NEI bags orders from US, Brazil
New Delhi: National Engineering Industries Ltd (NEI) has bagged an order worth Rs 5.5 crore from the American and Brazilian railways. NEI, a GP-CK Birla group company, will export approximately 8,000 cartridge-tapered roller bearings to the US for this purpose.

The current order is the second exports win for the company in a span of less than two months. The company now expects to exceed the earlier target of over Rs 15 crores within one year, said a company release.
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Indian Acrylics to modernise plants
Mumbai: Indian Acrylics Ltd has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the company proposes to take a scheme to modernise its plants and to remove production bottlenecks. This will enhance the capacity to 42,000 TPA.

The total cost of the scheme has been estimated at Rs 48.84 crore, to be financed with Rs 16.84 crore of internal resources, and term loans worth Rs 32 crore. The implementation of the scheme is expected to be completed by March 2005.
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ADB buys 5.2% stake in Petronet LNG
Mumbai: Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement to pick up 5.2-per cent equity in Petronet LNG Ltd. ADB has been involved in the Dahej LNG terminal from the inception stage and has provided assistance in preparation of the detailed feasibility report.

The ADB board has sanctioned total financial assistance of Rs 352.5 crore for the 5.2 per cent equity and partial credit guarantee for redeemable bond issue of Rs 525 crore, which has been planned for May 2004.
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Steel producers in a quandary
New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) are facing an acute shortage of coking coal with two Australian companies backing out from supplying the feedstock, says a news report. "At a time when the steel producers are working at full capacity to cater to the ballooning demand, two out of three Australian vendors [MIM Holdings Ltd and Anglo American] have enforced a force majeure clause to cut off supplies of coking coal," an industry source was quoted as saying.

MIM and Anglo American, along with BHP Billiton, are the three primary suppliers to SAIL and RINL, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of their consumption of coking coal. However, labour unrest, coupled with government restrictions owing to environmental concerns, has caused disruption in production and forced them to suspend supplies for at least two months, the source said.
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Maruti net profit up to Rs 141 crore in Q3
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd has posted a net profit in the third quarter of the fiscal which nearly tripled on higher sales of its compact cars and one-time gains. The net profit of Maruti in the quarter ended 31 December 2003 stood at Rs 140.75 crore compared to Rs 49.68 crore in the same period a year ago. Vehicle sales increased by 27 per cent to 1,15,551 units over 91,172 units, Maruti said in a statement here.

Maruti's shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed at Rs 418.90, up 13.16 per cent. Basic and diluted earning per share in the period was Rs 4.87, up from Rs 1.72 a year ago. Net sales in the quarter were Rs 2,268 crore (Rs 1,788 crore). Other income in the period rose to Rs 107.52 crore from Rs 76.54 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
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Ranbaxy Q4 net down 52% to Rs 102 crore
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, India's largest drug company, reported a 52-per cent drop in fourth-quarter profit after tax from Rs 212.7 crore in 2002 to Rs 102 crore in 2003. This is despite the fact that Brian Tempest, the company's newly appointed joint managing director and CEO-designate, projected a 17-20 per cent top line growth in 2004.

Ranbaxy's fourth-qaurter sales fell 2.5 per cent from Rs 808.8 crore in 2002 to Rs 788.6 crore in 2003. Tempest attributed the fall in sales and profit to three factors: the fall in cefarexim axetil sales in the US, the $20 million extra spending on research during the year and a $6 million payment received in the fourth quarter of 2002 from Bayer for ciprofloxacin once-a-day.
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