Canon to invest Rs40-cr in brand building in India
New Delhi: Global photographic and digital imaging major Canon has identified India as a key market for the South and South East region and plans to invest about Rs40 crore in brand building as it is looking at a turnover of Rs500 crore by next year.

The company says it has seen growth of about 30 per cent in India. The company has introduced 51 new products for both consumer and small office and home office segment.

Canon is also planning to increase the number of its flagship stores to 442 by the end of next year. It currently engages 227 retail outlets including 140 IT Imaging Zones, 40 Digiclick zones, 14 Home Cinema Centres, three Canon X'perience and 30 Canon Care Centres.
Back to News Review index page  

Bisleri to have a makeover with Rs100-cr investment
New Delhi: Bisleri is foraying into the packaged natural water segment and will soon undergo a makeover which includes changing the familiar blue colour of Bisleri for aquagreen. Bisleri natural water will also have a new name as 'Bisleri Natural Mountain Water.'

The company is investing Rs100 crore for the foray which includes investing about Rs40 crore in two plants in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh in line expansion. The rest of the investments would go in infrastructure development. The company is also scouting for four more locations from where we look to source natural water. These are in South and West India but nothing has been finalized.
Back to News Review index page  

Hindalco Industries reports 90 pc rise in Q2 at Rs598-cr
Mumbai: The Aditya Birla group flagship Hindalco Industries has posted an increase of 90.43 per cent in net profit at Rs597.6 crore for the quarter ended September 30, as compared to Rs313.8 crore for the same period last year.

The total income of the company increased 72.41 per cent to Rs4745 crore for the quarter ended September 30, from Rs2752.1 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Back to News Review index page  

Nicholas Piramal reports Q2 net up 22 pc
Mumbai: Nicholas Piramal India has posted a 22.14 per cent in net profit at Rs67.06 crore for the quarter ended September 30, as compared to Rs54.90 crore for the same period last year.
The total income (net of excise) increased 20.96 per cent to Rs442.74 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, from Rs366.01 crore a year ago, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The group posted a profit after prior period items of Rs53.69 crore for the quarter ended September 30, where as the same was at Rs45.60 crore for the same quarter last year.

The total income of the group was Rs654.83 crore for the quarter ended September 30, where as the same was at Rs383.35 crore a year ago.
Back to News Review index page  

Wipro to relaunch Santoor
Bangalore: Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCL) plans to relaunch the Santoor brand of bath-soaps and will take film stars Saif Ali Khan and Madhavan as brand ambassadors for the north and south regions respectively.

The company said it aims to take the brand to the "next level".
The company recorded revenues of Rs203 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, a growth of 41 per cent year-on-year and profit before interest and tax of Rs24.6 crore, a growth of 26 per cent.

Wipro had recently launched several products under the popular Santoor brand, including talcum powder, face wash and hand wash.
Back to News Review index page  

Coromandel Fertilisers posts 32.8 pc rise in net profit
Chennai: Muruguppa group company Coromandel Fertilisers (CFL), has posted a 32.8 per cent rise in net profit at Rs64.39 crore for H1 of 2006-07 as against Rs48.49 crore during the corresponding period last year.

The company, which achieved the highest production and sales of Complex Fertilisers during the period has approved a scheme of amalgamation of Ficom Organics and its wholly owned subsidiary Rasilah Investments Limited with Coromandel Fertilisers Limited.

It also approved a swap of ratio of three equity shares of CFL for every 11 equity shares of Ficom.

The amalgamation will enable the company to consolidate it's pesticide business, the release said.
Back to News Review index page  

Tech Mahindra wins prestigious awards
Tech Mahindra, one of the largest IT solution providers in the telecom space, and India's 8th largest software exporter has been awarded the much sought Frost & Sullivan ICT Awards presented each year to the company that garners the highest revenue and market share within an industry.

Tech Mahindra was chosen for the award because the company displayed an excellent performance and penetration in Telecom Vertical, as per the research for Telecom Vertical Market category by Frost & Sullivan.

Tech Mahindra also received the Market Leadership Award for the Offshore Security Consulting for Next Generation Networks and Applications for 2006, emerging as the leading provider of security consulting services for the next generation network space in today's leading telecom companies across the world.
Back to News Review index page  

Wipro reports 48 pc rise in net
Bangalore: Wipro, India's third-largest software services exporter has reported a 48 percent jump in quarterly profit. The company said revenue from its global IT services business would rise 34 percent to $633 million in the current quarter from a year ago and 7 percent from the previous quarter.

NYSE listed Wipro, which has clients like telecoms equipment makers Cisco Systems Inc and Nortel said net income according to U.S. accounting standards rose to Rs69.6 crore or $152 million in the quarter.
Back to News Review index page  

Wipro may open third center in China
Bangalore: Information and Technology company Wipro plans to rapidly expand its operations in China and is looking at the possibility of opening a third centre there. The company currently has two centres in China, at Shanghai and Beijing, which employ around 100 people.
Back to News Review index page  

Grasim net up 80 pc at Rs337.85-cr
Mumbai: Grasim Industries has posted a net profit of Rs337.84 crore for the second quarter ended September this year as compared to Rs187.65 crore during the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter has increased to Rs2,061.04 crore from Rs1,680.04 crore in the last year period.

The Group has posted a net profit (after minority's share) of Rs418.33 crore for the quarter this year as compared to Rs200.42 crore during last year period.

Total income has increased from Rs2,388.13 crore to Rs3,237.24 crore for the quarter ended September 2006.
Back to News Review index page  

Bosch to invest Rs1,800-cr in India
Coimbatore: Germany based auto component manufacturer Bosch will invest €325 million (Rs1,800 crore) in India during 2005-2008 and would develop new products, the company said.

The company is expecting 25 per cent of its revenue to come from the Asia Pacific region by 2015 and India is expected to contribute a major share of the total sales, currently at €730 million.

The company is investing €3 billion, amounting to 7.4 per cent of total sales, for R and D and would continue to invest on research on a consistent basis.

Bosch is investing €2.5 billion, which comes to about 10 per cent of the total sales, in automotive technology.
Back to News Review index page  

Russian companies may hit Tata-Corus deal
London: Russian steel firms Severstal and and Novolipetsk--and Brazil's CSN (Companhia SidergicaNacional SA) are considering launching possible takeover bids for Corus which could lead to a further surge in Corus' share price, market observers said.

Corus' shares closed more than five per cent above the offer price of 455 pence per share proposed by Tata Steel at the London Stock Exchange on market expectations for a counter bid and a possible increase in the Tatas' offer. The shares were trading further up by 0.7 per cent at 485.25 pence on LSE today.

Some analysts said that Tata Steel might not raise its bid and Corus would accept the offer, as the company is believed to have completed its search for a potential suitor over the past few months.
Back to News Review index page  

Adlabs Films to de-merge FM biz
Kolkata: Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group company Adlabs Films plans to de-merge the FM radio business and establish it as a separate company.

BIG 92.7 FM the FM channel of the company has started operations in Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata and would soon be followed by Mumbai. As per the national rollout plan, the FM station would be launched in 45 countrywide destinations by April 2007. Adlabs had invested nearly Rs400 crore on purchase of transmission equipment, building infrastructure and obtaining licence.
Back to News Review index page  

JSW Steel prowls for acquisition overseas
Mumbai: Steel firm JSW Steel is looking for an acquisition in the US and Europe among small companies. The company is said to have initiated talks with a few companies in the US Europe but nothing has been finalised yet said company officials.

JSW Steel plans to acquire a 'value-added existing company' having a capacity of between one to two mt. The acquisition would give the Indian company proximity to key global steel markets.
JSW, which currently produces four mt of steel, looks to boost its capacity to seven mt by 2009 and 10 mt by 2010 and has initiated expansion work at its plants towards this goal.
Back to News Review index page