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Levi Strauss targets 25 per cent growth
Tata Steel plans global presence
RBI notification on Bharti Tele holdings
Infosys, Wipro results fail to boost Sensex |
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Gold gifted in marriage not taxable
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Levi Strauss targets 25 per cent growth Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 “In volume terms, the brand has been showing a significant growth of 25 to 30 per cent year-on-year and will continue to grow at the same pace in the next three years”, Marketing Director of the Levi Strauss (India) Pvt Limited Mr Shumone Chatterjee told The Tribune in an interview. The current size of the Indian denim market in the top six towns is estimated to be to the tune of 12 million units. “The market is expected to grow at a fast pace and the projected figure for urban India is about 25 million units. This is definitely insignificant when compared to the West, which sells upwards of two hundred million pieces a year”, Mr Chatterjee said. However, the Indian consumer is “positively more aware now, thanks to media exposure, which certainly has resulted in increased growth rates for the branded apparel, particularly the denim market”, he said. The company’s flagship brand Levis 501, was recently launched in India. “Levi’s 501 is the big launch this season. Internationally, we relaunched the original pair of button fly jeans to mark the company’s 150th anniversary. We are hoping that in India too, an important part of our revenues would be contributed by Levi’s 501. However, being a privately held company, we would not be in a position to disclose financials of any form”, he said. Mr Chatterjee exuded confidence that Levi’s 501 will still have an appeal among youth even though it is over a century old and the tastes of youth have seen a sea change. “Levi’s 501 jeans are the quintessential democratic fashion and anti-fashion item. Each generation of jeans wearers has its own 501 jeans, and what we have done today is to contemporarise the 501 jean while retaining its originality”, he said. On the company’s expansion plans, he said that there was a lot of “excitement” in India and with the introduction of new categories and sub-brands — Red Loop, Skyes, Type 1 etc. — there is a “lot of action unfolding”. “The core brand is also being consolidated. On the retail front we have significantly expanded our distribution network over the last two years. We are currently present in over 80 towns across 350 outlets. This expansion will continue at a more rapid pace in the next three years. Our aim is to bring the brand closer to the consumer and hence the need to be present in more cities and more outlets”, Mr Chatterjee said. There was also a difference between the Indian consumer and those in the West. “In India a large part of the Indian youth market is still getting used to jeans. Compare this to the West where the concept of jeans is over hundred years old”, he said. However, in urban markets in India such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore etc, the adoption of fashion trends is getting faster. “Our experiences with various product introductions such as Low Rise Jeans, Grey Denims, Red Loop and more recently Levi’s 501 are testimony to this”. Mr Chatterjee said. Moreover, denim has been growing at a very rapid pace in the Indian apparel industry. “In fact, it has almost become a significant contributor to the growth of the overall apparel industry in the country. This increased growth rate perhaps can be attributed to the increasing globalisation of the key urban centres in terms of adoption of apparel, food, etertainment etc.”, Mr Chatterjee said. The existence of a large grey market is, however, a cause for concern and is affecting the business of the organised players. “We are uncomfortable with the grey market, we have been taking definitive measures to stop this menace. It is a slow process which involves many different bodies. It certainly affects our business and hence strong action is being taken by us in this area. We need to join hands with other brands and approach this issue in a more organised manner”, he said. Commenting on the competition from other international denim brands which have entered India, Mr Chatterjee said that there is “interesting competition” from brands such as Lee Cooper, Lee, Wrangler etc and also from local brands such as Killer. “With all these brands operating in the Indian market,
the market for branded denim wear is sure to increase. It will be
interesting to see how such brands adapt in the Indian market in terms
of pricing, positioning etc”, he said. |
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Hike LPG price by Rs 94 per cylinder: IOC
New Delhi, April 18 The state-run oil firms have not been allowed
to raise prices of the two cooking fuels during the last two years
despite the cost of raw material going up by about 50 per cent and the
government subsidy on the two being cut by one-third. “Due to
non-revision of selling price since March 2002, oil marketing companies
incurred huge under-recoveries during 2002-03 since the international
prices of crude oil and petroleum products increased significantly,
resulting in increase in refinery transfer prices,” IOC wrote to the
Petroleum Ministry. While the under-recoveries on selling LPG and
kerosene below the cost were about Rs 7200 crore for the industry last
fiscal, IOC has estimated Rs 6984 crore loss on the two products in
2004-05 if the prices were not increased. “The required increase in
ex-storage point prices of kerosene and LPG amounted to Rs 4,896.91 per
kilolitre and Rs 6,621.79 per tonne (or Rs 94.03 per cylinder)
respectively. These increases were over and above the fixed subsidy
levels considered for 2004-05 at Rs 815.12 per kilolitre for kerosene
and Rs 22.58 per cylinder for LPG,” IOC said. A Petroleum Ministry
notification of January 28, 2003 allows companies to revise issue price
of these products on monthly basis to capture the variation in the cost
price but the oil companies were in-practice never allowed to follow
this principle. Mindful of not dampening the ‘India Shining’ image
during elections, government has not allowed the oil companies to raise
prices of LPG and kerosene as also the auto fuels, petrol and diesel,
despite the rising cost. The oil companies have lost close to Rs 2000
crore during January-March this fiscal for not being able to raise
prices of petrol and diesel in step with the rise in crude oil cost,
sources said. The Rs 7200 crore loss on LPG and kerosene sales in
2003-04 was split between the oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corp,
Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and IBP and the
producers - Oil and Natural Gas Corp and GAIL. In a three-way split,
government decided to transfer one-third of the burden to ONGC and GAIL,
another one-third through overpricing other products such as petrol and
diesel, and the remaining third to be borne by the oil marketing
companies, they said. While ONGC, GAIL and the OMCs picked up the
subsidy bill, the overpricing of other products by the OMCs throughout
the fiscal did not yield or match up to a third of the subsidy bill. It
fell short by Rs 1,300 crore. And this under-recovery will again be
split equally between the producers and OMCs. — PTI |
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Tata Steel plans global presence
New Delhi, April 18 The company officials have already visited
China, Ukraine and Singapore to evaluate possibilities of establishing a
global presence there. The company would strive to be a strong player
in the construction segment and secure dominance in the high-end flat
products market, Tata Steel informed an investors’ conference in
Singapore recently. Tata said the move to focus on the auto and
construction sectors is part of its strategy to move up the value chain.
It is also re-orienting its product-mix at Jamshedpur. The plan for
the current fiscal includes increasing the share of longs, galvanised
and cold-rolled products while reducing share of hot rolled and semis in
its product mix. The domestic steel major would have a crude steel
production of 7.4 million tonne by FY07. Earlier, at the annual
conference in Kolkata on April 6, Tata had mentioned establishing a
global presence was part of the company’s agenda for this fiscal.
Besides, it is also nursing a long-term plan of becoming a 15-million
tonne entity. Half of the capacity would come up at Jamshedpur and the
rest 5-6 million tonne capacity at other locations in the country. In
the long run, Tata Steel would connect domestic and global operations.
Apart from steel, Tata Steel is also planning to turn its minerals
business into a global entity as well. The company has decided to set
up a 49:51 joint venture in Thailand for limestone. Tata Steel has
also plans to enter into alliances with leaders of steel technology to
become a dominant Asian low-cost steel major. — UNI
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SC notice to Centre, SEBI
New Delhi, April 18 Condoning the delay in filing the appeal, a
Division Bench of Justice R.C. Lahoti and Justice Ashok Bhan asked the
Union Law Secretary and the Finance Secretary (on behalf of SEBI) to
respond to various questions of law raised by petitioner Manwar Singh
Rawat. The Special Leave Petition has challenged the High Court
judgment on the ground that it overlooked the fact that through its
rules and regulations SEBI has imposed complete prohibition upon the
citizens other than existing brokers which was violative of fundamental
rights guranteed under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. His
counsel Manohar Lal Sharma and Kuldip Singh urged the court to examine
if the requirement of laying a regulation framed under delegated power
as per Section 31 of SEBI Act, 1992 was simple or
mandatory. Parliamentary procedure required that rules framed under
delegated power to be laid in Parliament for 30 days. It was not
complied with properly in this case, he alleged. — PTI
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RBI notification on Bharti Tele holdings
Mumbai, April 17 RBI, in a
separate release, also notified that no further purchases of equity
shares of Oriental Bank of Commerce and Mphasis BFL Software Ltd should
be made on behalf of FIIs through the capital market without prior
approval of the central bank. On Bharti, RBI said it would ban the
purchase of shares of the company by FIIs/NRIs/PIOs under PIS, whenever
such holdings reach 48.4 per cent. — PTI
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NISG, IBM sign MoU
New Delhi, April 18 Located in Hyderabad, NISG is a non-profit organisation
incorporated in 2002 in a private-public partnership mode with the
private sector having 51 per cent equity. Currently, Nasscom, the apex
association for software industry in the country, Central and State
governments. NISG is being shaped as an institution of excellence in
the area of eGovernance with focus on developing appropriate
architectures and standards, providing high-level consultancy services
and capacity building at the national level. Under the terms of MoU,
IBM will set up a Linux and Open Source Practice at NISG to promote
affordable computing and will share its eGovernance Framework. “Linux
is increasingly being used in eGovernance space worldwide”, Mr J.
Satyanarayana, CEO NISG said. IBM’s eGovernance Framework enables
inter-operability between new and existing applications and will support
an on demand operating environment, Vice-President and Country Executive
Software Group and Developer Relations of IBM India Mr R. Dhamodaran
said. |
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by J.C. Anand Infosys, Wipro results fail to boost Sensex
Infosys and Wipro have announced very liberal bonus shares for their
equity shareholders: Infosys issued 3:1 bonus and Wipro 2:1 bonus. Wipro’s annual results have exceeded market expectations. The company
has also announced today dividend of Rs 29 per share (of the face value
of Rs 2/- each), of which Rs 25 is a one-time dividend. It has also
reported 17 per cent rise in the net profit for the fourth quarter.
Infosys has also declared special dividend of Rs 100 per share (2000 per
cent) and a final dividend of 300 per cent (Rs 15 per share of the face
value of Rs 5 each). Mphosis BFL, another IT company, has also announced
a bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1.
There have also been many positive
announcements regarding the Indian economy. ICRA has projected 6.4 per
cent growth in the financial year 2004-05. The projection made by the
Ministry of Finance is 8 per cent. The UN Economic and Social Commission
has state that India would be able to sustain GDP growth in the range of
6-7 per cent in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, assuming that there are no
major international or external shocks. The Indian Meteorological
Department in its forecast has predicted “absolutely normal monsoon”
rainfall in June — September season. In spite of such good annoucements,
the Sensex did not move up during the last fortnight. On April 16, the
Sensex was at 5822 points when the market closed; on April 16, the
Sensex was at 5862.82 points. This would indicate that the market was up
by only 40 points on the Sensex during the last fortnight. The market
remained flat in spite of its volatility due to some factors like
profit-booking (in Infosys, Wipro and other IPO allotted shared of PSU)
and political uncertainty till May 13 when the final results of the Lok
Sabha elections would be available. The market was open also on Saturday
(April 17) for a few hours but there was not much improvement in the
indices. In general, however, banks and sugar sector companies have
been attracting investors. Investors are also conserving their resources
for the forthcoming public issues. NDTV issue is likely to open on April
21. A substantially valuable issue is of Tata Consultancy which is
likely to offer its shares in June. Both these shares are expected to be
command premium in the market after they are listed on the stock
exchange. Morgan Stanley Growth Fund has recommended a dividend of 15
per cent for the year ended March 31, 2004 with record date as May 13.
It is quoting at less than its NAV around Rs 18.30 per unit. Morgan
Stanley Growth Fund is likely to improve its profitability substantially
next year. Fertilizer shares are also looking up due to the forecast
that the monsoon rains this year would be normal. Bicon, Power Trading
Corporation, Bank of Maharashtra and the ONGC scrips are being traded at
a high premium on the allotted price rates. |
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by S.C. Vasudeva Gold gifted in marriage not taxable
Q: 1 am Scale One Officer in State Bank of India. I am filing IT
return regularly since 1999-2000 as well as assets and liabilities statement to
the bank. I got married in June 2003 (F.Y. 2003-04). I and my wife
received about 50 tolas of gold ornaments and also clothes and few cash
(as shagun) from our various relatives of both sides. Please guide me,
how to show all these things in my IT return as well as assets and
liabilities statement to the Bank.
— Ravinder Kumar Ans: The gifts,
cash, jewellery and clothes received by you and your wife are not
taxable in either of the hands. However, it is advisable, that the
amount of cash and jewellery is disclosed in your return by way of a
note. Further, you must keep details of the gifts received with the
names and addresses of the person who gave the gifts.
Gift from son Q:
My son (age 24) was planning to go abroad in August 2000 for higher
studies and for that purpose, he needed funds to show in the application
forms to meet the expenses and for fee. He got gifts worth Rs 5 lakh
from me, his mother, his brother, maternal and paternal uncles and
deposited the same in bank’s FDs. Unfortunately, he could not get
admission in any of the university he applied for. Stock market was in
its good health on those days and I suggested him to withdraw the money
from FDs and invest in stock market through Mutual Funds so that he may
get appreciation and he did so. Next year he again tried his luck for
higher studies abroad and got admission with full fee waiver and
scholarship of $1600 per month. He was here in India in vacation in
December 2003 and sold all the stocks and sale proceeds were in his bank
account. As he no more needed that money and was dumped in bank, he
asked me to have whole amount as gift from him and I did so and money
was to the tune of more than three lakh which was directly transferred
from his account to that of mine. — Vinod Kumar Ans: There is no
restriction on a government employee to accept gifts provided the source
of the gift is explainable, which in your case is very clear. Further,
please mention in your Income tax return by way of a note that you have
received a gift from you son. Please indicate therein, the exact amount
of the gift, the cheque number and the date of the cheque. It is also
advisable to mention, in which account the said amount was deposited.
You will to inform your department about the receipt of the gift. I
would like to add here that your son was liable to pay tax on the
capital gain earned by him on the sale of shares.
Property
appreciation Q: I want to know whether I have to pay both capital gains
tax as well as the Income Tax on the amount of a property sold for
Rs1,98,000 in the F.Y. 2003-2004. The property was earlier purchased by
me for Rs 65000 in 1990. What amount under the head ‘Capital Gains’ will
be added to my total income for computing the income tax for the
assessment year 2003-2004? — Harsh Nagpal Ans: Capital gains tax is
one of the heads under which income tax is payable and therefore what
you pay as capital gains tax is nothing but income tax. The amount of
capital gains that will be added to your income in assessment year
2004-05 is computed as under:-
Capital loss Q: Can short-term capital loss/gain
be adjusted against long-term capital gain/loss? If so under what
section of Income tax Act? — A. Lall Ans: As per Section 70 of the
Act, short-term capital loss can be adjusted against long-term capital
gain but long-term capital loss cannot be adjusted against short-term
capital gain. Senior Citizen
Q: My date of birth is April 1, 1939 and
completed 65 years of age on April 1, 2004. I understand that I will be
entitled for the benefits available to senior citizen for the financial
year 2004-05. But a friend of mine says that these benefits will also be
available to me for the financial year 2003-04. Is it so? — S.K.
Grover Ans: As per the provisions of Section 88B of the Act, an
individual is eligible for rebate, who is of the age of 65 or more at
any time during the previous year. Accordingly, since you have attained
the age of 65 in financial year 2004-05 you will be entitled to rebate
only in financial year 2004-05 and not in financial year 2003-04. |
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