New Delhi, October 15
The recently announced reduction in auto loan rates by some public sector banks will not have a meaningful impact on auto sales, according to analysts.

According to India Ratings and Research, auto sales during the October-December 2013 festive season will not be influenced by the prospect of lower interest costs. This is mainly because the overall cost of ownership is high and continues to rise steadily due to the frequent rise in fuel prices. The freeing up of petrol prices from June 2010 and the monthly increase in diesel prices permitted from January 2013 has resulted in a drag on auto sales.

The reducing price difference between petrol and diesel has led to a slowdown in demand for diesel vehicles which were largely responsible for driving passenger vehicles (PV) sales in financial year 2012 and 2013. “Hence, the limited monetary incentive in a scenario of negative consumer sentiment may also curtail sales in the festive season”, it said.

Some public sector banks announced around 20 basis points cut in interest rates for automobiles, with the rates now in the range of 10.45-10.75% for auto loans up to three years for purchase of new vehicles. This followed the government’s decision to increase the quantum of capital infusion in banks which was intended to encourage lending by banks and spur the purchases of autos and consumer durables in the festive season.

According to India Ratings, the 3% hike in excise duty on utility vehicles (UV) has also dampened sales. While this segment registering a 52.2% year-on-year sales volume growth in FY13, there was a 4.8% decline in sales volume over April to September 2013.

According to a research note by ICRA, two-wheelers and tractors remain the better performing segments in the auto industry.

It said the domestic passenger vehicle industry volumes at 2.16 lakh units in September declined by 4.5% year-on- year, reverting to its negative growth trajectory that had been broken just once (in Aug 2013) in the past 10 months.

The report added that due to rise in input costs, several manufacturers have announced price increases in September-October. Although discount levels too remain elevated, the net buying cost for customers has increased by 1.5-2 per cent. “However, we expect pricing pressures on vehicle makers to increase post the festive season as passenger vehicle demand may likely remain sluggish”, it said.

According to a report by Motilal Oswal Securities, demand remains weak in the auto sector, however, festive-led buying and good monsoon provide hope.

Considering the slowdown in economic activity and consequent weakness in consumer and business sentiments, demand continues to remain weak across auto segments. Commercial vehicles and cars have been the worst hit.

However, tractor volumes continue to remain healthy on favourable monsoon and high farm income.

The report said two-wheelers are showing early signs of recovery led by favourable monsoon and consequent high demand from rural markets.

New Delhi, October 15
Country's largest software exporter TCS today reported a 35% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,633.33 crore for the July-September period of the current financial year. The company had posted a profit of Rs 3,434.37 crore the same period last year.

The total revenue grew 34.29% to Rs 20,977.24 crore in the period under review from Rs 15,620.75 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, TCS said in a filing to the BSE.

"We continue to see a robust demand pipeline across markets and a unique opportunity to strategically partner and participate with clients as they reiamgine their future in multiple dimensions," TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran said.

The company added three new $100-million clients. It also saw 7,664 employees joining the company, taking the total headcount to 2,85,250.

HDFC Bank Q2 net up 27%

Mumbai: HDFC Bank today reported a 27.1% jump in net profit to Rs 1982.3 crore for the July-September quarter. It had posted a net profit of Rs 1,559.9 crore for the corresponding period last year.

The bank's net interest income was up 15.3% to Rs 4,476.5 crore from Rs 3,731.7 crore in the second quarter of the previous fiscal.

The total income moved up to Rs 11,937.7 crore for the quarter, from Rs 10,146.7 crore in the corresponding period last year. — PTI

New Delhi, October 15
A DoT committee has recommended Rs 600-crore penalty on Idea Cellular for a merger deal with Spice Communications saying the company's move had violated licence conditions in six telecom circles.

The committee, however, has given conditional go-ahead to the merger of the two licences in Karnataka and Punjab circles, sources said.

A DoT official said: "Idea can continue offering the services in Punjab and Karnataka circles by paying the penalty."

In 2008, Idea Cellular acquired 41.09% stake in Spice Communications. The companies merged in 2010, which resulted in overlapping of licences in six circles.

At the time of the merger, both the companies had licences for Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka. As per rules, a telecom operator cannot hold more than 10% stake in another operator in the same circle.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court in its February 2012 order cancelled Idea Cellular's licences for Punjab and Karnataka circles, while Spice lost its licences for Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra.

"Two licences of Idea and four licences of Spice stand already quashed as per the orders of the Supreme Court. As such question of their termination or merger, does not arise," the source said.

The committee is understood to have said that the Supreme Court judgement — which cancelled 122 licences of various companies in the 2G spectrum allocation case — cannot be undone by the DoT administrative actions.

It said from the date of merger (March 1, 2010), Idea was holding 12 licences bundled with spectrum till February 15, 2013, without any approval from DoT and in violation of licence conditions and merger guidelines. — PTI

London, October 15
British luxury fashion group Burberry on Tuesday said its long-serving CEO Angela Ahrendts will step down next year to take up a position with Apple.

She is to be replaced by Burberry's chief creative officer Christopher Bailey, who will retain his existing title alongside becoming the company's CEO.

"Angela Ahrendts will step down as CEO by mid-2014 to take up a new position with Apple," said a Burberry statement. — AFP 

New Delhi, October 15
Telecom companies Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone have halved the amount of data downloads on 2G networks under certain tariff plans, pushing up the cost of using mobile Internet services.

Customers will, for instance, have to pay about 25% extra to download 1 GB data.

All the three companies, which dominate India's mobile services market with about 53% share, have reduced the quantum of Internet download and/or validity periods on various packages they were offering, as per their websites.

They were offering 1 GB Internet usage until recently for about Rs 125, which has been reduced to 525 MB.

Now, to get 1 GB of Internet usage, Airtel customers will have to shell out Rs 156, and in case of Idea Cellular it will cost Rs 154, valid for use within 28 days in Delhi. These rates are about 25% higher than the previous ones.

On Vodafone network, same will cost user Rs 155 for use within 30 days.

In Mumbai, the 1 GB pack will now cost Rs 154 on Airtel and Idea networks and Rs 155 on Vodafone networks. It will be valid for 30 days.

Besides, Airtel has reduced the validity of Rs 98 packs in Delhi by half, from 28 days to 14 days as well as data usage limit.

The companies did not specify the date or time from when these rates were changed. They are required to file changes in tariff structures with TRAI.

This is the second hike in 2G Internet rates by these companies in less than a year. — PTI 

New Delhi, October 15
Most IT organisations are facing accelerating pressure for fundamental transformation, including embracing digitalisation in order to survive and stay competitive, Gartner Inc. has said in its prediction for IT organisations and users for 2014 and beyond.

The research organisation’s annual prediction on industry trends titled "Top Industries Predicts 2014: The Pressure for Fundamental Transformation Continues to Accelerate" features 12 strategic planning assumptions that CIOs, senior business executives and IT leaders should factor into their enterprise planning and strategy-setting initiatives.

"Transformation remains a critically important phenomenon across all industries. Many industries will face intense challenges in 2014 and beyond, and will have no choice but to radically change their established business models," said Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, vice-president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.

"Last year saw many industry decision-makers focusing on adopting new technologies to improve business operations by addressing developments such as the Nexus of Forces, the convergence of social, mobile, cloud and information. Today, by contrast, leaders are significantly shifting their business models and processes."

Harris-Ferrante said this trend is driven in part by the challenges of consumer empowerment and market commoditisation, which in many ways are greater than in the past, and are particularly difficult for traditional enterprises to address.

The need to digitalise the business and be customer-centric is also crucial, and requires new approaches to information delivery, communication and transactions.

Mumbai, October 15
Shares of Aditya Birla-promoted firms such as Hindalco Industries and AB Nuvo today ended the day on a mixed note, after the CBI registered a case against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks in 2005.

Hindalco Industries' scrip that had tanked 4.97%to Rs 105.10 in intra-day trade, recouped the losses and finally ended the day with a gain of 1.45% at Rs 112.20 on the BSE. Similarly, Aditya Birla Chemicals was up 1.93%.

Shares of Aditya Birla Nuvo ended 2.02% lower, while Idea Cellular was down 0.08%.

Among others, shares of Grasim fell by 0.33%, and Aditya Birla Money shed 4.79%.

After registering the fresh FIR, its 14th in the multi-crore scandal, coordinated searches were carried out by CBI teams at nearly six locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bhubaneshwar.

The agency has booked Birla as a representative of Aditya Birla Group and his group company, aluminium maker Hindalco, for alleged corruption in the allocation of Talabira two coal blocks in Odisha which was allotted to it on November 10, 2005, CBI sources said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Tata Sky launches app for mobiles
New Delhi: Tata Sky on Tuesday launched a new application that allows watching live television programmes on mobile phones as the company looks to popularise its brand further. Named 'Everywhere TV', the company said it will charge Rs 60 per month from its existing customers, who can initially watch over 50 channels on their mobile phones. — PTI

Markets closed today
New Delhi: All the wholesale commodity markets, including metal and steel, will remain closed on Wednesday on account of 'Id-ul-fitr'. The stock markets (BSE and NSE), forex, money markets and all commodity futures markets will also be closed. — PTI

Gold plunges
New Delhi: Gold dropped by Rs 225 to Rs 30,550 per 10 grams in the national capital on Tuesday on sluggish demand at prevailing higher levels amid a weak global trend. On the other hand, silver plunged Rs 520 to Rs 47,050 per kg on reduced offtake by jewellers and industrial units. — PTI

HomeShop18 festive offer
Jalandhar: HomeShop18 has announced a special festive campaign — ‘Abki Diwali...India's Blockbuster deals’ — across the country. The customers can win LED TVs everyday on the purchase of products telecast on HomeShop18 shows. — TNS

Karbonn unveils new smartphones
New Delhi: Domestic handset maker Karbonn on Tuesday launched four 2G and 3G-enabled smartphones in the Rs 5,500-7,500 range. — PTI