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IT, steel industry expect Budget sops: CNBCTV18 Mint pollCNBCTV18, along with Mint, has done a Budget barometer survey with a clutch of companies from various sectors on what they expect from the Budget.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 4:38 pm Dabur ups stake in Fem to 92%; eyes growth in skin care bizDabur India has acquired 72.15% more in Fem Care. This acquisition would ensure strong entry into high growth skin care market. Dabur has the potential to extend the brands into newer and related skin care categories.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 3:19 pm GMR Infrastructure cancels QIP: SourcesGMR Infrastructure will not proceed with qualified institutional placement (QIP) reports CNBCTV18 quoting sources. It had earlier cut QIP size to USD 100200 million from USD 500 million.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 2:23 pm Monsoon rains bring smile, relief; farmers rejoice too - Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 2:19 pm India's external debt rises 2.4 per cent at USD 230 billion - Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 2:16 pm GE teams up with Geron for stem-cell researchBOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co is joining forces with U.S. biotech company Geron Corp to develop products from human embryonic stem cells that could be used to develop and test new drugs.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 2:11 pm Rupee gains 5.9 pct in qtr, best in 2 yrs - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 2:11 pm Rupee turns stronger by 20 paise to 47.90/91 a dollarMumbai: The Indian rupee turned stronger by 20paise to end at 47.90/91 against the dollar today as the US currency weakened against major world currencies in Asian trade. The domestic currency touched a two-week trading high of 47.80 but failed to sustain elevated levels as local stocks fell in afternoon trade, stroking fears of capital outflows. In active trade at the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market, the Indian unit moved in a range of 47.80 and 48.06 during the day after resuming at 47.95/97 a dollar against its last close of 48.10/11 a dollar. Forex dealers said there was good capital inflow in the last couple of days in equity markets amid dollar demand from oil refiners petering out as global oil prices firmed up. The dollar weakened against a basket of currencies in London as the global economy showed signs of stability. The Indian Sensex tumbled by 292 points or 1.97% while Asian indices closed mixed today. Global oil prices were traded above $73 a barrel level in Asian trade. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 2:06 pm Jet, Sahara fail to resolve dispute over buyout dealNew Delhi: A meeting of top officials of Sahara India and Jet Airways to resolve the dispute over the buyout of Sahara Airlines by the latter has not resulted in any settlement. A Sahara spokesperson confirmed that the meeting between top managements of the two companies took place recently to resolve the issues related to the Jet buyout of Sahara but no settlement was arrived at. Asked whether Jet officials had offered to pay Rs300 crore to settle the dispute, the Sahara spokesperson denied any such offer being made by Jet. A Jet spokesperson meanwhile declined to comment. The two companies are fighting a case in the Bombay High Court on the issue and the next hearing is to be held on Thursday. Sahara Commercial Corporation maintains that Naresh Goyal-led airline was liable to pay Rs2,000 crore for the deal instead of the renegotiated amount of Rs1,450 crore agreed between them. Jet bought Sahara Airlines from Sahara Group in April 2007 for Rs1,450 crore after an arbitration award. It paid Rs900 crore and agreed to pay the balance in four instalments. In March 2008, Income Tax department demanded tax dues of Rs107 crore from Sahara Airlines (now called JetLite). According to Jet, this amount was due from Sahara Group as it pertained to the period before the acquisition. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 2:03 pm Share sale frenzy hits bump, GMR Infra pullsMUMBAI (Reuters) - GMR Infrastructure called off a share sale on Tuesday because of poor investor demand even after slashing the size by four-fifths to $100 million, posing a challenge to other offers in the pipeline.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 2:00 pm Rupee gains 5.9 pct in qtr, best in 2 yrsMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian rupee rose 5.9 percent in April-June, clocking its biggest quarterly rise in two years, on robust foreign flows into the stock market and traders said next Monday's budget would set the trend for the coming months.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 1:57 pm Rupee turns stronger by 20 paise to 47.90/91 a dollarThe rupee turned stronger by 20 paise to end at 47.90/91 against the dollar today as the US currency weakened against major world currencies in Asian trade.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 1:25 pm Reforms can make India a better investment destination: WB - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 1:17 pm Sensex closes below 14500 ahead of budget - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 1:16 pm Sonia Gandhi opens India's first sea bridge - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 1:14 pm Apr-May fiscal deficit at 27.3% of annual target - India Infoline.com
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 1:04 pm Reforms can make India a better investment destination: WBNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India could top the list of business destinations among BRIC nations, if best practices and regulations followed by some cities are implemented by others, a report by World Bank said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 1:03 pm Tata Consultancy sees flat biz growth in Q1MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's top software services firm by sales, sees flat business growth in its fiscal first quarter that ended on Tuesday as economic downturn crimped outsourcing, its chairman said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 1:01 pm TCS sees flat business growth in Q1Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India’s top software services firm by sales, sees flat business growth in its fiscal first quarter that ended on Tuesday as economic downturn crimped outsourcing, its chairman said. “Our view for the immediate future is slow growth or no growth,” Ratan Tata told the company’s annual shareholders meeting. “The first three months will continue to be reasonably flat.” Tata Consultancy, which provides services such as consulting, system integration and managing call centres, has to “aggressively protect” its profit margins, he said, adding the company would transfer more jobs to its low-cost facilities in India. An army of low-cost English-speaking engineers has driven an outsourcing boom in India, but turmoil in global markets and a recession in the US, which accounts for more than half the sector’s revenue, have halted the scorching pace of growth. Earlier this month, Tata Consultancy’s chief financial officer, S. Mahalingam, said a slowdown in global demand for outsourcing had been halted but customers were still demanding lower prices. Tata Consultancy, which counts General Electric, Lloyds TSB Group, General Motors and French insurer AXA SA among its clients, posted a 4.6% rise in Jan-March net profit. This was the fifth consecutive quarter of single-digit year-on-year quarterly profit growth for the Tata Group firm, after seeing a rise of more than 20% in the previous quarters. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:53 pm Madoff To Rot Behind Bars - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:50 pm European stocks rise amid mixed economic dataLondon: Europe’s leading stock markets nudged upwards on Tuesday amid mixed economic data and following sharp rises in Tokyo and overnight on Wall Street. In late morning trading, London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 0.05% to 4,296.28 points. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 advanced 0.15% to 4,892.39 points and the Paris CAC 40 grew 0.04% to 3,194.86 points nearing the half-way stage. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares climbed 0.11% to 2,440.45 points. On the foreign exchange market, the European single currency rose to $1.4132. Investors digested news that Britain’s economy shrank in the first quarter at its sharpest pace in more than 50 years and data showing inflation in the 16 countries using the euro turned negative in June for the first time. The British economic growth data was “tempered by a rise in UK consumer confidence, getting to its best levels since April last year, suggesting that at least there are some who think we are over the worst of the recession,” said IG Index analyst Anthony Grech. British gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 2.4% in the first three months of the year from the final quarter of 2008, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. “This is the largest decrease since the second quarter of 1958,” the ONS said in a statement. On a year-on-year basis, Britain’s economy declined by 4.9% in the first quarter, the largest contraction since records began in 1948, and compared to the statistic office’s earlier estimate of minus 4.1%. In the area of company news, BP shares advanced 0.81% to 486.65 pence after the British oil giant and China’s CNPC International were unveiled as the first foreign firms in decades to win contracts to develop Iraq’s energy sector. The groups succeeded in their bid for the giant Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq, which has known reserves of 17.7 billion barrels, the Iraqi oil ministry announced. The contract was the first to be awarded in open tendering for six major oil fields and two gas fields, nearly four decades after Saddam Hussein’s party nationalized the Iraqi energy sector. The deals will provide the government with much-needed revenue as it struggles to rebuild the country after three wars and more than a decade of debilitating economic sanctions. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:46 pm BSE Sensex posts best qtrly rise in 17 yearsMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex fell 2 percent on Tuesday, but rallied by almost a half during April-June in its biggest quarterly gain in 17 years as investors rode on signs of an economic recovery and hopes for market-friendly policies.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:42 pm Sensex posts best quarterly rise in 17 yearsMumbai: Shares fell 2% on Tuesday, but rallied by almost a half during April-June in their biggest quarterly gain in 17 years as investors rode on signs of an economic recovery and hopes for market-friendly policies. The outlook for the coming quarter will depend upon how much Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ruling coalition lives up to market expectations for reforms such as further opening up the economy to foreign investors and stake sales in state companies. Progress of annual monsoon rains, which provide a lifeline to India’s trillion-dollar economy, the Union Budget next Monday and quarterly company results in July should set the trend. “Most positives are already factored in our prices, whereas disappointments are not. So, we don’t see much of upside from here,” said Ambareesh Baliga, vice-president of Karvy Stock Broking. The 30-share BSE index jumped 49.3% in the three months to 30 June, behind only Vietnam in Asia that rose around 60% in the quarter. It was the biggest rise for the benchmark since it soared 124.5% in the March quarter of 1992 when Manmohan Singh, who was then finance minister, kicked off economic reforms to open up the economy. Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the most weight in the index, fell 2.95% on Tuesday to Rs2,023.35, but leapt almost a third in the quarter. Private-sector lender ICICI Bank shed 3.6% to Rs722, but more than doubled in April-June. The index fell 1.97%, or 291.90 points, on Tuesday to 14,493.84 points, its biggest one-day percentage fall in nearly two weeks, as investors took profits ahead of the budget. The benchmark shed 0.9% in June, its first monthly drop since February. “Our understanding is that, in the July-September quarter, the market would be in a profit booking mode,” said Amitabh Chakraborty, president of equities at Religare Capital. GMR Infrastructure, part of the group in the consortium building the New Delhi airport, called off a share sale on Tuesday because of poor investor demand even after slashing the size by four-fifths to $100 million. Its shares fell 8.8% to Rs141.65. Companies in India had launched on Monday share sales for nearly $2 billion, hoping the stock market rally would have revived investor appetite. [ID:nBOM344747] In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers in the ratio of 2.4:1 on relatively heavy volume of nearly 500 million shares. The 50-share NSE Index closed 2.27% lower at 4,291.10 points. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:40 pm GMR to seek new fund routes post QIP withdrawal - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:24 pm GMR to seek new fund routes post QIP withdrawalMumbai: GMR Infrastructure Ltd will need to raise money for new projects in nine months, a top official said on Thursday, after it cancelled its fund-raising plan via qualified institutional placement. The builder of roads, airports and power projects will need funds for two road projects it is working on as well as any new project it may bid for, A Subba Rao, group chief financial officer said. GMR Infrastructure raises funds for new projects a year ahead of requirements and, “because of the run-up in the market”, decided to raise requirements via QIP, Rao said. But the issue was cancelled because of inadequate response. “QIP is not the only solution, there are several other capital raising issues, so if it doesn’t work out, or if the market becomes favourable, at a later date we may look at QIP itself,” he said. Selling stake in subsidiaries through private equity is one such alternative, he said. Money for the roads will be needed in 8-9 months when they reach financial closure. The two road projects cost Rs30 billion and GMR Infrastructure would need about Rs7.5 billion ($156 million) for their equity requirement, he added. The group has around Rs20 billion of cash, Rao said. GMR Infrastructure on Monday launched a $500 million share sale amid a flurry of equity offers by Indian firms. But, early on Tuesday, sources said the firm slashed the offer to $100 million. Later in the day, sources said the issue was cancelled and the company subsequently told the stock exchange that it has withdrawn its QIP due to market conditions. “We didn’t get the adequate response for our $500 million issue so the reduction wasn’t a comforting situation for us, though the bank was advising,” said Rao. “We withdrew because there is no point in raising $100-150 million when the growth capital requirement is higher,” he said. GMR Infrastructure shares ended down 8.79% at Rs141.65 in a Mumbai market that closed down 1.97%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:24 pm Iraq drives hard bargain at historic oil, gas saleBAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq auctioned contracts to run eight giant oil and gas fields on Tuesday as it sought to take charge of its own reconstruction after six years of war, but oil companies were reluctant to pay what it asked.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:15 pm Omaxe FY09 net dips 91% at Rs41.31 crMumbai: Realty developer Omaxe on Tuesday reported a 91% dip in its consolidated net profit for the financial year ended 31 March, 2009, to Rs41.31 crore. The company had a consolidated net profit of Rs494.87 crore during the 2007-08 fiscal, Omaxe said in a filing to the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The consolidated net sales of the realty firm plunged to Rs798.79 crore during the past fiscal from Rs2,281.61 crore a year earlier. On a standalone basis, Omaxe posted a net profit of Rs78.11 crore during the 2008-09 fiscal, down 80% compared to Rs398.80 crore in the previous year. The standalone net sales of the company dropped to Rs699.77 crore during the FY09 from Rs1,789.49 crore of FY08. Shares of Omaxe on Tuesday closed at Rs99.40, down nearly 5% on the NSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:14 pm India-EU summit in New Delhi on Nov 6: KrishnaIndia and the EU have agreed to hold their annual summit in New Delhi on November 6 to take forward their strategic partnership, external affairs minister S M Krishna has said.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:13 pm Oil pushes past $72 on Nigerian unrest!Oil prices rose above USD 72 in Asian trade on Tuesday as tensions in Nigeria, a key African crude producer, rattled investor sentiment, analysts said.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:13 pm Apple says Steve Jobs back on job!Apple CEO Steve Jobs has returned to the company he founded following a six month medical leave during which he had a liver transplant, the company said Monday.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:13 pm Infrastructure expands by 2.8% in May!The six core industries grew by 2.8 per cent in May 2009 against 3.1 per cent in the same month last year on improved production in cement, coal and electricity.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:13 pm Sensex gains 121 points on firm global cues!The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by over 121 points in early trade today on heavy buying in oil and gas, metals and capital goods stocks following firm global markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:13 pm Kosovo becomes 186th member of IMF!Kosovo on Tuesday became the 186th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after its President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi signed the IMF`s original Articles of Agreement at a ceremony here.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:13 pm Gold down, silver up by Rs 200Subdued demand weighed on the gold prices in the bullion market, while silver rose by Rs 200 to Rs 22,750 per kg on good buying.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:03 pm QlikTech, Path Infotech enter strategic pactHyderabad: QlikTech, a global business intelligence (BI) company has entered into a strategic partnership with Path Infotech, a provider of software solutins and services in India. “Customers will benefit from the combined power of QlikTech’s business intelligence offerings and Path Info Tech’s rich expertise in providing software services”, said QlikTech regional manager, India and South Asia, Raghunathan, in a release on Tuesday. He said, “Together, QlikTech and Path Infotech are both focused on enabling Indian businesses utilise their IT implementations to deliver business value.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:03 pm Lenovo to launch 50 products in consumer segment this yearNew Delhi: Bullish on the consumer segment, Chinese computer giant Lenovo today said it will launch 50 new products this year to strengthen its product portfolio. “India is a very important market for us and we will launch a series of products in the market here...The conusmer segment has seen a strong demand and we will launch 50 products in this segment this year,” Lenovo India managing director Amar Babu told reporters in Delhi. Lenovo on Tuesday launched seven new notebooks and netbooks in the Indian market in the Rs22,500 - Rs1.04 lakh price range as a part of the consumer segment, which comprises about 40% of the Indian revenues. The company sells about 150,000 units quarterly. “The notebooks would currently be imported, but as the demand increases, we can look at production here,” Babu said. The company has a manufacturing facility in Pondicherry with a capacity of three million units annually. According to IDC’s report on PC shipment for the January-March 2009 period, Lenovo’s market share came down to 4.7% in the said period from 6.6% in Q4 in 2008. “This was a result of the slowdown in PC shipments in general as well as enterprise purchases being slow. But, over the next quarters we expect the demand to rise on the back of government buying and also a strong demand from the consumer segment,” Babu said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:57 am Airlines lost over $3 bn in Q1 of 2009: IATAGeneva: More than 60 airlines lost more than $3.0 billion during the first three months of this year in the face of a steep fall in demand, the top industry association IATA said on Tuesday. “This deterioration was before the recent rise in fuel prices and was due mostly to the fall in revenues, as a sharp fall in yields added to the impact of weak travel and freight volumes,” said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The negative results are consistent with IATA’s full-year loss forecast of about $9.0 billion, said the association. But they contrasted sharply to the $405 million profit made by the airlines during the same period last year. European carriers posted the biggest losses during the first quarter of 2009, totaling $2.08 billion. Asian-Pacific airlines showed losses of $822 million while North American carriers posted losses of $574 million. Middle Eastern airlines posted a profit of $291 million, but this was a fraction of the 1.69 billion profit they earned during the same quarter last year. Only Latin American carriers improved their earnings, with $139 million in profits for the quarter, up from 120 million year-on-year. A slump in air passenger traffic accelerated in February and March, reaching double-digits, before stabilizing in April, IATA statistics showed. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:42 am Airlines lost over $3 bn in Q1 of 2009: IATAGeneva: More than 60 airlines lost more than $3.0 billion during the first three months of this year in the face of a steep fall in demand, the top industry association IATA said on Tuesday. “This deterioration was before the recent rise in fuel prices and was due mostly to the fall in revenues, as a sharp fall in yields added to the impact of weak travel and freight volumes,” said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The negative results are consistent with IATA’s full-year loss forecast of about $9.0 billion, said the association. But they contrasted sharply to the $405 million profit made by the airlines during the same period last year. European carriers posted the biggest losses during the first quarter of 2009, totaling $2.08 billion. Asian-Pacific airlines showed losses of $822 million while North American carriers posted losses of $574 million. Middle Eastern airlines posted a profit of $291 million, but this was a fraction of the 1.69 billion profit they earned during the same quarter last year. Only Latin American carriers improved their earnings, with $139 million in profits for the quarter, up from 120 million year-on-year. A slump in air passenger traffic accelerated in February and March, reaching double-digits, before stabilizing in April, IATA statistics showed. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:42 am SBI launches two new home loan products at attractive ratesMumbai: The country’s largest lender State Bank of India on Tuesday introduced a new home loan scheme under which it offer loans up to Rs30 lakh at fixed rates of 8% for the first year and 9% for the next two years. The bank’s earlier offer of home loans at a fixed rate of 8% for the first year ended Tuesday. Under the new scheme, customers will have two options in the fourth year: a floating rate at 2% below State Bank Advance Rate (SBAR), which is currently at 11.75%,, or a fixed rate of 1% below SBAR with a five year re-set. A re-set means new rates will come into effect at the end of the specified period. For loans above Rs30 lakh, the interest rate charged from the fourth year will be either a floating rate at 1% below the existing SBAR or a fixed rate of 0.5% below SBAR with a five year re-set. SBI has a home loan portfolio of at least Rs56,000 crore. The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and member public sector banks in December had announced home loans, in which borrowing of up to Rs5 lakh was offered at 8.5%, and between Rs5 lakh and Rs20 lakh at 9.25%. Both rates were fixed for five years. However, SBI launched its own scheme instead of the five-year fixed rate scheme, offering a lower rate of 8% fixed for only one year. The IBA scheme also ended Tuesday. According to a senior banker with a large public sector bank, IBA will likely come up with a new home loan scheme within a day or two similar to the scheme introduced in December last year. In a separate development, LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) Housing Finance on Tuesday announced a reduction in interest rates for its existing home loan borrowers. The floating interest rates for existing customers will now be reduced by 50 basis points on EMIs due on 1 July and payable on 1 August, a company statement said. One basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point. With this latest reduction, the third by LIC Housing Finance in the calendar year, the total reduction has reached 200 basis points in the last six months. The company had earlier reduced 1.50% for existing home loan borrowers in two tranches of 75 basis points each in January and April. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:34 am Rights issue likely by July end: FortisNew Delhi: Hospital chain Fortis Healthcare Ltd expects to launch a Rs10 billion rights issue in July, its finance chief said on Tuesday. “What appears to us is that by end of July, we should be able to open the issue,” Yogesh Sarin said over the telephone. “If not end of July, then first week of August.” The New Delhi-based firm had filed for the issue earlier this year, and plans to use the proceeds to fund its expansion. Fortis has 28 hospitals with 3,280 beds. It has a target of 40 hospitals by 2012, and has said it would build new facilities or buy out other hospitals. Since the year began, it has taken stakes in hospitals in Mauritius, Bangalore, Kota and Mumbai. It is also building a hospital in New Delhi, which will come on board by the year end. Media reports say Fortis is in talks to buy a stake or some assets of Wockhardt Hospitals. Wockhardt’s chairman also indicated on Monday that Fortis could be one of the suitors. Both Sarin and chief executive Bhavdeep Singh declined to confirm the talks, or on how many deals Fortis was pursuing. “We can only confirm the greenfield that we now are working on 600 beds in the next 12-18 months,” Singh said, referring to the New Delhi hospital. “Having said that, we think we have enough opportunities burning in the fire that we are comfortable with our (2012) target,” he added. Fortis on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter profit of Rs47.8 million, compared with a loss of 98.9 million a year ago, helped by lower expenses such as interest costs, the officials said. Income from operations rose 31% to Rs1.7 billion. Sarin said all but one of Fortis’ hospitals were profitable on an Ebitda basis. Shares in the firm, which the market values at about Rs21.5 billion, are up 44% so far in the year, compared with the broader index’s 50% rise. By 3:14 p.m., they were trading about 5% down at Rs95.20 in a weak Mumbai market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:22 am Sensex tumbles on profit selling ahead of BudgetIn choppy trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Tuesday tumbled nearly two per cent on profit-booking by investors ahead of the general Budget amid a weak opening at European markets.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:16 am Top EU transport official calls for worldwide airline blacklistBrussels: EU transport commissioner Antonio Tajani called on Tuesday for a worldwide blacklist of unsafe airlines after a Yemeni airliner crashed off the coast of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros. “My idea is to propose a worldwide blacklist similar to the one we have in the European Union,” Tajani told journalists in Brussels. “If we want to achieve better safety I’m convinced that we need to have a worldwide blacklist, the European blacklist works pretty well in Europe,” he said. “It would be a safety guarantee for all” “Otherwise it’s going to be difficult to have an adequate level of safety.” France’s transport minister said that French inspectors had noted numerous faults on the Yemenia jet that crashed Tuesday with 153 people on board and the company was already being closely monitored by EU authorities. Tajani said that commission experts would be contacting Yemenia and that the European blacklist would be updated soon, noting that the airline was not currently on the list. He said they would try “to find out what happened and to check the level of safety” as far as the plane was concerned. The Yemenia flight started in a Paris airport Monday when an Airbus A330-200 aircraft took off for Marseille and then on to the Yemeni capital Sanaa. There passengers changed to an Airbus A310 and departed for the Comoros via Djibouti. “It’s a shame that they changed aircraft, because the controls in Europe are very, very severe and we have a blacklist, but this blacklist is only valid in Europe,” Tajani said. The EU’s blacklist, which is regularly updated, contains the names of more than 200 airlines or firms of concern which are either banned from operating in Europe or only allowed under strict restrictions. Most of the airlines targetted operate out of Africa, mainly in Angola, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Swaziland. Some of them do not operate in Europe, but their inclusion would undoubtedly be bad for business. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:14 am African fund invests $93.75 million in Essar Telecom KenyaEssar Telecom Kenya Holdings Ltd (ETKHL) announced today that Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund has pumped in funds to expand Essar's East African operations.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:06 am Fiscal deficit crosses 27% of target in first two monthsFiscal deficit of the Union government shot up to Rs 90,758 crore for the first two months of the current fiscal, already 27.3% of the budget estimate.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:03 am Hindalco 2008-09 profit tumbles 78%Mumbai: Hindalco Industries Ltd, India’s top aluminium maker, on Tuesday reported an almost 80% slump in consolidated profit for the year to March, hit by weak demand and falling commodity prices. Hindalco, which bought Canada’s Novelis in 2007, reported consolidated net profit of Rs4.85 billion ($101 million) in 2008/09, compared with Rs21.93 billion a year earlier. Net sales rose to Rs656.25 billion from 600.13 billion. Last year, aluminium prices fell as the global economic slowdown hit demand for raw materials such as aluminium, used in automotive and construction industry. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 11:00 am HCL inks five year deal with Dr Pepper SnappleNew Delhi: HCL Technologies on Tuesday said it has bagged a five-year deal from US-based flavoured beverage producer Dr Pepper Snapple Group. Under the agreement, HCL would provide IT application and infrastructure operations to DPS, HCL said in a statement, without revealing any financial details of the deal. HCL would assist DPS in the areas of application support and maintenance, end-user computing, integrated service desk and network management, the statement added. HCL would also provide managed print services for DPS which would be delivered through its partnership with Xerox. DPS is an existing client of the Indian IT firm. “With a customer like DPS, we continue to expand our leadership in our consumer packaged goods vertical and bring on new staff at our new facility in North Carolina,” HCL America president Shami Khorana said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:57 am United Spirits raises Rs 1,100 cr via treasury stock saleUSL raised Rs 1,100 crore via selling treasury stock in two block deals. Confirming the development, Ravi Nedungadi, Chief Financial Officer and PresidentFinance, UB Holdings, said, USL had Rs 1.8 crore treasury shares, part of which was sold, and the company is still left with Rs 50 lakh shares. The company has sold stake to longonly funds.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:54 am US banks tread warily around Bharti-MTN dealHong Kong / Washington: A big jump in the number of mobile phone subscribers in Iran last quarter was welcome news for MTN Group, but potentially troublesome for US banks eyeing a role in the South African telco’s planned $20 billion-plus merger. When MTN and India’s Bharti Airtel first discussed a tie-up more than a year ago, MTN had around 6 million users in Iran. Its business there, and in Sudan and Syria, has since grown -- a fact that has not escaped US banks milling around the deal. Nobody in Washington DC is saying publicly that US banks should be barred from playing a role in the merger of the two emerging market telecom companies. Not yet, anyway. But MTN’s annual report says 13 percent of its 2008 revenues came from Iran, Sudan and Syria -- three states where the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sets tough restrictions on US firms, effectively banning them from most direct and indirect dealings due to US sanctions. The number of MTN’s subscribers in Iran alone rose 14% to 18.2 million last quarter. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch is advising MTN on the deal, with Deutsche Bank . Sources involved in the offer say Goldman Sachs is advising Bharti shareholder Singapore Telecommunications, which owns 31% of the Indian company. Both BofA and Goldman declined to comment. Several other US banks are in talks to provide financing for the merger plan, sources say, which involves Bharti and MTN buying into each other to create the world’s No.3 wireless group. While US lenders would like a cut of the deal, sources at the banks say there is a lot of discussion at top levels to determine how to proceed within the boundaries of OFAC. The sanctions were imposed by US presidential orders over the years for a range of issues including attacks on Persian Gulf shipping, alleged state sponsorship of terrorism, assassinations and human rights violations. A US Treasury official declined to comment on the MTN-Bharti advisory work by US banks, but said there was some room within OFAC rules for US companies to deal cautiously with situations involving deals with foreign firms that have subsidiaries in the sanctioned areas -- as long as they are not facilitating transactions with the sanctioned countries. “US persons are not necessarily prohibited from dealing with third-country firms that do business in sanctioned countries, although they should approach such dealings carefully,” said the official, who was not authorised to speak publicly about OFAC’s enforcement of sanctions. For investment banks with advisory or underwriting fees at stake, that interpretation has created two schools of thought. One is a more liberal view of the sanctions, which appear to have some wiggle-room when it comes to mandates and financings that are “third-country” as opposed to dealing directly with a company whose headquarters are in a sanctioned country. Then there is the conservative view, which sources say has led some bankers and lawyers to steer clear of a Bharti-MTN type deal on the premise that facilitating such a transaction toes too close to OFAC, even though the merger indirectly involves the sanctioned areas. And it’s not just Bharti-MTN that’s brought this up lately. One M&A banker at a large US investment bank said his firm steered clear of Sinopec’s $7.2 billion deal this month to buy oil explorer Addax Petroleum, in part because of Addax’s oil fields in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. According to OFAC, financial transactions with Iraq are allowed except with certain groups and individuals. But OFAC does place restrictions on exports. George Kleinfeld, a trade and regulatory lawyer with Clifford Chance in Washington, DC who often deals with OFAC compliance, said the sanctions are not intended to kill off opportunities for US banks to do work on foreign mergers that involve some business in foreign countries. “If you had a rule that no US investment bank could advise a merger between non-US companies that is one scintilla related to a sanctioned target country, there would be no cross-border advisory business done at all by US banks. It would all move to London,” he said. Kleinfeld says he believes there could be a strong risk of running foul of OFAC restrictions if revenue from sanctioned countries is 25% or more -- a level that some lawyers use as a rule of thumb to determine a safe level of business in sanctioned countries for the foreign firms. But he said the Treasury is deliberately vague on where the line is, putting the onus on firms to avoid sanctioned areas. What sets the Bharti-MTN deal apart from other deals touching on the subject is its size -- at more than $20 billion it’s one of the biggest M&A deals in the world right now -- and the growth of MTN’s businesses in the sanctioned areas. One investment banker not involved in the deal said MTN’s business in Iran, Sudan and Syria is expected to keep growing. And that growth could bring the revenue contribution closer to the 25% benchmark but, by then, the deal could have closed and the banks could have secured hefty fees for their work. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:51 am Airlines lost $3 billion in first quarter - IATAGENEVA (Reuters) - The world's airlines lost more than $3 billion in the first quarter of 2009, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday, maintaining its estimate for full-year losses of $9 billion.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:48 am New Delhi, Patna best cities to start business: World BankPatna is ahead of Mumbai but second only to New Delhi in terms of ease of starting a business, according to the World Bank.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:33 am Shanghai Airlines agrees to China Eastern mergerShanghai: Shanghai Airlines said on Tuesday it had agreed to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of its larger rival, China Eastern Airlines. Shanghai Airlines chairman Zhou Chi told reporters at a shareholders’ meeting that the two carriers had reached an agreement after merger talks announced earlier in June, but had yet to finalise the mechanics of the deal. “We are discussing several ways to merge, including via a share swap,” Zhou was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the meeting. Zhou said Shanghai Airlines would remain a legal entity independent of China Eastern Airlines, one of China’s three largest carriers, to ensure it would keep its routes. “The legal entity can help Shanghai Airlines keep the traffic rights it already owns, which will benefit the merged group,” Zhou said. To complete the merger, China Eastern will raise 7 billion yuan ($1.02 billion) through a private placement in Shanghai and Hong Kong, under a proposal endorsed by China’s state assets regulator. China Eastern will swap 1.3 of its Shanghai-listed A shares for each Shanghai Airlines A share, Dow Jones reported, citing a person familiar with the situation. China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines shares have been suspended from trading since June 8 pending the merger talks. China Eastern is listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and Shanghai Airlines is listed in Shanghai. Zhou said in March that Shanghai Airlines may return to profit this year if passenger transportation growth regains momentum later this year. Shanghai Airlines posted a net loss of 1.3 billion yuan in 2008, wider than the 435.1 million yuan loss the previous year. The merger is expected to create an aviation company with a dominant position in the Shanghai market as part of the city’s efforts to gear up for the World Expo starting in May 2010. Analysts have said the merger would give the new group a 50% market share in Shanghai and ease fierce competition in the local market, according to previous state media reports. This would help the combined carrier to better compete against its major rivals, Air China and China Southern Airlines. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:28 am CAPA Aircraft Advisory launched to assist aircraft acquisitionCentre for Asia Pacific Aviation's (CAPA)unique solution is designed to demystify the process of selecting and acquiring aircraft for private or general use.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:28 am Oil companies raise ATF prices by 6%Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum raised ATF price by Rs 2,306 to Rs 38,558 per kilolitre in Delhi effective midnight tonight, an IOC official said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:27 am Fraport India in talks to jointly bid for Navi Mumbai airportFraport, a German firm, operates the Frankfurt International Airport and is involved in ground-handling operations at other airports.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 10:16 am Fortis reports Rs 4.8 crore profit - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jun 2009 | 9:58 am Oil companies hike jet fuel prices by 6% effective midnightFor the fourth time in two months, state-run oil firms on Tuesday hiked jet fuel or ATF price by more than 6 percent on firming international oil prices.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 9:52 am Swedish firm buys Pirate BayStockholm: A small Swedish software firm announced on Tuesday it has purchased The Pirate Bay, the popular filesharing Web site, for 60 million kronor ($7.8 million). Global Gaming Factory X said the deal would include rights to use the Pirate Bay domain name and accompanying Web sites. The acquisition is expected to be completed in August, the firm said. The Pirate Bay is one of the world’s largest filesharing venues with more than 20 million users worldwide. In April, four men connected with the site were sentenced to one-year prison sentences for violations of copyright law. A Swedish court found that the four had helped millions of people download copyright-protected material such as films, music and computer games. While The Pirate Bay doesn’t host copyright-protected material, it directs users to content such as films, music and computer games through so-called torrent files. Global Gaming Factory X said it intended to launch a new business model that will make it possible to compensate both content operators and copyright owners. “The Pirate Bay is a site which is counted among the 100 most visited Internet sites in the world. To be able to continue, however, The Pirate Bay needs a new business model that satisfies the needs and conditions of all parties,” GGF CEO Hans Pandeya said in a statement. He added filesharers should be able “to download faster and with better quality”. Global Gaming Factory X also said it had purchased Peeralism, a software developer that has created a new filesharing technologyfor 100 million kronor ($13 million). The firm has been listed on the small Swedish trading facility Aktietorget since 2006 and operates a range of Internet cafes and gaming venues. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 9:35 am Jet may pay Rs 300cr to end Sahara legal tussleJet Airways is close to reaching an agreement with Sahara India Commercial or SICCL, based on which it could pay around Rs 300 crore to the latter, reports Mints PR Sanjai.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 9:28 am Magna-Opel deal in doubt; Qatar targets PorscheBrussels, Frankfurt: Efforts to save two leading European carmakers took a twist on Tuesday that could change the ownership of both crisis-hit General Motors Corp’s Opel and German sportscar maker Porsche. As GM readied for bankruptcy, the Financial Times reported Belgium-based holding company RHJ International, a former bidder for Opel, was back in the running and close to a deal that would strand Canadian-Austrian auto parts group Magna International. Elsewhere, Qatar made an offer to the Porsche and Piech families that control the Porsche SE automotive holding that could help cut its debt mountain. Porsche and Volkswagen have been in talks to create an “integrated” automotive group after Porsche’s €9 billion ($12.6 billion) debt burden forced it to drop plans for a full takeover of VW. But progress towards creating a combined company stalled after Porsche chief execuitve Wendelin Wiedeking sought investment from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. RHJ Opel deal close? The FT reported GM was close to a deal with RHJ to sell a stake in Opel, and a memorandum of understanding could be signed within days. Talks on a stake in Opel between its parent, GM, and Magna — going on since Magna clinched an agreement just before GM’s bankruptcy filing in May, pipping Fiat to the post at the time — have hit snags, the paper said. RHJ was named as a potential Opel buyer in media reports but never confirmed or denied it had made an initial bid let alone a second, improved one. But according to the Financial Times, RHJ has improved an earlier bid and is being taken “very seriously” by GM and a memorandum of understanding could be signed in days. The FT reported RHJ’s new offer was said to be more sensitive to job losses in Germany, which is providing $2.1 billion of bridge financing to keep the carmaker afloat as GM goes through bankruptcy proceedings. Another sticking point in negotiations with Magna is access to the Detroit carmaker’s global technology, which Magna wants to secure on behalf of Russian partners, the paper said. Magna has teamed up with GAZ and Sberbank for the bid. RHJ and Magna declined to comment, as did Fiat whose chief executive Sergio Marchionne has said he wants to focus on Chrysler — in which it has taken a 20 % stake — after the Italian automaker’s bid for Opel failed, and that its existing bid for Opel was the best it can do. Back in the United States, GM is due to seek approval from a court on Tuesday to sell its assets to a “New GM” in a plan to reinvigorate the automaker under government ownership. Also on Tuesday, Hyundai Motor Co offered to allow customers to lock in fuel prices for new vehicles in a sales promotion aimed at the economic anxieties of American consumers. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 9:21 am Power companies eye tax sops, pro-investment movesMumbai: India’s power companies are hoping the Union budget to encourage much-needed investments in the sector and have sought an extension of an income tax holiday beyond 2010, industry officials and analysts said. Power project developers have been granted a 10-year exemption from income tax, if they begin to generate power before 31 March 2010. “There is a very compelling business case as well as economic case to extend the tax holiday,” said Jai Mavani, head of infrastructure at KPMG, adding that the move could help augment power infrastructure in the country. Asia’s third-largest economy is crippled by power shortages -- often 12% to 16% of the peak demand --, and the Planning Commission estimates that the country needs over Rs2 trillion to meet the targeted power addition of 78,577 MW by 2012. The budget, due on Monday, is likely to extend income tax sops to power project developers and make provisions to meet target set by power ministry to add 14,507 MW of capacity in 2009-10, analysts said. The Council of Power Utilitites (CPU) has sought income tax exemption up to March 2013, abolition of minimum alternative tax for power companies and tax exemptions for the carbon emission reductions. Minimum alternate tax (MAT), that refers to fixed percentage of tax on profit, which the CPU says is negating the benefit of infrastructure sops. While firms are hopeful that their demand for exemption of income tax may be granted, removal of minimum alternate tax seems unlikely, an official who declined to be named said. The Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI), another industry body, has demanded merger and demerger activities be brought under income-tax exemptions, and also sought tax-sops be extended to captive power plants. However, as electricity from captive power plants is used by the producers themselves, income tax exemptions for them are unlikely, a Mumbai-based analyst said. Power sector policies need long-term view than a view of just single financial year, while their implementation can be accelerated and monitored on a regular basis, for which the budget can provide a good benchmark, an analyst said. “In terms of direction it (the budget) may contain some good-to-have announcements, but in terms of the actual details on what it will amend, perhaps we must set expectations at realistic level,” KPMG’s Mavani said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 9:11 am Banks top employer in Q1: Assocham surveyThe banking sector has emerged as biggest job generator in the first quarter of current fiscal, increasing headcount by more than 16,000, a survey by Assocham has found.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 9:07 am Gold edges lower, demand slackness to continueMumbai: India gold prices edged lower pressured by a strong rupee on Tuesday afternoon, with slackness in domestic demand expected to continue in a sesonally lean period, dealers said. The most-active August contract was 0.15% lower at Rs14,587 at 1:56pm, after hitting a low of Rs14,555 earlier. The Indian rupee rose to its highest in two weeks, tracking a weaker dollar overseas, and traders watched local share prices for cues on capital inflows. A strong rupee makes the dollar-denominated yellow metal cheaper locally. “Gold demand is not much even though rupee has appreciated. Demand is expected to remain silent for a couple of weeks due to a slack season,” said a dealer with a private bank in Mumbai. India is in a lean season as fewer weddings take place during monsoons. But a series of festivals and auspicious days for weddings is expected to boost gold demand from August-end till the end of the year. “The sales have been bad for the earlier part of the year. Only a correction below $900 (an ounce) could see interest re-emerging,” said another dealer with a state-run bank. India is estimated to have imported about 50 tonnes of gold in the first five months of the calendar year as against 115 tonnes last year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 8:42 am SBI to offer dealers loans at a discountState Bank of India will offer loans to dealers of large corporates at a discount and also waive mortgage charges under a special scheme starting from July 1. The campaign will run over the next six months, said a press release from the bank.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 8:41 am Jay Shree Tea eyeing acquisitions abroadJay Shree Tea Industries Ltd is looking into opportunities, both within the country and outside, for acquisitions of tea gardens.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 8:35 am Bridge in Mumbai sea: commuters happy, investors waryMUMBAI (Reuters) - Ten years and $325 million later, an ambitious sea bridge aimed at easing Mumbai's notorious traffic jams opened on Tuesday, holding out hope for harried commuters as well as investors betting on infrastructure.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 8:31 am GAIL eyeing for a stake in Bidadi Gas projectGAIL (India) Ltd has initiated moves to pick up equity stake in the 1400MW Bidadi Gas project promoted by the Karnataka State Power Corporation Ltd.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 8:21 am Pepsi plans lowcost beverages, snacks to fight anaemiaIn a bid to combat undernutrition, PepsiCo India expects to testmarket its products to fight anaemia among rural women sometime next year. The softdrinks major is working on lowcost prototypes of both beverages and snacks that can deliver the benefit.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jun 2009 | 8:13 am Auto parts sector seeks more duty cutsMumbai: India’s auto parts industry is hoping for duty concessions on raw materials and an increase in customs duty on imported products in the union budget in July, industry officials and analysts said. “From an industry perspective everyone would like customs duties to be lowered as much as possible on the raw material side. That will help the industry to become more cost competitive,” said Pankaj Mital, chief operating officer of auto parts maker Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd. Customs duty on most steel items as well as copper, key imports for auto parts industry, is currently around 5%. “You have customs duty on the raw materials here, if that is lowered competitiveness of the manufacturing sector will improve,” Mital said, adding the government needed to continue with its already-launched reforms for the sector. The government has already cut excise duties across the board to 8% in February in a move to protect vulnerable industries such as automobiles from the global economic crisis. Declining domestic market and lower profitability on exports led to falling sales for most auto component makers for much of 2008-09. The Automotive Component Manufacturer’s Association (ACMA) which had asked for a fund for modernization in the past year, as an incentive to boost investment, has not made public its budget wishlist for 2009. An industry source, who declined to be named, said the small and medium enterprises would require a technological upgradation fund of around Rs10 billion. Customs duties on imported auto component products should be raised to 10% from the existing 7.5% to boost local production, said Arvind Kapur, managing director of Rico Auto Industries Ltd. “We hope the customs duties (on finished products) are bought up. Because of the recession China and other countries have started dumping components in India. They should take it up to 10 percent,” Kapur added. However, analysts say, the upcoming budget will not carry any major sops for the industry. “We are expecting a neutral budget for auto parts industry. We are not expecting any major benefits. Right now looking at the fiscal deficits they (the government) would look at priority sectors first,” said Vaishali Jajoo, analyst at Angel Broking. The union budget will be presented on 6 July. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 7:49 am Sensex pares early gains, down 96 pointsThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex wiped off early gains and fell by 96 points at 1115 hrs on profit-booking at improved levels.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 6:58 am GM seeks approval to restructure as ‘new’ companyNew York: General Motors Corp., hoping for a quick exit from bankruptcy protection, on Tuesday will ask a bankruptcy judge to approve its plan to refashion itself as a leaner automaker owned mostly by the government. The nation’s largest automaker still faces hundreds of objections from bondholders, state officials, unions and individual retirees and shareholders, but could enjoy an easier trip through the bankruptcy process thanks to the legal trail blazed just weeks ago by rival Chrysler LLC. Last month, objections from a group of bondholders and others dragged out for three days Chrysler’s hearing on its plan to sell the bulk of itself to a group led by Italy’s Fiat Group SpA. After the Chrysler sale was approved by US Judge Arthur Gonzalez, the bondholders and other objectors appealed it all the way up to the Supreme Court. Despite their efforts, the plan ultimately went through and the automaker emerged from bankruptcy protection shortly thereafter. Jack Williams, an Atlanta-based managing director at BDO consulting and a professor of Georgia State University, said that despite the much larger size of GM’s case, he expects it to go much quicker than Chrysler’s did. “In the south there’s an old saying: The pioneers get all the arrows,” Williams said. “Chrysler was the test case for General Motors. GM’s got momentum, government financing and lots of people that would like to see this happen.” Under the government-backed deal, GM will sell most of its assets to a newly created company, 60 percent owned by the US government. The Canadian government will get a 12.5% stake while the United Auto Workers union will take a 17.5% share to fund its health care obligations. Unsecured bondholders receive the remaining 10%. Existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out. The remaining pieces of the company, including some closed plants, will become the “Old GM” and be liquidated. Williams said it’s unclear how long GM’s sale hearing could last, but it will undoubtedly go more smoothly than Chrysler’s did. “I think the length is less important than the tone of the participants,” he said. “Whether they think it’s a good deal, or a great deal, or not, most people have bought into the result.” Major roadblocks that could still slow GM’s plan for a quick sale are bondholders who claim they deserve more in exchange from their investments and state officials worried about the economic effects of the restructuring. In addition, the IUE-CWA, United Steel Workers and the International Union of Operating Engineers are objecting to the sale, claiming that their retirees stand to lose heath care benefits if it goes through. Unlike the UAW which brokered a deal for its stake in the company, the trio of other unions say they won’t have anything to pay for retiree health care. The IUE-CWA plans to send busloads of its retirees from Ohio to picket Tuesday’s hearing. Attorneys for the objectors will have a chance to question GM CEO Fritz Henderson and Harry Wilson, the member of President Barack Obama’s auto task force that led GM’s restructuring. Both are expected to testify during the sale hearing. Jeff Manning, a managing director with New York-based Trenwith Securities LLP, said he expects to see less resistance from GM bondholders, noting that most of them consented to the deal instead of being forced into it like many of the debtholders in Chrysler’s case. GM late last week also agreed to take on responsibility for future legal claims related to vehicles made by the old company. That means that consumers who claim they were injured by a defective GM vehicle made before the sale will be able to sue the new company for damages. The concession originally applied to consumers hurt in incidents occurring after the sale goes through. But Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Monday that GM has expanded the timeframe to assume responsibility for injuries linked to defective vehicles from the 1 June date of its bankruptcy filing. If a person has a pending claim against the automaker for injuries sustained prior to 1 June, hasn’t filed suit yet for a past incident, they still will have to seek damages against the old company which is unlikely to have much left to pay claims. Under GM’s prior plan, the new company would have shed all of the past and future claims related to vehicles made by the old company, which is also what happened in the case of Chrysler, despite protests from consumer groups. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 6:56 am GM seeks approval to restructure as ‘new’ companyNew York: General Motors Corp., hoping for a quick exit from bankruptcy protection, on Tuesday will ask a bankruptcy judge to approve its plan to refashion itself as a leaner automaker owned mostly by the government. The nation’s largest automaker still faces hundreds of objections from bondholders, state officials, unions and individual retirees and shareholders, but could enjoy an easier trip through the bankruptcy process thanks to the legal trail blazed just weeks ago by rival Chrysler LLC. Last month, objections from a group of bondholders and others dragged out for three days Chrysler’s hearing on its plan to sell the bulk of itself to a group led by Italy’s Fiat Group SpA. After the Chrysler sale was approved by US Judge Arthur Gonzalez, the bondholders and other objectors appealed it all the way up to the Supreme Court. Despite their efforts, the plan ultimately went through and the automaker emerged from bankruptcy protection shortly thereafter. Jack Williams, an Atlanta-based managing director at BDO consulting and a professor of Georgia State University, said that despite the much larger size of GM’s case, he expects it to go much quicker than Chrysler’s did. “In the south there’s an old saying: The pioneers get all the arrows,” Williams said. “Chrysler was the test case for General Motors. GM’s got momentum, government financing and lots of people that would like to see this happen.” Under the government-backed deal, GM will sell most of its assets to a newly created company, 60 percent owned by the US government. The Canadian government will get a 12.5% stake while the United Auto Workers union will take a 17.5% share to fund its health care obligations. Unsecured bondholders receive the remaining 10%. Existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out. The remaining pieces of the company, including some closed plants, will become the “Old GM” and be liquidated. Williams said it’s unclear how long GM’s sale hearing could last, but it will undoubtedly go more smoothly than Chrysler’s did. “I think the length is less important than the tone of the participants,” he said. “Whether they think it’s a good deal, or a great deal, or not, most people have bought into the result.” Major roadblocks that could still slow GM’s plan for a quick sale are bondholders who claim they deserve more in exchange from their investments and state officials worried about the economic effects of the restructuring. In addition, the IUE-CWA, United Steel Workers and the International Union of Operating Engineers are objecting to the sale, claiming that their retirees stand to lose heath care benefits if it goes through. Unlike the UAW which brokered a deal for its stake in the company, the trio of other unions say they won’t have anything to pay for retiree health care. The IUE-CWA plans to send busloads of its retirees from Ohio to picket Tuesday’s hearing. Attorneys for the objectors will have a chance to question GM CEO Fritz Henderson and Harry Wilson, the member of President Barack Obama’s auto task force that led GM’s restructuring. Both are expected to testify during the sale hearing. Jeff Manning, a managing director with New York-based Trenwith Securities LLP, said he expects to see less resistance from GM bondholders, noting that most of them consented to the deal instead of being forced into it like many of the debtholders in Chrysler’s case. GM late last week also agreed to take on responsibility for future legal claims related to vehicles made by the old company. That means that consumers who claim they were injured by a defective GM vehicle made before the sale will be able to sue the new company for damages. The concession originally applied to consumers hurt in incidents occurring after the sale goes through. But Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Monday that GM has expanded the timeframe to assume responsibility for injuries linked to defective vehicles from the 1 June date of its bankruptcy filing. If a person has a pending claim against the automaker for injuries sustained prior to 1 June, hasn’t filed suit yet for a past incident, they still will have to seek damages against the old company which is unlikely to have much left to pay claims. Under GM’s prior plan, the new company would have shed all of the past and future claims related to vehicles made by the old company, which is also what happened in the case of Chrysler, despite protests from consumer groups. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 6:56 am Sebi for ban on Price WaterhouseThe regulator is also of the view that PW and auditors should be restrained from accessing the securities market henceforth.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jun 2009 | 6:33 am We didn't audit Satyam: PwCThe questioning of Ramesh Rajan, chairman and CEO of PwC by CBI last week, has revealed that the Satyam balance sheets were audited by Lovelock & Lewes.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 Jun 2009 | 4:48 am Canon to cut 700 jobs at chip gear operationsTokyo: Japan’s Canon Inc said it would cut about 700 jobs at its chip equipment operations, underscoring a bleak outlook for the sector as the global economic crisis hits demand and forces chip makers to curb capital spending. The world’s third-largest maker of chip steppers behind ASML and Nikon Corp says most workers to be affected are in Japan and that the workers will be transferred to other sections within Canon. Steppers are multi-million dollar machines used to etch circuitry onto semiconductors and LCD panels. Canon spokesman Makoto Sugimoto declined to say how many staff it has in its chip stepper operations but the Nikkei business daily reported that the 700 jobs were roughly equivalent to 30%. Canon does not expect its optical products division, which offers microchip and LCD steppers, to turn profitable until 2012. The company, which is also the world’s No.1 digital camera maker and competes with Xerox Corp and Ricoh Co Ltd in copiers and printers, expects the unit to post an operating loss of ¥27.4 billion ($285 million) in 2009. Shares in Canon were flat at ¥3,160, underperforming the Nikkei average, which gained 2%. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 30 Jun 2009 | 4:29 am Delay in iron ore lease holds up Tata Steel’s Orissa projectMumbai, June 29 A delay in allotment of the iron ore lease is holding up Tata Steel’s six million-tonne project at Kalinganagar,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am GAIL eyeing for a stake in Bidadi Gas projectBangalore, June 29 GAIL (India) Ltd has initiated moves to pick up equity stake in the 1400-MW Bidadi Gas project promoted by the Karnataka State Power CorporationSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Automotive Axles (Rs 150.9): BuyWe recommend a buy in Automotive Axles from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of Automotive Axles that after recording a multi-year low of Rs 70 in early March, the stock reversed its trend. Since then, the stock has beenSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Pepsi plans low-cost beverages, snacks to fight anaemiaChennai, June 29 In a bid to combat under-nutrition, PepsiCo India expects to test-market its products to fight anaemia among rural women sometime next year. The soft-drinks major is working on low-cost prototypes of both beverages and snacksSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate fresh long-position only if DLF surpasses Rs 350, with tight stop-loss. ICICI Bank is testing significant resistance at Rs 750. Fresh long position can be initiated if the stock moves above Rs 760,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Banks looking to govt for capital infusionBangalore, June 29 Public sector bank (PSB) chiefs have expressed reservations about divestment in the banking sector to meet the government’s fiscal consolidationSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Corporate bond market may see flurry of activity post-BudgetMumbai, June 29 The lull in the corporate bond market seen in the first quarter of this fiscal is expected to change after theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Finance Bill may address tax issues of limited liability partnershipsNew Delhi, June 29 A limited liability partnership (LLP) is likely to be treated in the same way as a partnership firm for taxation purposes. The Finance Bill is expected to address the contentious issue of tax treatment forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Wockhardt to shed more non-core bizMumbai, June 29 More non-core businesses will be sold in three to six months, the Wockhardt Chairman, Mr Habil Khorakiwala, told shareholders on Monday.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Exports from STPI units up 12.4%New Delhi, June 29 Exports by units registered under the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme are estimated to have touched about Rs 2,02,580 crore during 2008-09, a 12.4 per cent growth over the previous year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am 'Tax breaks, proximity to airport make Dubai Freezone attractive'The Dubai Airport Freezone, a free zone located near the international airport, is the second biggest in the United Arab Emirates.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jun 2009 | 10:01 pm Banking reporting to get longer -- but more useful?Banking reporting Perhaps the only thing which has eclipsed the introduction of IFRS for typeface is the concept of 'fair value'.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jun 2009 | 9:19 pm Food security focus of UPA-II promosThe government's proposed initiative on food security is likely to hog the advertising limelight over the coming months, it is learnt.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jun 2009 | 9:15 pm Despair to hope in 3 weeks for QIP issuersA low interest rate environment combined with a weaker dollar spells a positive outlook for emerging market asset classes.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jun 2009 | 9:12 pm India's illegal wealth abroad is not just an issue of tax evasionDue to the mandatory directive, income tax authorities won't be able to know the real operators and income earners. Terrorism can flourish under such circumstances.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jun 2009 | 9:09 pm Charitable trusts may lose 'double' tax breakThe government is considering a proposal to disallow depreciation allowance that charitable organisations claim, following a recommendation by the income-tax (I-T) department.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 Jun 2009 | 7:29 pm To raise Rs 550cr via QIP route: Nagarjuna ConstThe board of Nagarjuna Constructions has approved raising Rs 550 crore, YD Murthy, the companys Executive VP Finance, told CNBCTV18 in an exclusive interview.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jun 2009 | 7:27 pm FIPB says Press Notes 2, 4 can't be retrospectiveThe Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has made it clear that Press Notes 2 and 4 issued in February 2009, which changed the way indirect foreign equity would be treated in calculating foreign investment levels in Indian corporations, cannot take effect retrospectively for proposals before the board.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 Jun 2009 | 7:27 pm Jai Corp's showpiece projects remain on paperThe blueprint for a Mumbai makeover by Mukesh Ambanis close associate is barely off the drawing board.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 Jun 2009 | 6:33 pm ArcelorMittal, Rio Tinto, GVK in race for CIL's abandoned coal minesArcelorMittal, Anglo Australian major Rio Tinto, Hyderabad-based GVK Power & Infrastructure, Essar Mineral Resources and JSW Steel are among 10 prominent corporations in a shortlist to develop 18 abandoned coal mines owned by state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its eight subsidiaries.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 Jun 2009 | 6:31 pm Google argues that it’s not so bigSan Fransisco: It handles roughly two-thirds of all Internet searches, owns the largest online video site, YouTube, and last year sold nearly $22 billion (around Rs1 trillion) in advertising. Yet, how is Google Inc. a relatively small firm, one that is vulnerable to competition? Dana Wagner, who is Google’s “senior competition counsel”, says “competition is a click away”. It’s part of a stump speech he has given for the last few months to influence public opinion about Google. Google has begun this public relations offensive because it is in the midst of a treacherous rite of passage for powerful technology companies—regulators are intensely scrutinizing its every move. The US justice department derailed an important partnership between Google and Yahoo Inc. in November because of concerns it would cement Google’s dominance and reduce competition. The justice department is now examining the hiring practices at Google and other technology companies, and it is investigating a class-action settlement between Google and groups representing authors and publishers. The Federal Trade Commission is looking into ties between the boards of Google and Apple Inc. Central to Wagner’s case is the argument that Google is competing for users against sites as diverse as Amazon.com and Wikipedia. And Google is competing for ad dollars with television, radio, print publications, bus stop benches and milk cartons. “When parties have tried to make the argument that television, newspapers and billboards are part of the same relevant advertising market as radio, that hasn’t flown with the justice department or the courts,” Gregory L. Rosston, an economist at Stanford, said. “That said, the Internet has changed things and they may be able to make that argument now.” ©2009/THE NEW YORK TIMES Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 29 Jun 2009 | 5:43 pm
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