SEC filing: Infosys lists private sector reservation as risk
Mumbai: Infosys Technologies has listed the possibility of the Maharashtra Government passing legislation on reservations in the private sector as a risk factor in its latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the US.

"We currently have operations, including a development centre, in Pune in the State of Maharashtra, India. Recently, the Maharashtra State Government introduced legislation requiring that certain employers in the State give preferential hiring treatment to various under-represented groups resident within the State. The quality of our workforce is critical to our business. If the legislation becomes effective, our ability to hire the most highly qualified technology professionals in the State of Maharashtra may be hindered," said Infosys in its filings for issue of American Depository Shares.

"Our success depends in large part upon our highly skilled technology professionals and our ability to attract and retain these professionals," it added.

The Maharashtra Government is considering a legislation to introduce reservations for socially backward communities in the private sector.
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Tata Tele to invest Rs. 9,000 crore in coming years
Kolkata: Tata Teleservices Ltd, which has launched a range of services in Kolkata is hopeful of increasing its customer base from the present 3 million to around 4.5 million-5 million by end of March this year.

Tata Indicom had already invested Rs9,000 crore in its telecom venture and additional investments of Rs9,000 crore would be made in various telecom initiatives in the next 2-3 years. An investment of Rs250 crore would be made in Kolkata by March.

The telecom industry is expected to have a customer base of 150 million by 2009. On its part, Tata Teleservices is hopeful of garnering a market share in the range of 22-25 per cent in the next five years. It says that it will emerge among the top-two players in the domestic telecom business within the next five years.
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Reliance Info and Dept of Posts and Telegraph tie up
Hyderabad: Reliance Infocomm Ltd has tied up with the Department of Posts to deliver its pre-paid cards and vouchers across the State. According to both Reliance Infocomm and the Post Master General, this would be a win-win situation for both the company and the department.

While Reliance will get a foothold in newer regions and access to over 16,000 outlets of the department located in some of the remotest places, the department would benefit since this falls within its ambit of business development tapping new streams of revenue. It may be recalled that the department earlier this week announced a tie-up with the State-owned BSNL to market the latter's India Telephone Cards.

Reliance Infocomm has said that the company subscriber base in the State is on the verge of hitting the one-million mark. It said that given the current pace of geographical expansion, it plans to hit the planned addition of 295 cities before the financial year end.
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Tata Chem FCCB raises $150 mn
Mumbai: Tata Chemicals Ltd has raised $150 million (around Rs620 crore) through an issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds. The issue was conducted on January 25 via the accelerated book built route with Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank as joint book runners, an official statement said today. According to the company, the issue was oversubscribed by roughly 2.5 times within a few hours of the opening.

The bonds are convertible into ordinary/ equity shares at a price of Rs231.375, which is at a 50 per cent premium over the closing price of Rs154.25 on January 25, on the BSE. The bonds carry a coupon rate of one per cent at a yield to maturity of 4.75 per cent at the end of five years if not converted into shares during the period.

The bonds are expected to be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, the statement said.
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Illegal routing: BSNL asked to clarify stand on arbitration
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has asked Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd to clarify if it was interested in arbitration of its dispute with Reliance Infocomm over the alleged routing of international calls as local ones by the private telecom operator.

A Division Bench of Justice B.A. Khan and Justice Anil Kumar have fixed February 10 for further hearing.

The Supreme Court had earlier asked Reliance to pay up the entire dues, amounting to about Rs180 crore for the alleged illegal routing of calls, to BSNL.
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Dabur buys out Balsara group companies for Rs143 crore
New Delhi: Dabur India Ltd (DIL) has announced acquisition of three Balsara group companies for Rs143 crore in an all-cash deal.

This acquisition will give the company access to oral care brands of Balsara - Babool and Meswak - besides household products including Odonil (air freshener), Odopic (dish washer), Sanifresh (toilet cleaner) and Odomos (insect repellent).

As per the deal, which was approved by the board of directors of DIL, it will acquire 99.4 per cent stake in Balsara Hygiene Products, 100 per cent in Balsara Home Products and 97.9 per cent in Besta Cosmetics.

The company will seek shareholder approval for the deal by April. Till then, it will assume management control at Balsara. The acquisition is being funded largely through internal accruals with only Rs23 crore of the entire amount being sourced through debt.

DIL said that it was open to more acquisitions in areas where the company already operates - personal care, healthcare, foods and now household care.
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Celebrity acquires Span Eicher Design
Chennai: Celebrity Fashions Ltd, apparel exporter to some of the big brands in the world and which owns the Indian Terrain menswear brand, has acquired Span Eicher Design from the Delhi-based Eicher group in a Rs5 crore deal.

The acquisition would immediately add a capacity of 75,000 units a month to Celebrity's present manufacturing base of 3.5 million pieces a year.

The capacity acquisition would add Rs30-35 crore to Celebrity's present topline of Rs150 crore in the next financial year. Celebrity is gearing up its production to supply to global brands like J.C. Penney in the coming year.

Currently the Celebrity group has nine manufacturing facilities in Chennai and expects to notch up a turnover of Rs400 crore by 2007.
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ICICI Infotech brands itself as 3i Infotech
Mumbai: Shareholders of ICICI Infotech Ltd, have approved an increase in the company's capital through an initial public offer and have also given their consent to changing the company's name to 3i Infotech Ltd.

3i stands for Innovation, Insight and Integrity, said a company statement. The company provides technology solutions to the banking, insurance and other sectors.

ICICI Bank currently holds less than 30 per cent stake in 3i Infotech; ICICI Ventures holds a stake of around 63 per cent; and the rest of the stake in the company is owned by Emirates Financial Services.

The company has also inducted Vincent Addonisio as a director. An MBA from Georgia Tech University and a Certified Public Accountant who has been associated with the information technology industry in the US for over a decade, Vincent has also handled several M&A transactions.
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Mudra bags AME award
Mumbai: Mudra Advertising has won the advertising and marketing effectiveness AME Awards (New York Festivals) for 2005. Mudra is the only advertising agency in India to win the award this year.

The Silver World Medal Award is for the `Save Water' campaign created for Electrolux Appliances in the environmental issues category. The film has been conceived and written by Saurabh Dasgupta who is a Creative Director with Mudra's Delhi branch and directed by Arjun Mukerjee.

It features a man in an arid land using handpump. After several attempts, a tiny drop of water appears at the mouth of the pump. It's actually not water but his sweat that has trickled down. The film ends with a saying "Water, use it wisely'.
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LG Electronics launches new products
Bangalore: LG Electronics India has announced the launch of 16X DVD writer and Flatron LCD/TFT monitor with f.engine technology in the city.

LG's super-multi DVD rewriter has a storage of up to 4.7 GB, which is seven times more than the usual CD.

The company's 17-inch Flatron LCD/TFT monitor, with f. engine technology, offers real colour management and adaptive colour and contrast enhancers that offer a high quality of picture, the company claimed in a press release.
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Corporate Results
GE Shipping posts highest ever quarterly profit
Mumbai: Great Eastern Shipping has recorded its highest every quarterly profit, with its net profit during the third quarter of the current fiscal touching Rs287.50 crore, as against Rs110 crore in the corresponding quarter, representing an increase of 161 per cent.

During the quarter, its income was Rs633.24 crore against Rs354.59 crore in the corresponding quarter, an increase of 78 per cent.

The board of directors of the company has declared a second interim equity dividend of Rs2.50 per share, which would result in an outflow of Rs53.80 crore (including tax thereon). This, along with the first interim dividend declared in October 2004, has resulted in a total outflow of Rs75.33 crore.

According to the company, the main drivers of the quarter's performance were significantly higher tanker earnings, strong dry bulk earnings, an increase in shipping revenue days by around 18 per cent at 3,571 days and profit from sales of assets.

The company has drawn up a capital expenditure programme of $350 million to add fifteen new vessels between early 2005 and mid-2007. The company's current fleet of 70 vessels comprises 40 ships (an average tonnage of 2.76 million DWT with an average age of 14.5 years) and 30 offshore vessels.

SAIL Q3 net up 105%
Mumbai: Third quarter net profit of state-owned steel major SAIL has risen by 105 per cent. Steel Authority of India Ltd's net profit in the October-December quarter has gone up to Rs1514 crore from Rs738 crore in Q3 of the previous fiscal.

SAIL has also announced a dividend of 15 per cent. The company has said it would review prices for long term contracts in July.

HPCL Q3 net down 70 per cent
Mumbai: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's net profit for the October-December quarter has fallen by 69.7 per cent to Rs235 crore from Rs775 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

HPCL's sales in Q3 have increased by 25.4 per cent to Rs16,227 crore compared to Rs12,939 crore in the December ending quarter of 2003-04.

The state-owned company's other income was up at Rs 101 crore in the quarter under review from Rs56 crore in Q3 a year ago.

The company's nine-month refining margins were up at $5.28 per barrel in the April-December period compared to $3.55 per barrel in the same period of 2003.

HPCL, the country's second largest integrated oil refining and marketing company, has said that it will spend Rs42 crore on a Voluntary Retirement Scheme.

Bharti Tele Q3 net up 132 per cent
New Delhi: Bharti Televentures has posted a jump of 132 per cent in its third quarter net profit which has gone up to Rs373 crore compared to Rs161 crore in the December ending quarter of 2003-04.

Bharti Tele's sales grew by 69 per cent in the October-December period to Rs2153 crore from Rs1270 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company added one million subscribers in the period under review. It's average revenue per user in the December ending quarter was at Rs519, which is up from Rs509 quarter on quarter basis.

Bharti Tele's has a 26.3 per cent market share in the GSM business.

Tata Infotech Q3 net up 13 per cent
Mumbai: Global systems integration major Tata Infotech Limited has reported robust third quarter results. The company has posted a 13 per cent rise in net profit at Rs20.23 crore, compared with Rs17.96 crore registered during the same period of previous fiscal.

Total income from operations surged to Rs200.01 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs146.56 crore posted during the same period a year ago.

The company's net profit for nine-month period ended December 31, 2004 surged to Rs51.73 crore (Rs47.08 crore in the same period of a year ago).

Meanwhile, income from operations increased to Rs562.58 crore (Rs420.58 crore).

The net profits were affected on account of a higher taxable income, the company said. The company continues to make good progress on a quarter-on-quarter basis in all segments of its business and geographies, it added.

A board meeting has been convened on February 2, 2005, to consider an interim dividend for the current fiscal.

Hexaware Tech Q4 net jumps 186 per cent
Mumbai: Hexaware Technologies has posted a huge jump of 186.6 in its fourth quarter net profit up at Rs21.4 crore from Rs7.5 crore in Q4 of the previous year.

Hexaware's fourth quarter revenue has increased by 47.4 per cent to Rs157 crore from Rs106.5 crore in the corresponding December ending quarter of 2003.

The company added 12 new clients and 302 employees in the quarter under review. It has announced a final dividend of Rs 5 a share.

Hexaware board will meet on February 21 to consider a stock split. Hexaware has given a revenue guidance of $170 million in the financial year 2005. The company's FY'05 profit guidance is up 80 per cent to $25.2 million.

Arvind Mills Q3 net doubles
Ahmedabad: Ahmedabad-based Arvind Mills' has almost doubled its net profit in the third quarter. The company has posted a net profit of Rs36 crore in the October-December quarter compared to Rs19 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The flagship company of Lalbhai Group has posted sales figures of Rs414 crore in Q3 compared to Rs349 in the same quarter of 2003-04.

Chambal Fert Q3 net at Rs.110 crore
Mumbai: Chambal Fertilisers has posted a third quarter net profit of Rs110 crore compared to Rs60.9 crore in the corresponding December ending quarter a year ago.

The third quarter net profit includes a one-time gain of Rs49 crore.

The company's sales have increased to Rs1010 crore in the period under review from Rs870 crore in Q3 of 2003-04.

Subex Q3 net up at Rs. 8.42 crore
Bangalore: Subex Systems has registered a third quarter net profit of Rs8.42 crore, up from Rs5.14 crore in third quarter of 2003-04, on revenues of Rs33 crore compared to Rs22.86 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The Subex board has recommended an interim dividend of 10 per cent, besides approving the restructuring of the business by transferring the services business to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Subex Technologies Inc.
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