Bangalore, July 20
Software exporter Wipro today reported modest 1.23 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,334.9 crore in the April-June quarter as the margins were impacted by wage hikes and higher tax outgo due to the end of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme.

Sequentially, the profit was down 2.9 per cent. Break up of the profit before interest and tax (PBIT) figures showed that while the company’s IT Services business grew 4 per cent (PBIT Rs 1407 crore), IT products business grew 26 per cent (Rs 42 crore). Consumer care and lighting business grew only 0.1 per cent (Rs 90 crore).

“A wage hike of 10-12 per cent and 3.1 per cent higher effective tax rate (tax holiday on software technology parks having expired) had a sequential impact on our net profit in the first quarter of this fiscal”, Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty said.

Total revenue for the quarter under review grew 18 per cent year-on-year to Rs 8,564 crore and 3.2 per cent sequentially from Rs 8,302 crore in the previous quarter (January-March) of 2010-11.

“We are seeing early signs of positive momentum after the re-organisation. Clients continue to focus on optimising operations, creating new products and getting access to newer markets,” Wipro chairman Azim Premji said in a statement commenting on the first quarterly results.

The IT services division hired 4,105 new people this quarter. The company's cash and cash equivalents stood at Rs 5,075.2 crore on June 30, 2011.

Revenue from existing customers increased sequentially to 99.3 per cent from 96.9 per cent a quarter ago but dipped fractionally from 99.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

“Our investments in client mining are starting to show results, with four customers contributing over $100 million,” Senapaty added.

Industry analyst Gartner said, "Wipro posted a bleak result... A muted second quarter guidance obviously reflecting the cautious buyer sentiments but more so because of the fact that Wipro has been undergoing tremendous internal change and restructuring activities.”

Chandigarh, July 20
Exporters in the region are a miffed lot at a govt notification allowing the export of a million tonnes of rice.

According to the notification, issued by the the Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT), the government has given just one day’s time to rice exporters for booking export orders. Another two days have been given for exporters to to register applications .

The ban on export of non-basmati rice was lifted by the government on July 11. Exporters say that the short time given means only those with prior intimation can now apply for quota allotment for exports.

Requesting a review , the the All India Rice Exporters Association has demanded a withdrawal of the notification.

Rice exporters in the region say that this notification might be useful to the exporters in South India only.

“Export of three varieties of non basmati rice — sona masuri, matta and ponni — was allowed by the government earlier this year. These varieties are grown in the southern states, and exporters there have already been exporting rice for months, which means that they already have buyers, said Gurnam Arora, joint managing director, Kohinoor Foods.

He added: “Exporters in North India — which is the biggest producer of rice, will suffer as they will not be able to get buyers in a day. Why is their such a rice to allow export now? We will have to convince buyers to come back to us, after a three year ban has been lifted. The government should come up with long-term policy.”

Vijay Setia, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association, also alleged that the minimum export price (MEP) OF $400 per tonne was very low, not just in comparison with the international price of non-basmati rice, but also the prevailing price in the domestic market.

“This pricing is anti-farmer and anti-trade. It will hurt farmers not only in India but also in Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan, who are currently exporting the non-basmati rice at over $500 per tonne. Such a low MEP could also lead to diversion of PDS rice for exports,” he added.

“An MEP of $400 defies logic and if implemented, may lead to a scandal,” he warned. Even the export of non-basmati rice allowed earlier this year was done after fixing an MEP of $ 850 per tonne. 

Mumbai, July 20
Securities market regulator SEBI today directed 14 companies to act on pending investor complaints within 15 days, failing which a penalty of up to Rs 1 crore each would be imposed on them.

In two separate statements, SEBI said it had received the complaints and sent them to the companies concerned, advising them to resolve the grievances and submit status reports within 30 days.

"These companies have not responded to a letter to resolve the complaints. As per Section 15C of the SEBI Act, such companies shall be liable to a penalty of Rs 1 lakh for each day during which such failure continues or Rs 1 crore, whichever is less," said SEBI.

The firms are — Hi-Tech Drugs, Dupont Sportswear, Jord Engineers India, Shukla Data Technics, Simco Industries, International Hometex, DSJ Communications, Raj Irrigation Pipes & Fittings, Top Telemedia, Ramgopal Polytex, Satguru Agro Industries, Indo Biotech Foods, Indo Biotech Herbal Remedies and Alpine Industries.— PTI

New Delhi, July 20
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has set high hopes on broadband being the next vehicle of communication revoltion in the country. Telecom Secretary RChandrashekhar said this today at an industry function. Broadband has the potential to help the government connect with the people and allow better implemenatation of schemes to intended beneficiaries.

“After the telecom revolution, which helps India reach around 850 telecom subscribers, now it's time for a broadband revolution, which not only will help the government to reach to the poorest of the population, but will also create new jobs and will help in percolating the social schemes of the government to the 'last door'," Chandrashekhar said.

The number of broadband subscribers at the end of March, 2005, stood at 0.18 million and it increased to 12.12 million in May, 2011.

Advisor to the PM on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, Sam Pitroda said, “The next phase is all about broadband, connectivity, utilisation and innovation on this front.” 

Hamirpur, July 20
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has reduced its ISD call rates for landline and mobile users using its Universal India Telephone Card (UITC), bought for above Rs 300.

Subscribers could make ISD calls at as low as 3 paisa per second to most countries throughout the world.

Similarly, call rates to France, Bahrain, Sweden and Pakistan, (which have a little higher call rate) have been also been reduced to 10 paisa per second for UITC users.

This scheme has been introduced initially for three months, but the company intends to expand this facility soon.

For the conveniece of UITC users, the BSNL has made the code dialing system simple and now the card user would not have to dial the sixteen digit card code again every time.

After dialing the code once the subscriber could attach the sixteen digit dialing code giving information about balance inquiry, on five desired telephone numbers, which would save him from dialing the number again and again. For attaching five telephone numbers the users would have to dial 1288- 425/ 1288- 345 or 1288- 233 code.

Sub –Divisional Officer (Sales and marketing) Mukesh Sood said the ISD rates through UITC cards are very low and subscriber can make ISD calls to US or Canada at Rs 1.80 paisa per minute.

New Delhi, July 20
A flagship policy to beef up India's manufacturing sector with world-class investment zones has stuttered with objections from the labour ministry on freeing up employment laws, a top bureaucrat said on Wednesday.

Industry Secretary RP Singh told a business lobby meeting he expected a draft policy on manufacturing zones to be ready within two months as his department sought to build consensus. A discussion paper was released in 2010, but struggled to bridge differences with other ministries.

With an eye to its emerging market rival China, India is pushing the creation of such zones to ramp up its goods exports and revamp a manufacturing sector that has struggled to be competitive since before economic liberalisation in 1991.

To entice investors, the zones promised to provide world-class infrastructure such as ports and airports, slash regulation in a notoriously bureaucratic country and free up labour laws -- including making it easier to fire workers and easing regulations on wage payouts after a company closes down.

"I didn't expect the labour department's response to be so lukewarm," Singh said. "We are coming round with some kind of a consensus, but I am not fully satisfied."

The labour ministry had raised objections that the manufacturing policy did not meet India's obligations under the International Labour Organization (ILO), Singh said.

"I hope in the course of the next one-and-a-half to two months, we should be able to come out with a reasonable draft which will give some kind of confidence to industry," he said.

Heavily reliant on services, India must shift economic gears towards manufacturing if it is to maintain near-double digit growth and absorb the more than 10 million people set to join the workforce annually in the coming years.

New Delhi wants to lift manufacturing's share of the economy to 25 percent over the next decade from about 16 percent now.

A separate policy to create special manufacturing zones for exporters, which was rolled out six years ago, was thrown into doubt in this year's budget amid differences between the finance ministry and the trade ministry over how such zones should be taxed.— Reuters

Mumbai, July 20
JK Paper today said it plans to raise Rs 246 crore through rights issue to part finance the expansion at its unit at Rayagada in Orissa.

The company has decided to issue 5.86 crore shares of face value of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 32 each aggregating to Rs 246 crore.

The company plans to issue shares to the shareholders in the ratio of three equity shares for every four equity shares held on the record date, J K Paper's Managing Director, Harsh Pati Singhania told reporters here. The rights issue will open on August 8, 2011 and close on August 23, 2011.

The company plans to expand the manufacturing capacity at Orissa by installing a new fibre line with a capacity to produce approximately 2,15,000 tonnes of pulp per annum.— PTI

New York, July 20
Boosted by sales of iPhones and iPads, Apple Inc has reported an over two-fold growth in net income to USD 7.31 billion for the April-June quarter of 2011.

In the year-ago period, the iPhone maker had posted a net income of $3.25 billion, Apple said in a statement.

The company registered a record quarterly revenue of $28.57 billion in the third quarter ended June 25, 2011, as compared to $15.17 billion in the year-ago period, a jump of 82 per cent.