Bharti net profits hit billion dollar mark
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's biggest mobile-phone services company, announced a doubling of its net profit in the three months to March, at Rs1,353 crore. This didn't prevent the stock from getting knocked down by 4.6%, the most in 11 months, as the growth for the quarter was lower than that in the previous quarter.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark index closed 2.25% down on Friday.

Bharti Airtel, the third ranked firm in India by market capitalization, has now overtaken partner Singapore Telecommunications Ltd to become the most-valued telecom stock in South and Southeast Asia. It now ranks third among peers in Asia behind China Mobile Ltd and Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc. Globally it ranks no 14 behind giants such as AT&T Inc., Vodafone Group Plc. and Telefonica SA.

Bharti's Q4 revenue grew 58% to Rs5,393 crore, lagging the third quarter increase of 62%. The revenue for the full-year, 2006-07, grew to Rs18,520 crore, a year-on-year expansion of 59%, while the net profit was up 89% to Rs4,257 crore.

The world's fastest growing mobile market helped India's largest cellular operator, Bharti Airtel, report an 89% jump in net profit for fiscal 2006-07 to. Thanks to a stronger rupee, Bharti joined the select group of Indian companies with annual net profit in excess of $1 billion.

Revenues were up 59% to Rs18,520 crore.

Bharti Airtel continued to add subscribers at a rapid pace, with its wireless customers totalling 37.14 million as of 31 March, 90% more than in fiscal 2006. The company increased its share of the cellular phone-services market from 20.4% last year to 22.9%.
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Govt`s to divest residual MUL stake by mid-May
New Delhi: The Government of India will disinvest its residual stake in Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), the country's biggest car maker, by May this year. Government officials have said that the expression of interests (EoI) has been received and the share sale will have to be completed by mid-May.

The next step in the divestment process is the calling for financial bids.

Finance minister P Chidambaram and Heavy Industry minister Santosh Mohan Dev have held discussions on the sale of the 10.27 per cent residual stake. "The floor price has not yet been finalised. Experts will determine the price and time," Dev said, adding that another meeting will be held on the issue soon.

According to sources, the government hoped to get a premium over the current market price of Maruti, which closed at Rs795 on Friday on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The decision to disinvest the government's stake in MUL was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on December 21 last year.

The government's stake holding as of now is 296,79,709 shares, of Rs5 each.

On February 22 this year, the government had invited an expression of interest for competitive bids. It had offered to sell all or part of its shareholding in MUL to the Indian public sector financial institutions, public sector banks and Indian mutual funds. Back to News Review index page  

ONGC in talks for stake in Royal Shell's Egyptian block
New Delhi: Indian state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp may be in the process of firming up a proposal to buy up to 33 per cent in an Egyptian deepwater gas block from operator Royal Dutch Shell, reports quoting government sources have said

According to these reports, talks are at an advanced stage. The deal is for a stake in Shell's North East Mediterranean Deepwater (NEMED) block. The block, in which Shell holds 84 per cent, has probable reserves of 15 trillion cubic feet, according to a U.S. Department of Energy Web site. According to industry sources, the block holds initial in-place reserves of more than 1 tcf with "sizeable upside."

Malaysian state oil and gas company, Petronas, owns the remaining 16 per cent in the deepwater concession, which was awarded in 1999.

ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas investment arm of ONGC, has to obtain government permission for any deal that exceeds either $75 million or three billion rupees, whichever is the lower figure.

ONGC Videsh has been asked to target production of 6.34 million tonnes of oil and 1.65 billion cubic metres of gas in the 2007/08 fiscal, the government said on Thursday.

To secure more equity oil, the company is pursuing oil and gas assets in Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Russia, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan. ONGC Videsh and its partner IPR Red Sea Inc. recently made a significant new oil find in the Gulf of Suez.
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GSK Q1 net up 10 pc
Mumbai: GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) has registered a 9.9 pc increase in net profit at Rs 111 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 (Q1CY07), against Rs101 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 (Q1CY06).

The company's total income (net of excise) stood at Rs449 crore for Q1CY07, as against Rs448 crore for Q1CY06, an increase of 0.22 pc.
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Hutch deal clears FIPB test
New Delhi: After months of dilly dallying, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared Vodafone's proposal to acquire 52 per cent in Hutchison-Essar from Hong-Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL).

The proposal has now been sent for the finance minister's approval. Industry Secretary Ajay Dua said the deal had been cleared without conditions but needed to conform to Press Note 3 of 2007 that requires a company to comply with the 74 per cent limit on FDI in telecom services.

He said the Indian shareholding should also remain Indian and the parties cannot transfer the stake to a foreign entity without government approval. This effectively restricts the sale of a controversial 15 per cent additional stake to Vodafone.

When asked whether FIPB is convinced that the deal complies with the 74 per cent FDI limit, Dua retorted, "That is why the clearance is given". He also said that none of the tax issues raised by the income tax department were discussed.

A Vodafone spokesperson described the news as "clearly welcome," but said the company awaited the finance minister's decision. The Vodafone scrip rose 0.14 per cent on the London Stock Exchange soon after the news broke.
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Cairn India records net profit of Rs37.6-cr
New Delhi: Oil exploration and production company Cairn India recorded a net profit of Rs 37.6 crore for the quarter on a consolidated basis, while revenues stood at Rs 272.6 crore. The consolidated results include Cairn's production operations in Ravva in the Krishna-Godavari basin.

On a net basis however the company has posted a loss of Rs 8.54 crore for the quarter ended March 2006.

The company's gross revenues stood at Rs 12.6 crore.

Average oil price realization during the quarter stood at $61.04 per barrel while the average gas price realisation was $4.07 per million cubic feet. The average price realisation was $42.25 per barrel of oil equivalent.

The company said it remains focused on driving forward the Rajasthan development to bring new production onstream, while maximising the production potential from existing assets, enabling increased exploration activity and ensuring the Rajasthan upstream project remains on track to produce first oil in 2009.

Cairn also said that it was in discussions for laying a pipeline to transport the waxy crude from the fields, the country's first heated pipeline. It said a proposal was awaiting government approval, to include a pipeline within the Field Development Plan to transport Rajasthan crude to Gujarat coast was under discussion.
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PTC`s net down 17 pc
New Delhi: PTC India, the largest power trading company in the country, has reported a 17 per cent decline in its net profit for the fourth quarter (January to March 2007) to Rs5.80 crore from Rs6.99 crore of the corresponding quarter in 2006 due to the cap on trading margins and declining volumes.

The company's income from operations also decreased by 20 per cent at Rs 602.48 crore from Rs 754.68 crore over the corresponding quarter on the back of an over 30 per cent decline in volumes, down to 1,445 million units (MUs) as compared to 2,168 MUs during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
On a yearly basis, the company recorded an income from operations of Rs 3766.66 crore for 2007 as against Rs3108.55 crore reported in 2006,, higher by 21 per cent. Net profit for the financial year 2007 was at Rs35.09 crore, down 14 per cent from Rs40.63 crore of the previous year.
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Marico PAT up marginally at Rs27.5-cr
Mumbai: Consumer products company Marico has reported a profit after tax of Rs27.47 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007, an increase of 1.59 per cent compared with Rs27.06 crore for the corresponding quarter in 2006. The net sales for the period stood at Rs335.74 crore, an increase of 24.87 per cent compared with Rs268.87 crore in 2006.

The consolidated net profit, which includes the company's business in Egypt and Bangladesh, for the quarter stood at Rs28.12 crore, while net sales stood at Rs396.96 crore.

For 2006-07, the company posted a net profit of Rs116.17 crore, an increase of 17.50 per cent as against Rs 98.86 crore in 2005-06.

The company's net sales for the period stood at Rs 1,371.66 crore, an increase of 31.27 per cent compared to Rs 1,044.91 crore recorded last year. The company registered a consolidated net profit of Rs112.90 crore and net sales of Rs1,556.92 crore.
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Ranbaxy gets nod for Ambien
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories has received the US Food and Drug Administration nod to manufacture and market generic versions of the insomnia drug, Ambien. The approval is for 5mg and 10mg tablets of Zolpidem Tartrate, the company said.

According to the company, the Office of Generic Drugs, US FDA, has determined Ranbaxy's formulation to be bioequivalent to Sanofi Aventis' registered drug Ambien. The product is to be manufactured at the company's New Jersey facility, Ohm Laboratories. The annual market sales of the drug in the US are estimated at $2.12 billion, according to Ranbaxy.
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SAIL to set up SEZ in Salem, Rashtriya Ispat chooses Vizag
New Delhi: Public sector steel manufacturer Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is planning to set up an SEZ in the extra land adjacent to the company's stainless steel plant at Salem in Tamil Nadu and will apply for this to the Ministry of Commerce next month. Another public sector steel manufacturer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) has already filed its application with the Commerce Ministry to set up an SEZ in Visakhapatnam. SAIL officials said the company may get fourfold benefits from the proposed SEZ. It could set up a utensil manufacturing shop particularly because Salem Steel has a good brand value in this segment. The company can also export from this location and make use of certain tax benefits. Renting out space to other user industries and setting up a warehouse within the SEZ could be another option. SAIL authorities feel that controversies surrounding various SEZ projects coming up across the country would not affect the company's plans and hope to get a formal clearance without much difficulty.
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Crisil net down 6 pc
Mumbai: Credit rating agency Crisil has registered a fall of six pc in net profit to Rs 7.46 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2007 against Rs 7.92 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Total income grew by 31 per cent to Rs 44.58 crore (Rs 33.97 crore).

While Crisil group's consolidated net profit increased 103 per cent to Rs18.09 crore (Rs.8.92 crore), the total income rose by 59 per cent to Rs90.72 crore (56.98 crore). Basic EPS fell slightly to Rs11.03 from Rs12.04.
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