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Friday,
September 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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HCL
expects 25 pc growth in revenue Move to
merge IT and Telecom Ministries Certification
must for new MF agents |
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Cheaper
e-mail device unveiled India’s
growth to dip, then rise: IMF Fiat
rolls out Palio in city Full
convertibility of Re to be delayed Sinha VSNL
selloff by year-end
Tata Tea
to launch Tetley brand
ONGC to
trim staff strength BA to cut 190
flights a week Delta cuts
13,000 jobs
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HCL expects 25 pc growth in revenue New Delhi, September 27 "Despite the short-term impact in business of clients and also in onsite billing because of tragic events of September 11, the company expects revenues for fiscal 2002 (ending June) could exceed Rs.17.5 billion, a year on year growth of 25 percent," HCL Technologies said in a notification to the BSE. Before the September 11 terror strikes in the USA the company had forecast its earnings and revenue to grow at "over" 25 per cent this year. "Our revenues and profit (net income) will grow higher than 25 per cent this year," HCL Technologies Chairman Shiv Nadar had said after releasing the results for the company's fiscal year ended June, 2001. In the past year to June, the company's gross revenue jumped 51.7 per cent to Rs.14.05 billion from Rs. 9.26 billion. Net income during 2000-01 soared to Rs.4.88 billion, a growth of 101 per cent over previous year. The earnings outlook announcement by the company, which specialises in networking and developing high-end technologies, comes amid market talk that the firm may issue a profit warning due to the grim outlook in the USA, its prime export market. "In view of the tragic September 11, 2001, events and its impact on some of our onsite customers, especially in travel, insurance and finance segment, as an abundant precaution we intend to adopt a more conservative provisioning policy in the coming year," the company said in a statement. Nasscom last week said software companies were likely to feel the effects of last week's attacks in the USA in their second-quarter results. The U.S. accounts for about 60 per cent of software exports. "After the events that have taken place, clearly there will be some impact," said Phiroz Vandrevala, Chairman of the lobby group. "There will be an impact on the second quarter. Whether you lose seven days or 10 days or 15 days in 90 days of a quarter, there will be some impact." India's software exports were worth $6.2 billion in the fiscal year ended March. Estimates for the financial year 2001-02 have been pegged at $8.5 billion. On the acquisitions front, HCL Technologies said the "assumptions of profits from acquisitions is not a significant contributor to revenue growth." The company expects acquisitions to contribute 2-3 percent of total revenue. "We have entered into strategic alliance or acquired partial equity stake in some companies for small consideration, which we hope to ramp up in fiscal year 2003," the company said. HCL Technologies on Wednesday said it had bought a 51 per cent stake in a holding company that owns Deutsche Software Ltd. HCL, whose clients include Cisco Systems and NTT Data, will buy the remaining 49 percent in the next three years using its own stock. The company, however, didn't disclose the cost of the latest acquisition or the mode of payment. Bangalore-based Deutsche Software, with over 450 employees, develops banking applications software and executes contracts for Deutsche Bank group globally.
IANS
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Move to merge IT and Telecom Ministries New Delhi, September 27 The proposal mooted a single ministry with three separate departments of telecom, post and IT. The Union Minister for IT and Communication, Mr Pramod Mahajan, said he would approach the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, for its approval. The move comes in less than a month of Mr Mahajan replacing Mr Ram Vilas Paswan as Communications Minister. Addressing the inaugural session of global telecom summit 2001 here, Mr Mahajan said “I have taken a decision and we have already requested the PM to merge IT and Telecom Ministries and create a single ministry for communications and it like (it is) the world over.” “We will not have two separate ministries; the two would come under one umbrella,” he said exuding confidence about getting presidential approval for merger within a month. “So, once it is done, we will have one consultative committee and then we will have a national advisory committee. There are two national advisory committees today, one for IT and one for telecom,” he said. “Within a month, when this decision is finalised and the President grants his sanction, we will have one national advisory committee which will combine telecom and IT,” he said, adding that convergence would start from his Ministry. Stating that telecom was a basic fuel engine of growth and not a revenue earning machine, Mr Mahajan said he would urge officials of DoT to change their mindset. The Union Minister emphasised his commitment for creating level playing field for both public and private sector. On ever changing technology in this sector, Mr Mahajan said he would like to be technology neutral and will not stop the use of any technology on flimsy grounds.
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Certification must for new MF agents New Delhi, September 27 SEBI has also directed existing agents to get the AMFI certification by March 2003, SEBI sources said here today. AMFI Chairman A.P. Kurian confirmed the development and said SEBI has issued a circular in this respect to all mutual funds recently. SEBI has also asked trustees and directors of the Asset Management Companies to oversee the training of agents. Kurian said the AMCs have been asked to furnish a list of all distributors to trustees, directors and AMFI, and ensure that the deadlines for madatory certification are met. Considering the dearth of facility to train agents, AMFI has tied up with UTI Institute of Capital Markets (UTIICM) to provide extensive training programme across 32-35 cities to 60,000-70,000 mutual fund agents in the country. The two-day course, which will cover various aspects of the mutual funds industry, would be followed by a test either through the online mode through the NSE terminal or through conventional ways. Kurian said AMFI is conducting training in Hindi in Patna, Bhopal, Nagpur and Pune to facilitate agents to understand the financial terms and narrate a correct picture about mutual funds schemes to investors. AMFI has also formed a committee under J.M. Mutual CEO Vijayan Krishnamurty to develop a system of “unique distribution code number” for agents. Currently, mutual agents have different identity number for different mutual funds. AMFI felt that it might cause confusion and has decided to allot a unique code number to all agents.
PTI |
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Cheaper
e-mail device unveiled Mumbai, September 27 The istation, as the device is called, can be plugged into any telephone jack and mail can be sent and retrieved from an e-mail account, said Narsimha Prabhu, Chief Technical Officer of Bangalore-based Inabling Technologies, the manufacturer of the device. The istation weighs just 770 grams, comes with a built-in keyboard and an LED display. Unlike a regular computer, istation has its own operating system though it is compatible with regular HTTP mail services like Hotmail, Yahoo! and the POP3 service provided by Internet service providers, says Prabhu. The product touts a number of advantages to suit low-income users. The device, which can be plugged into a printer, can also be used by small and medium enterprises to access inventory levels, stock movements and collections. It also runs on a battery backup, useful during long power failures. For an additional monthly charge of Rs.100, users of istation can avail of five e-mail accounts. However, mail can only be sent and received through the company's server. Subscribers can also avail of a number of services like weather reports, stock market information and astrological predictions. Professionals like salesmen and journalists are being targeted for the product. "Salespersons of companies will have to just plug in the istation and obtain data quickly," says Prabhu, who began his career with C-DOT, the IT company founded by Sam Pitroda. The Karnataka Government has also backed the product by installing istations in telephone booths in 70 villages across the state.
IANS
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India’s growth to dip, then rise: IMF Washington, September 27 India’s growth will be “well below levels considered necessary to make necessary inroads into poverty,” IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) released here yesterday said, adding the GDP will however gradually pick up in the latter half of this year and whole of next year with signs of favourable monsoon to achieve a 5.7 per cent growth next year. Projecting a low 2.6 per cent global economic growth for 2001 as against 4.7 per cent the previous year, the IMF said emerging economies in Asia, except India and China, would be hit hard by the global slowdown and the potential fallout of the attacks on the USA. Asian economies are expected to grow at 5.1 per cent this year and 5.9 per cent in 2002 and many will suffer a significant slowdown. China would perform much better than India, which is expected to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2001 and 7.1 in 2002. While China’s economic performance is expected to be relatively well-sustained, growth in India is projected to weaken in 2001 as a result of a range of domestic shocks together with falling exports, the IMF said. India’s economy is, however, expected to recover gradually in the latter half of 2001 and into 2002, and the country’s external position is also projected to remain relatively comfortable. But the recent slowdown and associated fiscal revenue shortfall are expected to cause the public sector deficit to rise to more than 11 per cent of the GDP in fiscal 2001-02.
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Fiat rolls out Palio in city With the introduction of Palio, Fiat expects to improve its share in the car market. "The changeover to a more aggressive strategy will see Fiat as a major market player," said Mr Mihir Kulkarni, Head-Dealer (Financing), who was here at the launch function organised by Anbros Motors , one of the dealers. "Competitive pricing with features of a B segment car are the USPs", he said. Palio, which is available in 10 colours, comes in two engine variants — the 1.6 litre Torque, a full fledged double overhead cam engine that delivers 100 bhp and 1.2 litre Fire, a light engine that gives 72 bhp. The base version is the 1.2 EL which carries a heater and an AC as standard fitments, along with a fire-prevention system. The Palio will be powered by multi-point fuel injected (MPFI) petrol engines with advanced lock sensors to prevent damage. As a part of strengthening its marketing network, Fiat plans to increase the number of its dealers from 51 at present to 65 by the end of this year. "We will focus on the northern region as almost 40 per cent of the total demand comes from here", Mr Kulkarni said, adding that Krishna Automobiles would be the other dealer in the city. |
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Full convertibility of Re to be delayed Sinha New Delhi, September 27 “There will be some delay but I would not say it had been permanently put off,” Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters. India is now regarded as a “model” in the management of the external sector eversince the east Asian currency meltdown, Sinha said, adding that the gradual and caliberated approach of India to convertibility of rupee on the capital account is appreciated world over. “It is true that we have not become absolutely open economy” in this regard, but India has covered a lot of ground since economic reforms started in 1991. Sinha also said he did not anticipate any major flight of capital with recent liberalisation of investment regime for foreign institutional investors to boost sentiments and liquidity in the capital market. “The FII’s, who operate in India, are not necessarily fly-by night operators to anticipate some trouble,” Sinha said hoping that the FIIs will stay that way in the country. Also with comfortable foreign exchange reserves at over $ 45 billion, Sinha said he did not ancitipate any problem.
PTI |
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VSNL selloff by
year-end Mumbai, September 27 Bidders want guidelines on international long distance (ILD) to be known to them before submitting the price bids for the disinvestment, Gupta told shareholders at the annual general meeting here. As per the present indications, we expect the disinvestment to happen by the end of current year, he added. Earlier it was to be divested by October, 2001. The government holds 52.97 per cent stake in vsnl, of which 25 per cent will go to a strategic partner with management right. The Tatas and BPL-Sterling are among the bidders. The first round of due diligence was completed and the second one has begun as the bidders wanted some more information.
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PSIDC accounts Suzuki divorces TVS Toshiba TV Bank strike Escotel Black and Decker Godrej products IA in the red |
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Chandigarh, September 27