Air Deccan's Q3 loss at Rs 213 crore
Bangalore: Budget carrier Air Deccan has posted a loss of Rs213 crore for the third quarter ended March 31, 2007. The airline cited high operational costs and oversupply leading to weak domestic yield. The airline had posted a profit of Rs9.64 crore supported by non-passenger revenue in the preceding quarter.

Revenues for the quarter were up 66.34 per cent to Rs457.45 crore over the corresponding quarter of last year. The airline also managed to improve its load factor to 83 per cent from 71.75 per cent, flew 1.7 million passengers as against 1.07 million and operated 350 flights per day as against 230 flights in the corresponding period last year.

The Deccan board has decided to hive off the charter services into a separate entity through a wholly-owned subsidiary and transfer the maintenance and repair facility to a separate entity.
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Suzlon's wind turbines come to halt in Maharashtra
Mumbai: About 44 wind turbines operated by Suzlon in Sangli District in Maharashtra have been shut down after local residents protested and demanded more money for their land, leased to the company. Suzlon has sought the State Government's help in sorting out the issue, said a company official.

The company has 222 MW of installed capacity in Sangli, of which 74 MW has been shut down working out to 34 per cent of the installed capacity.

Company officials said that though the company has been facing this problem for sometime, it has now reached a stage where its power production is seriously affected.

The company said the issue has reached such a stage that it is forced to defer the installations of turbines in some sites in Sangli and Dhule and shift some of the turbine installations to Gujarat.
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Aurobindo Pharma gets approval for Metformin in S. Africa
Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma (APL) has received marketing authorisation approval for Metformin tablets from Medicines Control Council (MCC) of South Africa. The council approved Metformin tablets in 500 mg, 850 mg and 1 gm dosages. The South African market is highly regulated and very important in its geographical sphere, the company said in a press release.

With this approval the company can participate in one of the key segments of South African market. Metformin was originally discovered by Bristol Myers Squibb, USA and popularly known as Glucophage. It is mostly used in Type 2 diabetes, especially in obese and insulin resistance cases. Metformin helps to increase insulin sensitivity and decreases absorption of glucose from Gastro Intestinal tract. The company is already marketing Metformin successfully in the US.
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Philips SAP centre to come up in Bangalore
Bangalore: Philips IT, the technology wing of consumer electronics major Philips, is setting up a Business Application Services (P-BAS) centre in Bangalore. As part of the Philips Innovation Campus (PIC) in Bangalore, the P-BAS centre would focus on growth in technical and functional SAP competencies, and play a key role in IT solutions and services delivery for various Philips units worldwide. The centre in Bangalore would have 150 employees by the end of the year. Further the company would continue to work with its existing vendor base, where it has some 350 people working for it.

The centre here would provide Enterprise Resource Planning services to Philips Product Divisions and Philips partners, and support the various business lines and service lines within P-BAS centre in Eindhoven.

Projects related to stages of product lifecycle development would also be transferred to India to begin with.
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IDEA introduces M-Radio in Kerala
Kochi: Idea Cellular has introduced M-Radio for its subscribers who can choose from three stations that offer hundreds of songs. Currently, two channels are available. To tune-in, subscribers have to dial 456097. This service will especially be a boon in towns which currently do not have an FM radio station and will fill the gap for FM-quality music on the go. Besides the regular channels, the station `My Album' is unique where the listener can store their favourite songs and replay them as per their convenience. All calls to this number are charged at Rs3 per minute. The company said the launch adds to the list of products from Idea specially created for its Kerala consumers.
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Satyam inaugurates development centre in Sydney
Hyderabad: IT services provider Satyam Computer Services has opened a 150-seat development centre in North Sydney, which will serve as a regional solutions hub to address the Asia Pacific region.

The company plans to step up its headcount in Australia to about 700 people.

Satyam has increased its presence in Australia since 2001 with 10 people and now hosts development centres in Melbourne and at York Street in the Sydney Central Business District and sales offices in Canberra and Brisbane. These centres complement its Virtual Global Delivery Model.

Satyam signed an agreement with the Australian Computer Society earlier this week in scouting for local talent. Satyam plans to hire 50 graduates within three months and 50 more next year.
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ABB Q1net up 69 per cent due to rise in orders
Bangalore: ABB India has earned a net profit of Rs86.6 crore during the first quarter of 2007-08 a gain of 69 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

The company received significant orders from power utilities and core sector industries such as cement, steel, pulp and paper.

The order intake stood at Rs2,000.3 crore, a 43 per cent growth over 2006 Q1. With the conversion of several backlog orders, revenues increased by 62 per cent over 2006 Q1 to touch Rs1,327.6 crore.

The company said it has been witnessing this kind of growth for 27 consecutive quarters, indicating the boom in infrastructure activity. Its cumulative net profit for calendar 2006 was Rs340.3 crore, a 56 per cent jump over 2005.

The Indian subsidiary has witnessed the highest growth rate in the group's worldwide operations, overtaking even that of China by about 10 per cent. The annual growth rate in the flagship divisions of power systems and automation products was also higher in the subcontinent. China's revenue for FY06 is over $3 billion, while revenues from India are a shade over $1 billion.
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Tata Tea acquires Vitax & Flosana brands from Polish tea company
Kolkata: Tata Tea has acquired two tea brands Vitax and Flosana from Polish tea company Premium Foods SA, headquartered in Krakow, for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition, made through its subsidiary Tetley Group, catapults Tetley to the second position in the Polish tea market with a 10.5 per cent value share and a turnover of $36 million. The combined turnover of Vitax, a leading player in the Polish speciality tea segment, and Flosana brands is $23 million, Tata Tea said.
Premium Foods currently distributes the Tetley brand in Poland alongside Vitax and Flosana and this distribution arrangement would continue, the release added.

Tetley Group officials said Tetley already had a strong business in Poland built on black and Earl Grey teas and there is significant potential to grow the fruit and herbal market in Poland. They said it made more sense to acquire an established and successful range of fruit and herbal products, rather than start afresh with a new Tetley range.
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