IOC posts 112 per cent higher 2002-03 net at Rs 6,115 crore
New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Tuesday announced a net profit of Rs 6,115 crore for 2002-3. This is 112 per cent higher than Rs 2,885 crore recorded the previous year. The company’s turnover went up by 4.34 per cent to Rs 1,19,848 crore last year, up 4.34 per cent over Rs 1,14,864 crore during 2001-02. The profit before tax of Rs 8,414 crore is up 82.9 per cent as compared to Rs 4,599 crore the previous year. Addressing a press conference, IOC chairman M S Ramachandran attributed the higher profit to better refinery margins and lower transportation cost. He said that the company had started relying more on very large crude carriers for shipping oil. He said the company also started laying more emphasis on capacity utilisation which reached 92.5 per cent from 88.5 per cent during 2001-02. It also went ahead with other growth initiatives by way of integration and diversification into related areas. The interest cost has come down from Rs 1,544 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 762 crore in 2002-03. Rama-chandran said the interest cost had also come down since borrowings were lower by 24 per cent to Rs 14,495 crore from Rs 19,070 crore the previous year. The company’s debt-equity ratio is significantly down to 0.77 is to one as against 1.25 is to one last year. IOC announced a final dividend of 160 per cent for 2002-03 with a total outgo of Rs 2,258 crore. An interim dividend of Rs 389 crore had already been paid in March 2003. IOC paid a total dividend of 110 per cent during 2001-2 with an outgo of Rs 857 crore.It sold 47.56 million tonnes (mt) of petroleum products during 2002-03, including 1.10 mmt exports. The company’s earning per share (EPS) post-bonus now stands at Rs 52.35 (up 112 per cent).
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Aventis Pharma may unveil insulin Glargine this year
Mumbai: Aventis Pharma has mooted plans to launch Lantus — insuline glargine in India during the current year. Though company officials are tightlipped about the pricing of Lantus in India, it could just trigger another round of price-cut in the insulin market in India. Aventis Pharma, in its latest annual report states, “Aventis will soon be launching Lantus (insulin glargine), the first and only 24-hour basal (long acting) insulin in India.” An Aventis Pharma spokesperson declined to comment on the issue, stating that it would be premature to discuss these issues at this point of time. Lantus is a sterile solution of insulin glargine for use as an injection. Insulin glargine is a recombinant human insulin analog that has a long acting parenteral blood-glucose-lowering agent. Analysts tracking the sector said that the inclusion of Lantus in the product portfolio would enable Aventis Pharma to sell its anti-diabetic products as a basket and project the company well in the diabetic care market.
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SKSSL gets Rs 40-cr order from JV partner
New Delhi: For the first time, Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd (SKSSL) has received an order, valued at Rs 40 crore, from its joint venture partner Koyo Seiko of Japan. Further, Sona Koyo has invested Rs 15 crore to open an export oriented unit (EOU) at its existing Chennai facility to service Koyo’s order for steering gears. This will be the first time that Koyo Seiko is servicing its global orders with steering systems manufactured and exported by its Indian partner. Exports will commence in November 2004. SKSSL is also in talks with Mando Corporation of Korea and European manufacturers of tractors and earth moving equipment for supply of components. “The EOU will have a capacity of 300,000 per year. We will be exporting about 10,000 steering gears every month and this will slowly ramped up to about 20,000 per month,” SKSSL chairman and managing director Dr Surinder Kapur said
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IOC likely to buy Basra light crude
New Delhi: India Oil Corporation (IOC) will be part of a business delegation to Baghdad for buying Basra light crude oil from Iraq on long-term basis. Iraqi crude is especially suited for Indian refineries particularly those belonging to IOC. At a press conference IOC chairman MS Ramachandran said that the company was also looking at the prospects of building infrastructure inIraq. He said discussions will take place with the State Oil Marketing Organisation in Iraq. He said the interim administration in Iraq, led by the United States has indicated its desire to discuss a purchase agreement. “The delegation will also discuss prospects of building pipeline infrastructure there,” he said. IOC has also decided to buy crude from companies havgin equity oil. It will enter into long-term contracts with equity producers. The company has set a target to export 3 million tonnes (mt) petro products in the current financial year as compared to 1.2 mt exported during 2002-3. In 2001-02, the company exported 0.9 mt of petro products. IOC exported Servo lubricants to Bangladesh, Nepal, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, UAE and Yemen among other countries
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Toyota Kirloskar lay launch int’l utility vehicle
New Delhi: Toyota Kirloskar Motor is studying the possibility of launching in India the international utility vehicle being developed for Asian markets. It is also expected to finalise the study on small car for the domestic market by September. The utility vehicle, which may be launched as a pick-up van in markets such as Thailand and Indonesia, will source gear boxes from Toyota’s subsidiary Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP). The vehicle will be launched in about a year in Asian markets. “There are no plans in the immediate term to introduce the international vehicle in India. Our multi-purpose vehicle, Qualis still commands a waiting period and we will continue to launch more variants of the utility vehicle”, Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s director-marketing Satoshi Aoki told reporters here on Tuesday. The company is also finalising a hike in the price of Qualis, which will be effected in July. This is on account of about 30 to 40 per cent increase in the prices of steel. About 40 per cent of the steel is imported from Japan and Thailand.
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Tata Engg outlines Rs 1,500-cr capex plan for new product development
Mumbai: Tata Engineering has outlined a capital and product development expenditure programme of Rs 1,500 crore in the next three years to develop a new range of commercial vehicles (CV) as well as launch new variants of its passenger car models.
The company is currently working on a new range of CV, which is under development, to be introduced in the Indian and overseas markets within the next three years, according to the company’s latest annual report. Telco has introduced the EX-series of upgraded heavy and medium tonnage vehicles during the last fiscal. The idea behind the new range was to keep pace with the demand pattern of CVs in India which will change in favour of larger, heavy, multi-axle vehicles and tractor trailors.
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Huge potential for small car in India: Ratan Tata
Mumbai: Tata Engineering chairman Ratan Tata has said that a people’s car would have to be somewhere between a three-wheeler and a current small car, adding that the market potential for such a vehicle would be enormous in India and neighbouring countries.“The approach most likely to succeed would be a ‘clean sheet of paper’ concept for a small car involving an innovative design with unconventional materials and manufacturing processes,” according to Tata. Adding that the concept of developing a small, low-cost people’s car has been within discussion within the company for several years, Tata said, “It is believed that the creativity and innovativeness displayed by the team at Tata Engineering, which developed the Indica, could once again be motivated to work on such an exciting new product which, if successful, would be a national contribution to India.”
Telco, which showed a growth of 32 per cent in CV sales over 2001-02 at 1.06 lakh units, has undertaken a programme to transform its range of medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV).
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Tisco targets 20 per cent sales from branded products this year
New Delhi: Tata Iron and Steel Company (Tisco) has set a target of 20 per cent of its sales coming from branded products this year, going up to 40 per cent in a few years. This was revealed by the company on the occassion of the launch of Steelium, its branded cold rolled (CR) steel, in Delhi on Tuesday. Tisco’s other branded flat products include Tata Shakti, Tiscon and Tata Bearing. The company’s chief of sales of flat products Ramesh Mani said, “We have set a target of Rs 2,000 crore, or 20 per cent of our turnover, of sales coming from branded products during the current financial year. This should go up to 40 per cent within 2-3 years.” Steelium will be sold in the market at a premium of about Rs 500-1,200 per tonne over the prices of the unbranded version. Justifying this premium, Mani said, “As the product goes through various agents in the distribution chain, the branding will assure the customer of a genuine product of the promised quality. The technology adopted to imprint the brand cannot be replicated by small players with the intentions of pushing counterfeits in the market.”
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SOTC suts South East Asia package fares
Mumbai: In an endeavour to boost travel to South East Asia, SOTC has slashed the prices of its SE Asia packages which are now all-inclusive. It has introduced some new low priced packages to Europe as well and have thrown in free shopping worth $500.
Commenting on this, SOTC senior vice president Frederick Divecha said: “With the advisory board finally declaring South East Asian countries safe, travel to these destinations have resumed, for leisure as well as for business. Taking advantage of this fact, we are confident that our extremely attractive pricing will be instrumental for travel to gain momentum and renew interest to these destinations.” These package tour prices include cost of return airfare in economy class, stay in fine hotels, assistance of an SOTC tour manager, sightseeing, surface transportation, coach tours, transfers, entrance fees, visa charges and airport taxes.
Starting at Rs 22,000, the traveller can choose from a variety of holiday options. These range from ‘Far East Odyssey’ covering Bangkok, Pattaya and Singapore (seven days), Bangkok and Pattaya in ‘Magical Thailand’ (five days), Bangkok and Phuket in ‘Thai Fantasy’ (five days) as well as ‘Oriental Pearls’ encompassing Bangkok, Pattaya, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore (nine days). The Far East Odyssey package, which during the summer cost approximately $969, will now cost only $779. The package is for seven days and six nights.Magical Thailand is a package for five days and four nights and will now cost $459 against the summer price of approx. $599
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Ministry okays VRS in ONGC, Indian Oil
New Delhi: The Petroleum Ministry has approved a proposal for implementation of Voluntary Retirement Schemes (VRS) in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), according to an official release. According to the approved scheme, employees opting for VRS will be paid a compensation of 60 days' salary for each completed year of service or the salary for the number of months of service left, whichever is less, apart from the normal retirement benefits. The salary for the purpose of computation consists of basic pay and dearness allowance. The employees opting for VRS would also receive additional monetary benefit. It is expected that about 2000 officers and employees in ONGC and about 1000 in IOC would exercise their option of voluntary separation under the newly approved scheme. HPCL and BPCL have also proposed implementation of VRS. Since the process of disinvestment in these two public sector companies is currently on, the proposed schemes of HPCL and BPCL would be submitted to the Cabinet for appropriate decision, according to the release.
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SEBI plans to modify debenture trustee norms
New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposes to amend its debenture trustee regulations to harmonise them with certain similar provisions in the Companies Act, 1956. The capital market regulator also plans to "strengthen eligibility criteria for debenture trustees and specify mandatory dissemination of certain information by the company". Debenture Trustees may also be asked to share information with credit rating agencies. To protect the interest of the debenture holders, SEBI is proposing to prescribe suitable assets cover for the debentures to ensure 100 per cent security of the debentures. An obligation may be cast on the debenture trustees to collect monitoring report about the progress of the project from the lead banker. Defaulting companies may be required to seek approval from debenture trustees before any dividend distribution.
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Fair & Lovely lends a hand for women empowerment
Hyderabad: Fair & Lovely Foundation, a non-profit organisation of the Hindustan Lever Educational and Welfare Trust, has tied up with the Andhra Pradesh Government for taking up various initiatives aimed at encouraging economic empowerment of women in the State. In a press communiqué issued here on Tuesday, the foundation said the initiatives to be undertaken include Projects Saraswati (rural), Disha and Kaladarshan in the areas of education, careers and enterprise respectively. Project Kaladarshan, an initiative in the area of enterprise, aims at helping women enhance their income generation capacity by providing them with appropriate training in embroidery and garment designing. Under Project Saraswati (rural), the Foundation would confer educational scholarships on 20 young girls from rural areas of AP, who have the aptitude, drive and ambition to make a name for themselves, but are constrained due to the financial resources at their disposal. Project Disha, aims to provide career counselling to young women through career fairs in 20 towns of AP, to help them make informed career decisions.
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Needle to pinpoint markets abroad
Wellington: Needle Industries (India) Pvt Ltd, the prime global source of hand-sewing needles, knitting pins and accessories and other allied products, is looking at increasing market share in overseas markets by broadbasing its range of products. to Business Theo Devagnanam, managing director, Needle Industries, said, "With the brand name having been established worldwide, we would now like to focus on increasing market share across various markets. While we have a reasonable presence in South Africa and have over the last five years gained considerable ground in South and Central America, we are yet to make our presence felt in certain pockets of the region. In Africa, this has been largely on account of competition from China,'' he said. For the fiscal 2002-03, the company registered a turnover of Rs 48-49 crore, of which 68 per cent was from exports. PBT for the period was around Rs 5.3 crore, up 22 per cent in comparison to the year 2001-02.
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LG Electronics' Bangalore branch records Rs 100-cr turnover
Bangalore: The Bangalore branch of the consumer electronics and home appliance major, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd, has recorded an all-time high turnover of Rs 100 crore during the period January to May 2003, registering a growth of 78 per cent.
Buoyed by the five-month performance, the company has set a target of Rs 250-crore turnover for the branch for the whole year.
A company press release said it had achieved record sales growth of over 90 per cent in the colour televisions and microwave oven sectors over the corresponding period last year. It recorded a growth of 75 per cent in direct cool refrigerator and washing machines categories. It also recorded 70 per cent growth in the frost-free refrigerator segment, while the air conditioner segment had shown a growth of 90 per cent. Commenting on the growth of the branch, Prasoon Kumar, branch manager, Bangalore, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd, said: "Recording Rs100 crore turnover in just five months is a landmark achievement by any brand in consumer electronics and home appliances in Karnataka. We have always emphasised on creating value for our customers by offering them world-class products and are encouraged to see that reflect in our sales volumes."
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Bata to bet on innovation, creation
Kolkata: Conceding that the company was going through difficult times even in the first half of this year (after recording losses in 2002), even though there was a turnover growth of 8 per cent, the Bata India managing director, Stephen J.Davies, said the footwear major was still focused on its rich heritage in the Rs 6,000-crore Indian sector. Addressing newspersons here on Tuesday, prior to the company's AGM on Friday, he said the thrust for Bata was now on innovation and creation of conditions and products "that satisfies the requirements of a varied class of consumers in both volume-driven and premium segments. While 60 per cent was own manufacturing, outsourcing (mainly from local associate outfits) accounted for 40 per cent. We ensure close coordination between the merchandising, product development, planning, manufacturing and distribution functions in our new business plan.'' Pointing out that the company was now repositioning itself from a manufacturing company into a marketing one, to improve on its current 11 per cent share of the organised footwear segment, he said the cash-drain stores are being replaced by new large format stores. Admitting that Bata had for a while lost its customer focus, Davies said a sharp segmentation of the retail footwear scene has resulted in a revised 4-tier retail store classification -- Bazaar, Family, City and Flagship. The company has about1,300 retail outlets all over the country, out of which some 850 are family stores.
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