hyderabad-based Matrix Laboratories Ltd, had resolved to repay the high-cost rupee loans of ICICI Ltd and IIBI Ltd. In line with this, Medicorp told stock exchanges, it has repaid the entire outstanding loans to these institutions. However, the company did not disclose the amounts involved. Following the repayment of loans to ICICI, the financial institution withdrew the nomination of K. Bharathan from the board of Medicorp, the exchanges were informed.
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Eicher Motors sales up in April
New Delhi: Eicher Motors Ltd (EML) sold 580 commercial vehicles in the domestic market in April against 402 in the corresponding month of the previous year - a rise of 44 per cent. A release issued by EML said that overall sales of the company, including exports, grew 14 per cent to 677 vehicles as against 592. The overall sales in April represents the highest-ever sales recorded by the company in the month of April since the company commenced operations in the mi-eighties and it include export of 97 of its light and medium commercial vehicles.
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Eveready back on profit path
Kolkata: Everready Industries India Ltd, the flagship company of B.M. Khaitan, is back in the black with a net profit of Rs 11.13 crore for the year ended March 31, 2003, after a year of loss of Rs 153.32 crore in 2001-02. Addressing a press conference, Mr Deepak Khaitan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Eveready Industries, said that all the divisions of the company registered some sort of success. While battery sales increased by 17.7 per cent, flashlights registered its highest sales of 10.76 million pieces. The packet tea business recorded significant gains. The bulk tea division, despite an industry wide stagnancy in price and consumption, consolidated its operations by reducing production cost and improving quality.
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Vizag Steel loses Rs 20 cr on power grid hitches
Viskhapatnam: The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has suffered a loss of as much as Rs 20 crore during the past fortnight or so due to the disturbances in the power grid and the consequent hitches in production. This is a heavy blow to a plant which turned around in 2002-03 due to the upsurge in the international steel market and touched a turnover of Rs 5,000 crore. The loss was disclosed by the Chairman and Managing Director, B.K Panda, at a meeting of small-scale entrepreneurs in the plant.
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BIFR asks Guj Filament for investment details
New Delhi: Gujarat Filaments Ltd (GFL) has been directed by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) to give reasons why the company had made further investments even though it was incurring losses. The board also directed GFL to submit year-wise details of the investments made and whether the accounts with the secured creditors were regular when the investments were made. The BIFR bench directed GFL to do so along with its response to the objections raised by ICICI on the present reference filed by the company to the board. At the recent hearing, the board directed ICICI to submit the details of the objections made by it on the company's reference to BIFR. The bench recalled that the earlier reference filed by the company on the basis of its financial statements of March 31, 2000, was dismissed on May 15, 2002 as time barred.
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Suven Pharma to set up tech centre in US
Hyderabad: Suven Pharmaceuticals Ltd (SPL), the Hyderabad-based contract research and manufacturing services provider, proposes to set up its technology development centre in the US. In a communiqué to stock exchanges, SPL said it has incorporated a company in the name of Suven Life Sciences USA-LLC, as its wholly-owned subsidiary in the US.
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Coromandel to buy EID Parry farm unit
Hyderabad: Coromandel Fertilisers Ltd, the Hyderabad-based fertilisers major belonging to the Chennai-based Murugappa group of companies, proposes to acquire the farm input division of EID Parry India Ltd, another group company, in terms of a scheme of arrangement. In a communication to stock exchanges, the company said its board of directors was scheduled to meet on May 12, 2003 to consider the proposed acquisition of the farm input division of EID Parry.
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Nikit holding in Visaka tops 5 per cent
Hyderabad: NIKIT Investment Pvt Ltd (NIPL) has informed the stock exchanges that it has acquired 94,690 equity shares of Rs 10 each of Visaka Industries Ltd (VIL), the Hyderabad-based asbestos cement sheets and fabric company with multiple manufacturing facilities.NIPL said it acquired VIL shares during April 15 to May 2, 2003. With this acquisition, their shareholding in VIL exceeds five per cent of the share capital of the company and as on May 2 stood at 5,39,600 equity shares, which constitutes 5.05 per cent of total capital of VIL, the exchanges were informed.
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Dhampur Sugar gets nod for debt recast
Mumbai: Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd has informed the BSE that the Corporate Debt Restructuring Cell has approved the proposal for restructuring the company's financial liabilities on terms cleared by majority of lenders. According to its official statement, the terms of restructuring include — reduction of interest to PLR of respective bank/ICICI; conversion of outstanding interest for a OD of 18 months into zero coupon loans; repayment of term loans/redemption of privately-placed debentures to commence from December 2005 in 28 quarterly instalments; waiver of compound interest, liquidated damages and penal interest and rescheduling of existing zero coupon loans.
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Gujarat Gas Co to redeem NCDs soon
Mumbai: Gujarat Gas Company Ltd, a subsidiary of British Gas, will redeem its entire Rs 80-crore non-convertible debentures issued in 1998 by June, rendering the company ``virtually debt-free''. According to a senior company official, the debentures, which are due for redemption in 2005, were issued to raise money for GGCL's Hapi pipeline and are the only debt on the books of company that has Rs 151.26-crore cash reserves.
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Jaiprakash Inds begins Taj Expressway construction
New Delhi: Jaiprakash Industries Ltd (JIL) has started construction of the Rs 1,650 crore, 160 kilometres, 6-lane Taj Expressway between Greater Noida and Agra. JIL has entered into a concession agreement with Taj Expressway Industrial Development Authority, a Uttar Pradesh government’s nodal agency to develop, construct and operate the highway. The highway will be constructed through virgin area along the eastern bank of river Yamuna. The expressway’s alignment will pass along the proposed Gautam Budha University, the Taj Special Economic Zone and International Hub Airport.
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Honda Siel unveils new SUV
New Delhi: Honda Siel Cars India on Friday unveiled its popular sports utility vehicle (SUV) Honda CR-V with a price tag of Rs 14-15 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The CR-V will be imported as a completely built unit (CBU) and will be available by July-end. The SUV will be pitched against Chevrolet Forester and Suzuki Grand Vitara, launched recently. The second generation Honda CR-V is the most recent version available internationally in the CR-V series. The CR-V will come fitted with a 1998cc and 142 brake horse power (bhp) engine sports features like anti-locking brake system, dual air bags and an engine immobiliser.
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MHADA plots release to spurt BKC realty construction biz
Mumbai: The Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) will witness a spurt in real estate construction with the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) releasing another five plots for development. A senior MHADA official said that they had received a very encouraging response to a tender floated by it for selling its five plots at the complex. The plots range from 3,000 sq mt to 6,000 sq mt each. He added that 18 prospective buyers have submitted their bids. The eligibility of the buyers was under scrutiny and the plots would be awarded in the next fortnight.
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Pharma Inc to raise fake drug issue with centre
New Delhi: A delegation of pharma firms of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is meeting the health minister and ministry officials next week to discuss ways to curb the menace of the Rs 4,000-crore spurious drugs industry. The Mashelkar panel formed earlier this year to look into the issue is also expected to submit its recommendations within eight weeks. The meeting is part of industry efforts to sensitise authorities on the problem and galvanise them into more effective action. Nicholas Piramal chairman Ajay Piramal, expected to be part of the meeting, told that only 4,000 out of 20,000 drug manufacturers in the country are registered, with India accounting for 35 per cent of the world’s spurious drugs.
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Rourkela Steel growth trend steady in April
Bhubaneswar: Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), which showed a healthy growth in 2002-03, has continued with the trend in April 2003 as well. During April 2003, the steel plant recorded the best ever performance for any month of April since inception, in the production of sinter, hot metal, continuous cast slabs from CCM-I & CCM-II and crude steel (total). By producing 2,11,768 tonne of sinter, 1,39,554 tonne of hot metal, 1,26,279 tonne of continuous cast slabs, RSP has achieved significant growth in these items compared to April 2002, according to a spokesperson for the plant.
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KoPT achieves 60 per cent growth in net surplus in 2002-03
Kolkata: Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) has reported a net surplus of Rs 191.3 crore for the financial year 2002-03, a 60 per cent growth over previous year’s surplus of Rs 120.3 crore. Announcing the performance of KoPT for the financial year 2002-03 here on Friday, KoPT chairman Dr AK Chanda said that with the increasing flow of traffic in the current year it was expected that KoPT surplus would grow 15 per cent in 2003-04. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Chanda said that KoPT had created a record for itself in cargo-handling for the first time in its history of 133 years. As much as 35.75 million tonne of cargo passed through the port during 2002-03 giving it “the third position among all major ports of India,” he said. Out of the 35.75 million tonne, the Kolkata Dock System (KDS) handled 7.201 million tonne and the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) handled 28.552 million tonne.
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Q4 net of 393 cos up 27.8 per cent
Mumbai: About 393 companies, which announced their Q4 results till date for the period ended Jan-Mar 2003, have recorded 27.80 per cent increase in net profit. The rise has been from Rs 5,969.04 crore to Rs 7,627.81 crore. The companies, which made a significant contribution, are Kochi Refineries, GE Shipping, Himachal Futuristic, McDowell & Co, Century Enka and Bank of India.

Net profit figures of Kochi Refineries showed a whooping jump from Rs 26.20 crore to Rs 290.60 crore. But for other income, the trend is seen in all other parameters like sales, operating profit, gross profit, etc. Sales increased by more than 85 per cent.
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Jubilant Organosys profit zooms 104 per cent to Rs 48 crore
New Delhi: Jubilant Organosys (formerly Vam Organics) has reported a 104 per cent increase in profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 48.1 crore for the year ended March 31, 2003 as compared to Rs 23.6 crore the year before. Net sales rose 19 per cent to Rs 710.5 crore compared to Rs 595.1 crore in 2001-02. The board of directors also announced a dividend of 90 per cent for the year, which amounts to a payout including dividend tax of Rs 7.44 crore. This is 20 per cent higher than the previous year’s payout of Rs 6.22 crore. The earning per share (EPS) works out to Rs 32.79 (face value Rs 5 per share) for 2002-03 compared to Rs 18.12 the year before. The fourth quarter (Q4) net sales went up 18 per cent to Rs 182.9 crore from Rs 154.7 crore during the corresponding period of the previous year, while PAT increased 11 per cent to Rs 10 crore from Rs 9 crore. EPS for the quarter was Rs 6.82 compared to Rs 5.82 for the Q4 of the year before.

Apollo Tyres net up 226 per cent to Rs 120 crore
New Delhi: Apollo Tyres Ltd on Friday announced a 226 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 120.02 crore for the year ended March 2003 from Rs 36.81 crore in the previous year. The company’s turnover rose 18.5 per cent to Rs 2,025.62 crore from Rs 1,710.14 crore during 2001-02. Operating profit before depreciation jumped 110 per cent to Rs 183.27 crore from Rs 87.08 crore last year.

It has also announced a dividend of 45 per cent to its shareholders. For the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company reported a turnover of Rs 542.28 crore, up 15 per cent from Rs 473.15 crore for the same period last year. Net profit in the quarter stood at Rs 28.96 crore, higher by 56 % compared to Rs 18.51 crores during the fourth quarter last year.
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VAT dented pharma cos’ quarter performance
New Delhi: The uncertainty over implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT) has dented the bottomlines of top pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithkline Pharmaceuticals, Ranbaxy, Aventis Pharma and Wockhardt for the quarter ended March 31.
“The companies suffered specially during March as traders were reluctant to pick up stocks due to uncertainty prevailed during that time over the implementation of VAT from April 1. A very marginal impact on performance is still expected for quarter ending June as confusion on VAT still persists,” Indian Drug Manufacturers Association president Yogin Majmudar said.
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