Knowledge Portal

Nissan looking to triple sales in India this fiscal
25/05/2013
Nissan Motors India, a subsidiary of Japan’s Nissan Motor Co, is looking to almost triple its sales in the domestic market to about 1 lakh vehicles in FY14 against the 37,000-units sold during the previous financial year.“We have new models coming in, and we are going to increase the number of dealers,” said Kenichiro Yomura, President of Nissan’s India operations. “We need to improve our marketing communications,” he added.During the year, the company will launch four models — two refresher models and two new models — of which one will be from its Datsun brand. The first launch could be as early as July, said Yomura. He, who is also the Managing Director and CEO of Nissan Motors India Pvt Ltd (NMIPL), added that the company will increase its dealer network to 145 by the end of this fiscal. As of March 31, 2013, the automaker’s dealer network stood at 95.

3G: Centre seeks contempt proceedings against Idea Cellular, others
25/05/2013
The government Friday asked the Delhi High Court to initiate contempt proceedings against Idea Cellular, the chairman of the telco's parent company Kumar Mangalam Birla and five other top executives of the mobile operator for allegedly violating a recent court order that barred it from signing up new 3G customers outside its licensed zones.The telecom department (DoT), in its petition, said Idea Cellular was in 'blatant violation' of the Delhi High Court's April 12 orders, which said the company could continue offering 3G services to existing customers in areas where it did not have these licences,

RIL-BP make huge gas discovery in KG-D6 block
25/05/2013
Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday announced a huge natural gas discovery, possibly the biggest find ever, in the flagging eastern offshore KG-D6 block that will be key to arresting falling output. RIL and its partner BP Plc of UK encountered 155 metres of gas pay zone in the first exploration well drilled on the block in more than five years.Also Read: FM should not rob oil companies to show a lower deficit The well was drilled two kilometres below the existing producing D1 and D3 fields. "The KGD6-MJ1 well was drilled in a water depth of 1,024 metres - and to a total depth of 4,509 metres (4.5 kilometres below seabed)," RIL-BP said in a statement. The well was drilled to explore the prospectivity of a Mesozoic synrift clastic reservoir lying over 2,000 metres below the already producing reservoirs in the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) gas fields.

Sale of USL shares to Diageo gets HC nod
25/05/2013
The world's largest spirits maker Diageo is now a step closer to picking up a stake in United Spirits (USL) in what will be a R11,166-crore ($2.1 billion) deal — the largest inbound investment after BP's $9 billion in oil and gas blocks in the KG-D6 basin and the $8-billion acquisition of Cairn India by Vedanta. On Friday, the Karnataka High Court allowed the sale of 13.61 million shares in USL, held by United Breweries Holdings (UBHL), a transaction that had been stalled by creditors who had filed winding-up petitions. The court has also ordered the holding company to deposit R250 crore with the court after closing the deal, directing it to retain any further balance from the sale and not create new pledges or encumbrances on assets till the winding up petitions were disposed of. It is not clear at this stage if the petitioners will go in appeal against the order. The USL stock hit a lifetime high of R2,586, ending the session at R2,569.50, up 6.55% on the BSE in a flat market.

FDA crackdown on Indian drug firms no witch hunt
25/05/2013
India's generic drug industry can't grudge the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the penal actions it has taken against some of its poster boys recently. This is because the FDA apparently maintains a high degree of objectivity in its actions. The FDA's meticulousness and stringency of parameters, though of a much higher order compared with Indian authorities', allows for giving a proper hearing to companies found to violate its norms and a system of graded penalties, irrespective of nationality.

Fortis to get Rs. 1,452 crore for stake sale in Dental Corp
25/05/2013
Fortis Healthcare today said its Singapore based subsidiary will receive 270.38 million Australian dollars (around Rs. 1,452 crore) on completion of its stake sale in Dental Corporation Australia to Bupa Australia Health. "Supreme Court of Victoria on May 24, 2013 approved the scheme of arrangement for Bupa Australia Health Pty Ltd to complete its full acquisition of Dental Corporation Holdings Ltd and consequently, Bupa will acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Dental Corporation at completion on May 31, 2013," Fortis Healthcare said in a statement.

Jet Airways Q4 net loss widens to Rs 495.53 cr
25/05/2013
Jet Airways today reported a net loss of Rs 495.53 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 compared to loss of Rs 298.12 crore in the same period year-ago. Total income from operations declined to Rs 3,921.92 crore in the March quarter from Rs 4,041.61 crore in the year ago period, Jet Airways said in a filing to the BSE.

RBS India to shut 7 branches and restructure retail, commercial banking business
25/05/2013
Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday said it will shut seven bank branches to consolidate its retail and commercial banking business in the country. The winding down of the bank's retail and small and medium enterprises business was announced in November 2012. The bank's retail and commercial banking assets could be to the tune of Rs3,000 crore. As a apart of the restructuring exercise the bank is also considering sale of these assets to some domestic and foreign banks.

Post Ranbaxy fiasco, Wockhardt faces a hit as US FDA bans imports over quality concerns
24/05/2013
Wockhardt has been banned from exporting products from its Aurangabad factory to the US after that country's food and drug regulator issued an 'import alert', citing concerns over the quality of drugs manufactured at the plant.An import alert is issued when the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has sufficient evidence to believe that quality of drugs produced at a plant has been compromised, and is intended to stop further sale of such medicines in the US market.

SBI Q4 net profit falls 19% on higher provisioning, decline in net interest margin
24/05/2013
State Bank of India (SBI) has reported a 19% drop in fourth quarter net profit owing to a fall in net interest margin and a rise in provision to cover bad loans while it expects more strain in terms of asset quality as many companies are facing a demand constraint.The country's largest lender, which serves as a barometer to the whole banking sector in the country, said the pressure on asset quality have continued and it expects further strain from the Rs 43,000-crore restructured asset books. It expects to restructure 21 accounts totalling Rs 2,000 crore in the first quarter.

Tata Steel in Rs6,528-cr Q4 loss on impairment
24/05/2013
Tata Steel on Thursday reported a consolidated net loss for the three months to March 2013 at R6,528.51 crore, the result on a non-cash goodwill and impairment charge, of R8,356 crore, taken by the company for assets in Europe, Thailand and India. In the corresponding quarter of FY12, the company had reported a profit of R433.6 crore. The company has invested £1 billion in its European operations in the past three years and has also mothballed and sold parts of the business. The steelmaker said there were no assets on the block currently, but added it might consider a sale if there was an opportunity to realise value. “Reviewing the portfolio is an ongoing process and we have not put any business on sale right now. However, it could happen tomorrow if we see an opportunity,” Tata Steel group CFO Koushik Chatterjee said after the announcement of the results.

Canara Bank to raise up to $1 bn from overseas mkt next week
24/05/2013
State-owned Canara Bank today said it will begin the process of raising up to $1 billion (about Rs 5,487 crore) through bonds next week from the overseas market to fund global business expansion."We are targeting to raise $1 billion from bonds. We are going for roadshows to Singapore, Hong Kong and London between May 27 and May 31. The issue will be out on those days," Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director R K Dubey said here.The funds raised would be utilised for growth of overseas business of the bank, he said.The bank has five overseas branches at London, Leicester, Shanghai, Manama and Hong Kong.

Daimler to export Fuso trucks from Chennai plant
24/05/2013
Daimler’s manufacturing plant in Chennai is set to begin exports to Asia and Africa.The plant in Oragadam, an industrial hub to the west of Chennai, produces the BharatBenz range of trucks for the domestic market.These will also be rebadged and exported under the Fuso umbrella to over 15 markets.The first market will be Sri Lanka in June, followed by Bangladesh, Zambia, Kenya and Brunei later this year.Strong demand The Fuso brand of trucks, owned by Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), is sold in over 150 markets worldwide. MFTBC is a member of the Daimler Trucks division of Daimler AG, which owns 89.29 per cent stake in the corporation.

Jyothy Labs to restrict own detergent, soap brands to south
24/05/2013
Jyothy Labs plans to restrict its Ujala washing powder to the southern markets for now and withdraw premium variant Ujala Technobright from its portfolio due to intense competition in the detergent category.Apart from Kerala, the home-grown fast moving consumer goods company is now taking its Ujala washing powder to the rest of the southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, rather than ensuring a pan-India presence. Jyothy entered the detergent category nearly seven years ago and has a 17 per cent share in Kerala. Hindustan Unilever’s Sunlight reigns with a 23 per cent market share.

Daiichi pursuing legal action on ex-shareholders
23/05/2013
Daiichi Sankyo, the Japanese parent of Ranbaxy Laboratories, today said it believes that certain shareholders of the Indian company concealed and misrepresented critical information. The company is now pursuing legal remedies.“Daiichi Sankyo believes that certain former shareholders of Ranbaxy concealed and misrepresented critical information concerning the US DOJ (Department of Justice) and FDA investigations. Daiichi Sankyo is currently pursuing its available legal remedies and cannot comment further on the subject at this time,” Daiichi Sankyo said in a statement posted on its website.Early last week, Ranbaxy pleaded guilty of making fraudulent statements to the US food and drugs Administration (US FDA) about how it tested drugs at two of its Indian plants and agreed to pay $500 million as penalty.

L&T Q4 net down 7% to Rs 1,788 cr on high finance costs
23/05/2013
Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the multinational conglomerate which is also the country’s largest engineering and construction company, says profit in the March quarter fell seven per cent, due to a sharp rise in interest cost.Despite a weak investment climate, it exceeded its order inflow target. The company reported Rs 1,788 crore net profit for the quarter, the fourth one in 2012-13, as against Rs 1,920 crore for the same period last year. The stock fell 5.6 per cent to Rs 1,517 on Wednesday, as the result was below Street estimates. Analysis: Larsen & Toubro's bonus beats logic A M Naik, the executive chairman, said the company would overcome the challenges because of its diversified portfolio and increased expansion in international markets. The company expects a 20 per cent increase in order intake and 15-16 per cent rise in revenue for 2013-14. In FY2013, L&T got orders worth Rs 88,000 crore.

Jet to seek Sebi exemption to divest promoter holding
23/05/2013
Jet Airways promoter Tailwinds Limited is said to be looking at seeking an exemption from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for divesting equity shares of the company in order to comply with the minimum 25 per cent public floating requirement prior to the proposed preferential allotment of shares to Etihad Airways.In an application to the Foreign investment Promotion Board (FIPB), Etihad Airways said, “Tailwinds Limited, an existing promoter of the Company (Jet Airways), will seek an exemption from SEBI for divesting equity shares of the company in the manner approved by SEBI in order to comply with the minimum 25 per cent public floating requirement prior to the proposed preferential allotment of equity shares to the investor (Etihad Airways).”

Crisis in coal could drag growth to pits
23/05/2013
With coal demand rising by over 10% annually and domestic supplies rising just 3-4%, India’s coal imports have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 23% over the past five years. In terms of rupees, the increase in coal imports has been about 15% (CAGR) during these years.The coal import bill soared a whopping 75% between 2008-09 and 2012-13. In April-December last year, the period up to which data are available, India imported coal worth R64,852 crore ($11.9 billion), up 72% over the same period five years ago. As a share of the current account deficit, however,

ITC pips Hindustan Unilever to become India's leading branded food and beverages company
22/05/2013
ITC has overtaken Hindustan Unilever in branded food and beverages sales a decade after it entered the business, giving a shot in the arm to YC Deveshwar's ambition of making the cigarette maker India's largest FMCG firm. ITC, the maker of Sunfeast biscuits and Bingo chips, has posted branded food sales of over 4,600 crore in 2012-13, a 24% growth over the previous year, said a person with direct knowledge of the development. The number will be disclosed officially in its annual report, to be released next month. When contacted, an ITC spokesperson refused comment.

Vodafone eyes pan-India rollout of 3G network; open to buying spectrum from rivals
22/05/2013
Having earned Rs 2,000 crore from data in the last fiscal, a 50% jump when compared to the year-ago period, the Indian arm of Vodafone wants to build a pan-India 3G network and is open to buying airwaves on this platform from other mobile phone companies, a top official in the company said.Vodafone has 3G airwaves in 11 circles and offers nationwide high-end data services through roaming pacts with Bharti AirtelBSE 2.02 % and Idea Cellular, but it has been restrained from adding new data customers in circles where it does not own 3G bandwidth.

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