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RIL bids for Timor offshore
Punwire assets go under hammer
Tatas may acquire chromite ore mine in South Africa
India Inc lobbies to stall move on quota
Delhi, Mumbai airports go into private hands
Corporate News
Corporate Results
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Chevron may buy 40 per cent stake in Reliance
New Delhi, April 20 As per the late-March agreement between the two firms, Chevron will acquire from Reliance a 30 to 40 per cent participating interest in the KG-DWN-98/3 (D6) block, where 14.5 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves have been found and production slated to begin mid-2008, industry sources said. Reliance owns 90 per cent of D6 while Niko Resources of Canada has the remaining 10 per cent. Reliance plans to invest $2.49-billion produce gas from two out of the dozen finds in D6. Sources said the money Chevron would put in for taking stake in the block would be used for laying a pipeline from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Ahmedabad in Gujarat for transportation of the D6 gas. The California-based Chevron would invest about $300 million to purchase 5 per cent of RPL, a company formed by Reliance Industries Ltd (Reliance) to own and operate a 580,000 barrels per day export refinery adjacent to RIL’s existing 660,000 barrels per day refinery at Jamnagar. “Sebi has now consented to Chevron becoming a co-promoter of RPL,” a market source said. Chevron has future rights to purchase additional shares to increase its equity ownership to 29 per cent in the refinery, which is expected to being operation in end-2008. The US firm would supply at least third of crude oil that the new refinery needs and help market high-octane fuel produced at the unit in US and other western markets. The new refinery would be located in Jamnagar Special Economic Zone, which would give it several fiscal benefits. Sources said the government yesterday issued notification granting the Jamnagar SEZ status of multi-product export hub. Being located in a SEZ would entitle the refinery to income tax exemption on export profits for first five years of operation. Fifty per cent of export profits would be exempt from income tax for the next five years. The location would also mean no service tax on any service that RPL may avail for during construction of the refinery or even after it starts operations. This would help reduce project cost and expenses after operations start. SEZ would also entitle nil import duty on project imports as well as on imports after operations start. Thus RPL would not have to pay any import duty on crude oil imports, sources said. Sources said Reliance would use Chevron expertise to bring to production the gas in D6 block, which lies in ultra-deep sea. — PTI
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Biocon ups dividend
Bangalore, April 20 The company also announced that its profit after tax figures had also declined by 12 per cent to Rs 174 crore for the same period. Its earnings per share were recorded at Rs 17.40 for this period. The Board of Directors of the company has recommended a dividend increase from 40 per cent to 50 per cent (Rs 2.20 per share). The company’s research and development budget has increased by 76 per cent to Rs 76 crore during this period. The results for the four-quarter of 2005-06 have recorded a top line growth of Rs 215 crore versus Rs 178 crore for same period in preceding financial year. It has also shown a 13 per cent growth in profit after tax of Rs 48 crore against Rs 42 crore over the corresponding quarter for the last fiscal. Biocon Chairperson Kiran Majumdar-Shaw said she was pleased that the company had sustained a healthy 30 per cent operating margin for the financial year 2005-06 despite a fiercely competitive market. She said this would enable the company to invest in discovery-led research programs. She said the recent acquisition of Nobex portfolio had greatly enhanced the company’s assets both in terms of patents as well as proprietary technologies. She said the year ahead would see the company entering the oncology market with its novel antibody product, BIOMAB-EGFR, for the treatment of head and neck cancers. |
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Gold attains new peak
New Delhi, April 20 It closed in Mumbai bullion at Rs 9,420. Silver recorded a whooping gain of Rs 1,900 at a new record high level of Rs 22,900 per kilo supported by a speculative buying in weekly-based delivery, which surged by Rs 22,20 at Rs 22,780 per kilo. As the silver prices gathered Rs 2,950 per kilo in last two days, its coins sky-rocketed by Rs 3,500 at Rs 24,000 for buying and Rs 24,200 for selling of 100 pieces. Tracking global trend, both precious metals — silver and gold —shot up to dizzy heights never seen before, while sovereign was not available at any cost despite the market fixing a price of Rs 7,500 per piece of 8 gram. Standard gold and ornaments recorded hefty gains of Rs 380 each at Rs 9,700 and Rs 9,550 per 10 gram respectively on sustained buying by stockists.
— PTI
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Singapore: Reliance Industries Ltd is one of the five international companies which have submitted bids to prospect oil and gas resources offshore Timor-Leste, it was announced here today. The other four companies are ENI SPA, Petronas Carigali, Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) and GALP Exploracao e Producao Petrolifera, which along with Reliance have submitted six bids, individually or in a consortia, for contract areas A, B, C, E, H and K. Results of the bids would be announced before May 22. — UNI
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Punwire assets go under hammer
Chandigarh, April 20 These lots were categorised specifically on the basis of the nature of product and place. Bidding a total of over Rs 23.64 crore, the Sun Group outbid over one dozen other bidders to emerge successful. The remaining two lots were picked up by different parties. While LOIL Foods outbid the other bidders to lay claim on a piece of land in Phase VII, Industrial Focal Point, Mohali, for Rs 6.9 crore, SK Disposal shelled out Rs 5.10 lakh for some old vehicles. The entire bidding process was held in the court of Mr Justice Hemant Gupta of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Punwire, once a blue chip company worth Rs 500 crore, had employed over 1,200 persons at one point of time, but had closed down in July, 2000. Punjab Government-promoted Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC) has a stake in Punwire. The defunct company also owes crores of rupees to creditors. On April 12, 2004, a 10-year revival plan was mooted by a core group formed by the Government of Punjab during which a revival scheme prepared by one of the members, Mr B.S. Baidwan, former president, Mohali Industries Association, was also discussed at length. Incidentally, Sun Group, which picked up 20 lots at today’s auction, is co-promoted by the same member. On March 30, 2005, the High Court had set aside the sale of a portion of Punwire to a Chandigarh-based company, the Winsome Group, in December 2004. The sale was set aside on the petition filed by the Sun Group, which had bid a higher amount for the buildings. While ordering reauction of the properties, Mr Justice M.M. Kumar of the High Court had also directed that the workers of the now-defunct company be also involved in the process. The High Court order is still under challenge in the Supreme Court. Today, among the properties that went under the hammer were plots in Mohali, machinery, old cars, etc. The money generated from the sale of the assets is to be shared by the workers and secured creditors. While the company owes over Rs 30 crore to the workers, the dues of financial institutions are much more.
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Tatas may acquire chromite ore mine in South Africa
Johannesburg, April 20 “Currently the exploration and evaluation process is on. In another six months time we should be able to finalise the exact location, after which we would apply to the South African government,” Tata Steel Ltd Chief (Overseas Project) Somdeb Banerjee said here. “Two locations, at the western and eastern chromite-rich belt of South Africa, are being evaluated,” he said, adding, in another 16 to18 months the company was likely to own its first mine in that country. Mr Banerjee said the chromite ore mine could be of capacity between 20 mt and 50 mt and the company has envisaged as much as $10 to 20 million investments for the acquisition. The mine would supply to the company’s ferrochrome plant in Richards Bay, where he said “construction work is expected to start in the coming month.” The group also plans to set up an instant coffee processing plant in Uganda with an investment of $12 million. “The greenfield project is being taken up by Tata Africa, along with another Tata Group company, Tata Coffee,” Tata Africa Managing Director Raman Dhawan said here. — PTI
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India Inc lobbies to stall move on quota
New Delhi, April 20 After Ratan Tata and other industry captains, Wipro President Azim Premji has also expressed his strong opposition to the quota move, amid reports that government may enact a law in this regard after assembly elections in five states. Ficci President Saroj Kumar Poddar, who is currently in China, today issued a statement saying: “The issue will have to be addressed at the root and this cannot be done merely through reservation.” As an alternative to government proposal, he suggested the government should promote public private partnership to equip youth with skills, and support for retention of SC/ST and OBC students at the primary school level. He said: “Students should be given training in vocations so that by the end of the 12th grade they are fully trained and could readily be absorbed by industry. Ficci would be willing to partner the Central and States governments.” Assocham, CII and other industrial chambers are also making efforts to stall the move claiming it would affect efficiency and productivity level of the manufacturing and service sector. The newly elected President of the CII R. Seshasayee said today that reservation in any form was not acceptable to the Indian industry and neither was that conducive to a competitive business environment. Critics, however, said, industrial chambers were looking business opportunities in this move as well, by suggesting privatisation of government industrial training institutes and tax incentives to absorb ‘eligible’ candidates of SC/ ST and now OBC sections.
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Delhi, Mumbai airports go into private hands
New Delhi, April 20 This is the first time that the two premier gateways of the country have gone to private hands, following the footsteps of Kochi International Airport as well as those in Hyderabad and
Bangalore. At the first meeting of the two newly-constituted Boards here yesterday, it was decided to name the GVK Group-led joint venture company as Mumbai International Airports Private Limited
(MIAPL), while the one led by GMR Group has been named Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), sources in the companies said. The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which so far was the sole controller of all airports in the country, holds 26 per cent stake each in the two joint venture companies set up for modernisation of these metro airports.— PTI
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Corporate News
Bangalore, April 20 Disclosing this here today, Royal Philips Electronics Vhief Technology Officer Rick Harwig said the TV when plugged into a CPU of a computer also functioned as a PC Monitor. He said it came with a high-quality dish antenna and LNB to ensure quality reception of satellite signals anywhere in the country. The 15-inch digital satellite TV displays 640x480 pixel resolution which is more than twice the resolution seen in normal analog TVs for the same DTH content. The satellite TV has been developed at the Philips Innovation Campus here. The first prototypes of the product was earlier test marketed in areas without any cable lines in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the company’s chief technologist said. The company said the TV would be introduced at a “very affordable” price. Parryware pact with Spanish firm EID Parry India Limited of the Murugappa Group today announced the commencement of the 50:50 joint venture, ParrywareRoca, with the ROCA group of Spain. The deal has been valued at Euro 100 million. Of this, ROCA would bring in Euro 50 million in the deal, EID Parry Vice-Chairman A Vellayan told reporters here. He said clearance from the Foreign Investors Promotion Board (FIPB) was awaited. ROCA is a Euro 1.70 billion-bathroom ceramics company with 16,000 employees across 80 countries and has about 48 factories in 18 nations. With this joint venture, Parryware will have access to the international sales network of Roca. Pantaloon partnership To tap the booming real estate sector of India, Singapore-based CapitaLand Ltd today entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Indian retail major Pantaloon Retail India Ltd (PRIL). The Singapore company, through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary CapitaLand Retail India, plans to invest $75 million in Horizon Realty Fund, an international fund managed by Kshitij Investment Advisory Company Ltd (KIACL), the asset management arm of Pantaloon Retail. Also, CapitaLand India has signed a heads of agreement with Pantaloon for a similar joint venture for a retail management company and a joint venture fund management company. Sangam plans expansion Bhilwara- based Sangam (India) Ltd, having a client base like Raymond, Reid & Taylor, Siyaram and Grasim, is implementing its Rs 541-crore expansion programme funded by a mix of debt and equity, company sources said here. “The company’s Rs 541-crore expansion plan is progressing as per schedule with installation of 20,000 cotton spindles and 90 weaving machines having started operations by March 31,” Sangam (India) Managing Director
S.N. Modani said.
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Corporate
Results
New Delhi, April 20 The company is, however, targeting to commission 3,710 MW in the current financial year. An interim dividend of 20 per cent for the financial year 2005-06 amounting to Rs 1649.1 crore has also been declared. Announcing the financial results of the company NTPC Chairman and Managing Director T Shankarlingam today said: “ The decline in net profit last fiscal was on account of some extraordinary income earned during 2004-05. If we take into account this factor, profit has actually gone up.” Net sales of the company has, however, risen 15.36 per cent in 2005-06 to Rs 25,992.8 crore in 2005-06 as against Rs 22,531.6 crore in the previous year, he said. Mr Shankarlingam said NTPC, the country’s largest power generating company, has added 4,000 MW of capacity in the 10th plan and is targeting to commission another 3,710 MW in the current financial year. During the 11th plan of 2007-12, the company would add about 17,000 MW generating capacity. The power major has also been diversifying in related energy sectors such as coal mining, gas exploration, hydro and nuclear projects, he said. Asked about the strategy to tackle gas shortage, he said the company is looking at various options including taking equity stake in gasfields and buying gas from spot markets. An NTPC delegation would also shortly visit Nigeria to scout for gas, he said, but declined to elaborate. Hexaware profit at Rs 21 crore Leading IT and BPO services provider Hexaware Technologies Ltd today posted a net profit of Rs 20.91 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2006, as against Rs 10.29 crore for the corresponding quarter in 2004-05. Total income stood at Rs 90.92 crore for the first quarter as against Rs 78.28 crore in the year-ago period. On consolidated basis, the company’s net profit was at Rs 26.02 crore for the first quarter as against Rs 23.23 crore for the corresponding period in 2004-05. Sona Koyo dividend Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd today announced a 50 per cent dividend and 1:1 bonus share even as its profit for the year ended March 31, 2006, dropped 2.45 per cent at Rs 16.26 crore as against Rs 16.67 crore in 2004-05. However, company’s sales for the year ended March 31, 2006, grew by 12.67 per cent to Rs 409 crore as compared to Rs 363 crore in the corresponding period in 2004-05. Sona Koyo’s export sales for 2005-06 was up 97 per cent to Rs 50.02 crore compared to Rs 25.39 crore in 2004-05. The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend at the rate of 50 per cent on its equity share capital and would also issue bonus shares in 1:1 ratio to the shareholders, through utilisation of its reserves, a company release said. The company is manufacturer and supplier of steering systems in technical and financial collaboration with Japan-based JTEKT Corporation.
— TNS, Agencies
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