Court asks HBL Nife to conduct EGM
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed HBL Nife Power Systems Ltd, a Rs 203-crore battery manufacturer here, to conduct an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of its shareholders. The EGM should seek shareholders' approval for the proposed scheme of amalgamation of Compact Power Sources with the company. The company, due to the direction, has called for an EGM here on 23 August. HBL Nife and its subsidiary, Compact Power, are currently engaged in the manufacture of batteries, cells, energy storage devices and specialised batteries, electronic items and chargers.

Aimed at better control, the manufacturing facility of Compact Power was shifted to Nandigaon in Mahaboobnagar district of Andhra Pradesh, where the facility of HBL Nife is located. The company has informed its shareholders through a notice that amalgamation was being proposed to take advantage of the facilities and also in view of the synergy of operations as well as to reduce the overhead costs
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Air-India eyes Rs 105-crore profit in 2002-03
New Delhi: Air-India expects to gather a net profit of Rs 65 crore in the period April-December 2002 and a net profit of Rs 105 crore for the entire financial year 2002-03. But the budget approved by the A-I board for the financial year 2003-04 shows the airline is expected to incur a net loss of Rs 55.50 crore, according to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

The minister said the factors that contribute to the airline achieving a net profit during 2002-03 include the low finance/interest costs primarily due to the reduction in interest rates in the international markets, dividend of Rs 20 crore received from the subsidiary company, Hotel Corporation of India, on account of profit of sale of properties and a profit of about Rs 17 crore from the sale of three aircraft to Ariana Afghan airlines.
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Novartis Q1 net rises to Rs 17 crore
Mumbai: Novartis India has registered a 5.8 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 17.63 crore in the first quarter ended 30 June 2003 as against Rs 16.66 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net sales were at Rs 132.76 crore (Rs 127.53 crore). Total expenditure was at Rs 114.41 crore (Rs 102.37 crore). Interest was marginally lower at Rs 21 lakh (Rs 22 lakh) while depreciation was higher at Rs 3.8 crore (Rs 2.1 crore).

The earnings per share was at Rs 5.52 (Rs 5.21). According to the company, the core pharmaceutical business recorded sales of Rs 81 crore, up 6.6 per cent. New line extensions of a nasal decongestant and a calcium Sandoz variant mainly contributed to the growth of 19.7 per cent of OTC sales of Rs 13.4 crore. The animal health business grew by 36.1 per cent at Rs 13.6 crore partly due to liquidation of stocks of a product, since discontinued.
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ONGC finishes drilling of new well at Bombay High
Mumbai: ONGC has completed drilling an offshore well producing 3,000 barrels of oil per day, according to a company official. This will be one of the highest-producing wells discovered in the last four to five years, with a capacity to add 1.9 million barrels per year to ONGC's oil production. The well was found in layer A2-VII of the L-III reservoir at a depth of 1450 metres on July 26, 2003.

"To get this much oil from a field which has been producing for more than two decades, is a very encouraging sign," Kharak Singh, executive director and asset manager (Bombay High), said. This is one of the most successful results of ONGC's $1.7 billion-Bombay High redevelopment programme which started in 2001. The well was drilled using the much-talked-about horizontal drilling technology.
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Nalco plans gallium extraction facilities
Kolkata: National Aluminium Company (Nalco) will set up gallium extraction facilities (3N grade) utilising the spent liquor of its alumina refinery and subsequent purification to 6N/7N grade keeping in view domestic and export requirements. Efforts are under way to prepare a feasibility report for the project after detailed characterisation of the Nalco's "Bayer liquor" samples and other necessary raw materials, according to media reports. Gallium occurs in minor quantities associated with ores of aluminium, zinc and germanium. This metal has been gaining worldwide importance by virtue of its application in electronic industries.

Though France, Japan, US, Germany, Hungary, China and the CIS countries are considered major sources for gallium, there is great potential in India for production of primary gallium from alumina refineries. A Nalco source was quoted as saying that gallium arsenide is the "gifted child of electronics". Silicon, its rival, seems dutiful but dull by contrast. A gallium arsenide chip is born with many advantages such as it can work five times faster than silicon, it uses less power, it is less affected by radiation, and it can convert electronic signals to light.
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Tata Steel gets licence for HDG products
Mumbai: Arcelor has given Tata Steel a technology licence for hot dip galvanised (HDG) products for the automotive industry, to be produced on Tata Steel’s continuous galvanising line at Jamshedpur. The agreement covers both pure zinc HDG and galvannealed products.

This agreement further consolidates the cooperation initiated in April 2002, between Arcelor, Nippon Steel and Tata Steel for providing effective steel solutions to the Indian Automotive industry. Under the new agreement, Arcelor will grant Tata Steel a license for the use of its proprietary product, Extragal including the trademark and associated know how.
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Zee Telefilms net rises to Rs 17 crore
Mumbai: Zee Telefilms Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 17.07 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2003, as compared to Rs 16.6 crore a year ago. Income from sales and services declined to Rs 91.63 crore, from Rs 93.04 crore. Zee Telefilms’ consolidated results (this includes Zee Telefilms and its subsidiaries) shows a 30.7 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 62.3 crore for the first quarter, compared to Rs. 47.67 crore for the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal. Total revenue has increased to Rs 289.3 crore, as against Rs. 248.8 crore. Subscription revenue has increased by 40.53 percent to Rs 142.77 crore against Rs 101.59 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

The advertising revenue has witnessed a drop of 13.41 per cent from Rs 139.97 crore to Rs 121.2 crore. Zee’s pay bouquet comprises 15 channels including 11 channels of Zee, two channels of Turner (CNN, Cartoon Network), CNBC and Reality TV Channel. During the second half of FY2004, uplinking of Zee TV and Zee Cinema would move from Singapore to India. This would tap into the highly lucrative non-exporter advertising market. “Plans are afoot to launch the Direct to Home (DTH) services in the coming quarter," said the company’s press release. The segment-wise revenue from content and broadcasting reflects an increase in the revenue from content and broadcasting to Rs 256 crore from Rs 218.64 crore. While revenue from access has also increased from Rs 35.52 crore to Rs 46.77 crore, the revenue from education has dropped to Rs 1.64 crore from Rs 3.01 crore.
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Indian Rayon Q1 net profit up 43%
Mumbai: The Aditya Birla group company Indian Rayon and Industries Ltd has posted a 43 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 21.56 crore in the first quarter ended 30 June 2003 compared to Rs 15.08 crore in the same period last year. Net sales for the reporting quarter, however, declined by seven per cent at Rs 339 crore as compared to Rs 364.5 crore for the corresponding period the previous year. The company has attributed this to the overall impact of the weavers’ and transporters’ strikes. Sales from the insulator business stood at Rs 13.46 crore as compared to Rs 44.56 crore in the comparable previous quarter.

Consequent to the de-merger of its insulator business, Indian Rayon caters exclusively to the domestic sector. The company operated the rayon division at 106.5 per cent capacity during the quarter. Due to the transporters strike, sales volume at 3,260 tonne and revenue at Rs 68.62 crore (Rs 81.01 crore) were lower. The Madura Garments division’s revenue for the quarter reported a 14.4 per cent rise to Rs 89.19 crore as against Rs 77.98 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Sales volumes for the quarter have also reported a 13.6 per cent rise. The company has said that four major factors — turnaround of the Peter England brand, market response to revival initiatives, resurgence of power brands and judicious control on advertisement spends — have contributed to the division’s performance.
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Jack Daniel’s uncorks two new whiskies
New Delhi: Jack Daniel’s (JD) has launched two new whiskies to its portfolio in India — Gentleman Jack and Silver Select — both from its global portfolio of premium Tenessee whiskies. While Gentleman Jack is available at about Rs 520 for a 30 ml shot, Silver Select costs about Rs 800 for the same quantity. The company’s standard JD Tenessee whisky costs about Rs 400 for a 30 ml shot at bars and restaurants.

The products are now available in all deluxe hotels and most bars and restaurants in Mumbai and Delhi. A press release from Brown Forman (the company that markets JD whisky in India) said, Gentleman Jack is twice charcoal mellowed, once before and once after ageing. Called ‘Tenessee’s answer to fine cognac,’ the whisky is said to have a distinct flavour of caramel and fruit (blackcurrant and mandarins) laced with vanilla and smoke.
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MRF net proft down 48% in Q3
Chennai: Despite an overall increase in sales, tyre major MRF Ltd reported a lower net profit for the third quarter ended 30 June 2003, compared to the same period of the previous year. The company’s net profit was hit by an unprecedented surge in prices of natural rubber, one of the main inputs of the company, during the quarter under review. While the net sales of the company has registered a growth of 9.4 per cent, the company has posted a 48 per cent drop in its net profit during the quarter ended June 30, 2003.

MRF's net profit stood at Rs 15.33 crore as against Rs 29.47 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Net sales stood at Rs 643.80 crore (Rs 588.43 crore). Interest charges and depreciation of the company during the period were Rs 10.37 crore and Rs 23.71 crore respectively. Philip Eapen, vice-president, MRF, said a major reason for the drastic fall in net profit was the unprecedented rise in natural rubber prices during the quarter. “On sales-wise, we have done better compared to the previous year. However, our net profit was hit by the spurt in rubber prices which even went up to Rs 50 a kg during the period,” he said.
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Britannia clocks 53% rise in Q1 profit
Mumbai: Britannia Industries has posted a 53 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 28.6 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June against Rs 18.7 crore during the corresponding period previous fiscal. Net sales increased by 8.3 per cent from Rs 310.9 crore to Rs 336.9 crore during the quarter under review.

Despite depressed sales growth in the FMCG sector and the transporters strike in April, gross sales for the quarter grew by 5% over last year, according to the company here on Tuesday. Market conditions remained extremely competitive especially in the FMCG sector with most companies resorting to consumer promotions and trade loads to meet topline growth.
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SAIL net profit at Rs 255 crore in Q1
Mumbai: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) reported a net profit of Rs 255 crore during the first quarter ended June 2003, as against a net loss of Rs 309 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The company’s turnover increased by 14 per cent to Rs 4,765 crore in the first quarter of current fiscal. Though steel prices declined by around $45 and $78 in EU and CIS countries during the period, adoption of aggressive marketing strategies helped the company achieve higher sales. “This is a significant improvement of Rs 564 crore and that too despite a drop in international steel prices during April-June 2003,” a SAIL statement said.

Commenting on the quarterly performance, SAIL chairman VS Jain said: “SAIL is all set on a path of turnaround. The organisation is geared up to encash the emerging market opportunities. This only spells the beginning of a new era of prosperity for the company to progress further in the months to come.” The profit of Rs 255 crore is also the highest-ever to be achieved by the company in any first quarter, which is generally a lean period due to major capital repairs being scheduled after the completion of a fiscal, and other seasonal factors. SAIL’s plan to export around one million tonne of steel during the current financial year also got off to a good start with exports of around 3.3 lakh tonne during April-June 2003.
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IPCL posts Rs 39-crore net profit in Q1
Mumbai: Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL), a Reliance group company, has posted a net profit of Rs 39 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June 2003 as against a net loss of Rs six crore in the corresponding period the previous year. Gross turnover for the quarter reported a 47.75 per cent increase at Rs 2,633 crore as against Rs 1,782 crore for the same quarter the previous year. Other income saw an increase of 133.33 per cent at Rs 21 crore as compared to Rs nine crore for the corresponding period the previous year.

Commenting on the results, Mukesh Ambani, chairman, IPCL, said: “We are satisfied with IPCL’s performance in a difficult operating environment which saw a drop in margins being partly compensated by growth in production and sales volumes. The first quarter performance reflects the positive impact of measures introduced for cost reduction, productivity, savings in interest cost and efficiency gains and we are confident of further improvement in the company’s performance in the future.” Profit before tax and extraordinary item was reported at Rs 51 crore as compared to a loss of Rs six crore for the same quarter the previous year.
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