 |
Thursday,
October
16, 2003,
Chandigarh, India
|
Reliance’s
foreign currency rating negative, affirms S&P Allahabad Bank
net surges 123 pc Haryana registers
9.3 pc income growth FDI in pension to
be 26 pc Mahindra unveils
India’s first turbo tractor Air Sahara
hopeful of govt nod Air-India
properties to be sold off Need to cultivate
crop suitable for |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
RBI directors to
meet today
Now yoga break in American
firms
|
|
Reliance’s foreign currency rating negative,
New Delhi, October 15 “One of the main risks affecting Reliance’s credit quality arises from the pressures on its business and financial profile due to its diversification into telecommunications, its plans to substantially expand the gas exploration and production business and its plans to set up a network for retailing petroleum products,” the credit rating agency said in a statement. However, the credit quality of India’s biggest private business group has remained within the current rating parameters because of which S&P affirmed the ‘BB’ long-term ratings. In the next three to four years, the Reliance group is expected to spend about Rs 20,000 crore on its capital programmes for these businesses. Furthermore, the returns from these businesses are less predictable than Reliance’s core petrochemicals and oil refining businesses. Exposure to volatile margins in the petrochemical and oil refining businesses and a moderate to aggressive capital structure remain the other main weaknesses in Reliance’s rating, S&P said. “Reliance’s foreign currency rating remains constrained by the sovereign credit risk of the Republic of India,” said Mr Sharad Jain, Credit Analyst and Director in S&P’s Corporate and Infrastructure Ratings Group. Mr Jain added: “Reliance, like other Indian corporate entities, is subject to the foreign exchange controls and regulations imposed by the government of India. “India continues to exercise tight control over foreign exchange flows, despite substantial liberalisation efforts in the past decade. Reliance remains highly dependent on the Indian market, from which it generates about 85 per cent of its revenues.” He said, “The weaknesses in Reliance’s credit profile are partly offset by its dominant position in the Indian petrochemicals market. Reliance is India’s largest petrochemical company, with market shares ranging from 50-80 per cent in most product. “Furthermore, Reliance has a record of setting and operating efficient, global-scale facilities. The Reliance group is among the top 10 petrochemical manufacturers in the world. It also owns the world’s largest grassroots refinery, which has the capacity to produce 27 million tons of oil per year.”
— UNI
|
|
Allahabad Bank net surges 123 pc
Kolkata, October 15 A sharp increase in other income to Rs 299.07 crore comprising commission and exchange, treasury and other operations from Rs 168.86 crore last year, better cash and tax management were mainly responsible for the spurt in net profit during the first half, Executive Director K.K. Rai, told reporters after a board meeting. “Our net NPA to net advances declined to 5.21 per cent as on September 30 from 9.18 per cent as on September, 2002, and we are targetting to bring it down to below 4 per cent by year end,” Rai said. Total Income during the period increased to Rs 1607.90 crore from Rs 1473.67 crore and total expenditure to Rs 1287.23 crore from Rs 1259.65 crore. During the second quarter, the bank’s net profit increased by 110.71 per cent to Rs 75.91 crore from Rs 36.02 crore. Deposits of the bank increased by 12.81 per cent to Rs 27,390.28 crore during the first half from Rs 24,280.29 crore last year while advances registered a growth of 16 per cent to Rs 14,121.37 crore from Rs 12,173.43 crore, he said.
— PTI |
|
Haryana registers 9.3 pc
income growth Chandigarh, October 15 Addressing a state-level bankers’ committee meeting, he appreciated the role of the banking sector in financing major projects in the state. He said the state government was in the process of finalising a long- term policy on contract farming. Mr S.S. Kohli, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Punjab National Bank, said total advances in the state had increased from Rs 9,357 crore as on June, 2002, to Rs 11,237 crore by June, 2003, registering a growth rate of 20.1 per cent. During the same period, the total deposits had increased from Rs 23,277 crore to Rs 24,714 crore, showing a growth rate of 6.2 per cent. Speaking about the recovery position of loans, he said, “The recovery of loans from the agricultural sector is showing a consistent improvement. He urged the state government to amend Haryana Public Money ( Recovery of Dues) Act to bring all dues under government sponsored schemes within the purview of the Act. Among others who spoke included Mr Harwant Singh, General Manager, PNB, North Zone, Ms Umesh Nanda, Commissioner, and Secretary, Institutional Finance and Credit Control. |
|
|
FDI in pension to be 26 pc
New Delhi, October 15 “The insurance legislation provides 26 per cent FDI. There will be no change in FDI limit for pension from the insurance sector,” Finance Secretary D.C. Gupta said on the sidelines of a Ficci insurance conference here. Industry sources said the move would be a dampener to global pension majors. For instance, Principal Finance Group of US wants more than 26 per cent stake in its insurance and pension venture with Punjab National Bank and Vijaya Bank. The US pension giant is awaiting the final guidelines from the interim Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. Other companies like Aviva also like to go solo in the pension sector. Gupta said pension fund managers would be selected through a competitive bidding process. The process is slated to start shortly, he added. The government intends to allow only serious players with deep-pockets in the pension business.
— PTI |
|
Mahindra unveils India’s first turbo tractor Chandigarh, October 15 Equipped with superior turbo engine, the new model will offer 25 per cent more power and operational speed, besides enabling the farmers to complete a larger amount of work in a relatively lower time period. The new tractor comes with a 52 HP and technology that uses exhaust gases to power the engine. Packed with features like adjustable seats, extra legroom, halogen lamps, large rear-view mirror, it is fitted with clog indicator with audio hooter to remind drivers when the air filter needs cleaning or maintenance. Priced at about Rs 3.8 lakh, the company hopes to register more sales in the markets in the North. Mr Rajiv Ralhan, Deputy General Manager (Sales), M&M, said the model had been launched for the first time in Punjab. It would be soon available in Haryana and other states. The company was enjoying 27 per share in the domestic market and was expecting an increase of at least 5 per cent in its market share by the year end, he added. Mr Ralhan said M&M had maintained its leadership in the domestic market over the past 20 years.
|
|
Air Sahara hopeful of govt nod New Delhi, October 15 While seeking rebate on the high excise duty levied on the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) and the landing costs, the Air Sahara said that it was hopeful that the Naresh Chandra Committee, which is preparing the roadmap for the aviation sector, would give its recommendations which would favour the private airlines to fly abroad. Speaking here on the occasion of the launch of the Air Sahara-Standard Chartered Gold Credit card, the company’s vice-president Alok Sharma said, “Air Sahara would be ready to fly international as when the Government decides”. He added that the `body language’ of the committee members was very `positive’ in this regard. He said that if it was a question of giving more landing rights to international operators then why not promote domestic airlines which were willing to fly international. This, he said, would also help in developing the civil aviation sector in the country. Company’s CEO Uttam Kumar Bose said the airline is increasing its fleet size in anticipation of the government’s decision to allow private airlines for flying abroad. He said Air Sahara will be adding another aircraft to its fleet on Friday and deploy seven more planes by March 2004 to take its fleet size to 24. The demand from private airlines to fly international has also been increasing due to recent offer of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to open up Indian skies for carriers in the ASEAN region. At present, seven out of 10 countries belonging to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) do not have direct airlinks with New Delhi. They are: Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. But national carriers from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have 20 to 25 flights per week connecting all India metros. Mr Bose said that airlines hoped to clock a turnover of Rs 800 crore in the current fiscal 03-04, up from Rs 300 crore in 02-03. Significantly, Rs 100 crore of business came through e-commerce. The company is striving to tie up with hotels to work out package tours. Mr Bose said the airliner will come up with innovative ideas to boost the growth of the domestic tourism market which has a huge potential. Mr Sharma pointed out that the high excise on the ATF and the landing and parking costs were hurting all the airlines hard. Out of the Rs 7,000 crore generated by the three main domestic airlines over the last year, they had to pay as much as Rs 3,800 crore back to the Government. Meanwhile, Air Sahara and
Standard Chartered today came out with its co-branded gold credit card which offer its customers a number of services including free tickets for the spouse and family. It would also allow the customers to convert points earned from shopping to mileage points helping them to
secure further free tickets. |
|
Air-India properties to be sold off Mumbai, October 15 The airline that has already sold the two Centaur hotels in Mumbai said it would sell the 376-room Centaur Hotel at Delhi airport and two Chefair flight kitchens by auction. The airline has retained JP Morgan India Pvt Ltd as a global advisor for the sale process, according to the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM). The expressions of interest
(EoIs) for acquiring properties have to be filed before November 11. The parties interested in acquiring one or more of the HCI’s businesses on a going concern basis should have a combined net worth of at least Rs 25 crore, it said. Apart from the luxury hotel close to the airport, the flight kitchen has a capacity to provide 8,000 meals per day. The company has reduced its employees by 306 through VRS to 689 as on July 31 last. The minimum combined net worth criteria for the Mumbai unit is Rs 2 crore which has a capacity to deliver 10,000 meals per day. It has reduced its employees by 69 through VRS to 460 as of July 31 last.
HCI had last year sold its two Centaur hotels — Juhu property to hotelier Ajit Kerkar and the second to Mumbai airport which was picked up by Batra Hospitality. Reports say, hotel chains including the Radisson group have shown interest in the Delhi hotel. HCI reported a profit-before-tax of Rs 173.88 crore for the year 2002-03 and paid a dividend of Rs 20.30 crore to A-I, according to reports. |
|
Need to cultivate crop suitable for saline water Chandigarh, October 15 Among the important recommendations in the report it was the necessity of farmers to grow out of their dependence on the government. Landholdings being small in Israel, profitability in agriculture was achieved through the cooperative system. He was also impressed by the use of a mixture of fresh water and brackish (salty) water in Israel for irrigation purposes. The report said this technology was particularly relevant for Haryana as about 65 per cent ground water in the state was brackish and not being put to any use and resulting into accentuation of the waterlogging problem. Even though a lot of research was being carried out in various institutions, including the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute at Karnal, the exercise remained mostly academic in nature. In Israel, on the other hand, research work was undertaken in association with farmers and the results of the research could be put into practical use. A number of crops such as water melons, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, olive, dates, grapes, etc were grown in Israel with the help of saline water, and suggested that cultivation of crops suitable for saline water need to be developed in Haryana as well. The simple micro-irrigation system used in Israel could be emulated by Haryana. The expensive high-tech drip irrigation system are generally not used in Israel. |
|
RBI directors to meet today Chandigarh, October 15 Mr Y.V. Reddy, Governor, RBI, today presided over a meeting of the Board of Financial Supervision of Banks, to take stock of the financial health of various banks. |
Now yoga break in American firms
Washington, October 15 As yoga gathers increasing acceptance in western medicine, citing its effect as relief for myriad conditions, including asthma, obsessive-compulsive disorder, menopause, chronic pain and arthritis, says The Wall Street Journal, some employers are beginning to realise the beneficial physical and emotional impact the ancient Indian practice can have on their work force. The Journal says that roughly 15 million US adults, or 7 per cent, now practise yoga, an increase of 28.5 per cent since 2002. — PTI
ICICI Bank tightens bond price guidance HONG KONG:
ICICI Bank has tightened price guidance for its planned $300 million, five-year bond due to strong investor demand, a banking source said on Wednesday. The price guidance is now 148 basis points (bps) over treasuries, or 108 bps over Libor (London interbank offered rate), the source said, down from 120 bps over Libor previously. The deal, the first dollar-denominated debt offering from India in nearly six years, attracted a book order of $1.4 billion.
— Reuters
Sony Ericsson returns to black STOCKHOLM:
Swedish-Japanese mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson returned to the black in the third quarter after a string of losses but said profit in the fourth quarter would be smaller. The company said on Wednesday it made a 39-million-euro ($45.72 million) pre-tax profit in the third quarter against a 116-million-euro loss in the same period of 2002 and a 102-million loss in the second quarter. It saw strong sales of phones working in the PDC and CDMA standards in Japan and the T610 model operating in the world’s biggest mobile phone technology GSM.
— Reuters |
bb
Dividend Shagun sugar Intex Tech Gilard Electronics Chander Singh Power utilities Spice Telecom |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
