State Trading Corporation records record turnover
New Delhi: The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd (STC) has posted an all-time high turnover of about Rs 5,400 crore for the first three quarters of the current fiscal. Senior company officials said STC's April-December 2003 turnover is particularly salutary, in that it is far higher than the full-year turnover ever scaled by the corporation in the past and is about three times the proportionate target of Rs 1,875 crore under the MoU it signed with the Government at the inception of the current fiscal.

The company has declared an interim dividend of 20 per cent for the fiscal 2003-04. The officials said the corporation hopes to end 2003-04 with a record turnover of Rs 6,500 crore, surpassing the MoU target of Rs 2,500 crore, thereby reversing the trend of losses piled up during the past two consecutive financial years.
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Hind Copper ups copper cathode prices
Mumbai: Hindustan Copper Ltd has raised prices of copper cathodes to Rs 152.548 per kg for this month from Rs 144.045 of last month. On the other hand, Sterlite Copper and Birla Copper, leading metal producers in the private sector, have reduced their prices by Rs 5.43 per kg to Rs 152.548 (Rs 157.981) because of change in duty structure.

Hindustan Zinc Limited has also reduced prices of its products by Rs 1.80 per kg each to Rs 60.60 on ex-smelter basis for special high grade and to Rs 63.70 on ex-smelter basis for high grade, sources said. The company has also reduced lead prices by 90 paise to Rs 48.30 per kg.However, The Bombay Metals Exchange (BME) has announced its benchmark price for copper wire bar at Rs 153.343 per kg, down Rs 2.11 over previous month's revised price.
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Toyota records 63% rise in sales
Bangalore: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) posted a 63 per cent increase in sales during January 2004 to 3,824 vehicles compared with a year ago figures. A press statement from the company said Toyota's best-selling sedan in the world, the Corolla, recorded its best ever performance in January, crossing the four-figure mark in sales. TKM sold 1,004 units of the Corolla this month, overtaking the previous best of 980 in July 2003.

TKM sold 2,754 Qualis in January 2003 compared with 2,186 units sold in the corresponding month last year, registering a growth of 26 per cent. TKM also sold 66 units of its luxury car Camry in January registering a 22 per cent increase on a month-on-month basis from last year.
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L&T agrees to ballot on changes to Cemco demerger
Mumbai: At at the extraordinary general meeting of Larsen & Toubro on Tuesday, minority shareholders moved several amendments to the resolutions pertaining to the demerger and sale of L&T's cement division (Cemco). The management of L&T had agreed to a ballot on some of the amendments sought.

The minority shareholders held that the valuation of Cemco had been done randomly and that it should be revised. In addition, they said, the shares of L&T which are to be bought by its employees (under the umbrella of a trust) from Grasim should be looked upon by SEBI as a preferential offer and that the shares should be offered at a rate that is related to the market price.
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Sahara India to produce movies
Mumbai: Sahara India Pariwar has tied up with K Sera Sera and Varma Corp in a Rs 35-crore joint venture to produce 10 films in a period of two and a half years.

All the films in this joint venture will be creatively headed by director Ram Gopal Varma and some will be directed by him as well. The first of these will be Ab Tak Chappan, which is scheduled for a February 27, 2004, release.
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Reliance Info increases tariffs
Mumbai: Reliance Infocomm has introduced a uniform tariff of Rs 1.49 per minute for calls to both CDMA and GSM mobile phones on two of its packages, increased long distance tariffs on certain slabs, as well as doubled SMS charges following the implementation of the new interconnect usage regime. The new tariffs have been announced for the Economy Rs 149 and Budget 149 customers only.

The new tariff of Rs 1.49 per minute is higher than the earlier tariff of Re 1 per minute for Reliance-to-Reliance mobile calls but lower than the earlier tariff of Rs 1.99 per minute for calls to GSM phones. Calls to fixed line customers for distances of more than 500 km will continue to be charged at Rs 3.99 per minute, says a news release from the company. National long distance call rates for the 50-200 km and the 200-500 km slabs have been increased by Re 1 per minute. NLD calls to GSM phones will also cost more - Rs 2.99 per minute as against the earlier Rs 1.99 per minute. For calls under the same slabs to fixed lines, too, the rates have been increased by Re 1 per minute.
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UB gets 7% Herbertsons stake through open offer
Mumbai: The Vijay Mallya-controlled UB group has acquired over 7 per cent of the share capital of Herbertsons through the open offer, while Kishore Chhabria has acquired less than 3 per cent, sources close to the development were quoted as saying. The open offer by both the parties for Herbertsons closed on January 30 scripting a new chapter in the decade-old battle for control of Herbertsons, the liquor company which owns the country's largest whisky brand, Bagpiper. The company is currently managed by the UB group.

Last month, as part of their broader pursuit of an out of court settlement, liquor barons Vijay Mallya and Kishore Chhabria decided to raise their open offer price for Herbertsons, the company they are battling over, to Rs 216.50 per share. The two agreed that one should not offer a higher price than the other. While Chhabria's open offer was only for the mandatory 20 per cent of the company, Mallya had made an offer for 45 per cent of the paid-up capital of the company.
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