TotalFina opts out of HPCL rRace
Mumbai: While the Opposition continues to rock Parliament over the disinvestment of the oil public sector units (PSUs) and delay the process indefinitely, the interest of bidders seem to be on a slippery pitch. The world’s fifth largest oil company, TotalFinaElf, which was reportedly in the race for buying the 34 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), is no longer interested in the divestment of the oil PSU. TotalFina’s decision to stay away from the disinvestment of HPCL appears to be in line with its earlier move, whereby it had pulled out its chief representative from India early last year, citing slow pace of reforms and unfair investment conditions laid down by the government.
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MUL net rises 40 per cent to Rs 146 crore
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) announced 40 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 146.4 crore on a virtually flat turnover of Rs 9,426 crore for the year-ended March 2003. The company’s net profit stood at Rs 104.5 crore on a turnover of Rs 9,398.9 crore in 2001-02. Maruti Udyog’s profit before tax during the year was Rs 282.1 crore, a growth of 138 per cent over Rs 118.3 crore in 2001-02. Maruti sold 3,62,426 vehicle units during the year, a growth of about 2.8 per cent over 2001-02. Vehicle sales included exports of 32,240 units, a growth of 163 per cent over 2001-02. The profit was largely attributed to aggressive cost-cutting measures and enhanced productivity, a company statement said. Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, which raised its equity to a majority 54.2 per cent last year, said the profits was also due to enhanced productivity in in-house manufacturing and vendor facilities.
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Morepen files patents for Fluvastatin Sodium
New Delhi: Morepen Laboratories has filed international process and product patents for the drug Fluvastatin Sodium. This is the tenth patent filed by Morepen and the fourth in a period of less than a year. Fluvastatin is a cholesterol-lowering drug and has an estimated market size of Rs 2,400 crore globally that is growing at 25 per cent annually. Morepen is the only generic manufacturer of this product worldwide. Since the patent expiry of the product is by the end of this year, the company has said that a number of Canadian and European customers are working with them to launch the generic version after the patent expiry.
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Hindustan Motors net loss declines 21 per cent
Kolkata: Hindustan Motors Ltd, the CK Birla Group carmaker, has reported a net loss of around Rs 27 crore for the year to March 31, 2003, a 21 per cent decline over the previous fiscal’s net loss of Rs 34 crore. However, it reported a profit before interest and depreciation of Rs 56 crore, a 19 per cent growth over the previous fiscal’s figure of Rs 47 crore. Interest outgo declined to Rs 55 crore from Rs 60 crore and depreciation to Rs 42 crore from Rs 41 crore. Total income declined 11 per cent to Rs 904 crore from the previous fiscal’s figure of Rs 1,014 crore. Net sales or income from operations declined to Rs 892 crore from Rs 1,003 crore and the other income increased to Rs 12 crore from Rs 11 crore. The carmaker was able to shrink total expenditure to Rs 596 crore from the previous fiscal’s figure of Rs 664 crore.
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Yamaha India plans revamp
New Delhi: Yamaha Motor India Ltd (Yamaha India) is gearing up to get noticed in the bike market, dominated by the troika of Hero Hoda, TVS Motor, and Bajaj Auto. The company has thrashed out a three-year capital expenditure plan (capex) of Rs 150-crore (2003-06) to enhance the installed capacity to 7 lakh units a year - up from 4.5 lakh units a year currently. The company has also undertaken an aggressive vendor rationalisation programme to bring the number of vendors between 175-200 in the next couple of years. Yamaha India, which became a wholly-owned Yamaha Motor Co. subsidiary in June 2001, is also aiming at adding 100 dealerships this fiscal to its network of 420 dealers, following the induction of 30 dealers in fiscal 2002-03. The company also added a capacity of around 1 lakh units in 2002-03 through ‘re-balancing of certain critical manufacturing areas.’’
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Indian Hotels June 5 board meet to debate succession issue
Mumbai: The crucial issue of a successor to the managing director of Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), RK Krishna Kumar, is expected to be addressed at the company’s forthcoming board meeting on June 5.The board meeting is critical for the company as Krishna Kumar retires in July this year at the age of 65, and the meeting will put to rest speculation, which has been rife on the succession issue. No agenda has been set yet for the June 5 board meeting of the company. With little time to go, the air is clouded with questions on succession at IHCL, even as names of candidates in the reckoning are doing the round. The possibility of an outsider is not ruled out. One name that is being whispered in hushed tones is that of Tata Teleservices managing director S Ramakrishnan, who was formerly the deputy managing director of IHCL. However, no official confirmation is available, and Ramakrishnan was not reachable for his comments.
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RONW of 211 pvt sector firms up to 15.39 per cent
Mumbai: The return on networth (RONW) of 211 companies increased during 2002-03 (April-March) over the previous year, indicating an increase in the efficiency of generating higher shareholder value. It is measured in net profit as percentage of networth. Of the 211 big private sector companies selected for this study, nearly 60 per cent were found to have increased their efficiency of generating higher shareholder value. Only profit-making companies during 2002-03 and 2001-02 are considered for this study. Aggregate networth of 211 big private sector companies has increased by 10.0 per cent to Rs 89,201 crore during 2002-03 from the level of Rs 81,087 crore during 2001-02 and their combined net profit have increased by 16.67 per cent, resulting in a sharp increase in RONW, higher from 14.51 per cent in 2001-02 to 15.39 per cent in 2002-03.
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Indo National to spend Rs 15 cr on upgradation
Chennai: Indo National Ltd, which manufactures the Nippo brand of dry cell batteries, plans to invest about Rs 15.50 crore this year. The investment will be mainly on installing some balancing equipment and modernising the factories at Tada and Nellore, in Andhra Pradesh, according to company officials. The capital expenditure will also help increase utilisation levels by about 10 per cent, which now range from 60 to 85 per cent on the different lines. The capital expenditure this year will come from internal accruals. This is part of the company's strategy to be debt-free at least up to 2010, according to the officials. Indo National, according to them, decided in 1994 itself to be debt-free by 2000-end, and accordingly paid back the last of its loans in December 2000.
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Cushman & Wakefield to offer financial advice
New Delhi: Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate consulting firm, on Tuesday announced that it would offer its clients financial advice on managing their existing property or get the best out of their surplus cash by investing in commercial space. The company plans to offer a range of services and innovative solutions that would enable companies sitting on real estate to unleash its full potential, while others with idle cash to invest in property can maximise their returns, according to the executive director, Sanjay Verma. "The group will work closely with corporate clients to explore possibilities of unlocking capital from real estate portfolio and also advise at the strategic level to have optimal structuring of real estate assets in the overall balance sheet to help clients achieve cash flow and promote efficient use of capital and credit resources, besides mitigate tax burdens," he added.
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Ford Focus may hit Indian roads next year
Bangalore: Automaker Ford is planning to launch its largest selling car in the world, Focus, in India early next year and is expected to position it between its two existing models, Ikon and the Mondeo. Sources in the company said Focus might be fully imported initially though there is a possibility of some indigenisation at a later date to bring down its price. Ford Focus, which recently won the BBC Top Gear magazine's 2003 car of the year award, has been Ford's best selling car for the second consecutive year.
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Xerox DocuColor iGen 3 machine to be acquired
Hderabad: KGN Xerox, a premier digital document centre in the city, is planning to acquire a Xerox DocuColor iGen3 machine, claimed to be the best hi-end machine ever offered by the documentation company, by 2005. The machine is priced at Rs 5 crore, Mr Mohd. Akther, chief of KGN Xerox, said, addressing a news conference here. The documentation centre on Wednesday introduced `Xerox DocuColor 6060 Digital Color Press', the second machine in India, first one being installed in Bangalore. "The Rs 2-crore `workhorse' digital press can print 3,600 A4 images per hour with a resolution of 600x600 pixels per inch," G M Ghazi, product manager (Production System Groups of Xerox Modicorp Ltd), said.
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For contract manufacturing of spinels — White Circle Oxides in talks with Alcoa, other global majors
Hyderabad: White Circle Oxides Ltd (WCOL), the Hyderabad-based company engaged in the manufacture of a range of magnesium aluminate spinels (MAS), is currently in negotiations with global majors, including Alcoa, the world's largest aluminium manufacturer, for contract manufacturing opportunities. Having executed its first export order from Turkey, the company is currently negotiating with major customers in Germany, the Netherlands and other overseas markets for exporting MAS. WCOL expects to bag export orders from Germany and the Netherlands that would enable the company devote up to 50 per cent of capacity for exports, the managing director, M.V. Ramana Rao, told newspersons on Wednesday
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Tatas, TD Waterhouse venture untouched by parent's revamp
Kolkata: Operations of Tata TD Waterhouse Securities Pvt Ltd (TTDWSL), a 50:50 joint venture between, the Tatas and TD Waterhouse Inc of the US, is untouched by TD Waterhouse International's restructuring plan and review of operations of some of its international joint ventures. On the contrary, TTDWSL has chalked out plans to expand its client base through extensions of services and geographical reach in the country.
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SABMiller strikes deal with Shaw Wallace — Acquires 50 pc stake, management control in brewing biz
Bangalore: After 18 months of talks, SABMiller on Wednesday struck a deal to acquire 50 per cent stake and management control of the brewing business of Shaw Wallace & Co Ltd. The acquisition, which was signed in Dubai, is valued at $132.8 million. SABMiller India will route the acquisition through its subsidiary, Mysore Breweries Ltd (MBL), leading to a 50:50 merger with the brewing business of Shaw Wallace. The merged entity, Shaw Wallace Breweries Ltd, will hold the combined brewing interests of MBL and Shaw Wallace even as the operational management control will rest with the former.
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Durgapur Projects looking for partner for coke oven battery
Kolkata: Durgapur Projects Ltd (DPL), a multi-utility unit under the West Bengal Government, is now seeking a partner for operating one of its services. Sources told that a joint venture partnership was being sought for operating the third coke oven battery (COB), which had been lying idle for sometime for want of funds. "We have been running our two COBs successfully although their capacity utilisation continues to be low due to funds crunch,'' a top official said.
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Onida sees big potential in home theatres, DVDs
Mumbai: India is a huge cinema market - and that is clear not only in the increasing Indian presence in Cannes but also in the booming sales of DVDs and home theatres in the last couple of years. And Mirc Electronics, which makes the Onida brand of TVs, is betting big on its KY home theatre and DVD players. The 29-inch Onida KY, which was launched last April, sold 10,000 units in 2002-03, and the company expects that 22,000 units will be sold this year, said V. Chandramouli, vice president - sales, marketing & service, Mirc Electronics.
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Siemens' Bangalore unit to be global network R&D centre
New Delhi: Mobile phone vendors are getting aggressive as sales of legally-sold handsets start picking up in the country. Soon after Samsung and Motorola, Siemens has woken up to the potential in the Indian market.The German electronics giant is expanding its portfolio and strengthening its distribution network, signing new partners.At the same time, Siemens has added global responsibility to its R&D centre in Bangalore, which will become the global development centre for network software. In expansion mode, the R&D centre has been given the global lead for the development of GSM and 3G/UMTS network software.
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Tata Telecom to invest Rs 25 cr on software development
Mumbai: The Delhi-based Tata Telecom Ltd (TTL) would invest Rs 25 crore during next three years on developing and supporting software, including converged and call centre solutions, and to provide improved customer services. "The investments will be in the development of three Cs, converged solutions, call centre/customer relationship management (CRM) applications and customer support," TTL vice-chairman Niru Mehta told PTI here on Wednesday. India was expected to see manifold increase in bandwidth services and multi-locational call centres that would require converged solutions and TTL expected to meet that demand, he added.
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