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Coke
coming up with milk-based drink
New Delhi: The fragmented, but high-potential packaged
flavoured milk market, which has names such as Amul, Nestle
and Britannia vying for the consumer's attention, will
witness a big-ticket entry shortly. In line with its intended
`beverage revolution', soft drink major, Coca-Cola India
(CCI), is mulling the introduction of a flavoured, milk-based
beverage. "A milk-based product is in the offing.
We are currently exploring the viability of introducing
such a product in the domestic market," a Coke official
said. The development assumes importance in the domestic
market, considering that only last week, Coke's Atlanta-headquartered
parent company had announced its decision to introduce
a dairy drink called Swerve in the US this season, to
boost its share of the nutritional beverage market. The
company had been testing the chocolate-flavoured dairy
drink, Choglit, through an existing joint venture with
Swiss food giant, Nestle SA, as well as another dairy
drink called Slap. Swerve will replace both products in
the US.
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Shiva
group to invest Rs 10 cr in Indian units
Bangalore: Shiva group, which is into ultra trace
element analysis, materials research, development, application
and testing, is planning an additional investment of Rs
10 crore in India this year, to its Rs 45 crore investment
so far, according to a press release. A significant part
of that investment will be towards the establishment of
a world-class manufacturing and R&D facility for the
company's Bangalore-based units — Indo US MIM Tec
and Shiva Analyticals. The group companies, spread across
the US, Europe and India all cater to a niche segment
and "the operations can attract investments in manufacturing,''
according to the release.
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Coke
undertakes fastest capacity expansion
New Delhi: With net profitability and a 40 per
cent surge in volumes under its belt, Coca-Cola India
(CCI) is now undertaking its fastest capacity expansion
yet in the domestic market. The soft drink major is in
the process of setting into operation 30 new lines for
its carbonated soft drink (CSD) business. Sanjiv Gupta,
the company's Deputy Division President, said that the
capacity expansion was being done for both glass and PET
bottles. "Of the 30 new lines, six are new plants
in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, while 27
lines have been added in existing plants," he said.
These are a combination of company-owned and franchisee-owned
operations. A significant portion of the $100 million
investment allocated for the current year has been ploughed
into this capacity expansion exercise, Gupta said.
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Kavithalayaa
plans co-production pact with US company
Chennai: The Chennai-based Kavithalayaa Productions
Pvt Ltd, a closely held company, plans to enter into co-production
agreement with an "established American company"
to produce films with cross-cultural themes, according
to B. Kandaswamy of Kavithalayaa. According to him, Kavithalayaa
is looking at a genre of cross-cultural films and is expected
to finalise the project shortly. Films with cross-cultural
themes will help the production house tap additional revenue
streams by simultaneously releasing the film in the other
country, whose culture is also reflected in it, according
to film industry experts. Of late, they point out, there
have been a couple of successful films with cross-cultural
themes like Bend it Like Beckham. It may be recalled that
Kavithalayaa was a pioneer in tapping the Far East markets
such as Japan and Korea for a film produced by it, `Muthu',
starring Rajnikanth and Meena. The film is expected to
be released in China in the next four months.
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IndusInd
Media unveils CAS brand plans
Mumbai: Indusland Media & Communications Ltd,
the multi-system operator (MSO), has announced that it
will brand its conditional access system (CAS) service
`INDigital'. IndusInd, a subsidiary of Hinduja TMT, has
tied up with multiple set-top box (STB) providers and
has placed an indent for a "significant number"
of STBs, which will be installed in subscribers' homes
by July 1, according to a release. IndusInd has also tied
up with Nagravision of Switzerland for the deployment
of CAS (Nagravision is the appointed systems integrator
for IndusInd's CAS project). Among other initiatives for
the CAS rollout, slated for July 14 in the four metros,
IndusInd is installing advanced digital headends in Delhi
and Mumbai, provided by Tandberg of Norway, and setting
up 24/7 call centres in these two metros to provide customer
support, the release added. "Our digital system will
offer up to 300 channels. Even customers with lower-capacity
colour TV sets or black & white TV sets will be able
to access all channels without having to change their
TV set," K.V. Seshasayee, Chief Technology Officer,
Hinduja TMT, was quoted as saying.
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Tata
Engg to prepay half its debt
Chennai: Automobile major, Tata Engineering, plans
to prepay up to Rs 700 crore of its total outstanding
debt in the current fiscal. "We plan to prepay at
least Rs 500 crore in the current year and this may go
up to Rs 700 crore if we decide to prepay forex loans
too," said Praveen Kadle, executive director (finance
and corporate affairs), on a conference call with analysts
on Wednesday.
Tata Engineering had total outstanding debt of Rs 1,458
crore as of March 31, 2003 including about Rs 400 crore
($80 million) of foreign currency loans. The prepayment
is expected to shave off about Rs 25 crore from its interest
costs this fiscal. The company had, on Tuesday, announced
its return to profits posting a net profit of Rs 300.11
crore for 2002-03 compared to a loss of Rs 53.73 crore
in 2001-02. During the current year, Tata Engineering
has budgeted for capital expenditure of about Rs 500 crore
including product development costs. "That would
be our average capex for the next 2-3 years and will be
funded by depreciation and amortisation," Kadle said.
About 55-60 per cent of this amount would be spent for
the passenger car business where the company is scheduled
to launch a station wagon version of the Indica apart
from the Indica Sport in the next few months. In fact,
about 80 per cent of the total capex for these two models
has already been spent according to Kadle.
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Monsanto
India margins resilient despite drought
Mumbai: Monsanto India appears to have emerged
relatively unscathed from what was a harrowing year for
companies operating in the farm inputs business. The company's
net sales for 2002-03 at Rs 293.9 crore, is just 0.7 per
cent lower than the previous year. But the company has
posted a 53 per cent rise in operating profit and a 62
per cent growth in net profits for the year.
Two factors appear to have contributed to the company's
resilience in a drought year. One, unlike most other agrochemical
companies which depend heavily on insecticides, Monsanto
restricts itself mainly to branded high-value herbicides,
which have been subject to lower pricing pressures than
traditional insecticides. That the company caters mainly
to irrigated tracts has also helped, in a year of erratic
monsoons. Secondly, the steady stream of new product launches
over the past couple of years has probably helped the
company ramp up volumes and maintain sales at the previous
year's levels, despite some pressure on selling prices.
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MetalJunction
aims to double transaction value target
Kolkata: Metaljunction.com Pvt Ltd, 50:50 e-procurement
and e-selling joint venture of Steel Authority of India
Ltd (SAIL) and Tata Steel, has set for itself a transactional
value target of Rs 1,500 crore in the current fiscal.
In 2002-03, the value of business transacted by MetalJunction
was Rs 700 crore. Stating this at a news conference held
here, the managing director of MetalJunction.com Pvt Ltd,
Viresh Oberoi, said that achievement of the transactions
target for the current fiscal would be facilitated by
the company's plans to embark upon trading in minerals
and non-ferrous metals. Currently, the company was engaged
in e-procurement and e-selling of steel and ferro alloys.
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Rothschild
bid to switch on Dabhol
New Delhi: Enron's $ 2.9-billion Dabhol power project
in Maharashtra, steeped in controversies from day one,
but showcased by the authorities then as the maiden success
story of the Centre's efforts in power sector privatisation,
is in the showcase yet again. This time, awaiting a solution
to the multi-tangled imbroglio. The mega project, mothballed
for about two years now owing to MSEB failing to pay up
its $ 240-million dues, has various stakeholders, including
foreign and Indian lenders, pulling in different directions.
The only rescue option open to the imbroglio is an amicable
settlement between all the parties involved. But as yet,
there is no light at the end of the tunnel. In the midst
of all this is N M Rothschild, engaged by the Industrial
Development Bank of India (IDBI) on behalf of the Indian
lenders who together have an exposure totalling over Rs
5,000 crore in the mega venture.
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Kinetic
Group to shed accumulated liabilities
Bangalore: In a strategic move, the Kinetic Group
has exited the fund business in its financial joint venture
with The Associates, which is part of Citibank and will
now focus only on non-fund activities apart from reducing
its accumulated liabilities worth around Rs 200 crore.
The joint managing director of Kinetic Engineering Ltd,
Sulajja Firodia Motwani, said that the joint venture company,
Kinetic Financial Services Ltd, (KFSL) will expand its
services to include disbursement of personal loans, loans
for consumer durables and credit card business. Kinetic
Finance Ltd, a public limited company, in which Kinetic
Group holds around 45 per cent has a majority stake in
KFSL. Motwani said the company would henceforth concentrate
on its core activity in the joint venture and leave the
rest of the activities like raising funds for the finance
company with The Associates. "We would rather utilise
the funds we have got to expand our core business instead
of deploying it in a non-core activity," Motwani
said.
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No
stock option for promoters on the rolls
New Delhi: Any promoter on the rolls of a company
or any employee who is part of the promoter group may
no longer find himself eligible to participate in the
employees stock option scheme of a company. A Department
of Company Affairs-constituted committee has suggested
that an employee who is a promoter or belongs to the promoter
group would not be eligible for ESOS.
Apart from this cap, the committee set up to work out
rules for employee stock options, sweat equity and preferential
allotment, also proposed that a director or his relative
holding more than 10 per cent of voting rights in a company
would not be eligible to participate in the ESOS. "The
intention is not to tighten the norms but to clearly define
what are the options available to a company and the eligibility
criteria," official sources said. The committee has,
however, given companies freedom to determine the exercise
price and period as well as to specify the lock-in period
for shares issued pursuant to exercise of the option.
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Tanir
Bhavi-KPTCL row — Arbitrator's order may not impact
power purchase cost
Bangalore: The arbitrator's order on the dispute
between Tanir Bhavi Power Company Ltd (TBPCL) and the
Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) is
unlikely to have any impact on the power purchase costs.
TBPCL operates a 220-MW barge-mounted power plant on the
Mangalore coast. The State Government has taken the stand
that since this expenditure has already been taken into
account, there was no need for another interim tariff
hike, sources said here. Such a tariff hike could be staved
off till such time the monsoon impact is gauged, the sources
added. The arbitrator had upheld the Government directive
issued in December 2001 to KPTCL to meet the fixed cost
component of power purchase payments to the liquid fuel
generator at the rate of 4 US cents a unit. KPTCL last
year had opted restricting payments to 2.8 cents a unit
based on its interpretation of clause 7.4 of the power
purchase agreement. There was no dispute on the debt-servicing
component, but mostly centred on the return on equity
component.
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Saregama
chalks out turnover strategy
Hyderabad: As part of its plan to become a full-fledged
entertainment company, Saregama India Ltd, a leading music
company, has drawn up a three-pronged strategy to focus
on music, TV content and film business to shore up its
turnover, which was hit hard by a decline in the music
industry last year. According to Abhik Mitra, managing
director, the company's turnover is estimated to be around
Rs 90 crore for the year ended March 31, 2003, against
Rs 125 crore in the previous year. Listing various factors
that led to the decline in the industry, he said high
levels of cost of content, piracy and the FM impact played
havoc. "We have seen the worse. The Tamil industry
has started correcting itself in 2001-02. The Hindi industry
has begun to correct itself in 2002-03. We expect an upswing
this year," he said, addressing a news conference.
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Reliance
in talks with Tata Power for gas sale
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd has approached
Tata Power Company (TPC) to sell natural gas from its
Krishna-Godavari gas find on the Eastern coast to TPC's
Trombay power generation units. Firdose Vandrevala, managing
director, TPC, told newspersons on Wednesday that the
company and Reliance were in "very preliminary talks.
There has been no discussion on the price or transportation
of gas from the East to the West coast." He added
that TPC was also in talks with Petronet LNG, Shell, ONGC
and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) for buying gas.
"We can use up to five mmscmpd of gas. However, almost
60 per cent of our need is met by oil as our plants can
use both the fuels." The company was open to the
idea of buying gas from ONGC's marginal fields on the
West coast, he added.
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Michelin
to roll out 2 new tyres in India
New Delhi: Tyre major Michelin is unveiling two
new tyres — Pilot Preceda and the Energy MXV8, which
have been designed to suit the varied road and weather
conditions experienced in Asia and in particular India.
These tyres are targeted at the top-end luxury cars and
would come fitted in the vehicles such as Mercedes C Class
and BMW Z3 While the Pilot Preceda will replace the existing
MXF Sport tyres, the MXV8 will replace the Vivacy. "The
sportier Preceda is targeted at people who love their
cars and demand peak handling, but still value a smooth
ride, while the Energy MXV8 has been designed for the
discerning driver who values comfort without compromise
on performance," Mr Alain Waha, General Manager of
Michelin's Southeast Asian and Indian business, said.
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SAIL
returns to black with Rs 242-cr net profit in Q4
New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL)
has reported a net profit of Rs 242 crore in the fourth
quarter ended March 2003, marking its return to the black
for the first time in nearly five years. The strong fourth
quarter performance enabled the company to cut down its
loss for the year-ended March 2003 to Rs 304 crore, which
is nearly Rs 1,400 crore lower than the loss suffered
by the company in 2001-02. The company achieved a record
turnover of Rs 19,207 crore during 2002-03, which was
24 per cent higher than the previous year. The increase
in turnover was a result of a six per cent improvement
in mild steel sales and higher net sales realisation of
around 20 per cent. Exports shot up 53 per cent to touch
around Rs 1,000 crore. Sail also achieved a reduction
in inventory of semis and finished products to the tune
of Rs 433 crore.
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P&G
for 25 per cent growth this quarter
Mumbai: Procter & Gamble is hopeful that the
Indian operations will achieve a sustainable double-digit
growth of 25-30 per cent in the current quarter, in terms
of both value and volume. While P&G strengthens its
reach by leveraging the existing distributor set-up in
India, nearly 30-40 per cent of the total growth has come
on the back of improvements in the quality of distribution.
The Cincinnati-based P&G Co is represented in India
by its two subsidiaries — the 65 per cent owned Procter
& Gamble Hygiene and Health Care and the wholly-owned
Procter & Gamble Home Products. P&G India country
manager Shantanu Khosla tsaid that the company would expect
to create discontinuities in the growth of its leading
growth drivers — Vicks and Whisper — through
new product innovations by creating a willing proposition
for consumers on an ongoing basis. P&G will continue
to focus on the four core areas of business to drive growth
— healthcare, hygiene, fabric-care and hair-care.
P&G Hygiene and Health Care had reported a 22 per
cent increase in net profit at Rs 14.77 crore on a 17
per cent increase in turnover at Rs 95.96 crore in the
third quarter-ended March 31, 2003
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Leela’s
Udaipur project gets new lease of life
New Delhi: Hotel Leelaventure Ltd’s stalled
Udaipur project in Rajasthan has got a new lease of life.
The Mumbai-based company has revived the property’s
development process, which it expects to complete by November
2004. Vivek Nair, vice-chairman and managing director,
Leelaventure said, “Our plan was to wait for the
completion of the Bangalore and Goa projects. Since those
projects have been completed, Udaipur will get our full
focus.” Replying to a question on the funding of
the property, Nair stated that he expects to optimise
the capital which will be released following a solution
to the Hudco tangle in Delhi. With reference to this case,
Leela has received a judgement in its favour in February
2003. The two parties are currently negotiating an out-of-court
settlement.
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Another
first at Infy: AGM to use postal ballot
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies has hit upon a
new idea to get shareholder approval. At the company’s
June 14 annual general meeting (AGM), shareholders, 92,000
in this case, will be informed of the postal ballots in
favour and against before they vote on each resolution.
This is perhaps a first of its kind happening in the corporate
India. Taking corporate governance a step further, Infosys,
starting this AGM is using postal ballot to seek shareholders
response to all proposals that are being tabled at the
event. The postal ballot exercise, being introduced on
an experimental basis, is an attempt by the company to
get an overall view of its shareholders. Sandeep Farias
of Nishith Desai Associates, the legal and tax counselling
firm, said that the practice of using postal ballot to
get opinion of all shareholders is not common in India.
“It will be interesting to see how they will use
the data,” he added.
Infosys’ management in its AGM notice says that it
acknowledges the fact that not all shareholders attend
the AGM and although a proposal may get the consent of
the requisite majority of members present at the meeting,
the response of vast majority of shareholders is not mirrored.
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Interconnect
pact: VSNL strikes it rich with BSNL, MTNL
Mumbai: Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) on Wednesday
signed an interconnect agreement with Bharat Sanchar Nigam
(BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL). When contacted,
BSNL chairman Prithipal Singh confirmed that the agreement
had been signed, but said he did not have any details.
“With the telecom regulator, TRAI, deciding on the
quantum of the interconnect charges, the discussions were
more or less limited to the amount of discounts that could
be offered,” sources said. According to TRAI’s
order, VSNL has to pay about Rs 5.5 per minute to the
basic operators as interconnect (IUC) charges for terminating
calls on a landline. TRAI had permitted only a maximum
discount of 10 per cent over this charge. Thus, the scope
of the discussions were limited to the amount of discount
that could be offered. Based on volume of traffic, VSNL
is eligible for discounts of 5 per cent, 7.5 per cent
and 10 per cent over the charges payable to the basic
operators.
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US
visa bill may sink Big Three's onsite revenues
Mumbai: The proposed L1 visa bill introduced by
a member of the US House of Representatives — which
seeks to prohibit software companies from sending professionals
to carry out onsite work — may lead to a fall in
revenues originating from onsite services of major software
service companies, if passed into law. If the bill is
passed in its present form and is interpreted strictly,
then all onsite work may come to a halt. This is because
an Indian software company such as Infosys will only be
able to send programmers to its own offices in the US,
not to the premises of its clients. Officials at Indian
software companies, for their part, say that such a worst
case of interpretation is unduly alarmist since the bill
is yet to be passed into law. “This is purely hypothetical
stuff,” an official said. Most leading companies
such as Infosys Technologies, Wipro and TCS significantly
depend on onsite services with over 50 per cent of their
total revenues emanating from the onsite category —
a lucrative stream which has been consistently increasing
over a period of time. In the case of Infosys and Wipro,
as much as 55 per cent and 57 per cent of their revenues
respectively come from onsite work for the quarter ended
March 31, ‘03.
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