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Exide looking for overseas agreements
RBI eases norms for exporters |
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Lupin decides to hike FII limit to 33 pc Strike by Batala units on Dec 9
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Oscar unveils battery-run television New Delhi, December 7 In line with developing products specifically targeted at the semi-urban and rural markets, Oscar said today it had unveiled battery-operated colour televisions in 14 and 20-inch screen sizes.
PPF can be extended
Pick HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank
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Exide looking for overseas agreements
New Delhi, December 7 The company is looking at international markets to provide a major boost to its sales in the near future and has entered into marketing tie-up with firms in the Netherlands and the UK (where it has a 51:49 joint venture with a British firm) to sell its batteries in Europe. The company has also bought two companies in Sri Lanka, which will serve as an export hub for the South-East Asian and South Asian regions. “Yes, we are looking for such initiatives through various tie-ups in other parts of the world. The aim of such tie-ups will be basically to boost our exports”, Chairman of Exide Industries S.B. Ganguly said in an interview. At present, the company has a technology tie-up with Shin-Kobe of Japan and has technology agreements with Furukawa of Japan and Oldham of the UK. For the domestic market, the Rs 1,000 crore company is expecting a big push to come from the rural economy, especially from the tractor segment, where it has rolled out a specialised initiative called ''Project Kisaan''. “There is a huge potential in the domestic rural markets. We are heavily focusing on the tractor and solar markets in the rural areas”, Mr Ganguly said. There are also elaborate plans to bring out new products from the company’s stable. This includes new eco-friendly batteries for three wheelers and specialised products for motorbikes. “We have a lot of plans regarding launch of new products that are all in the pipeline and are all set to be rolled out within the next two years. We are soon planning to launch green eco-friendly batteries for three wheelers and sophisticated maintenance-free motorcycle batteries”, the Chairman said. The company has identified submarine batteries, primarily meant for defence purposes, as one of the major growth areas, and has reportedly bagged export orders for submarine batteries from Algeria. “We are already producing submarine batteries in our plants in Maharashtra and Haldia in West Bengal. Submarine batteries are being exported to Russia and Germany and we are looking for possibilities of expanding our market in this segment”, Mr Ganguly said. Exide has recently developed first indigenous battery powered electric boat. There have also been reports that Exide Technologies of the USA has offered to buy a minority stake in Exide Industries. Mr Ganguly, however, outrightly denied any such development. “No it is not correct. Exide Industries has not intended to sell any stake to Exide Technologies. Exide Industries is looking for co-operation from Exide Technologies in selling products in each other’s territories”, he clarified. Mr Ganguly also refused to make any projections on the company’s turnover and profitability. “I cannot comment on this at this moment”, he said. On the corporate growth strategy, he said Exide was clocking a cumulative annual growth rate of 20 per cent during the last seven years. “At present we have a market share of 75 per cent in the organised sector. Our market share is around 33 per cent in the organised and unorganised markets . We are targeting a market share of 40 per cent in this sector by implementation of 'Project Kisaan’ and increasing our battery sales in the heavy commercial vehicles and tractor segments”, he said. Exide also enjoys considerable market share in the original equipment manufacturers market although not as much in the replacement market. The company has shifted its manufacturing of products for two-wheelers from Taloja to Bawal in Haryana. The main reason for shifting base of this line of product is that most of the manufacturing facilities of some major two-wheeler companies such as Hero Honda and Yamaha are located in the state. Exide Industries at present has nine factories located across the country — four in Maharashtra, two in West Bengal, two in Tamil Nadu and one in Haryana with combined production capacity of five million batteries per annum.
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RBI eases norms for exporters Mumbai, December 7 The exporters, including status holders, will be permitted this facility provided the aggregate value of such export bills written-off (including reduction in invoice value) and bills extended for realisation does not exceed 10 per cent of export proceeds due during the calendar year and are not a subject of investigation by the Enforcement Directorate or CBI or any other investigating agency, the RBI said in a notification here today. This facility will be available for exports undertaken after July 1, 2003, and whose proceeds are due for realisation on January 1, 2004, it said. In case of exports where the RBI has prescribed longer period of realisation, the facility will be available for exports prior to July, 2003, but proceeds of which were due for realisation within the prescribed period of one year. Exporters dealing with more than one authorised dealer (AD) can avail of this facility through each AD within the set limit, the central bank said. However, exporters operating under a consortium of banks or with multiple banks will also have the option of computing the 10 per cent limit on an aggregate basis provided the lead bank or a nodal bank undertakes to verify the exporter’s annual performance, it added. —
PTI |
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Lupin decides to hike FII limit to 33 pc
New Delhi, December 7 At an Extraordinary General Meeting yesterday, the Mumbai-based drugmaker gave its approval, in principle, for the issue of 4,01,411 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each under an Employees Stock Option plan. Lupin said it would delist the equity shares of the company from stock exchanges in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata. As part of the internal restructuring of the promoters shareholdings in the company, 50,37,713 equity shares of Rs 10 each were proposed to be sold by promoters to Citicorp Banking Corporation, Bahrain, and Citicorp International Finance Corporation, the USA, in terms of the Share Purchase Agreement and the Escrow Agreement. —
UNI |
| Strike by Batala units on Dec 9 Batala, December 7 The industrial town has 2,300 working foundry and industrial units and at present about only 20 per cent are working and the remaining have closed down due to various reasons. Small-scale industrialists allege that during 2002 the raw material like pig iron was Rs 9 per kg which however at present they are getting at Rs 16.50 per kg. They have further alleged that the main supplier of pig iron — SAIL — has stopped its supply and private steel plants were supplying the pig iron to the small scale industry in the country which they charging their own rates resulting in steep hike in the raw material. —
PTI |
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Oscar unveils battery-run television
New Delhi, December 7 The company was eyeing 40 per cent higher sales turnover in 2003-04, based largely on its specific focus on semi-urban and rural market needs and fiercely competitive pricing. The battery-operated television is specifically useful for states where power is not generally available for television viewing and the company had generated 7 per cent sales increase from states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh over the last month on this model’s fast offtake. “We realised that semi-urban and rural areas were prime targets for a battery operated television set at attractive prices. This product has done really well in states where
electricity supply is a problem,” Chief Operating Officer of Oscar Kishan Kalani told PTI here. He said continuing with its focus on rural and semi-urban markets, Oscar would launch two more true flat models at economical prices and a 14-inch stereo model before March 2004. Kalani said besides making specific models for price conscious consumers, the company had also been instrumental in encouraging dealer finance schemes. The stereo model in 14-inch size to be launched soon will enable higher sound output, typically the need of semi-urban and rural consumers. With 40 per cent sales increase expected this fiscal, the company has already figured in the top 10 CTV manufacturers list as per market research agency ORG Marg’s survey. —
PTI |
by Lalit Batra Pick HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank THE market gained further ground on the back of improved Indo-Pak relations, strong US markets, continued buying by FIIs and a win for the BJP in the assembly elections. The BSE Sensex gained 86.90 points last week, whereas the S&P CNX Nifty was up by 30.55 points for the week to close at 1,645.80. Better than expected performance by the BJP in three states, however, did not have much of an impact on underlying market sentiment. Inflows FIIs may dictate the market trend this week. FIIs have stepped up buying over the last few days. However, inflows are expected to slowdown once again as fund managers with FIIs are likely to take a break during Christmas. Private banks Private banks got a shot in arm after the HSBC-UTI Bank deal. HSBC acquired 14.71 per cent in UTI Bank. As a result, UTI Bank surged by 30 per cent to chose the week at Rs 109. Other private banks also rose on the hope that they will also get similar offers from big foreign banks. The most prominent among them is Global Trust Bank, which shot up by 38 per cent to close at Rs 28.45. Private banks still hold out much promise for investors in the medium to long term and investors can look forward to add the strong lineage into HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank to their folios. Automobiles Auto stocks witnessed profit-booking despite robust November sales by several key players. Among the two-wheelers, Hero Honda clocked more than 2 lakh sales for the second successive month, while Bajaj Auto’s bike sales climbed 17 per cent. TVS Motor and LML saw their bike sales drop 30 and 9 per cent. Investors holding auto stocks may keep an eye on the companies’ monthly sales as may adverse development can lead to a strong correction in stock prices. FMCG FMCG stocks gained ground last week as investors expect demand to revive as good monsoon this year is expected to boost rural incomes. FMCG stocks such as Hindustan Lever, Colgate, Nestle, Dabur, Gillette, ITC, Britannia, Nestle, Tata Tea, Godrej Consumer, Bata, and Marico Industries all saw good buying from investors. Expectations of higher interim dividends also boosted the prices of FMCG stocks. Nestle and Colgate announced interim dividends of Rs 10 and Rs 2.5 per share. Investors can look forward to buy certain fundamentally strong FMCG stocks. |
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AMD cuts prices ITC to invest WLL for Sangrur Total assets rise Reliance gas Yamaha pact Satyam chief awarded PIDB bonds SBI honours 50
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