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AI asks for RS 10k cr in terms of equity - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 25 Jul 2009 | 11:28 am Tata Communications net profit plummets 67 percentTelecom services provider Tata Communications Saturday said its net profit for the quarter ended June 30 fell 67 percent to Rs.32 crore ($6.6 million) as against Rs.98 crore in the same period last fiscal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Jul 2009 | 11:01 am BGR Energy Systems net profit up 17 percentCity-based engineering and infrastructure firm BGR Energy Systems has posted a net profit of Rs.20.23 crore for the quarter ended June 30 as against Rs.17.23 crore reported in the like period last year, a growth of 17 percent.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Jul 2009 | 11:00 am ICICI Bk Q1 net up; Rs 1500cr loans restructured: Kochhar - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 25 Jul 2009 | 10:54 am SingTel mulls Bharti related $3 bln financing - Basis PointSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications was talking to banks for $3 billion financing related to the merger between its Indian unit, Bharti Airtel, and MTN Group Ltd, Basis Point reported citing sources.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Jul 2009 | 10:53 am Production hit at Hyundai plant as workers strikeProduction has been hit at Hyundai Motor India's two plants near here as a workers' strike entered the third day Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Jul 2009 | 10:30 am ICICI Bank net profit up 21 percentIndia's largest private lender ICICI Bank Saturday reported a 21 percent increase in net profit at Rs.878 crore ($183 million) for the quarter ended June 30, as compared to Rs.728 crore in the same period last year.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Jul 2009 | 10:30 am PM asks corporate tsars to join drive against poverty - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 25 Jul 2009 | 10:01 am Bharti, MTN may extend merger talks: reports - India Infoline.com
Source: Business - Google News | 25 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am ICICI Bank Q1 net rises 21 pct; tops forecastMUMBAI (Reuters) - ICICI Bank, India's No. 2 lender, on Saturday beat forecast with a 20.6 percent rise in net profit, helped by higher trading income that offset provisions for bad debts and slowing loan growth.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Jul 2009 | 9:41 am Warren Buffett to teach kids financial lessonsWashington: Amid the worst economic recession in generations, billionaire investor Warren Buffett will teach kids financial lessons, including how to avoid debt. Secret Millionaire’s Club, a three to five minutes long new online animated series staring Buffett, is set to initially appear on AOL, before being distributed more broadly across the web via social networking sites. The Nebraska-based 78-year-old chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, who is e-world’s second richest man with a fortune estimated at $37 billion, will give advice to children on the art of finance, including how to avoid debt in the cartoon to be created by the internet empire AOL and media production firm A Squared Media. Buffett said the worst global financial credit crunch in decades served as a reminder of the need to teach children about money. “What better time to help educate our kids about financial responsibility,” Buffett said in a statement. Buffett said he hopes the cartoon will be fun and informative. “This is a legacy item for him,” said cartoon creator Andy Heyward, who has been creating humorous cartoons for Berkshire’s annual meetings since the 1980s. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 9:37 am Warren Buffett to teach kids financial lessonsWashington: Amid the worst economic recession in generations, billionaire investor Warren Buffett will teach kids financial lessons, including how to avoid debt. Secret Millionaire’s Club, a three to five minutes long new online animated series staring Buffett, is set to initially appear on AOL, before being distributed more broadly across the web via social networking sites. The Nebraska-based 78-year-old chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, who is e-world’s second richest man with a fortune estimated at $37 billion, will give advice to children on the art of finance, including how to avoid debt in the cartoon to be created by the internet empire AOL and media production firm A Squared Media. Buffett said the worst global financial credit crunch in decades served as a reminder of the need to teach children about money. “What better time to help educate our kids about financial responsibility,” Buffett said in a statement. Buffett said he hopes the cartoon will be fun and informative. “This is a legacy item for him,” said cartoon creator Andy Heyward, who has been creating humorous cartoons for Berkshire’s annual meetings since the 1980s. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 9:37 am Pak can use US military aid only against Taliban, Al-Qaeda: SenateWashington: The US Senate has approved $680 billion in defence budget, part of which earmarks military assistance to Pakistan with a rider that it can only be used to fight Al-Qaeda and Taliban, amid fears that the aid was being diverted by Islamabad for a build-up against India. The Department of Defence Authorisation bill for the year 2010 was passed by the Senate on Friday with a vote of 87-7 with an amendment that Pakistan should use funds given to it as military assistance only to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The bi-partisan amendment was introduced by two Senators - Robert Menendez and Bob Corker - amidst growing apprehensions among lawmakers that the American tax-payers’ money given to Islamabad to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda was being used to build up its army against India. The Menendez-Corker legislative language would mandate a certification by the US secretary of state and secretary of defence, before Pakistan is reimbursed with Coalition Support Funds, that the payment is both in the national security interests of the US, and will not affect the balance of power in the region. “To this point, almost eight years and more than seven billion in American tax-payer dollars for Pakistan’s military have not prevented the Taliban and al-Qaeda from regrouping along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” Menendez said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 9:36 am India, US meet on reprocessing fuel endsMumbai: India and the US have completed first round of consultations on arrangements and procedures on reprocessing of spent fuel of American origin on Indian soil, a department of atomic energy (DAE) official said on Saturday. The consultations, which took place in Vienna, are considered as a significant step to further the interaction at commercial level and for the operationalization of the India-US nuclear deal, the official said. The first round of talks which began early this week ended on Thursday and the process is likely to be finished in two months. “We expect the consultations to be over in two months so that the implementation of 123 agreement can start within the timeframe given in the agreement,” a top official said. “The consultations were strictly based on Article 6 (III) of the 123 agreement between India and US and few more meetings are expected to take place,” he said. The five-member Indian delegation was led by Ravi B. Grover, the director of DAE strategic planning group (SPG) and also the director of the knowledge management group. Washington’s point man for nuclear negotiations with India Richard Stratford, who is the director of the office of nuclear energy affairs in the state department, headed the US team. According to the agreement, to bring reprocessing rights into effect, India has to establish a new national facility dedicated to reprocessing safeguarded nuclear material under the safeguards of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). India has to reach an agreement with the US on arrangements and procedures under which such reprocessing will take place in this new facility. “We should have upfront sovereign rights in whatever we do including reprocessing,” another DAE official said. Meanwhile, the India-US business group said in a communication that both the countries must swiftly conclude a bilateral agreement to grant India prior consent to reprocess spent fuel of US origin. Fearing that countries like France and Russia are going ahead in business with India, the group said, the conclusion of a reprocessing agreement should not delay Indian contracts with US commercial nuclear suppliers. The business group on nuclear commerce is keen that India completes procedures for Liability Law. India promised to adopt a liability law in its letter of intent in September 2008 and the private-sector nuclear industry in India and the US are awaiting fulfillment of the promise. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 9:18 am ICICI Bank Q1 net rises 21%; tops forecastMumbai: ICICI Bank, India’s no. 2 lender, on Saturday beat forecast with a 20.6% rise in net profit, helped by higher trading income that offset provisions for bad debts and slowing loan growth. New York-listed ICICI said net profit rose to Rs8.78 billion ($182 million) in its fiscal first quarter ending in June, from Rs7.28 billion reported a year ago. A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast net profit to rise to Rs7.7 billion. The bank said its total income in the June quarter fell to Rs92.23 billion from Rs94.30 billion a year ago. ICICI has slowed lending as it tackles a jump in bad loans in its mainstay retail market. Shares in ICICI, which has a market value of about $17.6 billion, rose 117% in the June quarter, compared to an 83% rise in the sector index and 49.3% rise in the benchmark index. The stock closed 1.4% lower at Rs766.85 on Friday on Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share index that climbed almost 1%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 9:13 am Bank of Baroda plans to raise Rs 3,500 crBank of Baroda on Thursday said it plans to raise up to Rs 3,500 crore via debt in FY2010 to support its business expansion plans.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Jul 2009 | 8:59 am Refiners hope LPG, kerosene losses will be made goodThe first quarter losses on petrol and diesel could have been made good by the upstream oil sector but from the viewpoint of IndianOil, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, a timely compensation package for cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene is equally critical.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Jul 2009 | 8:56 am Alstom, Schneider may jointly bid for Areva TD bizAlstom SA and Schneider Electric announced on Thursday that they may launch a joint bid for the Transmission and Distribution business being sold by Areva, Frances statecontrolled nuclear power giant.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Jul 2009 | 8:54 am Buying pushes up Sensex 634 points (Weekly Market Review) - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 25 Jul 2009 | 8:47 am Govt will clarify issues over Indo-Pak statement: PMNew Delhi: Under attack over the Indo-Pak joint statement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the government has all the “relevant answers” to the questions raised over it and these will be spelt out by him in Parliament on 29 July. He also dismissed as “media creation” the reported difference of opinion between the government and Congress party on the issue. “I have made a statement in Parliament and Parliament is again going to discuss the issue. I will clarify,” Singh told reporters here when asked about the controversy over the joint statement which had made mention of Balochistan and delinked terrorism and holding of composite dialogue with Pakistan. Singh refused to speak on the matter further, saying “pending a debate in Parliament, it is inappropriate to answer any specific questions on the issue.” He, however, expressed confidence, “We have all the relevant answers.” The Indo-Pak Joint Statement, issued after Singh’s meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Sharm-el Sheikh on 16 July, has come in for sharp attack over mention of Balochistan and India agreeing to delink dialogue from Pakistan’s action against terrorism. Responding to demands from the opposition, a discussion will be held on the issue in Parliament on 29 July during which the Prime Minister will intervene. Asked about reported difference of opinion between the government and the Congress party on the issue, Singh dismissed it as a “media creation.” Singh was replying to queries by mediapersons at Rashtrapati Bhavan after presentation of Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Award was received by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates from President Pratibha Patil. Opposition parties, particularly the BJP, along with experts have attacked the government over the joint statement, saying it marked reversal of India’s stand on terrorism. The mention of Balochistan, where Pakistan alleges Indian involvement in the unrest, has also been sharply criticized. To a question on the launch of National Nutrition Mission, Singh said the government attaches top priority to it. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 8:45 am GAIL India net profit dips 27 percentState-run gas utility company GAIL India Saturday reported a 26.8 percent dip in its net profit at Rs.655.8 crore ($135.5 million) for the quarter ended June 30, compared to Rs.896.8 crore in the same period last fiscal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Jul 2009 | 8:30 am Gail India Q1 net dips 27% - Livemint
Source: Business - Google News | 25 Jul 2009 | 8:07 am Chhattisgarh issues notice to 45 polluting industriesThe Chhattisgarh government has issued notices to 45 small steel and sponge iron units for violating pollution norms, a minister said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Jul 2009 | 7:30 am Tripura launches job scheme for urban poorThe Left Front government in Tripura has launched a special employment guarantee scheme for the urban poor, modelled on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Jul 2009 | 7:30 am Ericsson wins auction for Nortel's wireless assetsTORONTO (Reuters) - Sweden's Ericsson has won an auction for the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp in a deal valued at $1.13 billion, Nortel said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Jul 2009 | 7:10 am Gail India Q1 net dips 27%New Delhi: State-run gas utility Gail India on Saturday reported a 26.87% decline in its net profit at Rs655.84 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June 2009, over the same period last year. The company had a net profit of Rs896.87 crore in the same period last year, Gail India said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Its net sales rose to Rs6,021.42 crore during the quarter under review, against Rs5,730.71 crore in the same quarter a year earlier. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 7:08 am Godrej Consumer Q1 net profit up 78% to Rs69 crMumbai: FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products on Saturday said its net profit rose by 78.20% at Rs69.68 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June 2009 over the same period last year. The company had a net profit of Rs39.1 crore in the same period last year, Godrej Consumer Products said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income rose to Rs448.99 crore in the latest quarter, against Rs370.89 crore in the same period previous fiscal. On standalone basis, the company posted a net profit of Rs60.29 crore during the June quarter ended, up 75% from Rs34.28 crore in the same quarter ended June 2008. Its total income rose to Rs350.33 crore in the quarter under review, against Rs287.14 crore in the same quarter last year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 6:50 am Ericsson wins auction for Nortel’s wireless assetsToronto: Sweden’s Ericsson has won an auction for the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp in a deal valued at $1.13 billion, Nortel said on Saturday. The proposed sale, announced by Nortel in a news release, means Ericsson will own the Canadian company’s key CDMA and next-generation LTE wireless technologies, which it put on the block after filing for creditor protection in January. Nortel said Ericsson will offer continued employment to a minimum of 2,500 Nortel employees. The statement did not say how many employees worked for the Nortel businesses that the company agreed to sell, and a spokesman was not immediately available for further comment. Last month, Nortel announced a “stalking horse” bid for the assets from Nokia Siemens Networks for $650 million, setting a floor price for potential buyers. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion also waded into the fray by announcing it was chasing a deal for the Nortel technology. But it complained that Nortel had effectively blocked an approach valued at $1.1 billion. Nortel fired back by saying RIM was refusing to comply with common confidentiality provisions that other bidders had agreed to follow. Toronto-based Nortel, once North America’s biggest maker of telephone gear, filed for bankruptcy protection early this year, blaming the economic crisis for derailing a turnaround effort that began in 2005. Even before the economy hit the skids, Nortel had posted billions in losses and was forced to cut tens of thousands of jobs in hopes of reversing its moribund fortunes. However, these measures were not enough to offset a plunge in demand for its products from corporate clients and from wireless carriers that use its technology to operate their networks. Rivals like Alcatel and Lucent consolidated as Nortel sat on the sidelines, while Asian competitors captured market share with their lower-cost offerings. Nortel now employs roughly 25,000 people, down from 90,000 at the height of the technology boom at the start of the decade. Nortel now appears sure to sell itself in pieces rather than restructure under creditor protection to emerge as a scaled-down version of its former self. The company was once the poster child in Canada for high tech success and was the most heavily weighted stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its shares on a consolidation-adjusted basis were worth more than C$1,100 each in mid-2000. Today, the stock has been delisted from the major exchanges and are changing hands at less than 10 Canadian cents each. The proposed sale is subject to joint of approval of US and Canadian courts, scheduled for 28 July. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 6:32 am India calls for UN bodies reformUnited Nations: India, which is seeking a permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council, has highlighted the need for “real reform” of the world body’s top organ and other decision-making agencies to reflect contemporary realities and make them capable of acting against “mass atrocities.” India’s views were expressed by its permanent representative to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri, as the world body discussed the issue of “responsibility to protect.” The discussion took place on Friday, as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, had submitted a report regarding implementation of the responsibility to protect. The report examines some of the most heinous events during the UN’s watch and notes the issue of mandate and means. “Even a cursory examination of reasons for non-action by the UN, especially the Security Council, reveals that in respect of these tragic events that were witnessed by the entire world, non-action was not due to lack of warning, resources or the barrier of state sovereignty but because of strategic, political or economic considerations of those on whom the present international architecture had placed the onus to act,” Puri said. The key aspect is to address the issue of “willingness to act,” he said. “Here, of course a necessary ingredient is real reform of decision-making bodies in the UN, especially the Security Council in its permanent membership, to reflect contemporary realities and make them forces for peace and capable of acting against mass atrocities.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 6:23 am Recession-hit Bangalore techies settle for low-paying jobsTill a few months ago, IT professional T.V. George was earning Rs.70,000 per month, plus perks. But after losing his high-paying job, and being unemployed for three months, George, 31, has started giving tuitions in mathematics and physics to aspiring engineering students in his neighbourhood.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Jul 2009 | 5:30 am Nortel Networks starts asset salesToronto: Nortel Networks Corp and bidders for its wireless division were sequestered on Friday in a New York law office as the company, once a symbol of Canada’s technological prowess, moved to complete the first stage of its own dismantling. The court-supervised auction, which comes after a decade of decline for Nortel, involves its prized CDMA and LTE wireless technology assets, the latter of which includes technology coveted by the world’s leading telecom-equipment makers. “The carcass of one of the leading high flyers for much of the last decade and a half is now up for grabs, and to the victor go the spoils,” said Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst. No winner in the US court-supervised auction had been announced as of late Friday afternoon. Levy said competing bids, reviewed by the debtor in consultation with the company’s creditors and creditors committee, are likely complex and require time to assess. “I’m going to presume that the court is taking its time ... to make sure that all I’s are dotted and all T’s are crossed and nothing is missed,” he said. The lead-up to the asset sale was quiet, with apparently little bidder interest until recent days, when European players entered the fray and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said it wanted the wireless business for itself. RIM even told the Canadian government that keeping the technology in Canadian hands was vital to national security. In its heyday, Nortel was the most heavily weighted stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of more than $250 billion. It filed for bankruptcy protection in January after years of job cuts, cost-cutting and restatements of its financial results. The assets up for grabs on Friday are seen as holding the key to the next generation of wireless transmission, potentially allowing broadband-like access for cellphone users once it is fully developed. Nortel has extensive patents on so-called MIMO, or multiple input multiple output technology, a form of antenna technology. If the technology becomes widely used in handsets, smartphone makers that do it best will be able to differentiate themselves from competitors, analysts say. Vying for wireless technology Last month, Nortel announced a “stalking horse” bid for its CDMA and next-generation LTE wireless technology businesses from Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN.UL) for $650 million, setting a floor price for the assets. There are at least two other offers, including a $725 million bid from MatlinPatterson, a private equity firm that’s also a major Nortel creditor. Sweden’s Ericsson also came in at $730 million, according to a newspaper report. Research In Motion also says it is actively pursuing the assets and is in talks with stakeholders to find a way for a “generous” offer to be considered. Earlier this week, it complained that Nortel had effectively blocked an approach valued at $1.1 billion. Canada’s government has come under pressure from politicians and even some of its corporate citizens to view Nortel’s assets as strategic to national security, and to keep them in Canada by supporting RIM’s bid. The government has remained at arm’s length for the most part, saying it will respect the court process to sell the former telecom giant’s assets, even as officials research whether the foreign purchases of Nortel assets might be subject to government restrictions. Finance minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday it was right for RIM to ask the Canadian government to take a close look at the sale of Nortel. Nortel, which under the name of Northern Electric Co produced telegraphic switchboards for military operations in the First World War, blames the economic crisis for derailing a long-running turnaround effort that began in 2005 and which was the most recent of several bids to revamp the once mighty company. Toronto-based Nortel now employs about 25,000 people, a far cry from its heyday more than a decade ago, when its ranks were 90,000 strong. “This is sad ending chapter to one of the most successful stories in Canadian industrial history,” said Levy. “It really does leave a huge legacy for all of us.” Nortel’s operations are divided about equally among the wireless business, the enterprise unit, which builds corporate networks, and the Metro Ethernet Networks unit, which makes Internet infrastructure and includes its optical and carrier ethernet technology. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 5:08 am Nortel Networks starts asset salesToronto: Nortel Networks Corp and bidders for its wireless division were sequestered on Friday in a New York law office as the company, once a symbol of Canada’s technological prowess, moved to complete the first stage of its own dismantling. The court-supervised auction, which comes after a decade of decline for Nortel, involves its prized CDMA and LTE wireless technology assets, the latter of which includes technology coveted by the world’s leading telecom-equipment makers. “The carcass of one of the leading high flyers for much of the last decade and a half is now up for grabs, and to the victor go the spoils,” said Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst. No winner in the US court-supervised auction had been announced as of late Friday afternoon. Levy said competing bids, reviewed by the debtor in consultation with the company’s creditors and creditors committee, are likely complex and require time to assess. “I’m going to presume that the court is taking its time ... to make sure that all I’s are dotted and all T’s are crossed and nothing is missed,” he said. The lead-up to the asset sale was quiet, with apparently little bidder interest until recent days, when European players entered the fray and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said it wanted the wireless business for itself. RIM even told the Canadian government that keeping the technology in Canadian hands was vital to national security. In its heyday, Nortel was the most heavily weighted stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of more than $250 billion. It filed for bankruptcy protection in January after years of job cuts, cost-cutting and restatements of its financial results. The assets up for grabs on Friday are seen as holding the key to the next generation of wireless transmission, potentially allowing broadband-like access for cellphone users once it is fully developed. Nortel has extensive patents on so-called MIMO, or multiple input multiple output technology, a form of antenna technology. If the technology becomes widely used in handsets, smartphone makers that do it best will be able to differentiate themselves from competitors, analysts say. Vying for wireless technology Last month, Nortel announced a “stalking horse” bid for its CDMA and next-generation LTE wireless technology businesses from Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN.UL) for $650 million, setting a floor price for the assets. There are at least two other offers, including a $725 million bid from MatlinPatterson, a private equity firm that’s also a major Nortel creditor. Sweden’s Ericsson also came in at $730 million, according to a newspaper report. Research In Motion also says it is actively pursuing the assets and is in talks with stakeholders to find a way for a “generous” offer to be considered. Earlier this week, it complained that Nortel had effectively blocked an approach valued at $1.1 billion. Canada’s government has come under pressure from politicians and even some of its corporate citizens to view Nortel’s assets as strategic to national security, and to keep them in Canada by supporting RIM’s bid. The government has remained at arm’s length for the most part, saying it will respect the court process to sell the former telecom giant’s assets, even as officials research whether the foreign purchases of Nortel assets might be subject to government restrictions. Finance minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday it was right for RIM to ask the Canadian government to take a close look at the sale of Nortel. Nortel, which under the name of Northern Electric Co produced telegraphic switchboards for military operations in the First World War, blames the economic crisis for derailing a long-running turnaround effort that began in 2005 and which was the most recent of several bids to revamp the once mighty company. Toronto-based Nortel now employs about 25,000 people, a far cry from its heyday more than a decade ago, when its ranks were 90,000 strong. “This is sad ending chapter to one of the most successful stories in Canadian industrial history,” said Levy. “It really does leave a huge legacy for all of us.” Nortel’s operations are divided about equally among the wireless business, the enterprise unit, which builds corporate networks, and the Metro Ethernet Networks unit, which makes Internet infrastructure and includes its optical and carrier ethernet technology. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 5:08 am IPO Note: Adani PowerThe total issue of 30.16 crore equity shares is aimed at raising Rs2,715 crore to Rs3,016 crore (depending on the price band of Rs90-100 per share). Of the total issue the company is expected to deploy Rs2,193 crore for funding its projects while the balance would be utilised for general corporate purposes. After the issue the total number of shares of the company will increase from 187.9 crore to 218 crore, bringing down the promoter group’s stake to 73.5% of the diluted equity. Valuation On DCF basis, the issue seems to be fairly priced while on market cap/MW basis the valuations are in line with the valuations of the peers. Qualitatively, APL has advantages in terms of its presence in power deficient areas and its status as an integrated player (with AEL and MPSEZL). Consequently, APL is a good option for investors with a long-term perspective. However, the issue may not provide significant listing gains. On the upside, the key risks to our valuations are a better than expected PLF and a better than expected merchant power rate. However, on the downside, timely execution and the dependence on power equipment from the Chinese manufacturers could pose a risk to the valuations. Click here for a detailed report Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 5:00 am Monetary Policy ExpectationsAt its upcoming First Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2009-10, we expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to maintain a status quo on interest rates. As a result, we expect the RBI to maintain the Cash Reserve Ratio at 5.00%, LAF Repo and LAF Reverse Repo rate at 4.75% and 3.25% respectively. We also do not expect the RBI to announce any changes in SLR. The policy stance is expected to continue to remain accommodative with RBI promising to ensure surplus liquidity situation. Click here for a detailed report Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 5:00 am BRICS Securities puts SELL on ONGCSales for the recently concluded quarter declined 25.8% to Rs148.8bn mainly on lower net oil price realisation at $58.25/bbl v/s $71.9/bbl in Q1FY09. The lower net oil price realisation is through a combination of a fall in gross oil price realisation $60.58/bbl from $125.84/bbl in Q1FY09 and a 95.6% fall in discounts to OMCs to Rs4.3 billion. Lower oil price was primarily responsible for a fall in profits, down by 27% y-o-y to Rs48.5 billion. Click here for a detailed report Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 4:44 am Ambit Capital puts SELL on ITC LtdCigarette and agri business earnings exceeded expectations, however in FMCG, hotel and paper business, performance was below expectation. For the quarter, operating EBIT was Rs12.8 billion, a growth of 14% y-o-y and net earnings were Rs8.8 billion, a growth of 17% y-o-y, in line with our expectation. Although tax changes in respect of excise duty have positively surprised (considering pricing has seen a significant increase in the recent past); volume, product mix and competitive challenges, in our opinion, continue to remain high. We do not expect significant upside to our revised EBIT growth expectation of 16% for FY10-11. Hotel business could see improvement in line with the improved economic outlook but on an aggregate basis we expect overall trends to remain in line with our previous expectations. Outlook The stock is trading above its recent valuation averages and at a fair premium to international peers. This in our opinion has, to a large extent, factored in the benign excise duty move of the government. VAT changes and GST implementation would be other key tax milestones to watch. Our target price for March 2010 is Rs240, based on the sum-of-the-parts approach and implies a forward P/E multiple of 20x and an EV/EBIDTA multiple of 13x. We retain our SELL recommendation since the stock offers little upside from current levels. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 4:37 am Sharekhan upgrades WiproWipro Technologies (Wipro)’s Q1FY2010 results (under the US GAAP) were well above our expectations. The company’s consolidated revenues declined by 3.5% sequentially to Rs6,318.8 crore. In the IT service division, the revenue declined by 2.2% to Rs4,820.5 crore. In dollar terms, the IT service revenue declined by 1.2% sequentially to $1,033 million but was better than the company’s own guidance ($1,009- 1,025 million) largely due to favourable cross-currency movement. In constant currency terms, the revenue declined by 2.1% sequentially. The volume on a like-to-like basis (adjusting for the Citi Technology Services [Citos] acquisition) declined by 1.1% sequentially during the quarter. In terms of pricing, the offshore pricing (in constant currency) declined by 2.5% sequentially. Margins improve The OPM improved by 70 basis points to 17.3% during the quarter largely due to a sharp improvement in the IT service business. The OPM of the IT service division improved by 60 basis points to 21.4% during the quarter and was significantly above our expectation. The improvement in the OPM was on account of a higher proportion of offshore revenue (up 1.6% to 50.4%), a reduction in the sales, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses and a favourable employee mix during the quarter. The net income grew by 17.7% sequentially to Rs1,067.6 crore, which was significantly higher than our expectation of Rs891 crore. The results were better than our expectations due to a better than expected operating performance and a sharp rise in the other income. The other income came in at Rs133.5 crore in Q1FY2010 vs a loss of Rs37.9 crore in Q4FY2009. In terms of guidance for Q2FY2010, the IT service division’s revenues are guided to grow at 0.2-1.9% to $1,035-1,053 million. Outlook We have revised our earnings estimates upward to reflect the better than expected Q1FY2010 performance and the improvement in the OPM. We have also lowered the effective tax rate for FY2011 for the extension of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) benefits. Consequently, we have revised our earnings estimates upward for FY2010 and FY2011 to Rs25.5 and Rs27.8 per share respectively. Overall, Wipro has reported better than expected results for Q1FY2010. The company has reported an improved performance for the last two quarters. Hence, we have upgraded our earnings estimates. However, most of the earnings upgrade has already been factored in the current market price (the stock has run up sharply by ~69% in the last three months), leaving limited room for an upside at the current level. Consequently, we upgrade the stock to HOLD recommendation with a revised price target of Rs476. At the current market price, the stock is trading at 17.7x FY2010 earnings estimate and 16.2x FY2011 earnings estimate. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 4:32 am Result Update: BHELFor Q1FY2010, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has reported a sales growth of 29.3% to Rs5,595.7 crore, which is marginally ahead of our estimate of Rs5,444 crore. The execution in power division was better than our expectation, as the division reported a 30.2% increase in revenues. The industry division reported a 3.2% increase in revenues. The operating profit margin (OPM) improved by 60 basis points yoy. The raw material cost as percentage of sales increased to 63.4% in Q1FY2010 as against 58.5% in Q1FY2009. The positive impact on the OPM from the decline in raw material cost is expected to flow in only from the next quarter. The employee cost continues to remain high on the back of provisions for wage revision and performance-related payments. The other expenses declined sharply (down 20% yoy) mainly due to due to lower creation of contractual provisions. The interest cost was up 67.2% to Rs4.3 crore while the other income increased by 3.8% yoy to Rs302.9 crore. Consequently, the net profit grew by 22.4% to Rs470.6 crore, which is lower than our estimate. The company’s order book stands at Rs1,24,000 crore as against Rs1,17,000 crore as at the end of FY2009. The company is likely to announce 6x600MW order in the coming few weeks. We would release our detailed note on Q1FY2010 results post conference with the company’s management. We maintain our HOLD recommendation on the stock with a price target of Rs2,225. At the current market price the stock is trading at 19.3x FY2011E earnings per share. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2009 | 4:27 am Wall St Week Ahead: Rally may cool on earnings reality checkNEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street may take a breather next week after an earnings-driven rally lifted the major U.S. stock indexes to their highest levels in months.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Jul 2009 | 1:27 am ITC to invest Rs 13,000 cr in paper, hotels businessKolkata, July 24 Paper, hotels and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) would be the key areas of focus for the tobacco major ITC Ltd.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Refiners hope LPG, kerosene losses will be made goodMumbai, July 24 The first quarter losses on petrol and diesel could have been made good by the upstream oil sector but from the viewpoint of IndianOil, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, a timely compensationSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am ESOPs out of insider trading ambitMumbai, July 24 Employee stock options will be exempt from SEBI’s amendments made last November to the insider trading regulations, the markets regulator has clarified.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Public sector banks pitching to fund BHEL-Karnataka Power Corp projectBangalore, July 24 Public sector banks, faced with continued slack credit offtake, are pitching hard for funding the big-ticket BHEL-Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) project. Banking sources said interest in the joint venture power projectSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Monsoon weakens over central, eastern partsThiruvananthapuram, July 24 India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the seasonal trough over land, the backbone of monsoon, may start migrating northwards over the next four days.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Ranbaxy moves back into the blackNew Delhi, July 24 Ranbaxy Laboratories on Friday reported consolidated profit of Rs 693 crore during the second quarter ended June 30 compared with Rs 22.9 crore during the corresponding quarter in the previous year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am US’ tough stance on immigration a ‘huge mistake’New Delhi, July 24 “How about making an exception for smart people,” asked Mr Bill Gates while addressing Nasscom CEO Forum in the Capital on Friday.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am SBI trims deposit rates by 25-50 basis pointsMumbai, July 24 State Bank of India on Friday announced a 25-50 basis points cut in deposit rates with effect from July 27. The bank has cut rates on deposits of various tenors above sixSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Gates for more active corporate role in researchNew Delhi, July 24 Microsoft Chairman and Co-founder, Mr Bill Gates, said on Friday, that his company would be keen to partner India in the Unique Identification project.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Reliance Industries Q1 net declines 11.5%Reliance Industries has posted a profit of Rs 3,636 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, a fall of 11.5 per cent from Rs 4,110 crore in the corresponding period lastSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Ranbaxy Q2 net profit soars over 28-fold ; at Rs 675.45 cr!Ranbaxy has reported over 28-fold jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 675.45 crore for the quarter ended June 30 compared to the same period last year.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm Roads sector to attract $10 bn foreign investment: Nath!India is likely to attract foreign investment of USD 10 billion (about Rs 48,000 crore) in the road sector over the next two years, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said on Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm Jet Airways India posts net loss of Rs 225 cr for Q1!Private carrier Jet Airways India today reported a net loss of Rs 225.33 crore during the first quarter ended June 30, 2009.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm India tops in global remittance flow: WB!India has retained its position as the highest recipient of global remittance flow.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm Bharti, MTN officials meet DoT secy to explain deal!Country`s biggest GSM mobile company Bharti Airtel and South African MTN today apprised the Telecom Ministry of their proposed 23-billion dollar deal that could create one of the top three wireless companies in the world.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm India to clock sustained growth by 2011: Report!Emerging economies, including India, are set to return to sustained growth trajectory by 2011 on growing domestic demand even as the downturn in the developed economies is likely to continue for the next several years.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm 3000 jobs at Corus in jeopardy!About 3,000 jobs at Tata-owned Corus` Teesside plant are in jeopardy as a consortium of four global companies, the plant`s single largest client has abandoned an agreement with the company to buy products.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm Microsoft keen to partner Unique ID project: Bill Gates!Microsoft, the world`s largest software company, is keen to partner India in a project to issue Unique Identification to each citizen, its chairman Bill Gates said on Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm RIL Q1 net drops 11.53% to Rs 3,636 cr!Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries on Friday reported 11.53 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 3,636 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, over the same period last year.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm Vodafone Q1 revenues climb 9%!British telecom major Vodafone today reported a nine per cent rise in revenue at 10.74 billion pounds in the first quarter ended June 2009.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:59 pm Ranbaxy net jumps 30-fold to Rs 693 cr - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:03 pm RIL net slips 12% as refining margins halve - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:01 pm ANALYSIS - The case of the missing revenueNEW YORK (Reuters) - This may be the middle of the U.S. earnings season, but it's definitely not the middle of revenue season.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:51 pm KG gas, petrochem to RIL's rescueDepressed crude prices, higher tax and interest costs pull down Q1 net 12%Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:18 pm PSU divestment not for reducing fiscal deficitFinance ministry says receipts from the sales will be put in National Investment Fund.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:16 pm Tata Steel seeks buyers for its UK outputTalks between Tata Steel UK and a group of steelmakers over offtake of steel from the Teeside Cast Products plant in north England have failed.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:14 pm 'China should get rid of its GDP growth target'RBS chief China economist Ben Simpfendorfer argues, that Chinese policymakers' excessive preoccupation with the pace of growth exposes China to the risk of a prolonged period of sub-trend growth.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:10 pm Sebi clears the air on insider trading rulesSays employees can subscribe to Esops even if they have sold shares during the previous six months.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:08 pm Oil min move on KG gas reminiscent of Permit RajMove bound to hurt reforms process.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:03 pm Bharat Forge net plummets 96%Bharat Forge Ltd will continue to restructure its overseas subsidiaries even as net profit fell 96% on the back of lower sales.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:02 pm GSPL's Q1 gas volumes doubleProfit zooms 147% to Rs 80.5 cr, revenues jump 76% to Rs 211 crSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 10:01 pm Reliance to bulk up jewellery bizReliance Retail (RRL) plans to add sparkle to its jewellery format, Reliance Jewel.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 9:58 pm Eveready plans land sale to slash debtEveready Industries India Ltd hopes to become a debt-free company in 2010-11 by selling 26 acres of property at its Hyderabad facility.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 9:54 pm CAG picks holes in Gorshkov acquisition - Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Jul 2009 | 9:49 pm State Bank of India revises deposit ratesState Bank of India has revised the Deposit rates downwards by 25 bps to 50 bps in some maturities above six months, effective from 27th July 2009Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Jul 2009 | 7:35 pm KEC International wins domestic orders worth Rs 471crKEC International Ltd. (KEC), a global leader in the power transmission EPC business, has won four orders totaling to Rs. 471 crores in the domestic market.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Jul 2009 | 7:28 pm Low exports, margins hurt RIL earningsMumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd, (RIL) India’s largest firm by market capitalization, posted disappointing first-quarter results on Friday, with many of its key indicators declining sharper than market expectations.  Net sales declined 23% to Rs32,055 crore. This is RIL’s third consecutive quarterly dip in net profit. Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint While many sector analysts had estimated a fall in revenue and profit, actual numbers came lower, missing forecasts. A Mint poll of nine brokerages had predicted net profit of Rs3,959 crore on average and net sales of Rs32,880 crore. The results were released late afternoon on Friday after the markets closed. An analyst tracking the firm said RIL’s share price could fall on Monday when trading resumed. On Friday, the shares were down 1.2% at Rs2,013.75. The benchmark Sensex index climbed 147.92 points, or 0.97%, to 15,378.96. Reliance’s net profit was also bolstered by an at least three-fold increase in “other income” to Rs702 crore from Rs226 crore a year earlier. In a statement, RIL attributed this to “higher interest income on account of higher cash and cash equivalents”. Maulik Patel, a sector analyst with KR Choksey Shares and Securities Pvt. Ltd, agreed that the “base effect” from last year played a role in depressing RIL’s financials, but said he was more concerned with the unusually lower level of gross refining margins (GRMs), or revenue from turning crude oil into a variety of fuels. The GRMs this quarter halved to $7.5 (Rs363) a barrel from $15.7 a year ago. “Singapore GRMs for the quarter were $4.04 a barrel and RIL’s margins have a lower premium” over the regional benchmark, said Patel, adding that he was bothered by the $5.4 a barrel GRM turned in by Reliance Petroleum Ltd’s (RPL) new refinery. RPL’s 580,000-barrels a day refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat, commissioned in end-2008, is fully operational now and will soon be merged with RIL. RPL, which declared a turnover of Rs7,639 crore and net profit of Rs105 crore, is awaiting statutory approvals for a proposed merger with RIL. The June quarter marked the commencement of gas production from its D6 block at the Krishna-Godavari, or KG, basin, adding to RIL’s revenue from the oil and gas exploration (E&P) segment. Chairman Mukesh Ambani termed the start of the new Jamnagar refinery and the deep-water, oil and gas KG D6 block as “noteworthy accomplishments”, and pointed them out as future growth drivers that would also “change the energy landscape of India and the industry globally”. The global economic slowdown that has subdued demand for high-value fuels such as gasoline has taken its toll and is reflected in RIL’s numbers. The company’s exports fell 38.5% to Rs17,433 crore as product prices were at levels lower than last year. RPL’s older 660,000-barrels-a-day refinery at Jamnagar gave up its “exports oriented unit” status to focus on the domestic market, which, in part, contributed to the decline in the volume of exports. RIL, India’s largest petrochemicals maker and second largest oil refiner, saw a near 23% decline in both its petrochemical and refining segments to Rs11,540 crore and Rs25,180 crore, respectively, while revenues from its E&P business swelled 137% to Rs1,864 crore, largely on the back of gas sales from its KG operations. Previews had foreseen some of this. Pradeep Mirchandani and Adarsh Parasrampuria, sector analysts with JPMorgan India Pvt. Ltd, had written in a 13 July report that “stable petrochemical margins, rupee depreciation and revenues from KG D6 field would mitigate lower profits from the refining business”. “Petroleum product prices could not catch up with the surge in crude prices, which impacted the product spreads during Q1FY10 (first quarter of fiscal 2010). None of the product spreads averaged in double digits signifying a stressful environment for the refiners,” Rohit Nagraj, an analyst with Mumbai-based brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd, commented in a 7 July report on the sector. For the quarter to 30 June, RIL reduced employee cost to Rs546 crore from Rs651 crore last year and other expenditure by 36.9% to Rs2,080 crore “on account of lower conversion cost, selling expenses and exchange rate gain”. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Jul 2009 | 6:55 pm ITC willing to ‘join hands’ with competing hotel firmsKolkata: For the first time, ITC Ltd—the country’s biggest tobacco company which also runs hotels—told its shareholders that it was willing to integrate with itself the businesses of competing hotel companies such as EIH Ltd and Hotel Leela Venture Ltd in which it has acquired substantial equity interest. The overture of “partnership” comes at a time when ITC is looking to aggressively expand its hotel business and has lined up an investment of around $2 billion, or close to Rs10,000 crore, to build new properties over the next 7-10 years. “We are hungry (for growth),” said ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar.  Partenship overture: Deveshwar says ITC isn’t interested in a hostile takeover, but the stake would come in handy if the firms decided to join. Indranil Bhoumik / Mint Russell Credit also owns 14.1 million shares in Hotel Leela Venture—owner of the Leela hotels and resorts—which translates into a stake of 3.8%. The shares were acquired in fiscal 2009 for Rs31.18 crore, according to ITC’s annual report. Addressing shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Kolkata on Friday, Deveshwar said, “We are not interested in hostile takeover… Sometime, if the other side wants to join hands with us, it (the stake) will come handy.” He has so far maintained that ITC invests its surplus cash “in areas that we have knowledge of”—he reiterated this on Friday. “These are very good investments…they have appreciated by Rs600-700 crore already,” he said. Deveshwar is a director of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint. When contacted, EIH vice-chairman S.S. Mukherji said his company hadn’t received a firm proposal from ITC yet. “I cannot comment on what he (Deveshwar) told ITC’s shareholders. ITC has never approached us directly…we haven’t ever considered or discussed any partnership with ITC.” The management of Hotel Leela Venture wasn’t immediately available for comment. Calls made to its managing director Vivek Nair weren’t answered or returned. Since ITC started acquiring shares of EIH in 2000, the latter’s promoters—the Delhi-based Oberoi family led by patriarch P.R.S. Oberoi—have ramped up their holding in the firm through so-called creeping acquisition, or purchase of shares from the open market. They currently hold 46.42%. Asked what he meant by “partnership” with competing hotel companies, Deveshwar later told reporters: “The hotel business lends itself to separation of ownership of properties and marketing… We could, for instance, market hotels under a common umbrella.” ITC is looking to snap up unfinished hotel projects from cash-strapped real estate firms, too. “Lots of people were trying to develop hotels with borrowed money… A lot of dialogues (with developers) are going on,” he added. On organic growth plans, he said the firm had bought land across the country—in cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore and Amritsar—to build new hotels. “We are currently negotiating for a piece of land in Gurgaon,” he added. Three years ago, Deveshwar had said the biggest problem facing ITC’s expansion plans was real estate prices. On Friday, he said the company was making full use of the downturn in the real estate market. ITC’s cigarette sales contracted by around 1.8 billion sticks in fiscal 2009. The firm produced 69.4 billion cigarettes in the year to March, almost 3.7 billion sticks more than the previous year, but sales declined. However, its revenue and income from cigarette sales increased because of higher prices. “Production peaked till May after which we had to suspend production at our factories for 15-20 days to introduce the new pictorial health warnings on our packets. So, production increased, but consumption didn’t,” Deveshwar said. By the year-end, the firm was left with a stock of 9.3 billion sticks, 5.5 billion more than at the beginning of fiscal 2009. ITC stopped producing non-filter cigarettes because of higher excise duties, and the decline in sales by volume during the year was largely on account of its exit from the segment, according to analysts. The 23% rise in revenue from cigarette sales in the June quarter was also because of higher inventory in trade, but the growth may not be sustained in the quarters ahead. ITC is still scouting for land in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to set up a new paper and paperboards manufacturing facility in which it could invest Rs4,000-5,000 crore. aneik.p@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Jul 2009 | 6:53 pm Starbucks to enter India within two yearsLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Coffee chain Starbucks Corp plans to enter India within two years, a spokeswoman said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 6:52 pm Bill Gates | ‘Google’s honeymoon is coming to an end’New Delhi: A year after moving away from day-to-day operations at Microsoft Corp., the world’s biggest software maker, Bill Gates remains as driven as ever. “When I was with Microsoft, I was fanatical of that work. And, now I am fanatical full time about (healthcare) work,” Gates, visiting India, told an audience of senior executives at a tech event in the Capital on Friday. Click here to watch video A day after Microsoft reported 29% weaker net profit at $3.05 billion (Rs14,762 crore today) for the June quarter, Gates, 54, still chairman of the company he co-founded in 1975, spoke to Mint about the downturn in his firm’s business; its rivalry with search leader Google Inc.; work at his foundation; his personal goals; and what he is betting on. Edited excerpts: From where you sit in the tech world, what is your outlook on the tough economy the world is in? Companies such as Microsoft that are conservatively managed are still quite profitable. We are not making as much as we did last year, but the drop-off is not some tragedy that has us not believing and investing long-term, including the fundamental research, which is at the centre of our future. (At Microsoft), the innovations are continuing at full pace—Windows 7 (a new version of the Microsoft operating system due for release in October) is about to come out; Bing came out. We just went through our fifth anniversary of Microsoft Research where we talked about the breakthrough things that that lab was able to bring forward. So, the information technology industry, even though it has got a volume drop that’s affecting profitability for some of the players, is the most competitive industry. When we interviewed Craig Mundie (Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer) earlier this year, he talked of the current global situation as a “permanent reset” of the economy. (CEO Steve) Ballmer has repeatedly said that the worst is not over. But the tech analyst world still seems bullish on signs of economic recovery. At Microsoft, what are you telling them after yesterday’s results?  Long-term outlook: Microsoft Corp. chairman and co-founder Bill Gates at a Nasscom event in New Delhi on Friday. Raj Kumar / Mint The basic bets we make on secure software, speech recognition, putting the camera on the PC...those bets are really based on whether you can make the breakthrough. Go back to graphical user interface, Office suite...they are not based on my being a great macroeconomist. Microsoft was founded during this huge recession, it was terrible. But I barely noticed it. I didn’t say that I better call Alan Greenspan and find out what interest rates the Fed will be setting so I know whether to hire programmers or not. So, the basic proposition of the magic of software is unchanged. The earnings figure for the next couple of years for something such as Microsoft will be affected by the economy. So that’s what Steve, for the interest of investors, is doing a good job (on). Microsoft’s always been careful in having modest expectations for investors; no company, I think, has done as well as we have of really being brutal on expectations. PC demand doesn’t look (as if) it is down too dramatically, but no one really knows what the next few years will look (like). But, fortunately, it is not so down that the basic proposition of what kind of software we are doing and the scale at which we are doing has changed. Are you excited about Windows 7? Very. It is an incredible piece of work. The team’s done very well; it will certainly be our best release in a decade. Microsoft and search—what’s the way forward? (Microsoft’s latest search engine) Bing’s out and is getting good reviews. Bing has achieved our goals; it’s raised our market share and it’s got a clear awareness that we are in the game. People can simply type Bing and key a term and it will give a coupon or give you directions or a lot of integrated results. We have a lot of things that our competitor (Google) does. They are very strong, their market share is overwhelming that will take many years of chipping away before there is any sign of that changing.  There is a lot of profit potential in that space. I think it is better for the world to have a deep, long-term technology company really into competing. Coming down to it, Microsoft is the only one that has a chance of doing that. Even for us, it has required a phenomenal dedication to work and investment. It’s still not profitable but it will be. You said they are not standing still. They are making these inroads or intend to make inroads into some of your core areas. How do you rate their chances of catching up? It is a competitive business; it’s always been. There’s nothing really new about that. You can list our past competitors and those made for a lot of good news articles that Microsoft was on its last legs. We would not want to deny anyone the opportunity of denying those articles. Again and again and again. And someday, it will be right, too. (Smiles.) More seriously, they are moving into operating systems (OS). They have done an Android OS. How many more OSs are they going to do? I hear they are announcing one next week. The more the better. And, are moving into productivity suites... How’re they doing? Take Google Talk. I mean, Google Talk was going to take over the world; it really was going to take over the world. But, who’s written an article since it was released, (saying), “We should look at its incredible contribution to the universe”? And, Orkut? What an incredible thing they did! I hear there are some Brazilian girls still using them. So, you know they are not infallible. But they do good work. Microsoft’s the same way. You know, Google’s in this kind of honeymoon...actually, their honeymoon is slowly but surely coming to an end. And, that’s fine. Our honeymoon came to an end and theirs has to come to end, too. And then, they will be just a normal company. They do interesting work and we are going to be competing with them five years from now, 10 years from now. And, that’s a very good thing for customers. On your philanthropy work, give us a 10,000-feet view of how you think technology can be leveraged to address problems that are centuries old? Almost everything we are doing (is around technology), like these new rice seeds that work well when they are submerged so that you don’t lose your crop and lots of very interesting seed work for farmer productivity. In health, it is new vaccines—vaccines for tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria—not only getting those invented but making sure they get delivered. (Some) 10 million children die every year. With the new vaccines, we could cut that in half. There is some real work to be done there. Then, there is financial service for the poor...using cellphones for banking. Education is a lot about online or video—asking teachers in online video. Has capital really been the fundamental stumbling block to develop, say, vaccines? Some five years, ago we did a $60 million grant for the malaria vaccine and it more than doubled the money going into the field. This is a disease that not only kills a million children a year—200 million people suffer from it in the course of the year. Africa bears the brunt of this terrible disease and even India and some parts of South-East Asia have significant amounts. It is unbelievable how the world is not focused on that and it’s a market failure. There is no market because its poor people and in the marketplace, you speak with money and they don’t have the money to fund the research to focus on that disease. Fortunately, we put enough in and we have a vaccine that we put in a phase III trial (human trials) and we are fairly optimistic—that was not happening earlier. Are you seeing tangible change? Well, we have saved millions of lives with new vaccines already, but there are many millions more to be saved. But some of the big wins are the things that we hope to achieve in the years ahead. Apart from healthcare, which you drive at the foundation, you are also interested in a whole lot of technologies that will change lives. What are those top things on your radar at this point of time which you think will make the big changes? IT (information technology) is still the business I know the best—the magic of software, the chip... Microsoft is still growing its research activities and they are very fanatical about driving that force and I stay involved in that in some projects that involve about 20% of my time. Fortunately, there is a big marketplace for those innovations. It’s a very competitive space. I think Microsoft has done a good job of being realistic of how those things can help poor people—bringing sociologists and psychologists in. It takes a lot of very special design. Another area that I see more of a marketplace for is energy, where we need a breakthrough and fortunately there has been a lot of companies looking at that. The scale and the opportunity is very big and the science says that there are many things that if they can be brought down in cost can provide immense amount of energy at low cost while not creating any environment problems. Things like high wind, offshore wind, solar chemicals, solar thermal... I have some investments to encourage innovative companies—there is even a nuclear one called Terrapower that I am a investor in. Of the thousands doing this work, overwhelmingly, most will fail but the world will benefit immensely from the three or four that actually do bring the cost down because after all—when you talk about clean water, fertilizer or transport—that’s the cost in energy. The progress of civilization maps very closely to bringing the cost of energy down and now getting rid of the side-effects at the same time. When Bill Gates goes away from this world, what would you like his friends to describe him as? Immortal! (Laughs.) He never left. But seriously, I don’t think you have a goal really after you’re gone. My motivation is more here and now—disease goals, family goals, backing some start-ups and activities that will have a big impact. Tell us your thoughts about India’s national citizen identity project. Ambitious projects like that often don’t work out. But they don’t often pick somebody of his (Nandan Nilekani, the head of Unique Identification Authority of India) ability. The potential benefits of that are particularly large here including something such as vaccination that I know best. And, so, I think there’s lot that can come of that. A year from now, that will be concrete: There will be milestones, he will appoint partnerships to get the thing going. Shauvik Ghosh contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Jul 2009 | 6:16 pm ITC discontent over land acquisition in BengalFast moving consumer goods major ITC Ltd., which has been scouting for land in West Bengal for quite some time has expressed its discontent over not getting land so far.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Jul 2009 | 6:01 pm Fortis Healthcare revenue, net increase on volume build-upMumbai: Fortis Healthcare Ltd, the hospital chain promoted by former promoters of drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, on Friday reported a growth in net profit to Rs7.55 crore on revenues of Rs185.43 crore for the quarter ended 30 June. The company, which is India’s second largest hospital chain after Apollo Hospitals Ltd and has 3,300 beds across the country, posted a net profit of Rs94 lakh in the year-ago quarter on revenues of Rs139 crore.  Fortis, which is proposing a nationwide expansion by a mix of acquisitions and new hospitals, had in April announced it would raise up to Rs1,000 crore by issuing equity shares and warrants. “Hospital business, though initially highly cost-intensive, can improve profits once the volume is built up because of the almost constant fixed costs on operations, which is the main reason for the high profit even with a comparatively low growth in income,” a Mumbai-based industry analyst with a investment bank said on condition of anonymity. Fortis posted higher expenditure on materials and employee expenses, among other costs, during the period, compared with a year ago. The hospital company that was in talks to acquire a majority stake in the Mumbai-based Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd, promoted by the Khorakiwala family, and recently entered into a strategic tie-up with Mumbai’s S.L. Raheja Hospital to manage that property. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Jul 2009 | 5:36 pm Bharti, MTN may extend merger talks - sourcesMUMBAI/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN are expected to extend exclusive talks about a possible merger by at least two to three weeks, four sources familiar with the deal said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 4:52 pm Karnataka seeks 2,000 MW nuclear power plantThe Karnataka government late Friday urged the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to set up a 2,000 MW greenfield nuclear power plant in the state to meet its growing demand for energy.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Jul 2009 | 4:31 pm Isro to launch GSAT-11 with 40 transponders in 2012Bangalore: India has approved building its heaviest communication satellite so far for telecom services, with capacity equal to what it currently provides using 11 satellites. The 4.5 tonne satellite, GSAT-11, will be launched by 2012 and carry 40 transponders in the Ku-band and Ka-band frequencies, which are 3-6 times more powerful than that used in existing communication satellites.  New mission: Isro campus in Bangalore. It will be the heaviest communication satellite so far for telecom services. Hemant Mishra / Mint India currently has 211 transponders in the 11 INSAT series satellites at their space home in the geo-synchronous transfer orbit, or GTO, some 36,000km above earth. “This would help us address growing demand from users,” said S. Satish, spokesman for Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, the country’s space agency. The cabinet on Thursday sanctioned Rs500 crore for the satellite to be built in 30 months, the government said in a statement on Friday. The satellite will be launched by a homegrown rocket under development—GSLV Mk3—which can carry satellites of at least 4 tonne. Most Indian satellites for telecom services and television broadcasts in orbit use the lower C-band frequency, except two satellites dedicated for direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasts that use the higher Ku-band frequency. “The (Ka-band) beam can be targeted at a specific place. The quality of reception will be much higher,” T.K. Alex, director of Isro satellite centre in Bangalore, said in an earlier interview in June. “This (Ka-band) will become very common in few years,” he said. Isro will test the Ka-band technology in its forthcoming experimental satellite GSAT-4, to be launched later this year, he had said. India aims to increase its transponder capacity to 500 during the 11th Plan, which ends in March 2012. The country plans to launch six satellites by then, some to replace its ageing satellites in orbit. Globally, there are more than 6,000 communication transponders in space. The growth of transponder requirement in the next five years is predicted to be only moderate—about 8,000—with multimedia and high-definition television being the growth drivers, a Isro report on the 11th Plan said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 24 Jul 2009 | 4:13 pm EXCLUSIVE - S.Africa says "devil in detail" on MTN/Bharti dealJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Treasury said on Friday it was broadly supportive of a tie-up between mobile phone operator MTN and Bharti Airtel but that the "devil is in the detail".Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 4:06 pm ITC Ltd to scale up hotel biz with 8K cr - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Jul 2009 | 3:49 pm Microsoft keen to take part in Unique ID project: GatesBill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation, said the software major is keen to participate in the national ID programme. Gates plans to meet Nandan Nilekani, who is Chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), tonight.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Jul 2009 | 3:47 pm Gates urges India to move from low-cost to R&DNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Billionaire Bill Gates on Friday urged India to move away from low-cost labour toward high-end research and development to keep its giant IT sector competitive.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:42 pm Have raised $37.5mn from QIP: REI AgroSundip Jhunjhunwaala, VC and MD, REI Agro, confirmed raising USD 37.5 million from the offering and added that there were a dozen investors form South East Asia and Europe. The objective, Jhunjhunwaala said, of this QIP is to retire their debt and added that the first tranche of fund raising has led to about 9.5% dilution.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:18 pm Eco-labelling to become mandatory for electronic goodsNew Delhi: As parts of efforts to tackle climate change, the Centre is in the process of making eco-labelling mandatory on a string of electronic and other goods of daily use to make them environment-friendly and energy-efficient. “By January 2010, four products — transformers, ACs, fluorescent lamps and refrigerators will have mandatory eco-labels,” environment minister Jairam Ramesh said during the launch of Energy Saving Programs by the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI). He said that similarly by July next year, “we expect three more energy saving products electric motors, color TV and LPG stoves used as daily household items to have mandatory eco-labelling ensuring low carbon emissions.” Stressing on the need for eco-friendly and clean technologies to mitigate the threat of climate change, Ramesh said that industry, particularly Information Technology which is the largest user of carbon emitter ACs, should come forward to cut down its carbon prints. While maintaining that India would not take any binding cuts on carbon emission, the minister said $100 million proposal announced by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown for developing nations to deal with the challenge of climate change was not sufficient. “The problem is alarming. More funds are needed. Also there is a need for changes in the International Property Rights (IPR) for easy and quick transfer of technology from the developed nations to developing countries,” Ramesh added. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:11 pm WHO issues notice to Matrix Labs, may suspend productsThere is some disturbing news for Matrix Laboratories. The World Health Organisation, or WHO, has apparently considered suspension of its products at one of its manufacturing facility. They have also issued a Notice of Concern to Matrix Laboratories. The notice was issued following inspections at Vizianagaram manufacturing site.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Jul 2009 | 12:02 pm Infrastructure to drive India issuance - JP MorganMUMBAI (Reuters) - JPMorgan's India chief executive expects infrastructure spending, domestic demand and global liquidity to help drive Indian capital raising, but merger activity may be curbed by a dearth of financing.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:09 am Mah Satyam back among top5 IT cos; experts say still cheapMahindra Satyam, formerly Satyam Computer Services, continues to shine in the stock market. The stock, which has rallied more than 30% in the last seven days, on July 23 crossed Rs 100 and is now back among the topfive Indian IT companies list in terms of market capitalisation.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Jul 2009 | 11:09 am
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