Bajaj Auto splits into three separate cos
Mumbai: Rahul Bajaj, chairman of Bajaj Auto, has announced the demerger and reallocation of business responsibilities between his sons Rajiv and Sanjiv Bajaj. The board of Bajaj Auto has approved a demerger scheme splitting the company into three, a holding company with two subsidiaries — Bajaj Holdings and Investment Ltd (BHIL) and Bajaj Finserv Ltd (BFL).

BAL's demerged auto manufacturing business would be with BHIL and other strategic businesses would be with BFL.

Rahul Bajaj would continue as chairman of the holding company and the newly created subsidiaries.

The younger son of Rahul Bajaj, Sanjiv Bajaj said Bajaj Auto had five different businesses, including automobiles and insurance. The automobile and insurance businesses were growing fast and there was a need to tap into the Rs8,000- crore cash reserves available with the company. Bajaj Auto's 4.08 per cent stake in ICICI Bank will be transferred to BHIL, following the restructuring.

According to Rahul Bajaj the automobile business would continue to be under Rajiv Bajaj and the board of the new automobile manufacturing company will largely be the same as the existing board with Sanjiv continuing as the executive director and Rajiv as the chief executive officer. The Senior Bajaj said the international marketing business of the auto division is at present under Sanjiv Bajaj.

The demerger comes into effect by March 2007 and the process would be completed by the end of the calendar year.

Bajaj Auto shares fell 6.7 per cent to close.
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Bajaj Auto Q4 net down 4 pc
Mumbai: Bajaj Auto has registered a 4 per cent drop in net profit at Rs308.3 crore in the fourth quarter of 2006-07 against Rs321.8 crore last year. The company's turnover for the quarter grew 9 per cent to Rs2,471.3 crore (Rs2,269 crore).

The fall in profit is due to a slowdown in demand for the 100cc range in the Bajaj stable, said Sanjiv Bajaj, executive director, Bajaj Auto.

According to the company inventory build-up at the dealer-end and rise in input costs since April 2006 impacted the profit margins of the company. However, this was offset by high volumes with the company recording sales of 6,28,387 units in the fourth quarter compared with 6,19,330 in the corresponding period last fiscal.

For the fiscal year March 31, 2007, the company posted a 10 per cent rise in net profit at Rs1,237.1 crore (Rs1,123.3 crore). The turnover was at Rs10,076 crore (Rs8,106.4 crore) a rise of 24 per cent.

The EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margins were maintained at 15 per cent, the highest in the industry, according to a company press release. The board of directors has maintained the dividend at Rs40 per share.
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Idea enters into $500 mn network expansion deal with Nokia
Mumbai: Idea Cellular, India's sixth largest operator, has entered into a $500-million network expansion contract with Nokia Siemens which will double Idea's capacity in six of its eleven existing circles — Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The contract will allow Idea to expand reach to 6,000 new centres besides its existing areas. The deal covers supply and services of GSM equipment, intelligent network, value-added services and circuit packet core equipment.

Nokia Siemens will deploy flexi base transceiver stations, mini-ultra base stations, Release 4 architecture, media gateways and MSS servers. This is Nokia Siemens first contract in India after the merger of Nokia Networks with Siemens Communications was completed on April one this year.
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Tata Steel registers Rs4,000 cr net in FY07
Mumbai: Tata Steel has posted a record net profit of Rs4,222.15 crore or slightly more than $1 billion for the full fiscal year in a period of high volumes and firm product prices.

Tata Steel's fiscal fourth quarter net profit climbed 41 pc to Rs1,103.50 crore, while revenue rose 21.4 pc to Rs4,980.44 crore.

For the full fiscal year, net profit was at Rs4,222.15 crore compared with Rs3,506.38 crore last year. Its revenue stood at Rs17,552.02 crore, a jump of 15 pc from last year.

The Tata Steel stock ended the day up 1.5 pc at Rs597.3 on the BSE. The metal index was up 0.38 pc.
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