The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Kingfisher slides deeper into red, auditors concerned over financials Mumbai, November 8 Flagging concern over the financials of Kingfisher, its auditors have said the carrier's second-quarter net loss would have been much higher, at about Rs 1,032 crore, had it followed "generally accepted accounting standards" for certain income and expenses. The carrier on Thursday posted net loss of Rs 754 crore for the fiscal's second quarter ended September 30 — a widening of 61% from Rs 469 crore in the year-ago quarter — taking its accumulated losses to close to Rs 9,000 crore. Q2 revenues plunged to Rs 200 crore from Rs 1,553 crore in the same period last year. In their 'limited review report' for its second quarter results, the auditors said the losses would have been Rs 1,031.77 crore if their certain "observations" about the company's accounting procedures had been considered. Besides, its 'reserves and surplus' would have been a debit of Rs 12,155 crore as on September 30, 2012, as against a debit of Rs 7,339 crore reported by the company, auditors said. The "observations" refer to the issues flagged by the auditors about the financial statements being reviewed by them. The auditors have drawn attention to Kingfisher's financial statements being prepared on a 'going concern' basis despite its net worth having been eroded. "The appropriateness of the said basis is inter alia dependent on the company's ability to obtain restoration of the scheduled air operator's permit by the DGCA, infuse requisite funds for meeting its obligations, rescheduling of debt and resuming normal operations," the auditors said. The report has also highlighted the method of accounting of costs incurred on major repairs and maintenance of aircraft being taken on operating lease of "Rs nil". "In our opinion, this treatment is not in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards prevalent in India," the auditors said in their limited review report. The auditors further said Kingfisher, in the past, has included as 'other income' certain subsidy provided by one of its suppliers, although the company's auditors at that time had opined this treatment in nonaccordance with the government's accounting standards. The current auditors have also concurred with that view. — PTI
	Govt okays 10% selloff in HAL Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 8 In a decision of global strategic importance, the government approved divestment of a 10% stake from the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the sole manufacturer of military planes and helicopters in the country. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved 10 per cent equity dilution in HAL through an initial public offer in the domestic market as per the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Rules & Regulations. A 5 per cent discount on the IPO price will be allowed for retail investors as well as to eligible employees of HAL applying under the employees reservation portion, an official government statement said. The funds are needed for modernizing and expanding production lines at the HAL’s expansive plants in at Bangalore, Nasik and Kanpur. HAL is is a defence public sector undertaking under the defence ministry. In September this year the ministry had cleared 10% disinvestment which was later okayed by the finance ministry. The public sector giant recorded sales of Rs 13,000 crore in the last fiscal. In May this year the defence ministry laid out figures in Parliament stating HAL’s net for fiscal 2009-10 was Rs 1,969 crore, Rs 2,114 crore in FY2011 and Rs 2,370 crore in FY2012. Sources said the valuation of the company, that owns vast tracts of lands in the heart of Bangalore and has plum joint-development international deals in hand, will runs into billions of dollars. The selloff will fund a major portion of the company’s Rs 20,000 crore modernization plans. One of the key projects with HAL is co-development of fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) — a US $30 billion project. India and Russia have signed a contract and HAL will be a Indian partner. HAL has just produced Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), the Tejas for IAF. It will get final operational clearance. It has signed an agreement with the Russians to develop the multirole transport aircraft. HAL produces under license the Sukhoi-30MKI frontline fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force and will be the Indian partner for production of the medium multirole combat (MMRCA) aircraft. Price negotiations are on with French areospace major Dassault.
	Direct tax collections up 6.6% in Apr-Oct Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 8 Weak corporate tax collection due to slowdown in the economy kept growth in gross direct tax collection at a mere 6.59 percent during the April-October period of the current fiscal. The mop-up during the first seven months of 2012-13 was Rs 3.02 lakh crore, up from Rs 2.84 lakh crore in the same period last year, a finance ministry statement said. Corporate tax collections during the period grew by just 2.01% at Rs 1.93 lakh crore. It was Rs 1.89 lakh crore during the period last fiscal. Personal income tax collections, however, were up by 15.78% at Rs 1.08 lakh crore as against Rs 93,769 crore in first seven month of the last fiscal. Wealth tax collections recorded a 25.84% growth at Rs 526 crore against Rs 418 crore in same period last year. Securities transaction tax collections declined by 15.42% at Rs 2,502 crore in the April-October period,from Rs 2,958 crore in the corresponding period last year possibly due to less stock market activity. Net direct tax collections rose 14.63% to about Rs 2.50 lakh crore against Rs 2.18 lakh crore in the same period last year. haryana h1 tax mop-up rises 15.8% The Haryana excise & taxation department collected revenues of over Rs 9,854.15 crore up to September 2012 during FY2013 -- up by 15.83% as compared to Rs 8,507.57 crore in the same period last last fiscal. VAT collections up to September 2012 rose 18.24 % to Rs 7,087.10 crore.
	Galaxy S3 takes top spot in smartphones Boston, Mass., November 8 South Korean multinational Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S3 became the world's best-selling smartphone model last quarter, pushing aside US-based tech giant Apple Inc's iPhone, which has dominated the global chart for more than two years, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Thursday. Strategy Analytics estimated Samsung sold 18 million S3 models in the third quarter, compared with iPhone 4S sales of 16.2 million. Strong sales of the flagship Galaxy S3 — which comes with a large 4.8 inch touchscreen — helped Samsung post a record $7.3 billion operating profit in the July-September quarter. "Samsung's Galaxy S3 has proven wildly popular with consumers and operators across North America, Europe and Asia," said analyst Neil Mawston, adding the new iPhone 5 would likely reclaim the top spot for Apple in the current quarter. — Reuters
	Néstle opens first India R&D centre in Manesar Gurgaon, November 8 Swiss-based FMCG multinational Nestlé on Thursday opened its first research and development centre in India at the industrial township of Manesar in Haryana. The centre will be part of Nestlé's worldwide R&D network enabling the company to acquire local knowledge and use it on a global scale. "Our R&D centre in India will help us gain important insights into local consumers' eating habits and taste preferences, as well as great expertise in using and processing local ingredients to develop products for India and beyond," Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke stated. With the opening of this centre, the company aims to extend the range of mainstream products it currently offers in the country, particularly noodles, cereals, beverage and dairy categories, he added. Minister of State for Agriculture & Food Processing Industries Tariq Anwar was chief guest at the opening of the centre. He hoped the centre will facilitate exchange of scientific knowledge and development of skills. Nestlé has been in India for 100 years. The company's sales agents first started work in Madras and Calcutta way back in 1912. — IANS
	Ranbaxy Q3 net at Rs 754 cr Mumbai, November 8 Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, India's top drugmaker by sales, beat estimates with a Rs 754 crore (7.5 billion) quarterly net profit on stronger demand for its generic drugs in its key North American market while foreign exchange gains ballooned. Demand for cheaper generic medicines from Ranbaxy and its local rivals such as Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Cipla and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is booming as developed nations battle rising healthcare costs. Indian drugmakers, which, on average, draw half of their sales from the United States, account for about a third of applications to sell generic drugs in that country. They, however, face intense competition, as well as an increase in lawsuits from rival drugmakers and a stricter US regulatory environment. Ranbaxy, controlled by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co, said on Thursday sales grew to Rs 26.5 billion in the fiscal third quarter ended September from Rs 20.2 billion a year earlier. The company gained Rs 3.93 billion in forex gains. Last year it launched the first copycat version of Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug owned by Pfizer Inc, in the US and enjoyed exclusive marketing rights with Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc for six months that ended in May 2012. — Reuters
	ONGC profit plunges 32%, misses forecast Mumbai, November 8 State-run producer Oil & Natural Gas Corp reported a 32% fall in quarterly profit, just missing expectations, as lower average crude oil prices and a higher subsidy burden weighed on profits. The firm posted a net profit of Rs 58.97 billion for its fiscal second quarter ended September, down from Rs 86.42 billion a year earlier. Analysts, on an average, had expected a net profit of Rs 60.9 billion, according to a Reuters poll of brokerages. Net sales fell 13% to Rs 197.88 billion. Shares of ONGC, India's third-biggest company with a market value of $41.9 billion, closed 0.6% lower on Thursday, ahead of the results. — Reuters
	Retail FDI to benefit farmers: Haryana CM Tribune News Service Gurgaon, November 8 Referring to a recent Assocham report, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said 87% of total investments in Haryana were from the private sector. This, he claimed, was a clear indication of private investors’ “faith” in the state. He was addressing the closing session of the World Economic Forum here on Thursday. He said Haryana was one of the few states that had agreed to FDI in retail as it would benefit farmers, consumers and entrepreneurs, apart from building up rural infrastructure through cold storage chains, food processing centres and warehouses, etc.
	Two panels to be set up to sort out GST issues: FM New Delhi, November 8 Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced Thursday two committees would be constituted to sort out the contentious issues holding up implementation of the Goods & Services Tax. While one committee will deal with the central sales tax compensation issue, the other will deliberate on the design of GST, Chidambaram said after meeting the empowered group of state finance ministers here. He said these committees would submit their reports by December 31. These two issues will have to be addressed to ensure implementation of the GST, he added. "The (CST compensation) issue has to be addressed”, he added. — TNS
	Debt limit norms for FIIs eased Mumbai, November 8 The government will allow foreign investors to re-invest up to 50% of their debt holdings from the previous calendar year starting in January 2014, the Securities & Exchange Board of India said Thursday. The market regulator has also reduced the period to use up corporate debt limits to 60 days from the current 90 days, and government debt limits to 30 days from 45 days, effective immediately, it said. — Reuters