RCom, GTL Infra may edge higher after merging towers operations

Reliance Communications (Rcom) has agreed to merge its telecoms communication towers business with that of GTL Infrastructure. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the combined operations would have an enterprise value of over $11 billion and would own more than 80,000 towers, with more than 125,000 tenancies from over 10 operators. Reports suggested that GTL Infrastructure's chairman Manoj Tirodkar will own 30% to 35% of the combined tower business and Ambani's Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group will own 26%, with shareholders in the two firms holding the remainder. Tata Motors' board meets today, 28 June 2010, to consider various options for raising long term capital funds. The Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries (RIL) reportedly plans to sell 2.5 acres of land in Central Mumbai to realty major Wadhwa Group. The land, located at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), is expected to be sold for around Rs 1,000 crore. The 2.5-acre plot is part of a 18.5-acre piece of land that Reliance Industries had purchased for Rs 1,104 crore from the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) at an auction in 2006, reports suggested. The transaction is reportedly likely to be sealed in about a month's time. Gujarat Foils will invest Rs 26 crore to expand its pharmaceutical packaging and printed aluminium foil capacities. The project is likely to start in July 2010 and will be commissioned by July 2011. Mahindra & Mahindra reportedly plans to invest Rs 250 crore into aerospace business. Mahindra will invest Rs 150 crore into aircraft component manufacturing, and another Rs 100 crore in aircraft manufacturing. The group is reportedly open to inorganic opportunities to grow its aerospace business. Alembic's board will meet on 29 June 2010, to consider the proposal for corporate re-organisation, including de-merger of the division, etc. Fortis Hospitals, a division of Fortis Healthcare, reportedly expects a 30% jump in foreign patient inflow to over 5,000 due to rapidly growing medical tourism in India. According to reports, in calendar year 2009, Fortis had catered to nearly 4,000 medical tourists and it contributed 10% to the company's total revenue.

Bullion metals close little short of record high

Bullion metal prices ended higher on Friday, 25 June 2010 at Comex with gold closing a little shy of its all time record high. Weak dollar and downward revision of first quarter GDP figure pushed prices higher on Friday. But gold registered marginal weekly losses. Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies and also vice versa. Recently, the embattled euro has played stronger role in moving prices rather than dollar fluctuation. Bullion metals have registered increase in prices despite strong dollar in recent times and vice versa. On Friday, gold for August delivery ended at $1,256.2 an ounce, higher by $10.3 (0.8%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. During intra day trading, prices rose to a high of $1,259.5. Before this, last Friday, 18 June, prices rose to a high of $1263.7 during intra day trading. But for the week, gold ended little lower after witnessing four consecutive weekly gains. For the week, gold ended lower by 0.2%. Gold for June delivery had settled above $1,200 in early December 2009, only to pull back to $1,172 area and dip as much as the $1,050 vicinity in early February 2010. Gold ended May higher by 3%. For the month of April, gold ended higher by 6%. For the first quarter of this year, gold rose by 1.7%, its sixth quarterly rise. On a year to date basis, gold is higher by 14%. On Friday, July Comex silver futures ended higher by 37 cents (2.1%) at $19.11 an ounce. For the week, silver ended lower by 0.4%. For May, silver shed 1.1%. For the month of April, silver ended higher by 4.1%. For the first quarter of this year, silver rose by 3%. On a year to date basis, silver is higher by 7.4%. In the currency market on Friday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by 0.4%. On Friday, data showed that U.S. real gross domestic product for the first quarter was revised down to an increase of 2.7% annualized from the earlier estimate of a 3.0% rise. The change resulted largely from weaker consumer spending and a ballooning trade deficit. Gold had ended FY 2009 higher by 24%. Silver futures had ended 2009 up 50%. The dollar index had lost 4.2% against its counterparts last year.

Rupee at near 1-week high

Rupee strengthened to its highest in nearly a week on Monday, boosted by gains in the local sharemarket but traders would continue to watch the dollar's moves versus majors for direction. Rupee was at 46.15/16 per dollar after touching 46.07, its highest since June 22 and 0.3 percent above its close of 46.27/28 on Friday.

India Government Hikes Petrol, Diesel & LPG Prices

Petrol and diesel prices will rise by up to Rs 3.73 per litre, and households will have to pay an additional Rs 35 per cylinder, the government said. The poor man's cooking medium kerosene, meanwhile, will be dearer by Rs 3 a litre, it added. A major call was the government's decision to free petrol from all pricing controls while diesel prices were hiked by Rs two a litre, Oil Secretary S Sundareshan announced after the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers.

Hyundai Motor India aims to sell six lakh units this year

Hyundai Motor India aims to sell six lakh units in 2010, registering a seven percent jump from the 5.6 lakh vehicles it sold last year, a top company official Friday said. “In 2009, our market share was 20.6 percent. This year it will go up marginally by 0.1 percent,” Hyundai Motors India Limited managing director and chief executive H.W. Park said at the launch programme of the mid-size sedan, the new Verna Transform. He said last year, 52 percent of the company’s sales was within the country and the remaining 48 percent was from exports. “But this year, our domestic sale will surge to 57 percent,” Park said. The company is planning to come out with a small car in two year’s time. “It will have an engine capacity of 800-1000 cc,” Park said The company has also decided to phase out its premium hatchback Getz, and would focus on the high-selling I-20.

Tata-owned Corus CEO to quit

Chief executive officer of Tata-owned British steel maker Corus, Kirby Adams is to step down this October, media reports said. Adams, who will remain as an adviser to the Corus board, will be replaced by Karl-Ulrich Köhler, the company’s chief operating officer. The Sunday Times quoted senior steel industry sources as saying that Adams’s future had first been discussed at a meeting in Mumbai two months ago, following the closure of the Corus plant in Teesside in north-east England. The newspaper also quoted Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Steel, as saying: “In his time as chief executive of Tata Steel Europe, Kirby has effected a major turnaround of the business and he leaves the company very well placed for the future. We thank him for his contribution.” During his time at the company, Adams has been forced to reverse millions of pounds of monthly losses, caused by turmoil in the steel markets. He has also had to oversee thousands of job cuts at the company. These were particularly heavy at its Teesside plant after an international consortium walked away from a 10-year agreement to buy 80 percent of the output produced by part of the unit. In a statement, Corus said Adams had decided to return to Australia, where he first built his reputation at BlueScope Steel. It paid tribute to him for “restoring profitability” to the company. The Telegraph quoted Adams as saying: “I am very pleased that Karl is now taking on this role and I wish him every success.” Adam’s successor Köhler is a board member at Corus and he will join the board of the parent company, Tata Steel later this year. He previously worked at ThyssenKrupp Steel and has worked closely with Adams for restructuring the company since joining in February. Corus is in talks with SSI, a Thai steelmaker, about sale of the Teesside plant. It has retained Citigroup, the American bank, to advise it in the talks. The sticking point is likely to be the difficulty of integrating the plant with SSI’s other operations.

Sensex holding on to morning gains

A key index for Indian equities Monday was holding on to morning gains even as cues from Asian markets were quiet. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,577.66 points, was ruling at 17,661.99 points, 87.46 points or 0.5 percent up from its previous close at 17,574.53 points. The Sensex had climbed over 126 points in morning trade to 17,701.21 points. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was ruling at 5,296.35 points, up 0.52 percent from its previous close at 5,269.05 points. Broader markets indices too were in the green with the BSE midcap index ruling 0.59 percent higher and the BSE smallcap index 0.95 percent up. Oil and consumer durables stocks saw good buying.

Sensex climbs to intra-day high, Europe strong

A key index for Indian equities Monday rose to its intra-day high in afternoon trade with oil and gas stocks leading the climb. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,577.66 points, was ruling at 17,745 points, 170.47 points or 0.97 percent up from its previous close at 17,574.53 points. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was ruling at 5,322.35 points, up 1.01 percent from its previous close at 5,269.05 points. Broader markets indices too were in the green with the BSE midcap index ruling 0.94 percent higher and the BSE smallcap index 1.09 percent up. Oil, consumer durables, power and realty stocks saw good buying. Asian markets ended dull with a negative bias. The Japanese Nikkei ended 0.45 percent lower at 9,693.94 points, while the South Korean Kospi closed at 1,732.03 points, 0.13 percent up. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.17 percent up at 20,726.68 points. The Chinese Shanghai composite index too was in the red at 2,535.28 points, down 0.69 percent. European markets started strong, but gave up some of the gains on profit booking amid unclear signals from the G20 meeting. Leaders of the G20 countries left room for individual nations to manoeuvre their economies, leaving investors confused over what it would mean to the global economic revival process. In Britain, the benchmark index, FTSE 100 was ruling 0.57 percent higher at 5,075.02 points, while the French CAC 40 was up 0.87 percent at 3,550.38 points. The German DAX was trading 0.88 percent higher at 6,123.85 points.

Indian millionaires’ number up by 50 percent in 2009

Buoyed by strong stock markets, the net wealth of Asian millionaires is now more than that of their European counterparts for the first time while the number of millionaires in India has increased by 50 percent in 2009, according to a new survey by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Capgemini. In India, the number of millionaires has risen more than 50 percent to 126,756 in 2009. China, with 477,000 millionaires is fourth in the list of countries with maximum millionaires, after the US, Japan and Germany. The survey has found that there were three million millionaires in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region last year. The survey claims that the wealth held in Asia is around $9,700 billion, compared to $9,500 billion in Europe. Nick Tucker, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s operations for the UK and Ireland, told Financial Times: “It’s not a bubble. Asia has caught up with Europe in terms of its high-net worth population and their wealth.” The survey defines millionaires as people with net financial wealth of more than $1 million, excluding their primary residence. The wealth of the millionaires in both regions increased last year after the stock markets recovered from the slump of the previous year. According to the survey, North America continues to lead the millionaires list who last year numbered 3.1 million with $10,700 billion of worth. The number of British millionaires has gone up by 24 per cent from 2008 to 448,100.

Sensex ends flat, broader markets gain

A key index for Indian equities Wednesday closed flat in choppy and lacklustre trade ahead of the derivatives expiry Thursday and on negative global cues, although buying was seen in broader markets led by realty stocks.The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,694.87 points, shut shop at 17,755.94 points, 6.25 points or 0.04 percent up from its previous close at 17,749.69 points. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5,323.15 points, up 0.12 percent from its previous close at 5,316.55 points.Broader markets were in gains with the BSE midcap index ending 0.84 percent higher and the BSE smallcap index 0.7 percent up. The market breadth was tilted towards the positive, with 1,764 scrips on the advance, compared to 1,069 stocks declining, and 155 remaining unchanged.According to data with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), foreign institutional investors bought scrips worth $225.31 million Wednesday. Capital goods and metal scrips were under selling pressure, while realty and healthcare stocks saw buying.Among gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki, up 1.66 percent at Rs.1,407.35; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.66 percent at Rs.266.35; DLF, up 1.35 percent at Rs.291.75, and Infosys, up 1.1 percent at Rs.2,798.50. Prominent losers included L&T, down 3.08 percent at Rs.1,765.10; Jindal Steel, down 1.56 percent at Rs.661.45; NTPC, down 1.43 percent at Rs.196.65; and Sterlite Industries, down 1.43 percent at Rs.176.20. Asian markets were under selling pressure amid concern over the actual impact of the financial crisis on Euro zone banks after French bank Credit Agricole lowered the profit targets of its Greece unit.Also, poor US housing sector data had a negative impact on the markets, with analysts saying that the US Federal Reserve will give a not-so-positive economic outlook when its two-day meeting ends Wednesday. Overnight the Dow had closed 1.49 percent lower.The Japanese Nikkei ended at 9,923.7 points, down 1.87 percent, while the South Korean Kospi closed at 1,725.82 points, 0.33 percent lower.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shut 0.18 percent down at 20,856.61 points. The Chinese Shanghai composite index too was in the red at 2,569.87 points, down 0.73 percent. European markets were in the red after the US home sales data raised doubts over sustainability of the global economic recovery. Mining and financial stocks were particularly hit.In Britain, the benchmark index, FTSE 100 was ruling 0.5 percent lower at 5,220.69 points, while the French CAC 40 was down 0.66 percent at 3,680.96 points.The German DAX was trading 0.29 percent lower at 6,250.89 points.

Lenovo unveils 12 new products, sees double-digit market share

Personal computers (PC) major Lenovo Wednesday launched a dozen brand new products in the netbook, notebook, all-in-one and desktop categories for Indian consumers. “Our 12 new products across categories are based on the changing perspective of consumers, especially youth, about PCs being lifestyle enablers than mere computing devices,” Lenovo India Managing Director Amar Babu told reporters at a preview of the product range. The Chinese IT group, which acquired the IBM’s personal computing division in 2005 for $1.25 billion, had grown its business in India by about 100 percent in fiscal 2009 after a major slump in 2008 due to global meltdown and lower IT spending in the enterprise and consumer segments. “Our strategy for the Indian market is gaining momentum. The new product range will consolidate our presence in a competitive market and expand our reach across retail, home and small and medium (SMB) business,” Babu said. According to global market intelligence provider IDC (International Data Corporation), Lenovo’s market share in India grew by 2.5 percent to 7.2 percent in 2009-10 from 4.7 percent in the recession-hit 2008-09. “In the first quarter of 2010, our market share in India shot up to 8.9 percent and are hoping to register a double-digit growth in the next two years,” Babu said. In the Z series notebooks, Lenovo’s IdeaPad offers mainstream performance and multimedia features at affordable price. “We believe in adding value to our consumers PC by incorporating unique features that are not seen in the same product category. The new product range will raise the bar with value proposition to our customers,” Lenovo India Vice-President Alex Li said. Lenovo’s notebooks and netbooks are ergonomically designed with chic let keyboard, crystal clear high definition resolution display Dolby headphone technology, JBL speakers and new generation high-resolution camera. Though the Indian subsidiary has a production facility at Puducherry to assemble PCs and notebooks, the new products will be shipped from its Shanghai plant till sustainable volumes are built to manufacture them in large numbers. The netbooks, priced Rs.18,000-20,000 and notebooks Rs.32,000-40,000, will be marketed in the company’s 120 retail stores, 300 multi stores and six partners across the country.

Andhra aims third place in IT exports

Andhra Pradesh is targeting the third place in Information Technology exports in the country, a state government official said Wednesday. K. Ratna Prabha, principal secretary, IT, said the state, though started late in IT exports, has reached the fourth position. “Next year the state will reach third position,” she told a programme organised to announce that Hyderabad will host eINDIA 2010, India’s largest event on Information and Communication Technology. Karnataka tops in the IT exports in the country followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. She said the state, which started IT exports a decade ago, recorded Rs.32,000 crore IT exports during 2008-09. “The figures for 2009-10 are yet to be announced officially but the IT exports during the year reportedly stood at Rs.36,000 crore. The state has done well despite recession,” she said. The official said the state’s contribution to total IT exports from the country was 15 percent. “Karnataka is contributing 30 percent. We will work hard to touch that figure,” she said. Ratna Prabha also noted that the IT sector in Andhra Pradesh created 2.5 lakh direct and 10 lakh indirect jobs. P. Venugopal, Director, STPI (software technology parks of India), Hyderabad, said it would not be impossible to catch up with Karnataka in IT exports. “The cumulative exports from the state during last five years are higher than Karnataka. This shows we can compete with them,” he said.

World Bank loan to India to be $9.3 billion by June

The World Bank said Wednesday its total loan support to India will reach $9.3 billion by the end of the bank’s financial year in June. The World Bank follows the July-June financial year. “The total lending this year included $2.6 billion as interest-free credits from the International Development Association (IDA) and $6.7 billion in the form of long term, low interest loans from International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD),” said a Bank statement. About $3 billion of the financial aid was used in the government’s response to the global financial crisis, including capital infusion of public sector banks. Help for infrastructure development accounted for about 21 percent of the Bank’s total commitments to India this year. “While our annual lending this year represents a significant contribution for the Bank Group, it accounts for less than one percent of India’s gross domestic product, and is a modest sum given India’s vast needs,” said Roberto Zagha, World Bank country director in India. About 11 percent was directed at helping the government improve the quality of public services like schooling, irrigation, drinking water and sanitation. The government’s flagship primary education programme, the Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan, was given $750 million in assistance taking the total lending to the project at $1.1 billion over the years.

India’s food inflation accelerates to 16.9 percent

India’s annual food inflation moved up faster to 16.9 percent for the week ended June 12 due to higher prices of essential items like pulses, fruits and vegetables, official data showed Thursday.The food inflation was at 16.12 percent during the previous week. Data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed thesharp rise during the week under review was primarily due to higher prices of pulses like urad and moong, and fruits and vegetables. The index for primary articles remained significantly higher at 17.6 percent as the sub-index for non-food items logged a relatively faster jump of 18.86 percent. Following is the rise and fall in prices of some of the main commodities that form the sub-index for food articles over the past 52 weeks: Cereals: 5.11 percent Rice: 6.45 percent Wheat: 4.21 percent Pulses: 34.14 percent Vegetables: 4.32 percent Fruits: 13.55 percent Milk: 21.12 percent Potatoes: (-)36.99 percent Onions: (-)22.42 percent With the advent of the monsoon, policy makers are hoping that a depression in food prices will kick in soon, but the base effect of last fiscal might see inflation rise over a few more weeks before it eventually falls. Though pressure is building on the Reserve Bank of India to intervene, the country’s central bank has managed to hold off another policy rate revision to bring the situation under control. RBI governor D. Subbarao had said last week inflation was getting more broad-based, but the bank would continue to rely on its promise of a caliberated exit from a more relaxed monetary policy stance.Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Washington Tuesday the RBI is prepared to act “as and when considered necessary.”

India-US CEOs brainstorm to take business ties to new level

Top Indian and US business leaders and policymakers Tuesday began a brainstorming session to fine-tune ways of taking forward their business ties in key priority areas like trade and investment and an easier visa regime. The India-US CEOs Forum meeting provides an “opportunity of reviewing the identified areas where deficiencies exist and how to improve those deficiencies”, said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who leads the high-level Indian official team. The forum, with 12 top CEO’s from each side, was “rejuvenated” by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama during the Indian leader’s first state visit of the Obama presidency last November. The reconstituted forum then met to identify “areas where India and the USA could co-operate and work together in close co-operation” as mandated by Obama and Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee told a group of CEOs from both sides on the eve of Tuesday’s session. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia are also on the high-level official Indian team attending the CEO Forum meeting at the State Department. US Secretary of State Secretary Hillary Clinton is joining a luncheon co-hosted by Deputy Secretary Jim Steinberg and Under Secretary Robert Hormats for the forum, co-chaired by Tata group chairman Ratan Tata from the Indian side and Honeywell chief executive David M. Cote from the US side. The forum has defined six priority initiatives, which are promotion of trade and industry, creation of an infrastructure development fund, promote technology exchange in agriculture, bio-technology and nano technology, partner in skills development, set up an Indo-US Centre for Industrial R&D and establish a dispute resolution mechanism. Key issues identified for implementation by the forum in April 2008 included education and development of skills, funding of growth, research for alternative energy, visas, civil aviation and air traffic control, electricity. The Indian business team includes Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, Infosys Technologies CEO S. Gopalakrishnan, Bharti group chairman Sunil Bharati Mittal, ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh. Among those on the US side are Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi, Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit, United Technologies Corporation’s Louis Chenevert, JP Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon and McGraw Hill Companies chairman Terry McGraw. The forum was first constituted by Manmohan Singh and then US president George W. Bush in July 2005 with a mandate to develop a roadmap for increasing partnership and cooperation at the business level.

Tata Motors going steady as regards world truck sales

Tata Motors is moving steadily on marketing its high horse power world truck developed with south Korean subsidiary Tata Daewoo, a top company official said Tuesday. “We are doing concept marketing. We first understand a prospect’s goods carriage pattern and the route he carries. Only when we are satisfied that his interests will be best served with our world truck we would suggest our models,” President Ravi Pishorady told reporters here. He said as a policy the company sells the world truck along with the trailer. “We ensure that the prospect has two drivers for this high horse power (HP) truck as it is for long haul. Initially we sold 180HP trucks and now we sell 280HP models. We will be reaching 100 unit sales soon,” he said. He was here to participate in a company function to celebrate sales of 500,000 units of small goods carrier Ace since it was launched five years ago. Speaking about the success of the goods carrier, he said: “We sell around 11,000 units per month. Currently the production capacity is sufficient.” He said the total industry volume is around 18,000 units per month and is growing at a rate of 25 percent. “We have around five variants including passenger carriers. Though competition has increased we have the first mover advantage,” Pishorady added. Asked about the passenger variant Magic, he said the models sells around 5,000 units per month. He said the 0.5 tonne vehicle to carry passengers is being test marketed in Rajasthan.