Cyber crime: Top US official says outsourcing deals will continue
New Delhi: Faced with a setback through the recent bank fund transfer case involving some former employees of MphasiS BFL's BPO firm MsourcE, the Indian offshoring industry has received support from unexpected quarters.

Howard A. Schmidt, Chief Security Strategist, US Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), has said that US companies should not hesitate to outsource services to India based on the incident, as such frauds were not unique to the Indian market.

"These incidents are not unique to India. We have always been concerned about insider threat when it comes to criminal activities. It has always been a problem. In the physical world one sees sabotage, in the online world there are frauds," Schmidt said on the sidelines of the Indo-US Cyber Security Forum legal seminar organised by CII here.

US-CERT is a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the public and private sectors. Established to protect America's Internet infrastructure, the US-CERT coordinates defence against and responses to cyber attacks across the nation.

The official said that quick action by Indian authorities against the violators in the MphasiS case had sent a clear message that while no system was 100 per cent foolproof, the authorities would hold people accountable for violations. He added that the case, in his opinion, was unlikely to hit outsourcing deals flowing from US to India.

Schmidt's comments follow the recent arrest of some ex-employees of MsourcE by the cyber crime cell of the Pune police, for illegally transferring close to $300,000 from accounts of customers of a New York Bank.
Back to News Review index page  

ONGC Videsh eyes stake in Venezuelan oilfield
New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd, the foreign arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, is in talks with Venezuela's PDVSA for a stake in the Tomoporo oilfield, which contains about one billion barrels of recoverable light crude reserves.

Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A (PDVSA) plans to increase output at its Tomoporo oilfield from 90,000 barrels per day to 130,000 barrels per day.

It is considering giving a strategic investor 49 per cent stake.

Global oil majors including French major Total, Norway's Statoil, Royal Dutch/Shell, Spain's Repsol and US majors ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco are also believed to be keen on partnering PDVSA in Tomoporo field.
Back to News Review index page  

MetalJunction to enter mineral trading
Kolkata: Metaljunction Services Ltd, formerly known as MetalJunction.Com Pvt Ltd, is set to enter the mineral trading business, which is expected to generate a turnover of Rs2,000 crore during the current fiscal. The total turnover is targeted at Rs8,000 crore.

While officials have not disclosed the name of the mineral at this juncture, the services will be launched shortly. MetalJunction.com had previously announced plans to commence high-sea trading of nickel and tin in the country in partnership with an Indian importer. The project was expected to eliminate the hedging cost for booking forward contracts now borne by the user companies.

A SAIL-Tata Steel joint venture, MetalJunction has almost doubled its turnover to Rs4,200 crore during 2004-05 against Rs2,135 crore in 2003-04. During the last fiscal, the company added business process outsourcing business to its portfolio in addition to e-selling of steel, financial services and e-procurement.

While e-selling of steel continued to be the mainstay of the company, MetalJunction added pig iron to its product portfolio last year.

The total sales turnover (of steel and pig iron) was close to Rs2,000 crore. Of the rest roughly Rs1,000 crore business was contributed through financial services and the rest by the e-procurement for the steel industry and a host of other clients.

Officials said that in steel the company is currently the largest electronic market place in the world. In last three years it has handled a total of 2.4 million tonnes of steel, of which 1.3 million tonne were sold in 2004-05 alone.

Having made a foray into the BPO business by acquiring the entire business responsibility of the Rs450-crore secondary steel products division of Tata Steel in December 2004, MetalJunction is expecting to add new clients during the second half of this year.

SAIL has emerged as the biggest client of MetalJunction's steel trading business in 2004-05.
Back to News Review index page  

Tata Coffee bags awards
Bangalore: Tata Coffee Ltd has bagged all-India as well as regional awards at the 'Flavour of India-Fine Cup Award Cupping Competition 2005' organised by the Coffee Board of India at the Speciality Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Convention in Seattle recently.

The awards won by Tata Coffee were the all-India award for the `Best Organic Coffee' and the `Best Speciality Arabica Coffee', as well as the regional award 'Best Arabica in Coorg', said a company press release.

"The awards will further enhance the reputation of the company and Indian coffee as a whole," said M.H. Ashraff, Managing Director, Tata Coffee. The company produces about 10 million kgs of coffee from 7,000 hectares spread over 18 estates across Chickmagalur, Kodagu and Hassan districts in Karnataka.
Back to News Review index page  

TACO in talks for acquisitions abroad
New Delhi: The Tata Group company, Tata AutoComp Systems Ltd (TACO), is in advanced stages of talks to acquire an auto components company in Europe.

TACO is eyeing a turnover of $500 million this fiscal and is expecting to wrap up the acquisition deal in three months, company officials said. The deal would be the Tata Group Company's first overseas acquisition.

The company is also in talks with small companies located in South Korea, Europe, and the US for further acquisitions, officials said without giving any details. He added that TACO is looking at companies having sales of up to $500 million. According to officials with its export-oriented focus, TACO is aiming to become a billion-dollar firm by 2010.

Officials said they expect the contribution of exports to the company's revenues to rise significantly. At present, while 15 per cent of sales are coming from exports, they expect this figure to cross 50 per cent in a few years. They have identified interiors and electronics as their focus areas.

TACO currently exports to car-makers such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Honda. The company has about 13 plants and 16 joint ventures for manufacturing a range of automotive components at various locations in India.

The joint venture partnerships, which involve both equity participation and technology flow, are with companies in the US, Europe, Japan and Korea.

TACO has also announced the formation of a joint venture firm called TACO MobiApps Telematics Ltd (TMT), in partnership with Singapore-based telematics company MobiApps, to provide end-to-end fleet management and vehicle-tracking solutions. TMT has initiated discussions with Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland for installing its product as a standard fitment.

TMT, in which TACO holds 58 per cent and the rest is with MobiApps, will be investing close to $3 million over the next three years and will initially be outsourcing most of the manufacturing.

With an eye on the growing market of commercial vehicles in the country, TMT hopes to sell about 2,50,000 units by 2008.
Back to News Review index page  

Madras Fertillizers and ICICI Bank arrive at settlement
Chennai: Madras Fertilizers Ltd has entered into a one-time settlement agreement with ICICI Bank, which will benefit the company to the tune of Rs18.95 crore as of March 31, 2005.

In a communication to the National Stock Exchange, MFL said that as part of a debt restructuring programme and various cost reduction measures, it had entered into a one-time settlement agreement with ICICI Bank for settling its outstanding obligation.

As per the scheme approved by the bank, the company will pay an amount of Rs34.5 crore before May 20, in three instalments towards full and final settlement of its term loan and guarantee facilities.
Back to News Review index page  

Cognizant buys US firm Fathom Solutions for $19mn
Chennai: Cognizant Technology Solutions, a provider of IT services, has said that it has acquired the assets of Fathom Solutions, a Chicago-based consulting company, for $19 million in cash and stock in initial consideration, plus contingent consideration of up to $16 million payable in cash two years from closing.

Fathom provides solutions to the telecom and financial services industries, with two-thirds of its revenues coming from the telecom arena. Details of its revenues were not immediately available.

A statement from Cognizant said that Fathom is a privately held consulting company founded in 1999 by former Accenture executives. It added that Fathom has a track record of high customer retention, with repeat business accounting for over 90 per cent of revenues in the past two years.

According to the communiqué, "Fathom's clients include major industry players in telecommunications and financial services, and the company also enjoys low attrition amongst a staff of 120 employees."

So far, the financial services industry has contributed a big chunk to Cognizant's revenues. For the quarter ended December 2004, services to that sector accounted for 50 per cent of revenues.

Retail manufacturing and logistics accounted for 19 per cent while healthcare contributed 20 per cent with information services pitching in with six per cent. The acquisition is significant in the context of other players in the industry tapping telecom as a cash cow.

Jeff Lee, CEO and co-founder of Fathom, will join Cognizant as Managing Director of Telecom Services for North America, officials said.
Back to News Review index page  

Sify slashes internet telephony call rates
Chennai: Sify Ltd has said that it has slashed its calling rates to the US to Rs2.99 a minute from Rs4. The reduced rates also apply to calls made to the UK and Canada.

For calls made to rest of Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore, Sify will now charge Rs4.55, while calls to Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia and Saudi Arabia will cost Rs6.35 a minute. Those to Iran and Kuwait will cost Rs8.12.

Sify offers these facilities using Internet telephony, through its i-Way Internet outlets.
Back to News Review index page  

Quarterly Results: CMC, India Bulls, JVSL
CMC posts Q4 loss - to pay 45 per cent for the year
Hyderabad: Following a net loss posted in the last quarter of fiscal 2004-05, CMC Ltd has suffered a fall in net profit for the fiscal ended March 31, 2005. The board has also recommended a dividend of 45 per cent for the year.

According to the unaudited results for the last quarter, the company has posted a loss after tax of Rs16.72 crore as compared to profit after tax of Rs20.53 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

In a communique to stock exchanges, the company said the revenue decreased from Rs218.73 crore in Q4-04 to Rs215.45 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005.

As per the audited financial results for the year, CMC has posted a profit after tax of Rs23.05 crore for the year as compared to Rs47.98 crore for the previous fiscal. The company said revenue increased from Rs763.67 crore in FY-04 to Rs782.47 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2005.

In terms of audited results for the year, the group has posted a profit after tax of Rs24.79 crore for the year as compared to Rs44.76 crore in the previous fiscal.

Revenue has increased from Rs801.74 crore to Rs814.21 crore .
The board of directors has recommended for consideration of the shareholders at the ensuing 29th annual general meeting on June 17 payment of dividend at the rate of 45 per cent for the fiscal under review.

India Bulls Q4 net up 290 per cent
Mumbai: India Bulls Financial Services has reported a 193 per cent growth in net profit at Rs56.7 crore for the year ended March 31, compared to Rs19.35 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The total revenues rose by 134 per cent to Rs168.4 crore in fiscal 2005 compared to Rs71.9 crore in fiscal 2004, the company statement said on Monday.

Of the total income, 55 per cent came from broking business and the rest from financial services such as distributions of financial products and lending business.

The net profit for the quarter ended March 31 grew 290 per cent to Rs23.9 crore against Rs6.1 crore in the corresponding previous period. Total revenues rose by 188 per cent to Rs70 crore in the quarter ended March 31 (Rs24.3 crore).

The company recently completed its first securitisation deal in the personal loan segment.

JVSL Q4 net at Rs.404.14 crore
New Delhi: Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Ltd (JVSL) has posted a net profit of Rs870.11 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005 as against Rs528.68 crore in 2003-04. Total income for fiscal 2004-05 stood at Rs6698.34 crore against Rs329.69 crore in 2003-04, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

JVSL posted a net profit of Rs404.14 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. The figure stood at Rs256.82 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Total income for the fourth quarter stood at Rs2192.39 crore. It was Rs980.11 crore in the year-ago period.

Figures for the current quarter ended on March 31, 2005 & year ended March 31, 2005 include the figures of the steel business of erstwhile Jindal Iron & Steel Company Ltd (JISCO) and are therefore, not comparable with the figures of the corresponding period and for the year ended March 31, 2004, it added.
Back to News Review index page