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CRISIL: India Inc.'s fundamentals still strong
Mumbai: Corporate India's fundamentals continue to remain strong, according to domestic credit rating agency CRISIL Ltd. The domestic credit rating agency's modified credit ratio (MCR, the ratio of upgrades plus reaffirmations to downgrades plus reaffirmations) has continued to remain above 1.0, implying strengthening credit fundamentals for CRISIL-rated companies.

However, the MCR has dropped after three years of increase, indicating stiffer challenges for India Inc. in improving its credit quality in the short to medium term, CRISIL said in a statement.

According to Roopa Kudva, Executive Director and Chief Rating Officer, CRISIL, "This marks the third successive year of strengthening corporate credit quality, and is clearly reflected in the current buoyancy in economic fundamentals. However, the pace of improvement may be slowing down, implying the start of a consolidation phase. This is reflected in a lower MCR of 1.05 as compared to the all time high of 1.16 recorded for FY05".

CRISIL's Ratings Round-Up for the first half of FY06 also indicates that the manufacturing sector led the improvement in credit fundamentals, recording an MCR of 1.11. The manufacturing sector had 6 upgrades and 1 downgrade during this six-month period.
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Tata Steel eyeing Thai steel firm
Mumbai: According to industry sources, Tata Steel has shown an interest in buying out the entire 39.9-per-cent stake in publicly traded Millennium Steel from Cement Thai Holding, a subsidiary of Siam Cement. The sources indicate that negotiations may conclude soon.

Tata Steel is currently looking to acquire steel-processing assets in Asia as part of a US$23bn expansion over the next 12 to 15 years.

Tata Steel is reportedly looking at two companies - state-owned Tusco and Millennium Steel - that make wire rod steel for use in construction. If Cement Thai Holding decides to sell the stake, it would comport with Siam Cement's policy to unload its interests in non-core businesses.

Millennium Steel, Thailand's largest maker of construction steel, was formed in 2002 through a merger of two steel units under Siam Cement and NTS Steel Group. The company has a capacity to make about two million tonnes of wire rod a year.
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Tata's having second thoughts about Bangladesh
Dhaka: Tata Sons have said that they may be forced to look for investment opportunities elsewhere if Dhaka does not come out with favourable contracts. The Group has however clarified that it was keen on being a part of Bangladesh's economic development.

Tata's, which have been holding negotiations with the government for investing US$3bn in steel, power and fertiliser plants, want contracts for its proposed plants to be of international standards, but seem to be running into irritants.

Earlier, it was denied the Petrobangla gas deal, necessitating submission of a fresh proposal to get uninterrupted gas supply. The government had also cut short their demand for 10 years tax holiday to six.

The Tata's had submitted an investment proposal in April this year and have been negotiating fiscal incentives on the investment, gas security, gas price and tariff for purchase of power produced by the company's plant.

Tata Sons executive Alan Rosling has said that Bangladesh would derive investments equivalent to US$2.7bn of overeseas development assistance (ODA) to Bangladesh since 1971.
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GAIL works out tight schedule for Ratnagiri LNG terminal completion
New Delhi: GAIL (India) Ltd has said that it has drawn up a tight schedule for the completion of the Ratnagiri LNG terminal.

With the transfer of assets of the erstwhile Dabhol Power Company to Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd (RGPPL), completion and commissioning of the project assets and putting them to commercial operation have been put on fast track, a company statement said.

The company, which is heading the LNG terminal completion activities, has already facilitated reconstitution of the consortia of the erstwhile EPC contractors - Besix-Kier for marine works and Whessoe-Punj Lloyd-Aker Kvaerner for LNG terminal works, the statement said.

Besides, Engineers India Ltd (EIL) would be the primary project management consultant (PMC).

However, keeping in view the project execution methodology, which makes it essential to engage the companies that had earlier undertaken the construction work, Tokyo Gas Engineering of Japan and Scott Wilson of the UK are being engaged to provide the necessary back-up to EIL's efforts, the statement said.

GAIL is also in discussions with Petronet LNG Ltd for technical co-operation.
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IVRCL bags Rs.850 crore order from NHAI
Mumbai: IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects has secured two orders totaling Rs850 crore from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

According to a release issued by IVRCL to the BSE today, the build, operate and transfer (BOT) order with a concession period of 20 years includes design, construction, development, finance, operation and maintenance of 53 kilometre from Salem to Kumarapalayam (TN-6 package) and 48.51 kilometre from Sumarapalayam to Chenagmpalli (TN-7 package) in Tamil Nadu.

While the TN-6 package was estimated at Rs470 crore, the TN-7 package order has been pegged at Rs380 crore , the release added.
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Swiss mint major in tie-up for India venture
Mumbai: Switzerland-based major global mint Faude & Huguenin, on Monday, tied-up with Mumbai-based Clarity Gold Private Limited to set up the first ever private mint in the Indian Bullion market.

Both the firms will float a joint venture HF-MetalArt for setting up the mint at Sitapura near Jaipur at an initial investment of US$10mn.

While Faude & Huguenin will hold 60 per cent of the equity in the proposed joint venture with the remaining 40 per cent will be held by Clarity Gold Private Limited.

The Sitapura mint will have the total gold processing and minting capacity of about 300 million tonnes per annum of bullion metals and Rs20,000 crore per annum in terms of value, firm's officials said.

Though the plant capacity is very large, officials said that in the first year of operations, they expect to achieve a turnover of Rs550 crore, which would grow to about Rs2000 crore by third year.

In addition to technical know-how Faude & Huguenin will bring in machineries and staff to provide training and supervision while Clarity Gold will be responsible for providing infrastructure, marketing and distribution system.
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Telecom companies add 2.9 million new customers in Sept.
New Delhi: Telecom companies have added 2.9 million subscribers in September, taking the total subscriber additions in the first half of this fiscal to 15.14 million, according to figures released by telecom regulator TRAI.

"The average additions for the first half of the current fiscal reached 2.46 million per month as against 1.83 million during the same period last year," TRAI said.

In the mobile segment 2.48 million subscribers were added in September as against 2.74 million in August. Total mobile subscriber addition in the first half of2005-06 was 14.75 milllion, taking the total to 65.05 million.

In the fixed phone segment, 0.39 million subscribers were added in September as compared to 0.27 million in August. With this, the total subscriber base of fixed lines has reached 47.44 million. In the first half of 2005-06, 1.92 million fixed subscribers were added as compared to 1.22 million in the same period last year, TRAI said.

CDMA and fixed line service providers added a total of 9.7 lakh subscribers in September, Association of United Telecom Service Providers of India said.

The maximum number of subscribers were added by Tata Teleservices, which notched up 4.7 lakh subscribers as against Reliance, which added 4.01 lakh subscribers. The total subscriber base of Tata stood at 5.6 million as against 1.35 million for Reliance.

Bharti added a total of 45,224 subscriber taking the total to 1.06 million while MTNL added 31,331 subscribers to take the total to 4.04 million.
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Honda to launch City variant with i-VTEC engine
New Delhi: Honda City, the market leader in the sedan segment, is all set for the launch of its latest variant, which will sport a 1.5 litre i-VTEC (intelligent Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) engine, later this week.

The three current versions of the City are priced between Rs6.52 lakh and Rs7.62 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi) and sell around 3,200-3,400 units a month.

According to industry sources the timing of the launch may be a move to counter Ford India's plans to launch the all-new Fiesta.

Honda officials said that since April this year, the City has emerged as the largest selling Sedan in the country, replacing the position held by Tata Indigo. This despite the sizeable price difference between the two models.
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Dentsu India ties up with fifth largest Pakistani agency
New Delhi: Advertising agency, Dentsu India, has entered into a partnership deal with Evernew Concepts, the fifth largest advertising agency in Pakistan.

With this alliance, Dentsu says that it will now be able to access newer markets in the neighbourhood. The partnership will provide seamless services for integrated communications to its diverse set of clients across borders. Work on three large clients is expected to begin soon.

In a statement, Mr Sandeep Goyal, Chairman, Dentsu India, said, "Evernew will be the Dentsu associate agency in Pakistan. We see a lot of opportunities opening up in Pakistan. Most global clients have now started looking at South Asia as a single geographical entity with similarities in consumer behaviour across countries. They are hence looking at leveraging common communication platforms wherever possible. Dentsu's presence through Evernew will help us provide clients seamless service in this very important neighbouring market."

Evernew Concepts, which is headquartered in Lahore with offices in Karachi and Islamabad, has an annual billing of over Rs46 crore. It services over 132 key clients such as Ministry of Population Welfare, World Health Organisation, Novartis, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Honda Atlas cars and others.
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Tata Teleservices to launch 'nonstop' mobile service
New Delhi: Tata Teleservices has said that it plans to launch a nonstop mobile service that offers unlimited calls for two years from the date of activation.

"We are planning to provide incoming calls free for two years, non-stop, without a single recharge. The product will be available on a wide range of mobile handsets, providing all consumers choices within their lifestyle and budget," a Tata spokesperson said in a statement here today.

The company plans to unveil the new scheme during Dusshera. Consumers can then choose to recharge these new mobiles from prepaid vouchers at any point of time, depending on when and how much they need, the spokesperson added.

The company, which has been acquiring a 10 to 12 per cent share in the incremental mobile market, aims to more than double its acquisitions through its nonstop mobile category.

Tata Teleservices plans to step up its current monthly mobile acquisition to one million a month till March 2006. It also plans to increase the monthly growth rate of the industry from the current 2.5 million subscribers to 4 million subscriber additions per month.

TTSL currently has a 4.5 per cent market share in mobile category and plans to achieve a market share of 20 per cent by end of next fiscal.
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Marico subsidiary buys soap brand in Bangladesh
Mumbai: Marico Bangladesh (MBL), a subsidiary of Marico Industries, has acquired Aromatic, a toilet soap brand, from Bangladesh-based Aromatic Cosmetics.

According to a release issued by Marico to the BSE today, the non-compete agreement was signed between Marico Bangladesh and Aromatic Cosmetics along with the purchase of intellectual property right (IPR).

"Aromatic has an aggregate turnover of Taka 300 million with a market share of around 5%. The acquisition will enable MBL to strengthen its presence in the Taka 6,000 million soaps market in the country," the release added.
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Corporate Results: Infosys, Indiabulls, Aztec Software

Infosys Q2 net up 13.9 per cent
IT major Infosys Technologies has reported a robust second quarter performance.

The company has reported revenues at Rs2,294 crore as against Rs2,071.5 crore in the same period last year, translating into an increase of 10.74 per cent.

The net profit during this period jumped 13.9 per cent to Rs606 crore as compared to Rs531.9 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Nandan Nilekani, chairman and managing director, Infosys Technologies has attributed this robust growth to a broad array of services. T V Mohandas Pai, Director, CFO, Head - Finance and Administration, Infosys Technoilogies added that the Rupee weakness helped margins.

Indiabulls goes on a rampage
Indiabulls Financial Services Limited has reported a 578 per cent increase in net profit at Rs59.93 crore for the three-month period ended September 30, 2005 as against Rs8.84 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

The company which began its journey as an internet brokerage has branched out into sectors such as real estate and personal loans, activities normally associated with a non-banking finance company.

"The strong performance of Indiabulls in the second quarter of the current financial year has once again demonstrated its strong execution ability and the large market opportunity.

The network of Indiabulls now extends beyond 250 branch offices and the total workforce exceeds 5900 employees across different businesses.

Indiabulls has 1.5 lakh clients operating from 130 locations spread across the country and 10,000 clients who trade independently through the internet.

The company promoted by a young group of IIM graduates is in the eye of the storm after Sebi, the market regulator, discovered a few Indiabulls clients rigging the share prices of two penny stocks. The company, however, denied any involvement in the affair.

The total revenue earned by Indiabulls for the second quarter is Rs155.03 crore and Rs253.66 crore for the first half of the current fiscal. The revenues for the second quarter of the last year was Rs28.40 crore.

Profit before tax of Rs 89.16 crore for the quarter under review is 531 per cent higher than the same quarter of the previous year. The half year PBT at Rs152.71 crore is 564 per cent more than the corresponding last year's figure of Rs22.99 crore.

Aztec Software Q2 net rises 22 per cent
Aztec Software and Technology Services on Monday said it clocked revenues of Rs48.01 crore and net profit of Rs9 crore (consolidated) in the second quarter of 2005-06.

Revenues jumped 136 per cent over the corresponding period of last year while profits increased by 134 per cent. Over the previous quarter, Aztec's revenues have grown 13.6 per cent while profits have gone up by 21.9 per cent.

Aztec got 85 per cent of its revenues from offshore work and the offshore focus would continue. During the quarter, Aztec added 15 new clients, both large and small, taking the total to 67, up from 61 in the previous quarter.

Aztec, which specialises in product engineering and software testing, also entered two new technology segments during the quarter - wireless and networking technologies and embedded and devices technologies.

During the quarter, gross cash generation from operations was over Rs11 crore. Aztec Software closed at Rs159.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday. Its previous close was Rs145.95.
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