Debt rejig: Essar Oil lenders give the go-ahead
Mumbai: Financial institutions, who are the lenders to Essar Oil's Vadinar refinery project, have finally agreed to restructure the debt. This will enable restarting of work on the 12-million-tonne refinery, which has been held up over the past four years. The lenders include IDBI, IFCI and ICICI Bank. They have decided to revalidate the Rs 1,500-crore loan sanctioned earlier. The debt recast, reports say, will reduce the interest rate on the existing loan by about 4 per cent.

The lenders have also approved the revised cost estimate of the project at Rs 9,863 crore, which is higher by Rs 1,800 crore over the earlier estimate of Rs 8,000 crore. The refinery capacity has also been increased from 10.5 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes per annum. Lenders have apparently imposed a set of preconditions. These include the promoters providing personal guarantee and bringing additional equity to the tune of Rs 311 crore, and EPC contractors, ABB arranging Rs 905 crore, in addition to a deferred credit of $91 million.
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Essar Shipping plans to recast $30m debt
Bangalore: Essar Shipping Ltd (ESL) plans to refinance $30 million of its debts tracking low interest regime worldwide and save close to $3 million as interest payouts, according to a release. Says ESL managing director and CEO Sanjay Mehta: "Whether the refinancing is to be done in rupee or in foreign currencies is still being studied." The estimated savings will be in the region of about 3 per cent.

But the effective savings is likely to be much more, if the refinancing is done in foreign currencies if the current trend in the foreign exchange markets continued, he said. "The refinancing was not likely to make any big impact on the debt-equity ratio. ESL's debt-equity ratio is currently in the region of about 0.54:1. But the reduced interest costs would have an impact on the bottom lines."
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Eicher not to sell Thane unit
New Delhi: Eicher Ltd has abandoned its plans to sell its gear unit under Eicher Demm and has framed a turnaround strategy for the division. The company, which operates two gear units, had earlier planned to sell off its loss-making Thane unit.

"There was some interest shown for the Thane unit by a potential buyer and the process of due diligence was gone through. However, mutually acceptable terms for the deal could not be arrived at with the interested party and hence the matter stands dropped. Eicher Demm's plan now is to achieve a turnaround in the performance of the unit and start making profits," an Eicher official said told a newspaper.
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Falcon Submersibles to appoint more dealers
Hyderabad: Falcon Submersibles Pvt Ltd, a Gujarat-based company, which entered the Andhra Pradesh market two months ago, plans mega expansion in the state. It will appoint more dealers in the coming months as part of its plans to double its turnover to Rs 20 crore in the current fiscal.

The company, which has presence mostly in West and North India, registered a turnover of Rs 10 crore last year. "Our pumps can save significant quantity of power," says Falcon Submersibles managing director Dhirubai Patel.
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Hero group's Easy Bill commences operation
New Delhi: The Hero group's new venture in the services industry, Easy Bill, a mass scale retailer-based bill collection network, has started operations with the target of reaching out to 10,000 retail shops in 20 cities by 2005. "With the launch of operations of Easy Bill, the Hero Group formally enters the retail-based services sector. We are fully committed to this venture," says Brijmohan Lall, chairman of the Hero group, which comprises leading companies Hero Honda and Hero Cycles.

Easy Bill will establish a network of collection points at neighbourhood grocery shops, PCOs, and petrol pumps, from where consumers can pay their bills using either cash or cheque. A minimal fee is levied in some cases while the utilities that issue bills will bear the cost in others. The retailer feeds details of bill payments into a database that is linked to utilities, thereby ensuring that payments get credited immediately.
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Geometric, Modern Engineering join hands
Mumbai: Geometric Software Solutions Co Ltd has entered into a partnership with the US-based design and engineering services provider, Modern Engineering Inc, to expand the offerings of both companies and further establish their global presence. Says Manu Parpia, CEO, Geometric Software: "This agreement provides us the opportunity to offer value to Modern customers and increase our global capacities."

Says Ron Wood, CEO, Modern Engineering: "Our partnership with Geometric will further Modern's growth on a global basis while enhancing the value of our engineering deliverables to our customers. Geometric will be an excellent partner with which to further our engineering ."
Geometric Software is a provider of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) services to mechanical design, manufacturing and industrial markets. Modern Engineering Inc is a provider of staffing, engineering and design services to manufacturing industry.
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KPFC bonds issue over-subscribed
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Power Finance Corporation (KPFC), a joint venture of the Kerala state government and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), has raised Rs 300 crore through private placement of bonds with an over-subscription of Rs 7.40 crore. The issue, which opened on 19 June 2003 with a coupon rate of 10.25 per cent and a maturity period of seven years, was closed on 8 July, much ahead of the closing date of 1 September.

The issue, aggregating Rs 150 crore with a green shoe option of Rs 150 crore and a put/call option after five years, is supported by unconditional and irrevocable guarantee from the Kerala government and has a credit rating of CARE A(SO) from Credit Analysis and Research. M P Aiyappan, managing director, KPFC, says the coupon rate is one of the lowest ever offered in the country compared with the prevailing rates. "There would be a saving of more than Rs 15 crore for the company by way of interest over a seven-year period when viewed against similar bond issues in the recent past."
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Suzuki can now buy 51% stake in Indian company
New Delhi: Suzuki Motor's plan to acquire a 51-per cent stake in Integra Overseas Pvt Ltd, a the Haryana-based company, to manufacture, assemble and service two- and three-wheelers is one of the foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals cleared by the Indian government. But Suzuki will not bring in any fresh funds for this purpose, says a company press release.

The proposal from JP Morgan International Finance for undertaking non-banking financial activities involving fresh inflow of investments worth Rs 175 crore too was approved. Following recommendations from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the minister for finance and company affairs, Jaswant Singh, here on Tuesday cleared 44 FDI proposals involving a combined investment of Rs 222.18 crore.
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IOC raises $75-million loan for PTA project
Mumbai: Indian Oil Corporation has raised a long-term loan of $75 million to finance the para-xylene/purified terephthalic acid (PX/PTA) project coming up at Panipat Refinery. The loan has been arranged at highly competitive rates by ABN-Amro Bank and comprehensively guaranteed by the US Export-Import Bank. The maturity of the loan is 13 years. M S Ramachandran, chairman, Indian Oil, signed an agreement to this effect with Philip Merrill, chairman, US Export-Import Bank.

The PX/PTA facility being constructed at the Panipat Refinery is estimated to cost Rs 5,104 crore and is scheduled to be completed in 2005-06. The project envisages putting up facilities for separation of para-xylene from naphtha cut by pooling the feedstock from Mathura and Panipat refineries. The project considers facilities like splitter, reformer, extraction plant and toluene disproportion plant besides utilities for production para-xylene, according to a press release. On implementation, this plant will produce petrochemicals used in manufacturing plastic containers, artificial fibre for fabrics and various other plastic products. The production of para-xylene/ PTA will result in import substitution and value addition besides export potential.
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Aventis unveils once-a-day basal insulin
Mumbai: Aventis Pharma Ltd has launched a once-a-day basal insulin, Lantus, for better diabetic management. The drug will be available in 10-millilitre vial for an introductory price of Rs 2,499. Lantus is a peakless insulin that mimics the body's natural release pattern. The product profile improves glycemic control by reducing the risk of hypoglycaemia and diabetes-led complications using intermediate and long acting insulins.

Says Ramesh Subrahmanian, managing director, Aventis Pharma: "India currently has the largest diabetic population in the world with 37 million people and the numbers are estimated to grow to 57.2 million in year 2025. "With the launch of Lantus, our diabetes portfolio is strengthened."
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Ashok Leyland net rises 52% to Rs 15 crore in Q1
Chennai: Ashok Leyland Ltd has reported a 52-per cent growth in net profit at Rs 14.80 crore for the first quarter ended June 2003 as against Rs 9.74 crore during the corresponding quarter last year. Net sales grew by 5.3 per cent to Rs 684.46 crore (Rs 649.73 crore). Total expenditure during the quarter was at Rs 632.38 crore (Rs 589.10 crore). Financial expenses were at Rs 8.55 crore (Rs 17.61 crore), while depreciation was at Rs 22.99 crore (Rs 25.71 crore). Paid-up equity share capital has remained unchanged at Rs 118.92 crore.

For the year ended March 2003, ALL had reported a sales of Rs 3,073.99 crore and a net profit of Rs 120.21 crore. Meanwhile, at the company's shareholder meeting on Tuesday, a 50 per cent dividend was approved. "With the upturn in the Indian economy in almost all sectors the overall demand for commercial vehicles will continue to grow though not at the rate of last year," ALL chairman RJ Shahaney told shareholders.
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Titan registers Rs 7.5-crore net loss in Q1
Bangalore: Titan Industries has registered a net loss of Rs 7.51 crore in the first quarter of FY-04 as against Rs 10.02 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. But the total sales of the company for the period have shown a growth of 29 per cent to touch Rs 146.77 crore from Rs 113.48 crore in the same period.

The company's Time Products division grew by 21 per cent from Rs 75.44 crore to Rs 90.97 crore, and the jewellery division registered a 46 per cent growth from Rs 38.27 crore to Rs 56.06 crore during the quarter. According to a statement by the company, historically, the first quarter is not an indication of the full year performance.
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Godrej to open soap unit in Himachal Pradesh
Mumbai: Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) will set up a soap manufacturing plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. GCPL will get a 10-year tax holiday on excise duty and income tax on goods manufactured and profits made from this plant, Adi Godrej, chairman, GCPL said. GCPL, which declared financial results for the first quarter of the current fiscal ended 30 June 2003 has posted a net profit of Rs 13.82 crore, up eight per cent compared to net profit of Rs 12.77 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company's sales for the quarter stood at Rs 117.89 crore, an increase of three per cent over the previous year's sales of Rs 114.87 crore. According to Godrej, the tax exemptions received for its Assam plant have significantly added to the company's net profit. Godrej, while commenting on the company's performance during the quarter, said, "Our performance in the just concluded financial quarter is a reflection of our business focus. We have achieved superiority to sector growth in the toilet soap segment, while sustaining our leadership position in the personal care segment."
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