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Auto sales growth skids on oil price hike, interest rates
Nokia scrip at 13-year low on profit warning |
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P&G may make £38 bn bid for Unilever: Report
KG gas: RIL seeks review of priority users
Sunil Mitra takes over as Finance Secretary
Mundra Port completes buyout of Australian port
Airtel partners Huawei for Africa operations
Vodafone pays $1.9 bn for Essar stake
Toyota recalls 1 lakh Prius cars
Godrej buys 51 pc stake in Darling Holdings
Govt’s overdrive to check black money yielding results
Lohia forays into 3-wheeler market
FIIs skip equities, shift focus to debt market
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Auto sales growth skids on oil price hike,
New Delhi, June 1 The exceptions were Volkswagen - riding high on Polo and Vento - and Toyota which rode well on Etios. The slowing economy seems to have had an effect with sluggish investment cycle and uncertainty over clearances dogging the industry. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), reportedly scouting for a plant in Gujarat, reported 1.9 per cent increase in total sales for May to 1,04,073 units from 1,02,175 units in the same month last year. In May, the company reported 3.9 per cent increase in sales in the domestic market to 93,519 units from 90,041 units in the same period last year. MSIL's exports, however, fell 13 per cent to 10,554 units from 12,134 units in the year-ago period. MSIL's total passenger car sales rose 1 per cent to 76,874 units in May from 76,120 units in the same month of 2010, it added. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) also reported just 2.04 per cent increase in total sales in May at 47,766 units. Exports were down 15.33 per cent to 16,643 units in May from 19,657 units in the year-ago period. The company’s latest model Fluidic Verna has received a good response with over 12,000 bookings in a month. However, there was a staggering increase in sales for Volkswagen brand as it sold 6,185 vehicles in May, a growth of 244 per cent over 1,796 vehicles sold in May 2010. The recently-launched Passat also saw an impressive response from customers with 184 units sold last month. Toyota Kirloskar Motor registered 24 per cent growth growth in sales to 7,470 units in May 2011. Etios was its star performer with 3,412 units being sold in May 2011. General Motors India sold 8,329 units in May 2011, registering a marginal growth of 1.3 per cent. Tata Motors reported a 10 per cent increase in total sales in May to 62,296 units. Two-wheeler maker Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd reported 39 per cent growth in sales in May, 2011, to 30,222 units. TVS Motor Co said its total sales in May rose over 18 per cent to 185,930 units.
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Nokia scrip at 13-year low on profit warning
Helsinki/London, June 1 Nokia shares fell as much as 10 per cent, extending their previous day's 18 per cent fall, and were trading down 7.4 per cent at 4.40 euros in volumes nearly three times their 90-day daily average in four hours of trading. Nokia said on Tuesday that mobile phone sales in the second quarter would be "substantially below" its previous forecast and abandoned its full-year outlook, blaming difficult conditions in China and Europe. The company is moving to Microsoft Corp's Windows software from its own Symbian platform as part of an overhaul of its phone business set out three months ago by new Chief Executive Stephen Elop. Mobile operators in Europe, who are key to the success or failure of devices on the continent because of the subsidies they provide, told Reuters that Nokia's new Symbian phones, a stopgap until the end of the year, were of little interest. Last quarter, Nokia made 29 per cent of its devices and services sales in Europe, a year-on-year decline of 5 per cent. Greater China sales grew 30 per cent to 27 per cent of the total. Analysts said their main concern was that Nokia, once the biggest player in mobile phones, may not be able to reclaim much market share even after it begins selling new phones based on Microsoft Corp's Windows software in the fourth quarter. Nokia’s shares fell as much as 10 per cent again on Wednesday, extending their Tuesday's 18 per cent fall, taking them to their lowest in more than 13 years. — Reuters
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April exports up 34% on engineering goods
New Delhi, June 1 Imports grew at a lesser pace of 14.1 per cent to $32.8 billion in April this year, according to the provisional data released by the Commerce Ministry today. Trade deficit for the opening month of the current fiscal narrowed to $8.9 billion from $11 billion a year ago. According to data released earlier by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, the April export growth was led by engineering consignments, which went up by 109 per cent to $6.8 billion. Export of petroleum products grew by 53 per cent to $4.3 billion and gems and jewellery by 39 per cent to $2.9 billion. Readymade garments clocked in an expansion of 12.7 per cent with consignments worth $1.1 billion. The rise in export value is also attributed to increase in the cost of production, thanks to inflationary pressures. "Once the prices of the raw material stabilise, it may have an impact on India's exports growth," Director General of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Ajay Sahai said. He pegged the export growth for the entire fiscal at about 11 per cent with the total shipments going up to $275 billion from $246 billion in 2010-11. Uncertainty in Europe and not-too encouraging data about the US economy remain areas of concern, Khullar had said. — PTI |
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P&G may make £38 bn bid for Unilever: Report
London, June 1 There are "wild rumours from across the pond that Procter & Gamble could be lining up a mega 38 billion pounds or 30 pounds a share break-up bid for one of its biggest rivals (Unilever)," the report said. "As sceptics quickly said that anti-trust authorities would not take kindly to such a deal, they heard whispers that P&G has apparently already lined up buyers for parts of Unilever it does not want or would have to sell to placate competition authorities," it noted. — PTI |
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KG gas: RIL seeks review of priority users
New Delhi, June 1 With output from the KG-D6 fields falling from 61.5 million standard cubic metres per day to less than 48 mmscmd, the Oil Ministry has ordered Reliance to first meet the full demand of priority users - power, fertiliser, city gas and LPG plants - before supplying to non-core industries. With output just a shade above core sector demand, supplies to steel plants, refineries and petrochemical units have been cut. Reliance is the biggest loser, as it faced cuts at both its refineries and petrochemical units. Sources said Reliance last month wrote to the Oil Ministry saying petrochemical plants like LPG extraction units also strip natural gas of its higher fraction before it is burnt as fuel in industries and so, should be given equal priority in allocation of gas. — PTI
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Sunil Mitra takes over as Finance Secretary
New Delhi, June 1 Mitra, a 1975-batch IAS officer from the West Bengal cadre, retains the charge of Revenue Secretary as well, according to an official statement. Sumit Bose is the new Expenditure Secretary, the portfolio held by Nath who enjoyed the status of the Finance Secretary. Bose, a 1976-batch IAS from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been given dual charge, as he would continue to be Disinvestment Secretary till his replacement in the key department is firmed up. — PTI
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Mundra Port completes buyout of Australian port
Ahmedabad, June 1 The deal marks one of the largest outbound acquisitions by any Indian company overseas in the last fiscal. "The acquisition of APPCT has been completed today. We have paid the entire amount of AUD 1.829 billion to the Queensland treasury and have taken over the ownership and operations of the port," MPSEZL CFO B Ravi said. — PTI
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Airtel partners Huawei for Africa operations
New Delhi, June 1 The agreement will enable Airtel Africa to rapidly expand its mobile services and mobile broadband footprint in the region. Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, said “The partnership with Huawei takes us one step closer to realising our vision of making affordable and world-class telecom services available to Africa. This partnership will allow us to focus on delivering better customer experience as we leverage the global network management expertise of Huawei.” Sun Yafang, Chairperson of Huawei Board, said: “We understand Airtel’s strategic requirements and will match their fast development to achieve a win-win business success between both parties.
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Vodafone pays $1.9 bn for Essar stake New Delhi, June 1 "We have made the first tranche of payment to Essar," a Vodafone spokesperson said. Of Essar's 33 per cent stake in the JV, 22.03 per cent is owned by the company's overseas entities, while the remaining 10.97 per cent is held by the group's
Indian firms and is valued at $1.2 billion. Sources said Vodafone has now paid $1.9 billion to Essar and the remaining $1.9 billion would be paid
in November. To sell the remaining 10.97 per cent in the telecom joint venture, Essar has approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for approval. An Essar spokesperson declined to comment. In March, Vodafone had said it would exercise the option to purchase Essar's entire 33 per cent stake, valued at $5 billion. Once the deal is done, Essar would completely exit from the joint venture, which is offering nationwide mobile services in India.
—PTI
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Toyota recalls 1 lakh Prius cars
Tokyo, June 1 The recall covers nearly 48,000 units of the Prius in Japan and a total of 58,000 units abroad, including 52,000 in the US. Subject to the US recall are 2001 through 2003 model Prius vehicles, according to Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. "If the steering wheel is repeatedly and strongly turned to the full-lock position, there is a possibility the nuts securing the pinion shaft in the steering gear box assembly may become loose," the company said.—AFP
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Godrej buys 51 pc stake in Darling Holdings
New Delhi, June 1 Darling Group Holdings operates in 14 countries across Africa selling hair extension products under brand names like 'Darling' and 'Amigos'. "The Darling Group enables us to take our presence in Africa to the next level...We believe that the strong share positions that the group brands enjoy will further accelerate our trajectory of sustainable profitable growth in the region," GCPL Chairman Adi Godrej said. The company said the acquisition will help scaling up its operations in the region and will strengthen its position in the hair care market. — PTI |
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Govt’s overdrive to check black money yielding results
New Delhi, June 1
The income tax department, sources said, had detected unaccounted income of Rs 18,750 crore in the last two financial years and collected an additional Rs 22,697 crore as taxes by stepping up vigil on cross-border transactions. The government had detected mis-pricing of goods to the tune of Rs 33,784 crore in the last two years. Called as transfer pricing in tax parlance, mis-pricing has emerged as the main method of transferring illicit funds outside the country. The success achieved in checking the menace of black money, sources said, can be attributed to the focused strategy adopted by the Finance Ministry. The focus of the strategy includes stopping the transfer of funds to other countries; better realisation of taxes through special attention to cross-border transactions; unearthing black money in the country and enhanced flow of information from foreign jurisdictions. The income tax department, sources added, had collected 7,704 pieces of information related to tax evasion and money laundering from different countries and is going ahead with investigations. Meanwhile, senior ministers are trying to persuade Yoga Guru Ramdev not to go on hunger strike as the government is already taking steps to curb the menace of black money. Referring to information received in respect of LGT Bank of Liechtenstien from Germany, sources said, the government has already launched prosecution proceedings against several individuals and raised a tax demand of Rs 75.86 crore. — PTI
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Lohia forays into 3-wheeler market
Chandigarh, June 1 Ayush Lohia, CEO, Lohia Auto Industries, said the company was focusing to make cost-effective three wheelers, which would in turn lead to lesser commuting expenses. The vehicles will be compatible to meet the Bharat Stage 3 emission standards. Lohia has already invested over Rs 50 crore in expanding its manufacturing facilities in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, to manufacture three wheelers along with electric scooters. |
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FIIs skip equities, shift focus to debt market
Mumbai, June 1 According to experts, foreign investors are giving equities a skip, owing to factors such as impending slowdown in domestic economic growth, rising inflation and high interest rate regime prevailing in the country. Commenting on this trend, the Ashika Stock Broking Research Head-Equities, Paras Bothra, said: “this is a natural shift from the FII or any other class of investor. With interest rate remaining astronomically high, portfolio allocation to debt market gets raised up in the overall composition of the asset allocation structure.’’ FIIs have so far this year have made a net investment of Rs 13,798.50 crore in the debt market, whereas they have withdrawn Rs 1,901.80 crore from the equities market so far this year, according to information available on SEBI website. “Oil/inflation and international bad news are at centre stage and FIIs keep pulling out and putting in money in accordance with news flow. Happens in any market,” Mr Abhinav Dwivedi, Founder and President of Progressive Financial Ventures, said. — PTI
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RCap to hire 3,500 Re gains 22 paise CPI-IW up 1 point
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Automobile sales in the country grew at a slower than expected pace for the second consecutive month in May on higher fuel costs and rising interest rates on loans. Most automobile makers saw only a marginal increase in sales.
The exceptions were Volkswagen - riding high on Polo and Vento - and Toyota which rode well on
Etios.
Investors dumped shares of Nokia again on Wednesday, taking them to their lowest in more than 13 years, as analysts feared worse to come for the handset maker after Tuesday’s profit warning.
Nokia shares fell as much as 10 per cent, extending their previous day's 18 per cent fall, and were trading down 7.4 per cent at 4.40 euros in volumes nearly three times their 90-day daily average in four hours of trading.
