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| Saturday, October 14, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Hind Lever net growth
slows Maruti to expand capacity Zee Interactive to
invest in ZED TV Pakistan’s new entry
rules exclude Indians New tractor
launched by Eicher |
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Reliance denial on
shares
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Hind Lever net growth slows down to 16 pc MUMBAI, Oct 13 (UNI) — Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) registered profit before tax of Rs 414 crore and profit after tax of Rs 331 crore for the September quarter, a growth of 10 per cent and 16.1 per cent respectively. Net sales for the quarter was Rs 2,462 crore compared to Rs 2,452 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Net sales for the first nine months of the year rose by 4.1 per cent to Rs 7,956 crore. Profit before tax at Rs 1,145 crore and profit after tax at Rs 881 crore grew by 19.7 per cent and 21.5 per cent respectively. Operating margins improved to 15.4 per cent (second quarter) 1999:13.9 per cent) largely due to improved product mix and reduction in material and supply chain costs. The earnings per share (annualised) for the first nine months is Rs 5.34 per share of Re 1, representing a growth of 21.2 per cent over the previous year on an adjusted basis. The Rs 10 paid-up share has been split into 10 equity shares of Re 1 each effective July 19, 2000. Commenting on the quarter’s results, HLL’s Chairman, Mr M.S. Banga said: “This quarter saw a slowing of market growth and intense competition in certain categories. Prices were held reflecting commodity trends. Support investments in media and market/consumer activities were stepped up to lead market development and address competitive issues. Product mix, continued focus on cost, and supply chain efficiencies, led to margin improvement and overall profit growth”. In personal wash, the premium portfolio to recorded a growth of 8 per cent. However, overall volumes declined due to loss of 2 per cent share in the low price segment. Fabric wash registered a sales growth of 7 per cent, led by a significant growth in premium powders. Oral care sales grew by 2 per cent, reversing the declining trend of the previous two quarters. |
Mastek net rises 28 pc MASTEK group today announced a total income of Rs 68.54 crore for the first quarter ended September 30,2000, an increase of 13 per cent over Rs 60.85 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 8.58 crore, a 28 per cent increase over Rs 6.71 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 1999. The total income of Mastek Ltd for the first quarter ended 30 September, 2000 was Rs 25.08 crore, a 13 per cent increase over Rs 22.29 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Net profit for the quarter was Rs 6.99 crore, a 22 per cent increase over Rs 5.72 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous year. The un-audited results were taken on record at the board meeting held on October 12,2000. The group international revenues for the quarter were Rs 67.08 crore, an increase of 12 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year, which was led by growth of 50 per cent in the European and Asia-Pacific operations. Commenting on the performance, Ashank Desai, Chairman and Managing Director, said, “Mastek has been investing in its offshore facilities so as to improve upon global standards in software deliveries. The investments have been made in basic infrastructure as well as processes and internal information systems. Having accomplished significant mile-stones in these areas, our focus during the current year is to strengthen our sales and marketing infrastructure which will enable us to achieve major breakthroughs in fortune 1000 companies world wide and more specifically in the USA”. Mastek continues to focus on front-end solutions in the areas of e-CRM and e-business with cutting edge technologies. During the first quarter of 2001, front-end solutions and e-commerce solutions accounted for 44 per cent of the group revenue of Mastek, a company release said here today. |
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Maruti to expand capacity TOKYO, Oct 13 (UNI) — Suzuki Motors Corporation has decided to expand production capacity of its Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) at Gurgaon in Haryana from the existing 4.5 lakh units to six lakh units shortly. This was disclosed by Suzuki motors Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, O.Suzuki today while talking to a high-level visiting Haryana delegation led by the Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala at Hamamatsu, in Japan, where it visited Kosai unit of the corporation. Mr Suzuki, who, in a rare exception, received the Chief Minister and his delegation, thanked Mr Chautala for all the support being extended to the MUL in Gurgaon. Mr Suzuki said that several Japanese companies were likely to invest in Haryana because of the progressive industrial policy announced by Mr Chautala and also because of personal efforts of the Chief Minister to promote FDI in the state. The Chief Minister also apprised himself of all modern techniques of car accessories manufacturing. The state-of-the-art Suzuki unit at Kosai uses robots, self-propelled computerised vehicles, electric carriages and Gizmo in the plant. Two prominent
collaborators with Japanese company - Mr Sanjay Labroo, MD Asahi India
Safety Glass Limited and Mr Ashok Kapoor, Chief Managing Director of Krishna Maruti Limited-also spoke to individual potential investors to highlight favourable investment climate prevailing in Haryana. They are part of the delegation of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) accompanying the Chief Minister. He said that a high-powered committee headed by him would provide clearance and incentives to any multi-national corporation directly. He also announced appointment of a nodal officer of each potential investor intending to invest more than Rs 30 crore in Haryana. |
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Zee Interactive to
invest in ZED TV MUMBAI, Oct 13 (PTI) — Zee Interactive Learning Systems Ltd (ZILS), the 100 per cent subsidiary of Zee Telefilms Ltd, has envisaged an investment of around Rs 120 crore in the next one year for creating a technology based learning network for its 24 hour learning channel, ZED TV. The channel, first of its kind in the country, provides round the clock education, infotainment and training for the entire family, Uma Ganesh, President and CEO of ZILS, told reporters last night here prior to the
inauguration of the channel by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj. The learning channel, which would initially be free to air, seeks to exploit the medium of TV to spread learning across the country, she said and added that programming was built around a four-level methodology involving TV, Internet, interactivity and personal contact. Programmes on ZED TV were targeted at pre-school/school children, youth, women,
corporate executives, for acquiring IT skills, consumers and training. Ganesh said the target audience was the 20 million cable & satellite homes across the country and the language of the programming was mainly English. When asked about revenue to be generated by the channel, Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Zee Network said: “The returns are very good and we expect Rs 500 to Rs 700 crore in revenues over the next five years”. ZILS aims to offer complete learning solutions to the common man through the 200 ZED Career Academies (points of contact for learning), ZED TV (for awareness creation and interest generation in various subjects), Zeelearn.Com (a education portal) and Zee Livewire (to be launched next month for live, interactive learning across the country), Chandra said. He said the Essel group would plough back a part of its profits into social projects such as “Brain Trust of India” for identifying and developing prodigious children in the country. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his Himachal Pradesh counterpart P.K. Dhumal were also present at the inauguration of the channel. |
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Pakistan’s new entry
rules exclude Indians ISLAMABAD, Oct 13 (Reuters) — Pakistan is to radically relax visa requirements from Monday to help attract investment and tourists, but the new rules will exclude Indians, Pakistan’s military-led government said today. The so-called negative list, or countries excluded from the relaxation, will also include Israel, Bangladesh, Algeria, Bhutan, Libya, Sudan and Yemen. “All tourists, except nationals of countries on the negative list, will be issued 30-day landing permits at airports and other entry points on arrival,” Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said at a news conference. The 44 countries for which business visa rules have been relaxed include the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada, China, Iran, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Hong Kong and Singapore. |
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New tractor
launched by Eicher CHANDIGARH, Oct 13 — Eicher Tractor
Limited has launched its all-new 3-cylinder 35 HP tractor, Eicher 368, in Punjab and Haryana. The Eicher 368 is India’s first tractor in the 35 HP range with dual clutch facility to be made available for farmers. The 368 has been specifically developed keeping in mind the local soil conditions to ensure higher value to customers across several farming scenarios. Designed and developed with the latest international technology from Ricardo, England, the new tractor is amongst the most powerful and fuel-efficient tractor in its category, said a company any release here today. Targeted at farmers looking for a powerful tractor capable of doing all farming activities at a low cost, the 368 will be priced at around Rs 2.6 lakh, much lower than any comparable model in the category. |
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Reliance denial on shares MUMBAI, Oct 13 (PTI) — The Reliance group today finally set at rest all speculation involving it being interested in picking up shares in Bombay Dyeing by categorically stating that it “has no interest”. “Reliance has no interest whatsoever in buying shares of Bombay Dyeing”, the company said in a statement here.The group had evinced no interest, nor entertained and would not entertain any such proposal to consider purchase of shares of Bombay Dyeing.“Bombay Dyeing is our valued customer for paraxylene — a critical raw material for manufacture of DMT”, it pointed out.The reaction of Reliance comes in the wake of reports that Calcutta-based jute baron Arun Bajoria was willing to offload his entire stake in Bombay Dyeing in its favour, if approached by the group. |
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Nobel laureate an ‘unperson’ in China GAO XINGJUAN, a veteran exiled Chinese dissident novelist and playwright whose work has so far been chiefly known to specialists, said ``It’s a miracle’’ yesterday when told he had won the (pounds sterling)615,000 ($1m) Nobel prize for literature. The news prompted almost equal surprise in much of the world and in Britain. A Leeds professor of Chinese studies said: ``There are half a dozen British dramatists who have a stronger claim’’. But a London scholar said: ``He is a worthy choice.’’ He beat a field of candidates said in pre-prize speculation to include William Trevor, Salman Rushdie, VS Naipaul, Mario Vargas Losa, JM Coetzee, Margaret Attwood, Ben Okri, Philip Roth and Norman Mailer. Though Gao is classed as an
unperson in China, which did not react officially yesterday, the award was forecast to cause widespread private joy there as the literary equivalent of the country winning the World Cup. But it also highlighted earlier feminist attacks on him for misogyny in his work, his interest in Chinese peasants’ bottoms, and his obsessive theme of lust. His acquaintance for 20 years, the Australian critic Linda Jaivin, wrote in a review of Soul Mountain, the novel the Nobel judges praised most: ``When Gao meets an `ugly’ woman of middle age, he can barely disguise his contempt. The women he encounters are of interest to him only so far as they are nubile.’’ During the Chinese cultural revolution of the 1960s, Gao, now 60, had to burn manuscripts and was sent to a re-education camp. In the 1980s he was allowed to publish and have plays performed widely. But in 1983, hearing he would be sent to a prison farm, he fled Beijing and spent 10 months wandering over 15,000 kilometres in Sichuan. Soul Mountain is based on this. In 1987 he left China. He currently supports himself mostly by painting in a working class Paris suburb.
— The Guardian Beijing slams Nobel panel BEIJING: China on Friday denounced the awarding of the Nobel literature prize to
exiled writer Gao Xingjian, accusing the Nobel committee of being politically motivated. Stunned on the selection of Gao, the Chinese Foreign Ministry scorned the country’s first ever Nobel laureate, calling the award a political manoeuvre the nation took no pride in. The decision “shows again that the Nobel Prize has been used for ulterior political motives and it is not worth commenting on,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesman. The Ministry of Culture, however, declined to comment on Gao’s success citing his French citizenship. Chinese official media chose to ignore the novelist and playwright due to the fact that Gao was a “persona non grata” in the communist country. “I congratulate him of course, but really there are literally hundreds of others I would consider more deserving,” said Shu Yi, Director of National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature and son of the revered playwright, Lao She. A western diplomat, however, commented “this is typical of China’s attitude towards freedom of the Press and opinion, since Gao belongs to the ‘dissident’ category, the Chinese government would not like him,” he said, recalling Beijing’s opposition when the Nobel Peace prize was awarded to Tibet’s top spiritual leader, Dalai Lama in 1989.
— PTI |
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China beats India to host IT fair NEW DELHI, Oct 13 (PTI) — India has lost to China the rights to host the biggest annual IT and Telecom Business Fair in Asia due to poor infrastructure, the Director of the fair has said. “Due to the lack of infrastructure in India for holding trade fairs of such massive magnitude, we are holding the first `CeBIT Asia’ tradeshow in Shanghai next year,” Jorg Schomburg, Director of Deutsche Messe AG, the organisers of the fair told reporters here last night. He said India had approached the organisers, but poor facilities like power and communication have acted against the country, even though it has a booming IT industry. The Shanghai fair is the inaugural version of the world’s biggest IT and telecom fair, ‘CeBIT’ being held annually in Hanover (Germany), Schomburg said. “We have decided to hold similar `CeBIT’ trade fairs in all the five continents due to the increasing demand for such fairs,” he added. “A total of 25 Indian companies are participating in the CeBIT 2001 which will have over 8,000 exhibitors,” Schomburg said and added that the Internet, e-commerce, mobile communications and computing would be the main focus in next year’s fair. India’s first travel
portal launched CHANDIGARH, Oct 13 — Makemytrip.com, India’s first travel portal with booking capabilities, announced its launch today. The company is incubated by eVentures, a joint venture of Soft Bank Inc. ePartners (NewsCorp) and Mr P.K. Mittal (Ispat Group). Mr Deep Kalra, CEO, makemytrip.com, said the portal aims to target NRIs and foreigners from major markets like the USA, the UK and Australia for inbound travel. A total of US $ 1 million has been allocated for marketing and advertising for the first six months of operations. The user can obtain confirmation for fight bookings within 120 seconds of registration. Round-the-clock customer support with online web chat facilities and toll free numbers from the USA, the UK, Australia and 15 Indian cities are the other unique features of the portal. The travel site offers options in flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals and trains along with specially created packages for destinations worldwide. It displays information on all travel related products — visas, passports, insurance and travel finance. SECO introduces video conferencing NEW DELHI, Oct 13 — SECO Advance Equipments, a global company engaged in major project for shipping, mines, container handling and EOT cranes, elevators and car parking systems, has introduced a concept of video conferencing through its worldwide franchisee network of Video Conferencing Centres. According to Mr Mohan Mehra, Managing Director of SECO Global View, the company is investing nearly Rs 100 crore initially in the project. “Video conferencing is a medium by which a person can have face-to-face talk with another person, no matter which part of the world he is living in. It has endless usage for every section of society but for the business community it has a special application”, Mr Mehra told TNS. For example, he said, a businessman can do live demonstration of his product and can easily convince his client. This helps people taking quick decisions. This is far better than e-business. Another benefit of video conferencing is that one can record the video output to finalise the decision, Mr Mehra said. To become a franchisee, a person needs to have an approximate 50 sq. ft. furnished area with proper lighting arrangement and ISDN line connection or V-SAT. The company has already appointed master franchisees (dealers) worldwide to provide the system and technical support and required assistance to the franchisees. SECO Global View would provide equipment, network and time to time upgradations, operational training technical support and advertising and promotion of this service on national and international level. “SECO Global View, UK office, is handling the Europe and US operations for the same whereas the Indian office is catering to remaining Asia and other southern regions. We very soon would be appointing franchisees and master franchisees in Australia also for handling operation for the same”, Mr Mehra said. BBC Worldwide plans India-centric dot com MUMBAI, Oct 13 (PTI) — BBC Worldwide Ltd, the commercial arm and wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, is planning to launch a India specific dot com next year even as it is seeking to double its sales revenue from India from the current $ 15 million in three to four years time. The India-centric dot com would among others focus on news and current affairs, education, lifestyle and humour, Rupert Gavin, Chief Executive, BBC Worldwide said at a press meet here today to announce the recreation of all 38 episodes of BBC’s popular TV serials ‘Yes Minister’ and its sequel ‘Yes Prime Minister’ in Hindi. Called ‘Ji Mantriji’ and ‘Ji Pradhanmantriji’, the series was being produced by NDTV with BBC providing editorial and direction support, Gavin said adding, Star Plus had licensed the series for Pan Asia transmission and was planning to premier it early next year. Spelling out BBC’s India strategy, he said, it was keen on working with a large number of broadband firms, portals and production houses in India for licensing news content as also for producing news & current affairs and entertainment related programmes. BBC would finalise details of a gameshow format, which was popular in the UK, for Indian audience by December, Gavin said and added also on the anvil were programmes relating to current affairs and entertainment. |
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