Tata Steel Q1 net up 3 pc
Mumbai: Tata Steel (TSL) has announced a surprise three per cent rise in net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2006 at Rs953.41 crore against Rs924.11 crore in the corresponding period last year.

"Steel prices this June have been down by Rs2,500 a tonne as compared to the same period last year. Despite this, Tata Steel has been able to report higher profits because of its relentless efforts on cost efficiencies and product mix said B. Muthuraman, managing director, Tata Steel.

Net sales for the quarter were higher at Rs3,915.85 crore (Rs3,557.06 crore). Other income amounted to Rs77.93 crore (Rs30.33 crore).

Operating profit fell at Rs1,581.30 crore from Rs1,588.21 crore last year.

Tata Steel reported a 3.7 per cent increase in its consolidated first net profit at Rs1,013.94 crore (Rs977.20 crore).

The company's steel production rose from 9,48,926 tonnes to 1,108,514 tonnes, logging a 16.8 per cent increase. Steel sales stood at 11,15,066 tonnes against 8,75,498 tonnes. Despite the results share prices of Tata Steel ended Rs3.55 down at Rs483.55 in line with the overall weak market sentiment.

Muthuraman said Tata Steel has been focussing on bringing down raw material and energy consumption in order to contain costs. At the same time, the company continued its thrust on upgrading its products.

The company has been focusing on branding its products and in due course of time, all its steel sold through distributors and retail outlets would be branded senior officials said.
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ITC not to exit cigarettes, to invest Rs15,000-cr over five yrs
Kolkata: ITC plans to invest Rs15,000 crore in its operations over the next five years Y C Deveshwar chairman ITC told shareholders of the company at its annual general meeting here today.

Deveshwar said in the last decade, shareholder returns, measured in terms of increase in market capitalisation and dividends grew at a compound rate of over 30 per cent per annum.

He said that even though the non-cigarette business of ITC has contributed more than 50 per cent to its net turnover, the company would not exit the tobacco business.

He said, "A large number of farmers are dependent on tobacco farming in the country and we cannot suddenly abandon this business," and added, "We are a responsible company and we do business abiding by the law of the land."

He said, "if cigarettes manufactured in the country were not available here, the market will be flooded with contraband products from other parts of the country. The country will only lose the benefits of manufacturing, like employment in cigarette plants." He also said ITC would not enter the gutka or bidi business, which accounted for a much larger portion of tobacco consumption in the country.
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R-ADAG heads for Orissa
Bhubaneswar: The Reliance ADA Group controlled by Anil Ambani has announced plans to invest over Rs61,500 crore in Orissa to set up a 12,000 MW mega thermal power plant, a health city and an institute of higher learning in information technology. The chairman of the group, Anil Ambani, announced this after holding detailed discussions with the chief minister of the state Naveen Patnaik.

R-ADAG and the state government have signed joint communiqués for three projects which will converted into formal memoranda of understanding (MoUs) shortly, Patnaik said. The company plans to set up a power plant at Hirma in Jharsuguda district with an investment of more than Rs50,000 crore. Another amount of Rs10,000 crore will be spent on transmission and evacuation. To be built in phases by Reliance Energy Generation (REGL), the proposed mega power plant will be the largest single-location thermal power plant in the world, said Ambani.

The work on the first phase of the project to produce 4,000 MW of power will start within a year. The construction of the first phase will be completed within five years with an investment of Rs18,000 crore. The MoU for the mega power plant will be signed on the basis of a detailed techno-feasibility report to be submitted by REGL.

Ambani said the information technology institute, would be set up at a cost of Rs1,000 crore, and would run on no-profit basis. It would be named after his father, the Late Dhirubhai Ambani. The State Government has agreed to provide necessary support to build infrastructure for the project.

A health city in Bhubaneswar would also be set up by Reliance Health Ltd, another subsidiary of the Reliance ADA Group. It will have world-class health institutions such as hospitals, research centres and medical education facilities.
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Satyam net up 86 pc; revises guidance
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer Services has recorded an 86.2 per cent increase in net profit and a 36.3 per cent growth in revenue for the first quarter ended June. The company recorded software revenues of Rs1,443 crore and a net profit of Rs354.12 crore, against revenues of Rs1,058.70 crore and a net profit of Rs193.11 crore for the corresponding previous period.

Sequentially, the revenue increase was 9.84 per cent and net profit was higher by 24.4 per cent. Given the buoyancy in business and current business environment, Satyam, which outperformed its guidance of revenues of Rs1,359-1,366 crore in the first quarter, has indicated that it would grow by about 29.2-31.2 per cent against 27.5-29.5 per cent indicated earlier.

Consequent to upward revision, the company's revenues are likely to be in the range of Rs6,190-6,290 crore. In the last fiscal, the company revenues stood at Rs4,792 crore with a net profit of Rs1,141.73 crore.

B. Ramalinga Raju, chairman, Satyam said the revenue and earnings per share for the quarter exceeded the forecasted range on the back of robust volume growth and favourable exchange movement. The growth continued to be broad-based across verticals and service offerings.

EPS for the quarter at Rs10.87 showed sequential growth of 23.66 per cent.

The EPS guidance for the year has been revised to Rs 38.90-39.50, up from the previous guidance of Rs 36-36.60.

The company added 34 new customers during the quarter. The focus on big customers reflected a sequential increase of $10-million customers from 27 to 33 and those in the $5 million increased from 46 to 51.

Offshore contribution continued to increase over the last four quarters by four per cent and is now pegged at 47 per cent.

Its BPO subsidiary Nipuna turned cash positive in the previous quarter and is poised to register revenues of $36 million. During the quarter under review, it recorded revenues of Rs36.6 crore and a net loss of Rs6.15 crore.
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L&T Q1 net profit up 9.8 per cent
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro has reported a net profit of Rs157 crore, in the first quarter ended June 30, 2006 a 9.8 per cent increase against Rs143 crore net profit registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

With extraordinary gains made in the previous quarter excluded, net profit growth shows an increase of 60 per cent.

Net sales rose by 12.3 per cent to Rs3,469 crore (Rs3,088 crore). Expenditure was contained, rising by only 9 per cent to Rs3,233 crore (Rs2,957 crore). Except for expenditure on staff and sales and administrative expenses, costs across other heads were only modestly higher, and in some cases, lower. Interest costs rose to Rs15.8 crore (Rs9.8 crore). Profit before tax at Rs245 crore, showed a rise of 54 per cent. Provision for current tax amounted to Rs85 crore (Rs52 crore).

The engineering and construction division recorded a modest 8 per cent increase in revenues at Rs2,619 crore. But this segment's profit before interest and tax (PBIT) rose 92 per cent, to Rs199 crore, as many project jobs crossed the threshold levels for margin recognition, said the company statement. International operations accounted for 19 per cent of this segment's revenues for the quarter.

The electrical and electronics segment recorded a 31 per cent growth in revenues at Rs424 crore, driven by robust increases in sales witnessed in almost all product categories, said the statement. Improved manufacturing capabilities and higher product realisations ensured a growth in PBIT (at Rs67 crore) of 68 per cent, for the quarter.

L&T shares fell on Friday losing Rs111.65 to Rs2,022.35, 5.23 per cent lower from Thursday's close.
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Praj Industries to focus on R&D, to add capacity
Pune: Praj Industries, a big player in the brewery and ethanol segment has recorded sales of Rs81 crore, as against Rs61 crore of the corresponding fiscal quarter. It has recorded a profit before tax of Rs11 crore (Rs6.76 crore) and a profit after tax of Rs8.4 crore (Rs5.6 crore).

Praj Industries announced big investments in research and development, adding manufacturing capacity and an acquisition in the US which would be finalised by September-end this year.

Pramod Chaudhari, chairman, Praj Industries talking to the press, after the company's annual general meeting, said the company had set aide about Rs39 crore for these plans and would be utilised within the next six months. He said these were the first tranche of funds received from a preferential issue. The company is looking at cellulosic biomass for the production of ethanol and for the present bagasse would be used as the raw material. Later on straw and switch grass would be looked into as raw material. The company is also adding two additional manufacturing capacities — one would be located near a port and the other in New Mumbai.
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Cipla looks for acquisition targets in Europe, China
Mumbai: Drug-maker Cipla has posted 53 per cent growth in net-profit for first quarter ended June 30 at Rs170.43 crore as compared to Rs111.40 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Total income (net of excise) has increased from Rs671.17 crore in Q1 FY 05-06 to Rs885.53 crore in Q1 FY 06-07.

The company is looking at acquiring companies in the biotech segment in Europe and China as it is sitting on funds of $170 million (Rs762 crore), raised recently through GDRs. Amar Lulla, managing director of the company said, Cipla is doing its due diligence and a decision could be expected in another three months.

The company is also undertaking a Rs600-crore capacity-expansion over a two-year period, he said. Cipla's facilities at Patalganga have already been upgraded, he said. New facilities are being planned in Pune and Goa, he added.

Cipla's exports grew by 38 per cent and domestic sales grew by 20 per cent, he said. He said he expected the company to grow at 15 to 18 per cent in the forthcoming quarter.

The company also said that its Board had recommended payment of dividend of Rs2 per equity share (face value Rs2) on equity shares (including shares underlying GDRs and bonus shares) for the year 2005-2006.

Cipla shares were marginally up at Rs220.15 on the BSE.
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Kirloskar Bros eye Rs250-cr in exports over 3 years
Pune: Kirloska's Bros has reported an 88 per cent rise in net sales to Rs330.96 crore from Rs175.58 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. The profit after tax stood at Rs39.09 crore (Rs8.95 crore) while the profit before tax was Rs46.37 crore (Rs10.54 crore).

The company has set itself a target of achieving Rs250 crore in exports, expansion of the manufacturing facilities and a turnover target of Rs1,800 crore within the next three years. The company had recorded exports of Rs91 crore in the first quarter.

He said the company would primarily cater to the South East Asian and African regions and added that the distribution set-up had been put in place.
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Eveready to develop its properties
Kolkata: Eveready Industries India, the flagship company of the BM Khaitan Group, has registered gross sales of Rs256.02 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, as compared to Rs213.15 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2005-06.

Net sales increased to Rs226.65 crore from Rs188.29 crore. Net profit jumped to Rs12.18 crore from Rs6.29 crore. Profit before tax increased to Rs16.15 crore from Rs11.12 crore.

The company, which is sitting on vast tracts of land, also plans to utilize its value.

According to Deepak Khaitan, vice-chairman and managing director of Eveready Industries, the company plans to develop three of its properties. Of these, two are the manufacturing units of the company and the third is a vacant land. The company owns 7 acres each in Chennai and Noida and 25 acres in Hyderabad.

At Noida, Eveready has 7 acres of vacant land situated between two factories. Khaitan said that the existing factories would first be relocated and then the properties would be developed.
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Nokia to begin exports of handsets from Chennai plant
Chennai: Nokia India has begun the export of mobile handsets from its plant at Sriperumbudur, about 50 km west of Chennai. The company has started exports of some to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. It will next export handsets to West Asia and Africa, according to Jukka Lehtela, director - India operations, Nokia India Pvt Ltd.

Nokia's plant was inaugurated in March with trial production starting in January. Exports account for about 20 per cent of total production, he said without giving actual numbers of either the export volume or the production.

The plant now produces 10 different models of low-end and mid-category handsets, according to Lehtela.

Nokia India employs about 2,700 people, 80 per cent of them involved in production. At the end of 2006, the plant is likely to employ more than 3,000, at least one-third more than what Nokia had originally planned for, he said.
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