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ULIP Row
Infosys Q4 profit at Rs 1,617 crore
Worst is over for Air India: Patel
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Walmart to intensify sourcing from India
A year on, Mahindra Satyam back on track
FM for no entry, exit load on financial products
DoT gave undue favours to RCom, Aircel: CAG
ADB pegs India’s growth at 8.2 pc
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Ban to continue on new schemes: SEBI
New Delhi, April 13 The SEBI, which was party to the truce brokered by the Finance Ministry yesterday under which status quo ante as of April 9 would be maintained, today came out with a new order that new ULIP schemes and products would be governed by its Friday order. "This is to bring to the notice of the investors that SEBI has decided to keep in abeyance, till further notice, the enforcement of the April 9 directions with respect to the ULIP schemes/products existing on the date of the order 09.04.10. "However, with respect to any new ULIP schemes/products launched after 09.04.10, the directions mentioned in the said order will be enforced as indicated therein," market regulator said in its order today. The SEBI said today's directions have been communicated to 14 insurance companies that have been restrained from issuing any ULIP offer till they obtain permission from it. Within 24 hours of the Friday order, IRDA had asked the companies to ignore SEBI's order and continue with business as usual, forcing the government to intervene. Reacting sharply to SEBI's fresh order, the Life Insurance Council (the apex body of life insurance companies) said it would definitely affect companies that had started business last year or two years ago in a year or two. "They were not able to sell many products. They have been unfairly affected by this order. There will not be level-playing field for those companies who have just started business and the older ones," SB Mathur, secretary-general of the Council said. Asked whether they plan to move the court, he said it all depends on whether the latest order is as per the understanding between regulators —Q SEBI and IRDA. "If it is as per their understanding, then there is no point in dragging the matter to the court," he added. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who had yesterday announced that status quo ante was being restored and that the two regulators have agreed to jointly seek a binding legal mandate from an appropriate court, today said he would have to go through the SEBI's fresh order before he could react. — PTI
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Infosys Q4 profit at Rs 1,617 crore
Mumbai, April 13 The company had a net profit of Rs 1,613 crore in the March quarter of the previous fiscal (2008-09), Infosys said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Income from software services, products and business process management rose to Rs 5,944 crore for the fourth quarter from Rs 5,635 crore in the year-ago period. The company's cash and cash equivalents stood at $3.5 billion at the end of March 31, 2010. "We maintained our margins in one of the toughest years for the industry. The currency volatility continues to be a concern for the industry. We have an active hedging programme to minimise its impact on our margins," Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan said. For the year ended March 31, the IT bellwether posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 6,266 crore, up 4.64 per cent over the year-ago period. The board has declared a final dividend of Rs 15 per share for the fiscal on every share of Rs 5 held. Shares of Infosys were trading at Rs 2,668.45, down 0.55 per cent over the previous close on BSE. During the fiscal, income from software services, products and business process management rose to Rs 22,742 crore from Rs 21,693 crore in the previous fiscal (2008-09). "We have been able to take advantage of the opportunities in the market and grow faster due to our investments in capacity and capability building even during the economic downturn," Infosys CEO and MD S Gopalakrishnan said. Infosys, which has Goldman Sachs, BT Group and BP Plc among its clients, added 47 clients during the quarter. At the end of March 31, the company had 1,13,796 employees, which includes a net addition of 3,914 staff during the fourth quarter.
— PTI |
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Worst is over for Air India: Patel
New Delhi, April 13 “Earlier the losses were in the average of Rs 400 crore per month. Now these have started coming down by at least Rs 100 crore per month," Patel said, asserting that "the worst is over and Air India is continuing on a path of recovery". This is the first time since the March 2007 merger that there has been any sign of recovery in the cash-strapped airline, which has started experiencing some improvement in yields with a rise in passenger
traffic. Given the signs of improvement, Patel ruled out any urgent need for the government to decide on its future. He said the new Air India Board is having a complete review of the airline's functioning. “They have formed four sub- committees (on audit, finance, strategy and HR) for the purpose. So, there is no immediate necessity for the Union Cabinet to take any decision". "Certainly things are looking much more controlled than they were two months ago," Patel said, adding that the new Board, with four professionals and business leaders, should make "an independent assessment of the work that is required to be done before we take any further steps". Making it clear that wage cuts were "not a priority", he said "the priority is to try to improve efficiency, increase revenue, cut costs in other areas. These and a couple of other measures (including those suggested by the Board committees) will make a great impact". He said while Air India had received the first tranche of equity infusion worth Rs 800 crore, it was slated to get another Rs 1,200 crore in equity in the current financial year. |
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Walmart to intensify sourcing from India
Zirakpur, April 13 Talking to mediapersons after inaugurating the second wholesale cash-and-carry store in the country here today, Scott Price, president and CEO, Walmart Asia, said they hoped that Walmart’s sourcing from India would increase to 'hundreds of millions' of dollars within the next five years. He added that products sourced from India could be exported to other Asian countries, Europe and to the US. He said Walmart's global sourcing division has been restructured and the retailer has decided to focus on India in a big way. “We already have a major sourcing business in India. Punjab alone accounts for export of goods worth $125 million to Walmart Stores Inc., mainly cotton," said Price. When asked about the products the company was keen to source from India, Price said the number of items could increase as the country had an immense variety to offer but a final decision had not been taken. "I had a talk with the head of sourcing, Walmart Stores Inc., and both of us agreed that India has an immense potential, especially as the direct farm programme (of procuring farm produce directly from farmers) picks up," he said, adding that they were now looking at exporting mangoes and scaling up basmati exports from here. It is in this direction that Bharti Walmart, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart Inc., has already started giving assistance to farmers, mainly providing them better quality seeds, teaching them better farm practices and use of biodegradable pesticides. Raj Jain, managing director and CEO of Bharti Walmart, said the JV was now looking at making its presence felt in south and west India. “We have opened two stores - at Amritsar and Zirakpur, and will open five more outlets this year. We propose to have 10-15 outlets within the next three years in Haryana, Delhi NCR, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,” he added. Seeks clarity on FDI rules
Bharti-Walmart today said it has sought clarifications from the government on caps imposed on sales by cash-and-carry players to their group's front-end companies. Earlier this month, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), issued a document on FDI rules, putting a cap of 25 per cent on sales of cash-and-carry players to front-end retail companies owned by their Indian joint venture partners. |
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A year on, Mahindra Satyam back on track
Hyderabad, April 13 On the first anniversary of the renamed brand Mahindra
Satyam, the new management has many reasons to cheer. It has succeeded not only in weathering a devastating storm, triggered by the founder chairman B Ramalinga Raju’s confession to a Rs 7,800 crore accounting fraud, but also putting India’s fourth largest software company back on tracks. Proving the doomsayers wrong, the company has won back the confidence of international clients, restored the financial health and set its eyes on emerging as a key global player in IT services. “We have regained almost 100 per cent of the lost clients,” the CEO of Mahindra Satyam CP Gurnani said. Union Minister for Corporate Affairs Salman Khurshid and top officials of Mahindra Satyam addressed the media here today to share the success story of the company in the last one year. The mess left behind by Ramalinga Raju and his associates is being cleared and the re-statement of accounts would be completed by the end of June as per the schedule. “I am sure we will be able to meet the deadline,” Tech Mahindra CEO Vineet Nayyar said. Promising government’s help in this regard, Khurshid said his ministry would ensure that the things moved faster. “There is a group in my ministry which is monitoring matters relating to Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation. Wherever there are any problems and hiccups, we will help,” the minister said. Following change of guard, several structural changes were effected in the
organisation, including reducing the management layers from 14 to seven and infusing transparency and customer-centric approach. "We had presented to the Corporate Affairs Ministry a three-year transformation plan for
Satyam. The company needs two more years to level out some operational matters and reach the level we are aiming for," Gurnani said. The growing demand in the US market for IT services, coupled with a general feeling of recovery of global economy, has fuelled the company’s hopes to play a greater role in the global markets in near future. Terming Mahindra Satyam’s achievements as a major chapter in the success story of the emerging India, Khurshid said one day the company’s success story would become part of the curricula of leading business schools.
Mahindra Group vice-chairman Anand Mahindra said Mahindra Satyam would aim to reach the number one position in the Indian IT landscape. Meanwhile, Khurshid laid the foundation stone for Mahindra Satyam's IT special economic zone
(SEZ) in Hyderabad. Spread across 26 acres, the SEZ will have a built-up area of 400,000 sq. ft. |
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FM for no entry, exit load on financial products
New Delhi, April 13 The amount, described as entry or exit load, is paid by investors before purchasing or at the time of sale of a financial instrument. "I believe India could set global standards by following a no load plus fee model for the entire financial sector to ensure a fair deal for all market participants. I hope all financial sector regulators would work towards this goal," Mukherjee said, while addressing a SEBI function to distribute cheques to investors, who lost money in the IPO scam between 2003 and 2005. For the first time in the history of the stock market, investors who lost out on allotment of shares due to the scam received compensation from money recovered from scamsters. SEBI collected Rs 22 crore from wrong doers. The minister, who distributed the cheques to some investors, asked SEBI to redouble its efforts to protect the interest of small investors. "SEBI (should) ... reinforce its endeavour for identification of persons who have made undue gains and seek to ensure that such gains are reallocated to the investors who had suffered the losses unfairly," the minister said. The regulator, he added, also needs to take "concerted efforts" to address issues concerning investor protection. Appreciating SEBI's decision to make mutual fund advisers the agents of customers, instead of companies, he said, the step "would go a long way in protecting small investors". Speaking on the occasion, SEBI chairman CB Bhave said the market regulator had collected about Rs 22 crore from those involved in the IPO scam. — PTI
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DoT gave undue favours to RCom, Aircel: CAG
New Delhi, April 13 The CAG has said the DoT extended undue benefits to RCom and Dishnet Wireless (now Aircel) at the cost of others while allotting spectrum in 2008. The CAG had accused the minister of disregarding the views of the experts and following an outdated and faulty policy in awarding the new licences in 2008, leading to the loss of Rs 26,000 crore to the exchequer. It has now said that the department failed to follow its own FCFS (First-Cum-First-Serve) policy resulting into an undue benefit to Dishnet Wireless Ltd and Reliance Communications Ltd in Punjab Service area. It said the then existing operators like Hutch (now Vodafone Essar), Bharti and Spice, who had applied for allotment of additional spectrum prior to these two companies, were not allotted the same. Hutch with a subscriber base of 6.34 lakh in February 2006 had applied for 8 MHz additional spectrum on April 5, 2006. Similarly, Spice and Bharti with a subscriber base of 15.14 lakh and 17 lakh in 2006 had applied for additional spectrum of 10 MHz each on July 2006 and April 2006, respectively. The CAG mentions that their requests were denied even though all operators complied with the subscriber base eligibility criterion of additional spectrum, needed to provide good quality of services. Earlier, there were charges against the minister that new licences were distributed at 2001 prices of Rs 1,658 crore for pan-India operations bundled with a start-up spectrum of 4.4 MHz, which led to a loss of Rs 26,000 crore to the exchequer. Incidentally, the CBI has also filed a case against some unknown officials of the DoT for conniving with private companies for manipulation of licence terms and conditions. Similar charges had also been made by several political parties against Raja even before the last round of general elections. But despite all the allegations Raja has continued to survive. |
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ADB pegs India’s growth at 8.2 pc
New Delhi, April 13 Noting that India's rebound from the global crisis is set to accelerate this year, the bank said the stimulus measures taken by the government would be gradually rolled back as the economy sets itself on the high growth path. "India's rebound from the global crisis is set to accelerate in 2010, with estimated growth of 8.2 per cent, although rising price pressures present a challenge to policy makers as they steer the economy's recovery," ADB said in its report 'The Asian Development Outlook 2010'. The report said even though overseas demand will take some more time to revive, robust domestic consumption and rising investment would place the economy firmly on the growth trajectory. "Expansionary fiscal and monetary policies are now being wound back gradually as the rebound gains traction. While trade flows have yet to return to pre-crisis levels, rising private consumption and investments are likely to underpin growth over the next two years," it said. After clocking an impressive 9 per cent growth for the previous three fiscals till 2007-08, India's GDP grew by a relatively modest 6.7 per cent in 2008-09. It said prompt fiscal and monetary stimulus measures, improved overseas demand and increased capital inflow would help the Indian economy grow at the government-estimated 7.2 per cent in 2009.
— PTI |
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Mumbai, April 13
