Infosys net up 52 per cent in Q3
Bangalore: Despite a strong rupee impacting revenues and operating margins in a traditionally weak quarter, Infosys Technologies has registered a better than expected third quarter profit growth.

Infosys reported a 51.5-per cent growth in its net profits at Rs983 crore for the quarter-ended December 2006 over the corresponding quarter last year. Revenues for Q3 financial year 2007 grew 44.4 per cent to Rs3,655 crore.

On a sequential basis, the revenue and profit growth stood at 5.9 and 5.8 per cent respectively. The rupee, which appreciated by 3.8 per cent against the dollar during the third quarter, impacted the operating profit margins (OPMs) by 200 basis points (bps) and caused a revenue loss of Rs145 crore.

In dollar terms, Infosys sustained a double-digit revenue growth for the third consecutive quarter at 10.1 per cent.

Company officials said they did not see any signs of a slowdown in the global economy.

Going forward, Infosys expects its revenues to grow between Rs3,789 crore and Rs3,798 crore for Q4 financial year 2007, a growth of 44.4 to 44.7 per cent.

For fiscal 2007, the company expects its income to be in the range of Rs13,910 crore and Rs13,919 crore, a year-on-year growth of 46.1-46.2 per cent, marginally higher than the earlier projections.

The company added forty-three new clients to increase its overall active client base to 488. The company added 6,062 employees on gross basis to take its overall headcount to 69,432, while net additions stood at 3,282. In Q4 the company expects to add a further 5,000 employees.

Infosys also saw its attrition rise to around 13.5 per cent in Q3 mainly due to higher involuntary attrition.

The break-up of revenue on a geographic basis showed that Infy's margins were badly hit in North America (down 278 basis points) and Europe (320 basis points). India and rest of the world showed improvement in margins, but they account for only 10 per cent of the company's business. (See: Infosys Q3 results fail to excite)
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JSW Steel signs pact with West Bengal Government
Kolkata: Jindal Group company, JSW Steel has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the State Government for setting up a 10-million tonnes per annum (mtpa) steel plant at Salboni near Kharagpur at an investment of Rs35,000 crore.

JSW Steel proposes to set up a 10-mtpa steel plant in phases in the next 12 years. The first phase, with a capacity of 3 mtpa and an investment of Rs10,000 crore, is scheduled to be ready in the next four years. Bulk of the land required for the project has been acquired.
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Petronet plans to build two additional LNG tanks at Dahej
New Delhi: Petronet LNG, increasing capacity at its Dahej facility, proposes to build two additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank farms, taking the total number of such tanks at Dahej to six. According to official sources, the company has two existing LNG tank farms and two are under construction.

Apart from these four, the company is all set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for building two additional tanks at Dahej.

The total cost of construction is estimated at $300 million.

Currently, Petronet has a storage capacity of 5 million tonnes (since the company is working at 130 per cent capacity utilisation as it is operating at 6.5 million tonnes of capacity), which is likely to double once the ongoing construction of two tanks is completed. The tanks have a capacity of 1,48,000 cubic metre.

With six tanks, the capacity is expected to go up to 15 million tonnes. Petronet is also planning to set up another receiving marine facility, which will include a jetty and a tressel at Dahej. Draft required for LNG vessels is almost 13 metres, the second jetty will be on the similar lines as the existing jetty, which runs 2.4 km into the sea, sources explained.
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Tech Mahindra to set up facility in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: M&M's software services subsidiary, Tech Mahindra is setting up a software development centre in Hyderabad at Kokapet near Golkonda within the special economic zone (SEZ) area. The new campus will host 3,000 software engineers and host top-notch infrastructure spread over a 8.43-acre campus. The structures will encompass intelligent building management and lighting systems.
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Reliance Industries eyeing GE`s plastics business
Mumbai: Reliance Industries may bid for General Electric's plastics business expected to be priced at nearly $10 billion. Although GE has not officially confirmed its plan to sell the business, rumours are doing the rounds that Reliance Industries will join the race for the unit when GE decides.

Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani recently announced plans to look at both organic and inorganic growth to achieve the goal.

The Reliance stock gained 1.72 per cent to close at Rs1295.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

Reliance's last foreign acquisition came a couple of years ago when it bought German speciality polyester manufacturer, Trevira, for Rs 430 crore.

In the first three quarters of 2006, GE plastics' revenue was flat at $5 billion, but operating profit had dropped 13 per cent to $560 million.

The plastics division contributes about 8 per cent to GE's total revenue and 5 per cent to its net profit.

GE has been planning to sell the plastics business and a few private equity funds, including Apollo Management, the Blackstone group and the buyout fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), were interested in the division, media reports said.

Other interested buyers in addition to Reliance include, the global petrochem majors like Dow Chemical Company, BASF and Dupont.
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