Reliance group buys up 8% stake in Emco
Mumbai: The Reliance group has picked up a 8.2-per cent stake in transformer company Emco between Rs 4.49 crore and Rs 4.73 crore.

The stake was picked up through BSES Infrastructure, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group power arm BSES. BSES Infrastructure has informed the Bombay and National stock exchanges that the company had acquired 4.98-lakh shares.
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ITC profit goes up 17% in Q3
Kolkata: ITC has reported a 17-per cent rise in post-tax profits in the third quarter (Q3) ended 31 December 2003, of Rs 380 crore against Rs 323 crore in Q3 ended December 2002.

The gross income, after adjusting for the one-off opportunity of non-basmati rice exports last year of Rs 115 crore, in Q3 of this fiscal to Rs 2,992 crore from Rs 2,779 crore in Q3 of the previous fiscal. Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter was Rs 15.38, up from Rs 13.07 in Q3 of the last fiscal.
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Century gets shareholders' nod for selling ships
Mumbai: Century Textiles & Industries Ltd has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that shareholders' approval was obtained through postal ballot regarding the board of directors' decision on the proposed sale of the company's remaining two ships — a product tanker of 29,990 dwt built in 1981 and a handymax bulk carrier of 43,815 dwt built in 1994 — and consequential closure of its shipping division.

The company, at its meeting held on January 30, thought it in the interests of the company to defer its earlier decision regarding the sale of its handymax bulk carrier for the moment, and take advantage of the favourable market conditions prevailing at present by continuing operations that have been earning attractive revenues for the company.
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Maruti slashes Esteem Diesel price by Rs 38,000
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd has cut price of its Esteem Diesel model by Rs 38,000, in a bid to shore up sales of the midsize car. The base model of the Esteem Diesel (without power steering) will now be priced at Rs 4.83 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as against Rs 5.22 lakh, while the other version will be priced Rs 5.09 lakh, down from Rs 5.48 lakh, the company said in a statement here.

Maruti said the price revision of the Esteem Diesel model was made possible by the recent cut in customs duty. The Esteem Diesel is powered by a Peugeot engine, which Maruti imports. The price cut comes only a day after Maruti announced a reduction of Rs 25,000 on the price of its other sedan, the Baleno. The company also rolled out a new variant of the Baleno at Rs 5.60 lakh.
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TPL, Al Zamil join hands for Saudi LAB project
Chennai: Tamilnadu Petroproducts Ltd, which plans to put up a linear alkyl benzene project in Saudi Arabia, has tied up with the Al Zamil group of companies towards this end.

The project is to be put up with funding from DevCorp, the Saudi development financial institution. Jim Greenberg, the managing director of DevCorp, and Abdul Aziz Al Zamil were here last week, meeting officials of TPL.
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Crisil provisionally upgrades L&T
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro's non-convertible debenture rating has been provisionally upgraded to triple-AAA/stable (from AA+) by Crisil, with the improvement of L&T's financial profile upon transfer of a large portion of its debt to the demerged cement company (Cemco), 51 per cent stake of which is to be bought by Grasim Industries.

Simultaneously, Cemco has been assigned a provisional rating of AA+ (double A plus). Crisil had placed the AA+ and FAAA ratings on L&T's NCDs and fixed deposit programmes, respectively on `rating watch with developing implications' in June 2003 following L&T's announcement of demerger of its cement division.
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Berger Paints okays 1:2 bonus issue
Kolkata: The board of directors of Berger Paints India on Friday approved the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of one bonus share for every two ordinary equity shares held in view of the sustained growth in the performance of the company.

Sales for the third quarter ended 31 December 2003 grew 11.4 per cent to Rs 199.27 crore compared to Rs 178.83 crore in the same period last year. The profit before tax rose 28 per cent to Rs 16.96 crore (Rs 13.25 crore) and profit after tax by 25.2 per cent to Rs 12.09 crore (Rs 9.66 crore).
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