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Bechtel attaches MSEB shares in Dabhol
Mumbai: Bechtel Corporation has attached the shares of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board in the Dabhol Power Company, but has also said that it was ready to help restart the defunct project once India upheld its legal rights and abided by international obligations.

Bechtel took action when the Indian company failed to meet the May 27 deadline, set by an international arbitration panel last month, to pay Bechtel $123 million for violation of its shareholder rights in the Dabhol power project, Bechtel said in a release here.

The order, delivered by the US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in the southern district of New York, directed the attachment of assets held by Maharashtra Power Development Corporation Ltd, which holds a 14.6 per cent share in DPC.

"Their refusal to acknowledge valid legal orders also sends a very troubling message to foreign investors whose capital and technical expertise could help modernise India's infrastructure. Nevertheless, we stand ready to help restart the much needed Dabhol facility, once India upholds our legal rights and abides by its international obligations," Bechtel executive vice president and director Tim Statton said.

US conglomerate General Electric, who along with Bechtel, holds about 85 per cent stake in DPC, has already announced all help to the Indian power companies NTPC and BHEL for restarting the 2,184 MW project which had been lying defunct since the past five years.
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Strides Arcolab and Matrix Labs to merge
Mumbai: The Board of Directors of Strides Arcolab and Matrix Labs at their board meetings have in principle agreed to the merger of the two companies. The proposed merger is subject to a valuation exercise to be conducted by an independent chartered accountancy firms.

The two pharmaceutical companies would conduct due diligence of each other's businesses. The boards of the two companies expect to meet in six to eight weeks to finalise the terms of the plan.

The merger would be effective from April 1, 2005 and is subject to shareholders' approval of both companies and other regulatory approvals.

The combined sales for the 12-month period, up to March 2005, was over Rs1000 crore ($240 million) and net profits in excess of Rs170 crore ($39 mn).

The combined entity will be called Matrix Strides Limited and will emerge amongst India's leading integrated pharmaceutical company.
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Sify slashes Net telephony rates to Gulf
New Delhi: Sify Ltd has announced a drop in its international calling rates through Net telephony to Gulf countries from 70 cities in India.

"Calls to Bahrain, Oman, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE have now been slashed up to 23 per cent to Rs9 per minute," a company statement said.

With this change, the maximum call rate to any country in West Asia will be Rs9 per minute. The rates for Nigeria, Bangladesh and Kenya have also been slashed.

The rate for the US, UK and Canada is Rs2.99 per minute, while calls to Saudi Arabia cost Rs6.35 per minute.
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Corporate performance: Maruti, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, Hero Honda, General Motors India, Panacea
Maruti May sales dip 4 per cent
New Delhi: Auto major Maruti Udyog has recorded a four per cent drop in total sales in May at 42,286 units, down from 44,212 units in May 2004.

Maruti's volume in the domestic A2 segment grew by 23 per cent at 26,030 units (21,137), including 2,981 units of Swift dispatched during May 2005. The company sells models like 'Zen', Wagon R', 'Alto' and 'Swift' in this segment.

Sales of Maruti 800 fell 39 per cent to 6,116 units (10,016), the company said.

In the mid-size segment, Maruti's sales grew by 48 per cent to 2,236 units compared to 1,510 units in May 2004. Sale of MUV's like 'Gypsy' and 'Vitara' were down 42 per cent to 189 units.

In terms of exports, Maruti has posted a six per cent dip at 2,280 units, down from 6,171 in May 2004.

Exports in the two months of this fiscal are down 61 per cent to 3,498 units against 9,081 units in the same period last year.

Bajaj Auto's May bike sales up 76 per cent
Mumbai: Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) has posted a 76 per cent growth in its motorcycle sales for the month of May at 1,53,975 units compared to 87,663 units sold during the same period of the previous fiscal.

The company has also achieved its highest ever motorcycle market share of 31.8 per cent.

BAL's combined sales of two and three-wheelers in the country for the month ending May 31, 2005 were up by 52 per cent at 1,78,645 units compared to 1,17,200 units sold in the same period last year, the company said in a release today.

Two-wheelers sales rose by 61 per cent to 1,62,753 units (1,01,022 units in May 2004) while sales of three-wheelers declined by two per cent to 15,892 units from 16,178 units posted during the same period of previous fiscal, it added.

TVS sales rise 32 per cent in May
New Delhi: Two-wheeler maker TVS Motor Company has reported a 32 per cent growth in sales in May at 1,06,914 units compared to 80,895 units in the same month last year.

The thrust of this increase comes from the 47 per cent growth of bike sales, which clocked 63,585 units in May compared to 43,180 units in the same period last year. On the export front, TVS registered 59 per cent rise, registering highest-ever exports of 6,354 units.

In the scooterette segment, sales achieved a growth of 18 per cent, clocking 20,454 units during May compared to 17,321 units last year.

Moped sales stood at 22,875 units in May compared to 20,394 units in the same period last year, a growth of 12 per cent.

Hero Honda sales up 6.5 per cent in May
New Delhi: India's biggest bike maker Hero Honda Motors has reported a 6.5 per cent rise in ales at 2,26,072 units in May against 2,12,177 units in the same month last year.

The company, in which the Munjals and Japan's Honda Motor Corp hold 26 per cent stake each, said sales in the domestic market were up 4.5 per cent to 2,16,971 units (2,07,507).

Exports in the month nearly doubled to 9,101 units from 4,670 units in May 2004.

Sales, including exports, in the two months of this fiscal (April-May '05) grew 13 per cent to 4,61,494 units against 4,08,201 units in the corresponding period last year.

This included 17,516 units of exports against 7,986 units in April-May '04.

GMI records 64 per cent sales growth in May
New Delhi: General Motors India registered a nearly 64 per cent growth in May 2005, selling 2,503 cars against 1,527 in the same month last year.

The company sold 1,610 Tavera, 615 Chevrolet Optras, 274 Opel Corsas and four units of the imported Forester sports utility vehicle last month.

The company said in a statement that it registered about 58 per cent growth in sales between January and May this year, at 13,114 cars.

Company officials have said that to keep pace with the ever growing demand for Taveras and other Chevy cars, they are further ramping up production capacity at their Halol facility to 80,000 units after the recent hike to 60,000 units.

GM India is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors Corporation. Besides the Chevrolet Optra, GM India manufactures the Chevrolet Tavera, Opel Corsa, Opel Corsa Sail and Opel Swing at its facility in Halol, Gujarat.

GM India also sells the imported Opel Vectra and Chevrolet Forester.

Panacea net zooms 83 per cent in FY05
New Delhi: Panacea Biotec has reported 83 per cent jump in net profit for the year ended March 31,2005 at Rs30.06 crore as against Rs16.45 crore in the previous fiscal.

The company has also recorded 23 per cent jump in turnover at Rs335.76 crore, during the year as compared to previous year's turnover of Rs272.15 Crore, a company release said.

The Board of Directors of the company has recommended an increased dividend of 150 per cent, it added.

In the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company posted a net profit of Rs7.36 crore as against Rs0.44 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The operating profit during the quarter increased by 42 per cent to Rs14.93 crore.

For the fiscal ended March 31, the operating profit stood at Rs72.13 crore, as against Rs42.43 crore in the previous year, up by 70 per cent.
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