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Saturday,
May 31, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Maruti
share price fixed at Rs 115 FDI
proposals of 35 cr cleared Microsoft
to pay $750m to AOL Haryana
VAT Act needs to be fine-tuned Capital
bank to pay maiden dividend |
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PNB
slashes deposit rates
Spice
bonanza for customers Global
firms eye rural India Graphic:
India's trade with Germany
WWICS
for opportunities abroad
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Maruti share price fixed at Rs 115
Mumbai, May 30 MUL’s IPO is slated to open on June 12 and will close on June 19, a press statement by the auto major here said today. Addressing a press conference here, SMC Chairman O Suzuki said MUL would be a major research and development hub among 14 manufacturing plants of Suzuki worldwide and the company was committed to sustained growth of Indian automobile industry. With the majority holding, SMC decided that from the current fiscal, it would not charge royalty payment from MUL for its various models like 800, Omni, Esteem and Zen. This would translate into a net saving of about Rs 78 crore for India’s largest car maker. However, the Japanese firm would charge royalty for Alto, which is being exported from India on Suzuki’s brand name. Similarly, Suzuki would provide a 10 per cent discount on knocked down components imported by Maruti from Japan which was estimated to be around Rs 78-79 crore annually. The indigenisation of Maruti cars was about 95 per cent. The government is offering shares through a bidding or book building process. This was also the rate at which Suzuki had earlier offered to buy the entire 26 per cent stake that the government was divesting. At the floor rate, the issue size would amount to Rs 830 crore (Rs 8.3 billion). After the issue, the government’s stake would come down to 20.8 per cent from the current 45 per cent. From the production of 700 cars per day earlier, MUL had currently ramped up its production to 1,700 units per day, taking the total turnover to over 5 lakh car per year as against the installed capacity of 3.5 lakh units a year, MUL Managing Director Jagdish Khattar said. This was done through technology upgradation, logistic support from component manufacturers and extended working hours, he said. SMC, which currently owns about 55 per cent equity in MUL through the periodic dilution of government holdings in the joint venture since 1982, would enhance its holding further after the IPO since the Centre was committed to get out of the company completely within two years of the IPO. With the dilution of about 25 per cent government holding through IPO, the Centre would still hold around 20 per cent in MUL. In May last year, Suzuki purchased 1,216,341 shares from the government at a price of Rs 164 per share in addition to a control premium payment of Rs 1,000 crore. Union Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie, whose department was instrumental in creating the road-map of MUL’s disinvestment, had pitched the success of Maruti’s IPO and privatisation as the touchstone for future IPOs and privatisation of PSUs.
UNI
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FDI proposals of 35 cr cleared
New Delhi, May 30 Finance Minister Jaswant Singh cleared these proposals on the recommendation of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, which held a meeting on May 8, according to an official statement. The major investment proposals pertain to business of introduction of technology for colour televisions, petro chemicals, wholesale trading, surgical equipment, printers, cameras, software development and cotton or other textile fabrics. Advanced Mineral Asia Pte deals in mining, processing and selling of feldspars, industrial grade quartz and sands.
PTI
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Microsoft to pay $750m to AOL
Seattle, May 30 The wide-ranging deal marked the end of one of Microsoft's most contentious legal disputes following its final antitrust settlement with the federal government late last year. By putting the legal dispute behind them, AOL and Microsoft said they would be able to focus on their shared interest in creating a bigger and more efficient market for digital media on the Internet, including access to songs and movies. Under the terms of the settlement, AOL, the world's No. 1 Internet services provider, won the option to use Microsoft's flagship digital media software as well as its Internet Explorer technology for web browsing on a royalty-free basis for seven years. Microsoft also said it would open data from "beta" or trial versions of its Windows operating software to AOL and let the company help develop the next generation of Windows, known by the code name "Longhorn." Compatible messaging
Microsoft also will provide AOL software to smaller PC manufacturers who work with Microsoft distributors, and both sides said they would work to make their competing instant messenger networks —AOL and MSN Instant Messenger — open to each other. "This is the best-case scenario for Microsoft and AOL Time Warner— exploiting Microsoft software technology and AOL's ability to capture and hold an online audience," said Dwight Davis, an analyst at Summit Strategies. The AOL antitrust lawsuit, filed in mid-January of 2002, called for monetary damages as well as for competition to be restored in the market for web browsers. Netscape pioneered a browser for mainstream users, which touched off the explosive growth of the Internet in the 1990s. AOL acquired Netscape in 1999, when Microsoft's Internet Explorer was already overtaking it as the dominant browser. "A lot has changed in the last few years, not only in the marketplace, but also for Microsoft and AOL Time Warner. We're pleased to reach this new agreement that's forward-looking and provides for a higher level of technical cooperation while, at the same time, the companies will continue to compete in a number of areas," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said in a prepared statement.
Reuters
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Haryana VAT Act needs to be fine-tuned New Delhi, May 30 In an analysis made on VAT, the PHDCCI has highlighted that the classification of products under each category should be uniform and based on the overall national priority which promotes economic development. The products classification and description of individual products should also be aligned to Central taxes and international classification. Citing the example of glass containers, it has said Delhi and Uttaranchal have included glass containers under packaging item under draft VAT Bills attracting a tax of only 4 per cent whereas Haryana has put these items under the general category attracting 12 per cent tax. This anomaly will affect competitiveness of the industry.
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Capital bank to pay maiden dividend Chandigarh, May 30 The bank has registered a business of Rs 120.67 crore as on March 31, 2003, as against Rs 77.29 crore in the previous year. For the year ended March 31, 2003, the gross income increased from Rs 634.10 lakh to Rs 974.37 lakh, resulting in a growth of 53.66 per cent. The bank posted an operating profit of Rs 212.86 lakh for the financial year 2002-03 as against Rs 148.07 lakh in the previous. The net profit for the year has increased to Rs 133.47 lakh as against Rs 116.32 lakh in the previous year. The bank has registered a growth of 100.45 per cent in its rural business. The board has recommended a maiden dividend of 6 per cent for the year 2002-03. To further strengthen the capital base, the bank has ploughed back about 70 per cent of the profits. The bank boasts of a CD ratio of 60 per cent as against the CD ratio of 18.18 per cent in these districts. The priority sector lending of the bank is 53.95 per cent as against the national target of 40 per cent. In a statement here today, Mr S.S. Samra, Chairman, said during the year 2003-04, the bank would open four more branches — one each at Goraya, Nurmahal, Rurkee and Shanker. The bank would launch several retail banking initiatives to reach out to a wide group of customers. Value-added products in the rural areas would satisfy the needs of customers.
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PNB slashes deposit rates
New Delhi, May 30 PNB reduced the interest rate to 4.0 from 4.25 per cent for term deposits kept for 7-14 days, while that for 15-45 days it had been slashed to 4.25 from 4.50 per cent. For the 46-90 days maturity period, the rate had been reduced to 5.0 from 5.25 per cent, a bank release said. In case of deposits kept for 180-364 days, the rate had been revised to 5.25 per cent from 5.50 per cent. Senior citizens would get 0.50 per cent higher interest on all maturities of deposits. Canara Bank cuts rate
As a sequel to the latest reductions in Canara Bank’s PLR and PTLR, the interest on housing loan and home improvement loans for the floating rate has been reduced, effective June 1. The new rates for loans up to Rs 10 lakh and above 10 lakh, are: up to five years — 8.25 and 8.25; six to 10 years — 9 and 9.25; 11 to 15 years — 9 and 9.25; 16 to 20 years: 9 and 9.25. Canara Bank now positions itself as one of the most competitive players in the housing finance market.
PTI
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Spice bonanza for customers Chandigarh, May 30 It also slashes SMS rates by
33 per cent. All post and pre-paid subscribers will now be able to send a SMS for just Re 1. Spice today unveiled its new look website, www.spiceindia.com. The website has been designed to make a host of useful transactions possible for Spice subscriber from bill payments to request for e-bills and access to other exciting value- added services, according to Mr Ashok Goyal, Executive Director, Spice Telecom. Spice also announced a Lucky Download Contest available on it.
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Global firms eye rural India
New York, May 30 The Wall Street Journal, in an article published in its May 30 edition, showcases companies like Hyundai and Philips Electronics doing demos in villages to men dressed in turbans and kurta pyjamas, enticing village headmen to lead the way towards selling their goods. "A village headman is an opinion leader, whose advice is sought on everything from marriages to crops. In the past few years, villagers have started to ask what TV set or car to buy, too," the Journal notes. "People are starting to buy more things," Kaler village headman Buta Singh tells the Journal. "If I tell them I like a particular brand, they'll go out and get it," says Singh, making people like him the nub of savvy multinational advertising campaigns. The Journal credits the steady 5 per cent GDP growth in India for years for building pockets of wealth in the rural areas. "And a host of companies are pitching ever-more sophisticated goods to tap some of this rising consumer demand." Sales are up from products like life insurance to home electronics, it notes. And "companies are betting the market will continue to expand," based on economic studies that show middle and high-income households in rural India will grow to 111 million in the next five years from 80 million last year. The study quotes the National Council of Applied Economic Research, which estimates that an average rural Indian household will have five major consumer appliances by 2006, almost double what it had five years ago.
IANS
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L & T has posted a 31.15 per cent growth in the consolidated net profit at Rs 380.18 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2003, compared to Rs 289.86 crore reported in the previous year. The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 7.50 per share. The Supreme Court on Thursday stalled the further sale of around 4 lakh Apollo Tyres shares, once held by Harshad Mehta and family, which were part of the proceedings relating to the 1992 Securities scam case. Dr Reddy's Lab and Nicholas Piramal have decided to withdraw various brands of Nimesulide from the market. Arvind Mills has posted a 280 per cent rise in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, at Rs 38 crore compared with Rs 10 crore in the corresponding period last year. VSNL has reported a 36.6 per cent fall in the net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2003. The board of the company has recommended a dividend of Rs 8.50 per share. The Department of Company
Affairs investigation into the Xerox Modicorp bribery scandal is
coming to a close with accountancy firm S.K. Jain and Company expected
to submit its report by June-end. |
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Price index Intl Certifications Fortune brand Cisco conference Indore bank LIC growth |
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