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Exide
sees high growth in export markets
Kolkata: Exide Industries Ltd is planning to increase
its overseas operations to become a major player in the
global storage battery market. The city-based company,
which is owned by Rajan Raheja, has already formed alliances
with several storage battery companies in Europe, Australia
and the US and sees a global acceptance of its products
as the key to its international venture. Exide, which
is the leading storage battery maker of India, has recently
entered into a 51:49 joint venture called Expex with Espan
Co of the UK to sell traction batteries. In the Netherlands,
the company has entered into a joint marketing tieup with
International Battery Group (IBG) to sell its storage
batteries sourced from India, while it is also selling
traction and golf cart batteries in Australia under the
brandname 'Citric'. In Germany too, Exide has begun supplying
batteries to Hoppeke GNB. The company also makes submarine
batteries and is currently in talks with Peru, Algeria
and Indonesia to export the product. From an export turnover
of Rs 32 crore in 2002-03, Exide is now planning to double
the figure during 2003-04.
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Exide
net profit spurt 78% in first quarter
Kolkata: Exide Industries Ltd has reported a 78-per
cent growth in net profit for the first quarter to 30
June 2003. The company's profit after tax was Rs 13.90
crore on sales of Rs 291 crore. During the corresponding
period of the previous year, the company had posted a
net profit of Rs 7.70 crore on sales of Rs 246 crore.After
the board meeting here Friday, Exide issued a press release
which said good sales of both automotive and industrial
batteries triggered the growth for the company during
the first quarter of 2003-04. The company's sales of automotive
batteries were at Rs 146.71 crore. The company also said
that while the infrastructure continued to grow, the telecom,
railway and power ere at Rs 146.71 crore.
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Hero
Honda Q1 net profit rises 13% to Rs 158 crore
New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors reported a 13 per
cent growth in net profit to Rs 157.82 crore for the first
quarter ended June 2003 over Rs 139.16 crore during the
same period last year. The turnover surged by 5.37 per
cent to Rs 1,359.82 crore during the period as against
Rs 1,290.40 crore during the corresponding period previous
fiscal. Total sales grew by 8.79 per cent to 4.58 lakh
units during the review period over 4.21 lakh units during
the first quarter of the previous fiscal. "Hero Honda's
successful entry in two new and contrasting segments in
the first quarter demonstrates the technological strength
of the company. We have been able to continuously benefit
from our cost rationalisation efforts which has reflected
on our growing PAT and EPS," Hero Honda Motors chairman
Brijmohan Lall said in a statement. The company attributed
the improved financials to cost rationalisation, better
working capital management and increasing manufacturing
efficiency which resulted in 15 per cent operating margin.
After the launch of 100cc motorcycle 'CD Dawn' and 223cc
motorcycle 'Karizma' during the first three months of
this fiscal, the company would roll out two more motorcycles
this year to give customers an array of choice, Hero Honda
Motors managing director Pawan Munjal said. The company
has sold close to 2,000 units of Karizma since its launch
in early-June while its flagship brand, 100cc motorcycle
'Splendor', clocked one lakh units sales in a month. So
far, Hero Honda has sold over three million units of Splendor
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JB
Chemicals to unveil respiratory products
Mumbai: JB Chemcials and Pharmaceuticals Ltd plans
to enter diabetes, respiratory and oncology segments and
is set to launch three to four products in these segments
soon. An anti-cold tablet and a drug for the treatment
of digestive disorders will also be launched this year,
said J B Mody, chairman and managing director, J B Chemicals
and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, at the company's annual general
meeting in Mumbai. "Motiza, a gastro intestinal product,
and Rhino, an anti-cold tablet, will be launched shortly
along with line extensions of ranitidine and pantoprazole.
The combined market size for Motiza and Rhino is approximately
Rs 415 crore,'' he added. According to Shirish Mody, director,
J B Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, the company expects
its first ANDA (Abbreviated New Drug Application) approval
by December 2003. J B Chemicals had filed an ANDA for
ciprofloxacin tablets in the US for three concentrations,
250, 500 and 750 milligram through a joint venture with
US-based Spectrum Pharmaceutical Inc. The current US market
for this product is estimated at $ 1.5 billion. J B Chemicals
plans to file three-four ANDAs each year for the next
five years in the anti fungal, cardiac care and anti-infective
segments. The company is in talks with several multinationals
through its US joint venture partner for out-licensing
its NDDS (new drug delivery system products) for further
development, Mr Shirish Mody said. The international business
is to get a considerable boost with the United States
Food and Drug Administration likely to complete inspection
of the company's tablet-making facility at Panoli by December
2003. "We are setting up a green-field facility at
Daman with a total outlay of Rs 28 crore completely funded
through internal accruals. The facility is expected to
be operational by the year-end,'' J.B. Mody said. Two
units, one export-oriented for manufacturing cough syrup,
Doktor Mom, a popular brand of JB Chemicals in CIS
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Matrix
Labs announces 50% dividend
Hyderabad: The board of directors of Matrix Laboratories
Ltd (MLL), the merged entity of Matrix Labs, the Ranbaxy-controlled
Vorin Labs and the Chennai-based Shriram group promoted
Medicorp Technologies, which met here on Friday to take
on record the audited annual accounts for the fiscal ended
March 31, 2003, has recommended a dividend of 50 per cent
for the year. The company informed the stock exchanges
that it has allotted 25,79,435 equity shares of Rs 10
each to the members of erstwhile Medicorp Technologies
and Vorin Labs in terms of the scheme of amalgamation
duly approved by the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh and
Tamil Nadu. As per the audited annual accounts, the turnover
was Rs 417.69 crore during the year compared to Rs 104.06
crore in the previous fiscal and the net profit was Rs
75.05 crore (Rs 4.48 crore). While the balance brought
forward from the previous year stood at Rs 2.26 crore,
the negative balance brought forward from the amalgamating
companies amounted to Rs 12.6 crore. The surplus carried
to balance sheet stood at Rs 46.57 crore after deducting
Rs 7.6 crore transferred to general reserve, Rs 3.59 crore
towards interim dividend, Rs 6.14 crore towards proposed
dividend and Rs 78 lakh tax on the proposed dividend.
As against a paid-up equity capital of Rs 12.3 crore (Rs
7.19 crore), the company's reserves and surplus stood
at Rs 89.26 crore (Rs 14.32 crore) as on March 31, 2003.
While the secured loans amounted to Rs 116.28 crore (Rs
17.27 crore), the unsecured loans stood at Rs 14.39 crore
(Rs 1.69 crore). The gross block stood at Rs 165.13 crore,
while the net block amounted to Rs 135.67 crore. After
adding the capital works in progress of Rs 15.38 crore,
the total fixed assets of the company stood at Rs 151.05
crore.
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Strike
hampers Pepsi's Vizag plant operations
Visakhapatnam: The Pearl Bottling Private Ltd (Pepsi)
Employees' Union at Madhurawada near here has served a
strike notice in protest against the alleged moves of
the management to break the union. At a press meet here
on Friday, Dr K S Mohana Kumar, general secretary of the
state unit of the Indian National Trade Union Congress
(INTUC), to which the union is affiliated, said the strike
notice was served on Thursday as a last resort, as the
plant management had been making attempts to break the
union by terminating the services of union office-bearers
or transferring them to distant places illegally. He said
the union was registered in February 2002 and as an immediate
retaliatory step, the management had put an end to the
services of four office-bearers and subsequently four
more employees were transferred to distant places. These
steps were challenged by the union in the AP High Court
as well as labour courts. The attempts made by the Labour
Department officials for conciliation had yielded no results,
he said. "As the management is persisting with its
retaliatory steps, we are left with no option but to serve
a strike notice. In fact, we are not for confrontation
and hope the management will call us for talks and settle
the issue," he said. Mohan Kumar alleged that the
management had even resorted to a change of name of the
company, which was earlier known as Krishna Mohan Beverages
and Construction Ltd, to prevent the registration of the
union.
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Mukta
Arts, Adlabs Films in 50:50 joint venture
Mumbai: Mukta Arts Ltd and Adlabs Films Ltd have
announced that they have set up a 50:50 joint venture,
Mukta Adlabs Digital Exhibition Ltd which will target
to update 400 B class theatres across India within the
next one year. The companies did not disclose the amount
of investment they are making in this project. The joint
venture company will immediately update 100 theatres in
the States of Punjab, UP, Bengal and Bihar. "This
new technology of digital projection through hard discs
will avoid the use of film prints which costs between
Rs 50,000-60,000. It will allow audiences of B and C class
centres to watch films on the day of the release,'' a
press release said.
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India
Motor Parts to pay 150% dividend
Chennai: India Motor Parts Ltd (Impal) has started
its 50th year celebrations with a 150-per cent
dividend for 2002-03, 30 percentage points higher than
for the previous year. The company's board of directors
has recommended a dividend of Rs 15 per share, compared
to Rs 12 earlier. Impal's Golden Jubilee year begins on
Saturday, July 12. The TVS group company is into distribution
of automotive spare parts. In 2002-03, its net profit
amounted to Rs 8.20 crore, compared to Rs 8.38 crore in
the previous year. Turnover increased to Rs 179.75 crore
in 2002-03, compared to Rs 175.82 crore in the previous
year. One noteworthy feature of the year's performance
is that the interest charges were reduced to zero, from
Rs 37.43 lakh in the previous year.
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Shareholders
approve stripping of Country Club assets
Hyderabad: Country Club India Ltd, under pressure
from the bankers to repay the dues, has obtained the approval
of its shareholders to strip its assets and substantially
retire the debt burden. The company has informed the stock
exchanges that the resolution relating to sale, lease
or otherwise disposal of whole or substantially the whole
of its undertaking, Hotel Amrutha Castle in Hyderabad,
has been approved by the shareholders.
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US
court rejects Dr Reddy's plea against Pfizer
Hyderabad: Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, the Hyderabad-based
pharmaceutical giant listed on the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE), announced on Friday that the US District Court
for the District of New Jersey dismissed the company's
suit that sought a declaratory judgment that its Sertraline
product did not infringe Pfizer's `699 patent. In a press
release, Dr Reddy's said the court declined to hear the
case, stating that Dr Reddy's had not demonstrated a reasonable
apprehension of suit by Pfizer and that in any event Pfizer
needed more time to investigate whether Dr Reddy's Sertraline
product infringed Pfizer's `699 patent. In this context,
Dr Reddy's indicated that it intended to provide Pfizer
with whatever information was needed and if necessary,
to renew its suit thereafter. Earlier, Dr Reddy's had
filed an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) before
the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Sertraline
HCl tablets, equivalent to 25, 50 and 100 mg base, with
a Paragraph-IV certification on four of the five patents
listed on the Orange Book. Subsequently, Dr Reddy's notified
Pfizer of the filing. According to Dr Reddy's, Pfizer
did not file a lawsuit against the former within the 45-day
period prescribed by the Hatch-Waxman Act. In view of
this, during February 2003, Dr Reddy's filed a lawsuit
seeking declaratory judgment against Pfizer.Sertraline
HCl is the generic version of Pfizer's Zoloft, which is
indicated for use in the treatment of major depressive
disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder,
post-traumatic stress disorder and premenstrual dysphoric
disorder, the release said.
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Chevrolet
to become GM's mainstream brand
Chennai: With the launch of the Chevrolet Optra,
General Motors India says the Chevrolet brand will be
its mainstream brand in the country while Opel will be
the premium brand. Both the brands will co-exist, company
officials told journalists here on Friday.
The
Chevrolet brand will address every segment of the market,
according to them. What the mainstream brand means that
it will be priced competitively whereas the premium brand,
will always command a higher price, they explain. For
instance, they say that the Chevrolet Optra is a D1 segment
car priced at the level of a C2 segment car. Likewise,
the Opel Corsa Sail, the recently launched hatchback,
is a B+ segment car — positioned at the upper end
of the growing B segment cars. The idea behind launching
the Chevrolet Optra, according to the officials, is that
the D1 (the lower end of the luxury D segment) segment
is fast replacing the cars in the C2 segment (the upper
end of the mid-size sedan segment). General Motors India
also believes that the C2 segment cars are ageing. Hence,
the D1 segment, which was opened up by cars like the Skoda
Octavia and more-recently the Toyota Corolla, are eating
into that market. It is here that General Motors India
is positioning the Chevrolet Optra, the officials say.
Aditya Vij, president and managing director, General Motors
India, told journalists that there was no question of
phasing out the Opel Astra, which was launched about seven
years ago. There was still demand for the car and some
customers were even prepared to replace their older Astra
with a new one. However, company officials do admit that
the Chevrolet Optra could cannibalise the Opel Astra,
considering the price overlap.
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