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Decision on Bhel, Maruti selloff deferred
NCAER pegs GDP growth at 6 to 6.7 pc
City to have first Maruti motor training school
Corporate results
Dabur acquires Balsara for Rs 143 crore
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Dell, EMC, Intel, Oracle launch mega-project
Jindal Steel to invest Rs 1,450 cr in capex
Sail profit jumps
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Decision on Bhel, Maruti selloff deferred
New Delhi, January 27 “What’s the hurry? It (sale of equity in MUL and Bhel) will be taken up in the next few weeks,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) here today. He said that the note on sale of 10 per cent government equity in Bhel could not be taken up by the CCEA today. “The CCEA today discussed possible candidates for disinvestment. Bhel is one of them”, Mr Chidambaram said. Earlier this week, the government had decided to divest 10 per cent equity in Bhel and 7.5 per cent shares in MUL next fiscal to raise an estimated Rs 2,500 crore. A decision on the modalities was expected to be taken today. The CCEA today approved a proposal to institute a National Investment Fund (NIF) comprising disinvestment proceeds. The fund will come into force on April 1, 2005. “The funds will be initially managed by public sector fund managers like LIC Mutual Fund, UTI Mutual Fund and RBI Mutual Fund”, Mr Chidambaram said. He said that public sector fund managers would manage and invest the earnings from disinvestment of public sector units. These returns will then be invested in social sectors such as education, health and employment generation and for revival of sick PSUs. Mr Chidambaram said this was part of the national common minimum programme. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) also decided to give additional Rs 265 crore for Umbrella Scheme on Technology Vision 2020 in the Tenth Plan and approved external monitoring of projects under the scheme. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Rs 347.54 crore up to 2006-07, including Rs 82.54 crore released for 2000-01 and 2001-02, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters here. The “Umbrella Scheme on Technology Vision 2020 Projects in Mission Mode” covers six areas, including agriculture and agro food processing, road construction and transport equipment. The CCEA also gave an in-principle approval for listing of unlisted profitable public sector companies with a net worth of more than Rs 200 crore. “The unlisted companies will be listed through an initial public offering either in conjuction with a fresh equity issue by the company or independently by the government on a case to case basis,” Mr Chidambaram said. Each listing or disinvestment case will be prepared in consultation with the administrative ministry.
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NCAER pegs GDP growth at 6 to 6.7 pc
New Delhi, January 27 This is marginally higher than the think-tank’s earlier projection where NCAER had said that the GDP would grow in the range of 6.2 per cent. The increase in projected growth rate is mainly due to revival in investment and strong recovery of the industrial sector. “The average growth in the first half of this fiscal has been 7 per cent compared to 6.9 per cent in the last fiscal”, NCAER said in its Quarterly Economic Review. Though the agriculture sector was unlikely to register a strong growth in the backdrop of deficient rainfall and 8.5 per cent drop in foodgrain production, the robust performance of the non-farm sector will more than offset this at the macro-level. According to the think-tank report, the non-agricultural sector registered a growth of 6.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2004-05. It said the overall growth rate was primarily driven by manufacturing, hotels, restaurant and communication sectors. This is the ninth consecutive quarter where the manufacturing sector has registered a growth rate of more than 6.5 per cent. The other major engine for growth has been the services sector which has clocked a growth rate of 8.2 per cent in the second quarter. The NCAER, however, has struck a note of caution so far as government finances are concerned. ”The government’s performance, particularly in view of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) targets has not been very encouraging”, it said. As per the current trends in receipts and expenditure of the central government, tax revenue could fall short by Rs 9,600 crore and non-tax revenue by around Rs 7,400 crore. The NCAER said the deficiency in rainfall by about 14.5 per cent will adversely affect the agriculture sector with foodgrain production estimated to fall to 194 million tonnes this year. In fact, the data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) shows that agriculture registered a negative growth rate of 0.8 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal.
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Lakshmi Mittal is Henry Ford of 21st century steel
London, January 27 His deal making and steel making last year has earned him the title and helps Mr Mittal in his bid to be the “Henry Ford of 21st-century steel”. The Fortune magazine writes: “The International Steel Group (ISG) deal represents Mittal’s great leap forward in his bid to become the Henry Ford of 21st-century steel, not only dominating but transforming how an entire industry operates.” With his recent takeover of International Steel Group — a U S company that had been controlled by investor Wilbur Ross — Mittal’s company will become the world’s largest steel producer, with pro forma shipments last year of 57 million tonnes, revenues of $31.5 billion, and profits of $6.8 billion. It is also the world’s most geographically diverse steel giant, stretching from central Asia through Africa and Europe to Central and North America. “Mittal is convinced that the 21st-century steel industry, like the 20th-century auto industry, will consolidate around three or four super-efficient heavyweights, with his own group in the vanguard,” says writer Richard Tomlinson. He writes, “What makes Mittal so unusual in the steel business is his ability to combine managerial savvy with superb acquisitive instincts.”
— UNI
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City to have first Maruti motor training school
New Delhi, January 27 To be set up in collaboration with its dealers, the Maruti motor training schools would come up across the country with latest equipments and even simulators to give the learners the first hand experience of driving on the roads. Talking to The Tribune, MUL Managing Director Jagdish Khattar said, “These training schools will impart training on international lines. Learning to drive safely will contribute to reducing accidents on roads”. Officials at MUL said that these driving training schools would be modelled on international lines. There will be components of classroom training, practical training and attitude training, as per international practice. While world-class simulators will be used to train the drivers, special attention would also be paid towards providing specially trained and groomed instructors, male and female. Officials said although a business plan is being worked out but these would not be a “money making exercise” for MUL. Officials also said that this idea came up as the existing driving training by the “local training school” leave much to be desired. The idea is more being taken as MUL has been getting a feedback from customers that many ladies despite having car in the household can not use it since they do not know how to drive. It will also help the first time car buyers where these schools will try and address their problems also. Maruti is already managing the Institute of Driving Training and Research in Delhi which primarily works with commercial vehicle drivers.
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Bharti Q3 net up 131 per cent
New Delhi, January 27 The consolidated revenues for the quarter touched Rs 2,153 crore, a growth of 70 per cent, the company said in a press note. The revenue for the nine-month period ended December 2004 was Rs 5,717 crore, a growth of 66 per cent on a year-on-year basis while net profit for the review period touched Rs 1,002 crore, a growth of more than 200 per cent over the same period last fiscal. Dabur
Dabur India has posted a growth of 44.72 per cent in net profit to Rs 43.14 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2004 as compared to Rs 29.81 crore for the same quarter ended on December 31, 2003. Announcing the results, the company said total income had increased 9.12 per cent from Rs 338.43 crore in Q3-03 to Rs 369.30 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2004. The group had posted a consolidated net profit after minority interest of Rs 47.19 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2004 as against Rs 33.27 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year. The consolidated total income had increased from Rs 387.23 crore in Q3-03 to Rs 428.71 crore for the same quarter ended on December 31, 2004. The company had paid an interim dividend at the rate of 100 per cent (that is Re 1 per equity share with face value of Re 1 each) for the financial year 2004-05, aggregating to Rs 28.63 crore excluding dividend tax on November 8, 2004.
HPCL
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has reported a sharp drop in its net profit at Rs 235.92 crore for the third quarter ending December 31, 2004 as compared to Rs 775.71 in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. Net sales were, however, higher during the period at Rs 16,227.11 crore as against Rs 12,939.02 crore in Q3 of previous fiscal, the company said in a release here today. The net profit for the nine-month period ending December was also lower at Rs 777.53 crore as against Rs 1,376.89 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal while net sales were at Rs 43,409.85 crore against Rs 36,964.23 crore in April-December period of
2003.
Hexaware
Hexaware Technologies Ltd has posted a profit after tax of Rs 21.30 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2004 as compared to Rs 2.85 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2003. Announcing the results, the company said its total income had increased from Rs 49.55 crore in Q4-03 to Rs 84.46 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2004. It has posted a profit after tax of Rs 43.77 crore for the year ended on December 31, 2004 as compared to Rs 30.37 crore for the corresponding period a year ago. Total income had increased from Rs 180.50 crore in FY-03 to Rs 269.02 crore for the year ended on December 31, 2004.
— Agencies
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Dabur acquires Balsara for Rs 143 crore
New Delhi, January 27 The DIL Board approved the acquisition of the Rs 200-crore Balsara Group companies, comprising Balsara Hygiene Products, Balsara Home Products and Besta Cosmetics. As per the understanding, Dabur will acquire 99.4 per cent stake in Balsara Hygiene Products, 100 per cent in Balsara Home Products and 97.9 per cent of the shareholding in Besta Cosmetics Ltd, subject to shareholders’ approval as mandated under the Companies Act for completing the acquisition. “The acquisition of Balsara is in line with our strategy to aggressively expand the company’s scale of operations and strengthen its presence in the FMCG space. “It is part of our inorganic growth strategy for which we had planned in advance with necessary funds. The entire acquisition is being funded largely through internal accruals,” Dabur Group Director P.D. Narang said after the board meeting here. Of Rs 143 crore, Rs 120 crore will be paid through internal accrual and Rs 23 crore from debt, which Dabur expects to retire in the next couple of quarters, Dabur CEO Sunil Duggal said adding that Balsara will be a subsidiary of DIL, which may merge the acquired companies with it later.
— UNI
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Dell, EMC, Intel, Oracle launch mega-project
New Delhi, January 27 The four companies are combining certain core technologies and technical resources to ease the burden of integration for their customers, and to develop a complete enterprise grid computing solution. The initial phase of the project is focussed on designing, testing and documenting industry standard best practices for building effective enterprise grid computing infrastructure. The goal of the project is to enable commercial and enterprise organisations across all vertical industry segments to take advantage of enterprise grid computing, a statement issued by Oracle said. It said that commercial and enterprise organisation could begin to adopt grid technologies with minimal investment and disruption by standardising onto cost-effective servers and storage infrastructure.
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Jindal Steel to invest Rs 1,450 cr in capex
New Delhi, January 27 JSPL said it would increase the capacity of its steel melting shop at a cost of Rs 150 crore and expand and upgrade the existing rail and structural mill at an estimated cost of Rs 350 crore. The steel firm will also spend Rs 400 crore to set up another 75 MW capacity power plant and add steam generation capacity. Besides, the company will also set up a Rs 550-crore plate mill, JSPL said in a statement.
— UNI
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Sail profit jumps
New Delhi, January 27 “There is no pressure from the government to declare dividend. But when the company is performing well, every stakeholder has a desire for returns,” Sail Chairman V.S. Jain told reporters after the Board meeting. The government would get Rs 531.7 crore of the total dividend outgo of Rs 619.56 crore.
— PTI
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London, January 27
