Holcim Ltd. to take over ACC
Mumbai: Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd and Swiss concern Holcim Ltd have announced a strategic alliance that will see Holcim get 67 per cent stake in Ambuja Cements India Ltd (ACIL), with Gujarat Ambuja holding 33 per cent. Through ACIL - which already holds 13.8 per cent in ACC and 94 per cent in ACEL - Holcim will make open offers for ACC as well as Ambuja Cement Eastern Ltd.

Overall, Holcim will spend $800 million (Rs3,502 crore), which according to Anil Singhvi, whole-time Director with Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd, would account for 20 per cent of the foreign direct investment of $4 billion recently in the country After the open offer, ACIL, which owns 13.8 per cent in ACC, will increase its shareholding up to 50.01 per cent. The open offer is at Rs370 per share. The open offer for ACEL will be at Rs70 per share, for the entire public shareholding from the minority shareholders. ACIL, which owns 94 per cent of ACEL, aims to own 100 per cent of ACEL.

If the deal proceeds according to the plan, Holcim itself will effectively have a 33 per cent stake in ACC and a 67 per cent stake in ACEL, and would clearly be the single largest shareholder in both these companies.

As per the arrangement Holcim has entered into an agreement with private equity investors American International Group and Government of Singapore Investment Corp to acquire their entire 40 per cent shareholding in ACIL for $200 million (Rs875 crore). Holcim has also entered into a share subscription arrangement with ACIL for investing $600 million towards capital.

Post deal, the paid up capital of ACIL will increase from Rs475 crore to Rs850 crore. Both these acquisitions are being made at Rs47 per ACIL share, at a premium of Rs37 per share of face value Rs10, and are subject to regulatory approvals.

The board of directors of ACIL will be reconstituted to reflect the shareholding pattern with two-thirds of the members to be nominees of Holcim, the rest to be nominees of Gujarat Ambuja.

The members of the board of Associated Cement Companies Ltd today accorded their `no-objection' to the proposed open offer by Holcim group for the limited purposes of the application to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board by the foreign company for its proposed offer.
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Tata Steel to raise Rs.5,000 crore for growth
Mumbai: Tata Steel has approved a plan to raise up to Rs5,000 crore to meet its funding requirement for the company's expansion and growth plans.

This would be mainly through debt and a combination of rupee and foreign currency debt, the company has said. The company has convened an extraordinary general meeting of its shareholders on March 24 to seek their approval.

The company has plans to take its steel production to 15 million tonnes by 2010 from 4 million tonnes in 2004.

Some of its plans include investment in NatSteel; 2.4 million tonne expansion at Jamshedpur; 6 million tonne Greenfield expansion at Orissa; Greenfield project at Bangladesh; port infrastructure at Dhamra, Orissa; coke project at Haldia; limestone joint venture in Thailand; ferro chrome project in South Africa and the titania project at Tamil Nadu.
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IPCL: Anil Ambani's resignation kept in abeyance
Mumbai: The Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd board has decided to keep in abeyance the resignation of Anil Ambani as Vice-Chairman and Director of the company. Anil Ambani chose to stay away from the board meeting that was called to consider the company's third quarter results.

The company informed the stock exchanges that the board of directors discussed the resignation of Anil Ambani and decided to request him to reconsider his decision.

This comes a day after the board of Reliance Energy decided to accept the resignation of two out of six of its Directors.

Anil Ambani had resigned as Chairman of IPCL on Junuary 3, saying that he considered it below his dignity, self-respect and self-esteem to be on the same board with Anand Jain. Jain is considered to be a close confidante of Mukesh Ambani.
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Reduced ADC: BSNL warns of hike in rentals and charges
New Delhi: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has said that there was a possibility of increasing the rentals and call charges of fixed line phones, even in the rural areas, to make up for losses due to lowering of levy rates announced by telecom regulator TRAI recently.

BSNL has said that they are looking at some re-arrangements to compensate for the loss to the tune of Rs1,254 crore due to lowered Access Deficit Charge (ADC). The options include upward revision in the monthly rentals, increasing call charges and reducing free calls.

BSNL offers telecom services across the country except in Delhi and Mumbai where the services are offered by MTNL. The company said that it had written to the Department of Telecom (DoT) listing out detailed analysis of the new ADC regime including its impact and the options available with the company.

There are about 1.6 crore village telephones on which the rental varied between Rs50 to 100 per month, and there were free calls as well, against the cost based rental which comes to about Rs362 a month. BSNL has also been charging Rs1.20 for a three-minute call as against TRAI's prescribed Rs 1.20 for a two-minute call.
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TDSAT puts on hold DoT penalty on Reliance till Feb 8
New Delhi: Reliance Infocomm got a temporary relief from paying the penalty imposed by the Department of Telecom for illegal routing of international traffic, with the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal issuing a directive that there should be no recovery till the next date of hearing on February 8.

The company had moved TDSAT earlier this week, challenging the Rs150-crore penalty imposed by DoT for the licence violation.

Justice Wadhwa asked DoT to file a reply on Reliance Infocomm's petition within next ten days. Harish Salve, counsel for Reliance, said that the Government cannot impose a penalty unilaterally since there was no finding by any independent authority that the company has breached the terms and conditions of licence.

In a related issue, the Delhi High Court on Thursday decided to take up the matter of the exclusive jurisdiction of TDSAT to adjudicate in the dispute between Reliance Infocomm and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd over the latter's threat to disconnect the private sector company for illegal routing of calls. A Bench comprising Justice B.A. Khan and Justice Anil Kumar, hearing Reliance Infocomm's appeal, decided to take into consideration the jurisdiction aspect after counsels for both parties agreed to this.

The Bench posted the hearing for January 27 on the appeal filed by Reliance Infocomm against the order of a single Bench rejecting its plea to restrain BSNL from disconnecting points of inter-connection for the private operator's failure to pay Rs254 crore for routing international calls as local ones.
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Corporate Results
Tata Steel Q3 net up 99 per cent
Mumbai: Tata Steel's net profit in the October-December period rose by 99.3 per cent to Rs891 crore from Rs447 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Tata Steel's Q3 income has increased by 41.7 per cent to Rs3,731 crore from Rs2,632 crore in the December ending quarter of 2003-04.

On the BSE, shares of Tata Steel rose by Rs3.35 or 0.96 per cent to close at Rs351.75.

Reliance Industries to announce results
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) will declare its third quarter results today, a day after Reliance-owned IPCL announced that its third quarter profit had increased by 133 per cent.

The day also saw the first clear signal that the Ambani brothers want to end the family tussle. According to Ambani family sources, Anil Ambani reportedly said, "I love my brother. I believe in his fairness". He is also believed to have said that the brothers could sort their differences if they met alone and discussed the issues.

Mukesh Ambani is said to have replied back that he is always ready to meet his brother

ACC Q3 net jumps 137 per cent
Mumbai: Cement major ACC has posted a rise of 137 per cent in its third quarter net profit. The company's net profit in the October-December period was up at Rs53 crore from Rs22 crore in the corresponding Q3 of 2003-04.

ACC's income has risen by 23 per cent in Q3 to Rs1,118 crore from Rs906 crore in the December ending quarter of the previous year.

On the BSE, shares of ACC fell by Rs23 or almost 6.5 per cent to close at Rs341.

TCS second interim
Mumbai: The board of directors of Tata Consultancy Services has announced a second interim dividend of 350 per cent at Rs3.50 per share.

February 4 has been fixed as the record date. The company had declared its first interim dividend in October 2004.

Guj Ambuja net up 50 per cent
New Delhi: Cement major Gujarat Ambuja today reported a 50.8 per cent increase in its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2004 on a year-on-year basis. The company's net profit stood at Rs89 crore, up from Rs59 crore.

Gujarat Ambuja Q2 sales were up 41% to Rs.619 crore from Rs.436 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. The Q2 sales also registered a 41 per cent rise to Rs619 crore from Rs436 crore.

In another significant development, Swiss cement major Holcim has made a strategic alliance with Gujarat Ambuja. Holcim is the second largest cement producer in the world.

Hind Latex interim dividend
Thiruvananthapuram: Hindustan Latex Ltd has announced an interim dividend of 20 per cent for the period from April to November 2004.

A company spokesman said here that the Managing Director, M. Ayyappan, paid the amount of Rs2.42 crore to the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Anbumani Ramadoss, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The company also made a contribution of Rs20 lakh towards the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

Satyam Q3 net rises 20 per cent
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer Services recorded software services revenues of Rs891.26 crore and net profit of Rs174.74 crore, registering an increase of 34.5 per cent (Rs662.69 crore) in revenues and 19.8 per cent (Rs145.86 crore) in net profit over corresponding quarter last year.

Sequentially, the revenue was up 8.86 per cent in dollar terms, which translates to 5.09 per cent in rupee terms. This change was due to stronger rupee against dollar clipping about Rs22 crore.

The company has revised its guidance for 2004-2005 upwards marginally at 35.1 per cent for its revenues, up from 34.9 per cent forecast earlier between Rs3,429 crore and Rs3,433 crore. The earnings per share for the fiscal is expected to be between Rs22.90 and Rs23.

Income from software services for the fourth quarter is expected to be in the range of Rs918 crore - Rs 922 crore, with an EPS of Rs5.98-Rs 6.08.

Explaining the company's third quarter performance, the Chairman of Satyam, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, said, "the quarter continued to see delivery of industry specific solutions, thereby expanding the number of $1 million clients to 118, reflecting an increase of 22 per cent sequentially. While it took us more than a decade to reach the first 50 mark, it has taken us less than three years for the balance."

"The geographical expansion we embarked on is paying off and during Q3 the Europe and Asia-Pacific business reflected a sequential growth of 21.3 per cent and 20 per cent respectively," he stated.

"Satyam added 28 new customers in Q3, of which three are Fortune 500 companies. The company's largest vertical, manufacturing reflected a 9.4 per cent growth.

"Satyam added 793 associates during the quarter, increasing the strength to 17,665. We are on course to net addition of 4,500 people during this financial year," Raju said.

Surana Telecom net up at Rs.4.15 crore
Hyderabad: Surana Telecom Ltd has recorded a total income of Rs16.71 crore and a net profit of Rs4.15 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2004, against a total income of Rs5.80 crore and net profit of Rs0.52 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

The company had total income of Rs45 crore and a net profit of Rs4.27 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2004. During the first nine months this fiscal, the company revenues stood at Rs88.63 crore with a net profit of Rs9.44 crore.

Infotech Q3 net at Rs. 6 crore
Hyderabad: Infotech Enterprises Ltd has recorded total income of Rs65.61crore and a net profit of Rs5.94 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, as against total income of Rs47.87 crore and a net profit of Rs4.13 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

However, sequentially, the revenues were lower by 4.1 per cent as against Rs68.43 crore and net profit was also lower by 9.9 per cent compared to Rs6.59 crore. For the financial year ended March 31, 2004, the company had recorded total income of Rs 158.27 crore and a net profit of Rs 9.01 crore.

From October 1, 2004, Infotech Aerospace Services Inc, Puerto Rico (IASI) has ceased to be a subsidiary of the company. This follows the acquisition of 51 per cent shareholding in IASI by United Technologies International Corporation (UTIC).
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DoT isues show-cause notice to Tata Tele
New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a show-cause notice to Tata Teleservices on its recently launched `Push-to-Talk' (PTT) services asking it to prove compliance with the licence terms and conditions.

This is the second show-cause notice issued by DoT to Tata Teleservices within a week. DoT had earlier sent a notice to the company on its fixed wireless phone `Walky,' on grounds that the service was being positioned as a mobile phone.

DoT has sought explanation with regard to compliance to the numbering plan and access deficit charges on PTT services. DoT has given three days' time until Friday for the Tatas to explain.

Tata Teleservices had launched the Push-to-Talk services last month offering customers the facility to make unlimited calls without any long distance or roaming charges within the network on a monthly rental of just Rs99.

The TRAI notice followed a complaint from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) that the companies were avoiding payment of ADC on mobile type services which was being offered under the garb of fixed wireless telephony.
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MTNL challenges new ADC regime
New Delhi: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, has filed an appeal with the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal challenging the new Access Deficit Charge (ADC) regime announced by the telecom regulator.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had earlier stopped deficit charges for MTNL and private fixed line operators on incoming calls, which they have been getting since last two years. According to MTNL officials, the move resulted in a loss of over Rs400 crore annually to the State-owned company.

Meanwhile, the private fixed line operators under the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India is holding a meeting on Friday to discuss the possibility of joining ranks with MTNL on the issue.

The other State-owned company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has urged the Government for a review. This despite the fact that BSNL is the only company that would continue to get ADC on incoming calls as well. The new regime comes into effect from February 1. The case comes up for hearing on January 24 with the Tribunal.

Access Deficit Charge is a levy imposed by TRAI on all calls to support fixed line telephones being provided in economically unviable areas.
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Airtel and Hutch long distance tariffs come down
New Delhi: Long distance calls on mobile phones will become cheaper from February 1, as Airtel and Hutch have announced tariff cuts for both the domestic and international sectors. While international long distance calls will be cheaper by Rs1.75 a minute, domestic calls will cost less by 35 paise a minute to all destinations.

The move comes after the recent cuts in the Access Deficit Charges (ADC) announced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The telecom regulator had cut the deficit charges on outgoing ISD calls by Rs 2 a minute and between 20 paise and 50 paise a minute on STD calls.

In effect, it means that calls to the US, which currently cost about Rs16 a minute, will now cost about Rs14.25 a minute and an STD call from Delhi to Chennai, which comes to about Rs4.99 a minute, will now be Rs4.64 a minute. Cell-to-cell STD calls, which will cost Rs1.64 a minute as compared to Rs1.99 a minute at present.

While Airtel has more than 10 million mobile subscribers, Hutch has about 7.2 million users. Other mobile operators like Idea Cellular are also expected to follow suit with a tariff reduction.
Meanwhile state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has challenged TRAI's new ADC regime in court.
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Sutherland to hire another 4,000 this year
Mumbai: New-York headquartered Sutherland Global Services has said that it had more than quadrupled its employee base in India over the last 15 months, as part of its aggressive growth plans for 2005.

The company hopes to achieve revenues of $200 million from its India operations in calendar year 2005, according to company officials. Of the company's global employee base of 10,000, India now has 7,000 employees, up from 1,500 in September 2003 - one of the fastest BPO ramp-ups in India. The company will hire an additional 4,000 professionals in India in 2005.

The company has onshore delivery facilities in the US and near shore facilities in Canada, in addition to its significant offshore presence in Chennai and Mumbai. The rapid Indian ramp has been a result of the addition of a number of new clients and significant expansion of existing contracts, the company has said.

Sutherland established its first offshore presence in Chennai in 2002.Within 12 months, the company has grown to 1,500 employees in Mumbai and has doubled its infrastructure at its BPO delivery facility in Malad. Additionally, Sutherland has raised its headcount in Chennai to 5,500 people across three facilities there.
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