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Ranbaxy MD D.S. Brar to step down
Union Bank reduces farm rates Cut farm loan rate, says report |
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Maruti Udyog offers VRS to 1,251 Perot buys out HCL stake in HPS After months of speculation, HCL Technologies has sold its entire 50 per cent stake in joint venture with Perot Systems - HCL Perot Systems (HPS) - for $ 105.3 million in cash. HPCL to pay
60 per cent dividend HPCL today approved an interim dividend of 60 per cent for the financial year 2003-04. The company said a meeting of the Board of Directors of HPCL held on December 22, 2003, considered and approved payment of interim dividend at 60 per cent on the face value of Rs 10, which works out to be Rs 6 per equity share for the financial year 2003-04. Kumar Birla is ‘Businessman
of the Year’  Mumbai, December 22Business India has selected Aditya Birla group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla as the 22nd “Businessman of the Year 2003”. Mr Birla was selected this year by an eminent jury, which comprised Subash Chandra, Venugopal Dhoot, Mihir Doshi, Arun Gandhi, Rajendra Lodha and Sunil Kant Munjal.
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Ranbaxy MD D.S. Brar to step down
New Delhi, December 22 Announcing this decision at a meeting of the Board of Directors, Brar said he had fulfilled his role in the company and “would like to devote his time and energy to other pursuits of his interest at this stage of his life and career.” Brar’s decision is being seen by industry analysts as a move to give more leeway to company promoters and late Parvinder Singh’s sons Malavinder and Shivinder in the management of the company. Accepting his decision, the Board decided to appoint current President (Pharmaceuticals) Dr Brain W. Tempest as the Joint Managing Director and CEO designate from January 1, 2004, who will assume the position as the CEO and MD from July 5, 2004, a Ranbaxy statement said here. Brar, who had joined the company in 1977, became the Managing Director in 1999. The Board also approved the appointment of Malavinder Mohan Singh as Additional Director and President (Pharmaceutical) and whole-time director effective from January 1, 2004. Ranbaxy scrip closed lower by 5.05 points, at 1,119.25 today. Mr Vinay Kaul, currently CFO, was appointed as Additional Director from January 1, 2004, after his retirement on December 31, 2003. Dr Tempest joined Ranbaxy in 1995 as Regional Director (Europe, the CIS and Africa) and was appointed as President (Pharmaceuticals) on January 1, 2001. He has over 32 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having held positions with Fisons Plc, Glaxo Holdings, Beecham and G.D. Searle. Ranbaxy Laboratories manufactures and markets branded generic pharmaceuticals and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients. The company is selling its products in over 70 countries and has an expanding international portfolio of affiliates, joint ventures and alliances, ground operations in 34 countries and manufacturing operations in 7 countries.
— PTI, UNI
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UK to sue Ranbaxy London, December 22 “The NHS lost millions of pounds as a result of the unlawful behaviour of a number of generic drug manufacturers,” Jim Gee, Chief Executive of the Serious Fraud Office, said here today. As part of a massive inquiry into the drug fraud, investigators believe the companies conspired to raise the price of the antibiotic amoxicillin by up to 260 per cent. The authorities are also planning legal action against the companies for allegedly defrauding the NHS of a further £ 170 million relating to the prices of 30 other prescription drugs, he said. Besides Ranbaxy UK Ltd, the other companies named in the action are Norton Healthcare Ltd, Norton Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Regent-GM Laboratories Ltd Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd Generics UK Ltd and DDSA Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the directors and senior managers of the firms involved and has raided their premises in search of incriminating evidence. In documents lodged with the high court, the NHS fraud service provides evidence that senior representatives from the seven firms met at a hotel near Heathrow and agreed to join together to raise the price of the drugs artificially. At that meeting, it is alleged, the firms agreed to act together to ensure that the NHS could only buy the drugs at a common price agreed by the companies. “In 1997 and early 1998 a number of defendants, acting in some cases individually and in some cases in concert, considered the possibility of arrangements designed to reduce competition in the UK,” the claim form stated. “A series of meetings followed at which the defendants negotiated a sophisticated scheme by means of which the prices and supply of penicillins in the UK market could be controlled and manipulated.” This is the second multimillion-pound claim against drug companies. Last year the NHS brought action against three drug firms for £ 28 million in damages alleging that they conspired to restrict the supply of the blood-thinning drug warfarin and agreed to fix its price.
— PTI
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Union Bank reduces farm rates
Mumbai, December 22 The reduction ranges from 25 basis points to 125 basis points for advances to agriculture, and with regard to SSI advances the reduction ranges from 25 basis points up to 225 basis points depending on the quantum of advance. Thus, advances to SSI and agriculture up to Rs 2 lakh will now be available at single digit rate of interest. The bank has also started extending collateral free advances to SSI up to a limit of Rs 25 lakh as laid out in the mid-term review of Credit Policy announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These advances will be eligible for cover under the Credit Guarantee Fund for Small Scale Industries. The guarantee fee and annual service charges on these advances will be shared equally between the borrower and the Bank. Union Bank has raised the housing finance rates (fixed rate p.a.) up to five years to 8.50 per cent from 8 per cent and it raised floating rate per annum from 7.75 per cent to 8.25 per cent. The fixed rate for loans up to five years to 10 years is raised to 9 per cent from 8.50 per cent and for the floating rate it was raised to 8.75 per cent from 8.25 per cent. The housing finance above 10 years is raised to 9.25 per cent from 8.75 per cent for fixed rate and the floating rate it is raised to 9 per cent from 8.50 per cent. It will be recalled that the RBI had advised banks to work out a Benchmark PLR (BPLR) based on certain criteria such as cost of funds, cost of operations, capital charge and profit margins. A PLR worked out on these lines is more scientific and relevant in the present context. The Union Bank of India is the first bank to announce a BPLR of 10.75 per cent which was announced on December 11, 2003.
— UNI
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Cut farm loan rate, says report New Delhi, December 22 “The government’s specification of maximum 9 per cent rate of interest on agricultural loans is still on a higher side in the present day scenario of falling interest rates,” said the Standing Committee report on ''Credit Flow to Agriculture —Crisis in Rural Economy and Crop Insurance Scheme''. Noting that the interest rates in other sectors have fallen sharply and in the housing sector it has reduced to 6 per cent, the committee said “the rate of interest of 9 per cent should be reduced further in tandem with the rate of interest in other sectors.” Despite the fact that accesses to credit plays a crucial role in augmenting private investment in agricultural grown, the report said the agriculture sector has higher interest rate even though about 85 per cent of the operational holdings are small and marginal in the country. Expressing deep concern over the dismal performance of banks in agriculture lending, the report of the Finance Ministry said the percentage of the total agricultural advances as in March this year was 15.34 per cent for public sector banks and 10.78 per cent for private sector banks. The Credit Deposit Ratio in the rural areas for public and private sector banks is substantially low as against the urban and metropolitan areas. Almost all banks have failed to meet the stipulated requirement of agricultural lending and were depositing funds equivalent to shortfall in the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund with Nabard. The banks, in turn, were receiving interest on NPA funds which mean they are being rewarded for giving lesser credit to agriculture, the report said. “As on June, 2003, this ratio was 42.70 per cent for public sector banks, in spite of their large network of rural branches. The ratio for private sector banks was equally low being 33.32 per cent. The banks' unwillingness to step up agricultural credit disbursement and the government and the RBI’s failure to exert pressure on them was revealed by the low credit deposit ratio,” the report said. The committee said it is constrained to find out that the required demand for funds are not coming from Nabard as seen by the fact that on January 31, 2002, out of Rs 15,755.84 crore allocated only Rs 8,455.32 had been drawn.
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Maruti Udyog offers VRS to 1,251
New Delhi, December 22 The over two-month long scheme, which was availed by both permanent unionised and non-unionised workers, has reduced the size of the workforce by 27 per cent to 3,355 employees. MUL had offered its first VRS in October, 2001. A total of 1,050 employees or 19 per cent of the workers had opted for the scheme, bringing down the employee strength to 4,596. The payback period for the latest VRS will be a little over two years, MUL said in a statement but did not disclose the amount to be paid to the workers. The VRS is offered in two phases. In the first phase, from September 22 to October 18, 2003, 276 non-unionised workers like supervisors, executives and managers opted for it. The second phase, from November 19 to December 6, 2003, is availed by 975 unionised workers like technicians and assistants. The early retirement schemes are part of the efforts by MUL to contain rising cost pressure due to increasing steel prices and an appreciating Japanese currency, Yen, by improving production and rationalising costs. The VRS is also expected to further bring down MUL’s wage bill, which analysts said has been brought down to 2.7 per cent of the net sales during April-September, 2003, from 3.3 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year. MUL Chairman S Nakanishi had recently said the plan will be to cut costs by 30 per cent over three years ending 2005, for which every operation was being reviewed for further improvement and efficiency. The company has also revamped its vendor base and reduced it to less than 350 now from 400 two years back. MUL has recently started an aluminium foundry at Manesar (Haryana) in joint venture with Suzuki, which is expected to help it save Rs 60-70 crore annually.
— PTI
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| Perot buys out HCL stake in HPS New Delhi, December 22 There have been reports of differences between the joint venture partners in HPS for the past few months. Today’s deal puts an end to that. HCL Technologies Chairman and CEO Shiv Nadar said, "By this equitable agreement arrived at with Perot Systems we also resolve channel and brand conflicts in the market place. It will help both partners to pursue their goals independently." The joint venture was formed in 1996 and assets include $ 45 million in cash and short-term investments as of November 30, 2003. Perot Systems and HCL Technologies formed the joint venture with a combined capital investment of $ 4.5 million. For the first nine months of 2003, HPS reported $ 78.7 million revenue and $ 9.3 million net income. HPS is an IT services firm specialising in business transformation and application outsourcing. HPS currently serves customers in the UK, Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Australia and the United States.
— UNI
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HPCL to pay 60 per cent dividend
Mumbai, December 22 The company said a meeting of the Board of Directors of HPCL held on December 22, 2003, considered and approved payment of interim dividend at 60 per cent on the face value of Rs 10, which works out to be Rs 6 per equity share for the financial year 2003-04. Speculation was rife in the market last week that HPCL may declare interim dividend in the range of 25 to 30 per cent as the company had reported lower earnings for the first half of the current fiscal. However, for reasons best known to it, HPCL sprang a surprise by declaring a higher interim dividend, which a section of the market contend that this may even be the final dividend for 2003-04. The company posted a net profit of Rs 443.84-crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2003, as compared to Rs 456-crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2002. Meanwhile, the boards of Indianoil Corporation and BPCL will meet on December 26 to declare among other things interim dividend for the current fiscal.
— UNI |
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Kumar Birla is ‘Businessman
of the Year’
Mumbai, December 22 Mr Birla was selected this year by an eminent jury, which comprised Subash Chandra, Venugopal Dhoot, Mihir Doshi, Arun Gandhi, Rajendra Lodha and Sunil Kant Munjal. As is the tradition at Business India, the panel was chaired by Business India’s Businessman of the Year 2002, Sunil Mittal. Mr Birla, at the age of 36, is the youngest businessman to
receive this distinction. The Aditya Birla group is among India’s largest business houses.
— UNI |
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