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Firms to sell shares worth Rs 60K cr
Deposit rates to rise: Moody’s
Hind Unilever plans buyback
Ceat buys 100 pc in Sri Lankan arm
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Deveshwar gets leadership award
MTN denies talks with RCom
Anomalies in tax structure
M&M, Ruia in race for S Korean auto firm
Euro falls, so do exports to Europe
RBI nod for SBI, Indore bank merger
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Firms to sell shares worth Rs 60K cr
New Delhi, June 4 The new norms come at a time when most public offers, including by PSUs and MNCs like Standard Chartered Bank, received very poor response from retail investors, a trend attributed by top banker and HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh to "over-pricing." The government today asked the companies to maintain at least 25 per cent of public holding to remain listed and reach this threshold limit by diluting a minimum 5 per cent a year. While there are about 180 listed companies that will need to increase the public holding, an up to 5 per cent stake dilution will necessitate sale of shares currently worth Rs 60,000 crore. The figure could be higher if companies offload more than 5 per cent stake. The spate of stake sale will include offerings by PSU giants like NTPC, MMTC, NMDC, SAIL, IndianOil, Power Grid Corp, Hindustan Copper, NHPC Ltd, Power Finance Corp, Nalco, Neyveli Lignite and Oil India. Likewise, stake sale would be needed by private sector majors like Wipro, DLF, Mundra Port and Reliance Power, which in 2008 set a record by launching the biggest ever IPO in India in terms of size as also demand, but performed poorly post-listing. Analysts said the share prices of the listed entities that would have to divest shares this year could come under pressure when market opens on Monday. In all, the companies will need to sell shares worth about Rs 2,00,000 crore, as per present share prices, to meet the overall threshold limit of 25 per cent public holding. The companies would get a maximum of five years to meet the guidelines, but most would make the cut in less than three years. In about 50 companies, the shareholding to be divested is less than 5 per cent, while it is between 5-15 per cent for another 100 companies. However, promoters of about 30 companies will need to dilute over 15 per cent from their holding. The promoter holding is highest in MMTC and Hindustan Copper, both state-owned, at over 99 per cent and the divestment of over 24 per cent is needed there.
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Deposit rates to rise: Moody’s
New Delhi, June 4 "Bank depositors will soon see interest returns rise for the first time since late 2008," Moody's Analytics said today. "The move will be welcomed by savers, who have seen rising prices and falling deposit rates erode the value of their savings over the past year," it added. Moody's said the deposit rates were set to rise in view of surging investments, which had soaked up excess liquidity in the banking system. It said the deposit rates, which had fallen sharply since late 2008, were yet to rise in response to the recent hikes in the policy rates by the Reserve Bank to tackle inflation -- which stood at 9.59 per cent in April. Excess liquidity had been a major factor in holding down commercial bank rates. From late 2008, liquidity in the banking system rose sharply as monetary easing and weak private borrowing left banks awash with funds. "Since the beginning of this year, however, the volume of surplus funds deposited at the RBI has trended down, and since May 31, banks have moved from net lenders to net borrowers of funds from the central bank," Moody's said. It said inflation was still uncomfortably high and the RBI was expected to raise its main policy rates by 25 basis points at its July meeting. The next RBI rate hike was expected to flow through to deposit rates at commercial banks, Moody's added. It said, however, that the uncertain situation in Europe and vulnerability of India’s financial system to sudden capital outflows provide good reasons to continue the current gradual approach to monetary tightening. — PTI
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Mumbai, June 4 "The company is rich in cash and it has surplus money for investment. If its board approves the buyback plan, it will be a rewarding thing for its shareholders," Bonanza Portfolio AVP (Research-Equity) Avinash Gupta said. Bouyed by the news, HUL shares that had surged over 4 per cent yesterday, gained another 4 per cent in value before falling to 2.35 per cent by this afternoon. "Over a long-period, the stock had been under-performing with the key benchmark indices", Gupta said, adding that the buyback offer would boost the liquidity of the scrip. "The buyback offer will help the promoters of the firm to increase their stake in the company", he said. According to March quarter shareholding pattern data available in National Stock Exchange, the promoters at present hold a 52 per cent stake in HUL. Last time, the company bought back shares in July, 2007. The FMCG major is driven by a good show in the personal products segment and has reported a 47 per cent climb in its profit at Rs 581.20 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. — PTI
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Ceat buys 100 pc in Sri Lankan arm
New Delhi, June 4 Ceat, which had a 54.84 per cent shareholding in the investment company, has acquired the remaining stake, amounting to 45.16 lakh shares, the company said. However, the tyre maker did not disclose the financial details or information about the group entities involved in the transaction. "Ceat Ltd has informed BSE that the company, currently holding 54.84 per cent stake in its Sri Lankan investment arm, Associated Ceat Holdings Company Ltd (ACHL), Colombo, has acquired the remaining 45,15,789 equity shares of the said ACHL," Ceat said. Following the acquisition of the 45.16 per cent stake, ACHL has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ceat. ACHL holds 50 per cent stake in Ceat Kelani Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between the Indian tyre giant and Colombo-based Kelani Tyres Ltd. The JV company operates three wholly owned subsidiaries, which manufacture tyres under the Ceat brand in the island nation. — PTI
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Deveshwar gets leadership award
Washington, June 4
The award was presented to Deveshwar during the USIBC's 35th Anniversary Summit, “A Pivotal Period in US-India Relations: Tackling Education, Infrastructure & Inclusive Growth”, here on Wednesday. The USIBC said under Deveshwar's leadership, ITC had invested in rural initiatives across India while embracing environment-friendly practices at its headquarters and field offices, besides equipping all ITC-Welcomgroup Hotels, Palaces and Resorts with green technologies. United Technologies Corporation (UTC), known for manufacturing Otis Elevators, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines and Sikorsky helicopters, feted the ITC chairman with the prestigious USIBC Global Leadership Award. The award was previously bestowed upon corporate greats like Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji and Sunil Bharti Mittal. UTC India's Jothi Purushotaman presented the award. The award will establish a new learning library at New Delhi in Deveshwar's name through international literacy organisation “Room to Read” as well as provide three years of associated teacher training, books and learning material, including monitoring support. ITC-Welcomgroup is India's second-largest hotel chain. ITC Ltd, which figures in the Forbes Global 2000 list of companies, is one of India's top agricultural exporters. The company is well-known for empowering India's vast farming community through the provision of computer-generated information on instant pricing, weather and commodities to rural India through its innovative e-Choupal Initiative. It reaches out to more than four million farmers across eight Indian states. Deveshwar joined ITC in 1968. He was appointed as a director on the company board in 1984, and later became its chief executive and chairman on January 1, 1996. — PTI
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MTN denies talks with RCom
New Delhi, June 4 A newspaper had yesterday said RCom was considering a merger with the MTN, with which the Indian firm had initiated tie-up talks in 2008 in an ultimately thwarted deal. However, MTN spokeswoman Nozipho January Bardill said in Johannesburg that the reports were not true. The RCom recently said it had received proposals from international telecom firms to buy a strategic equity stake, after reports said Etisalat was eyeing a 25 per cent stake of $3.9 billion. Etisalat, which already has a startup joint venture in India, said it was looking to buy a stake in an Indian operator and was in talks with
several firms, but declined to be specific. |
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Anomalies in tax structure
Chandigarh, June 4 Thanks to higher VAT in comparison to that in Haryana, petrol in Punjab is almost Rs 6 per litre costlier than in Haryana, while diesel is almost Rs 0.80 per litre costlier as compared to the price in Haryana. Due to this, petroleum dealers in Punjab are losing out on business to Haryana. Most of the transporters coming to Punjab or going away from the state now prefer to get their fuel supplies in Haryana. The worst hit are the 800 odd fuel outlets located in districts adjoining Haryana, where fuel sales have dropped drastically. Petroleum dealers in the state said petrol and diesel sales had dropped by over 10 per cent because of this disparity in the prices. The daily sale of petrol in Punjab is around 5,500 kl and of diesel is around 8,600 kl. In fact, petroleum products are one of the biggest contributors to VAT revenue in the state. However, in Punjab, VAT on petrol is around 27. 5 per cent as compared to 20 per cent in Haryana. On diesel, VAT is 8.8 per cent in Punjab and 8 per cent in Haryana, other than surcharge. In addition, Punjab imposes a cess and octroi on these two products, which makes them costlier in the state. “The Punjab government had earlier assured us that octroi will be abolished on petroleum products. But all petroleum dealers in urban areas are facing double taxation, as they have to pay octroi as well as surcharge on VAT. Though we have pleaded our case with the state government several times, to no avail. Thus, we have now decided to go on complete strike from July 10, in protest against the state government, which has failed to bring parity in the tax structure with Haryana,” said Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association president JP Khanna.
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M&M, Ruia in race for S Korean auto firm
New Delhi/Kolkata, June 4 SsangYong Motor has reportedly picked up six parties, including Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the Ruia Group and a Nissan-led consortium, to carry out the due diligence. "We have been asked to submit the final bid ... The process has been handled by the court," M&M president (Automotive and Farm Equipment) Pawan Goenka told PTI. He, however, declined to give any detail when the company would submit its bid and what could be the bid amount. A Ruia Group spokesperson said: "We have received a confirmation from the company (SsangYong Motor) for being selected and we are going for the next round." Last week, seven companies had expressed interests in SsangYong Motor (SM) and entered the initial stage to acquire the firm, which has been undergoing a court-led restructuring since 2009 after suffering heavily due to the downturn in auto industry. The company has been estimated to be worth up to $ 500 million. Sources had earlier said M&M and Ruia Group will have to slug it out with other rivals, including South Korea's third largest carmaker Renault Samsung Motors (RSM), and the deal value can run up to $600-800 million. RSM is a part of the Japanese auto major Nissan-led consortium, which also include French auto giant Renault. SM, which is into mainly manufacturing of sports utility vehicles (SUV) and recreational vehicles (RV), has SUV models like 'Rexton', 'Kyron' and 'Actyon' and sedan 'Chairman'. China's SAIC Motor Corp owns 10 per cent in the troubled automaker and about 70 per cent is held by creditors, led by state-owned Korea Development Bank. M&M is interested in the South Korean firm as the homegrown utility vehicle major can gain technological benefits from the range of SUVs that SM has at its disposal. — PTI
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Euro falls, so do exports to Europe
Ludhiana, June 4 The situation is getting compounded due to hesitation of the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) to provide insurance cover to domestic exporters against payment risk in Europe on the fresh order. However, there can be some expansion on a case-to-case basis. The small and medium exporters that count for half of the total exports of the country are not taking fresh orders at the current euro rate for the fear that the return may be lesser and exporters of engineering goods, in particular, are worried. The engineering exports accounts for a fifth of the country’s export to the European Union. Of this, 50-60 per cent of trade is in euro terms. Most of the buyers are unwilling to do business in any other currency than the euro. “Indian exporters are also uncertain of getting payment from European buyers due to current high risk perception. Moreover, the exporters cannot rely on European banks for letter of credit transaction. However, some exports are getting fructified when there is a long-term relationship with buyers,” said Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry president PD Sharma. Due to the volatile situation, the ECGC has so far not advised exporters against taking fresh orders from the EU. In such a situation, the onus lies on the ECGC to guide the exporters. It provided cover to only 12 per cent of the country’s total exports in 2009-10. “The exports from our country are already decreasing with respect to import. The government should direct the ECGC to guide the exporters and give them due cover,” added Sharma.
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RBI nod for SBI, Indore bank merger
New Delhi, June 4 Last year, the central board of the bank gave approval for the merger. Following this, the Centre also gave in-principle approval for the proposal. The SBI holds a 98 per cent stake in the State Bank of Indore. The SBI has already announced a share swap ratio of 34:100 for the merger. It has agreed to give 34 shares of the SBI for every 100 shares of the State Bank of Indore held by minority shareholders. The SBI will issue up to over 1.16 lakh shares of face value of Rs 10 each to minority shareholders of the State Bank of Indore. — PTI |
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This will include shares of state-run companies worth Rs 40,000 crore. This is besides the Rs 40,000 crore divestment target set by the government for stake sale in PSUs, including through IPOs of giants like Coal India.
