Starbucks eyes more stores in China, India

Starbucks sees the potential for thousands of stores in Greater China, where it currently has around 700, and is also keen on expanding in India and Vietnam, the head of the world\'s largest coffee retailer said
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 5:36 am

Port segment to add Rs 700800 cr revenue: Essar Shipping

The Essar Shipping stock has been abuzz in the past few weeks. Commenting on the company’s progress so far, Director, V Ashok said the worst for the shipping freight market was over, and added that he expected freight rates to pick up and stabilise in the next six months.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 4:56 am

People and Their Power

Allowing customers to choose their electricity provider could change power supply rules in India.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 4:14 am

Steel prices to hover at current levels in FY11 - Business Standard


Rediff
Steel prices to hover at current levels in FY11
Business Standard
PTI / New Delhi April 13, 2010, 15:24 IST Domestic steel prices are expected to remain at the current level during 2010-11, a top steel ministry official said, adding that any upward movement in the rates of the commodity would erode the rising demand. ...
Tatas open to social audit at KalinganagarCalcutta Telegraph
Input costs may hit Tata Steel output, profit in European opsLivemint
Tata Steel domestic sales up 18 pc in FY'10Economic Times
The Hindu -Hindu Business Line -Daily News & Analysis
all 39 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:57 am

Infosys sees 2010/11 sales rising 1618%

Infosys Technologies forecast revenue growth for the financial year to March slightly higher than market estimates on robust outsourcing demand after it reported a 0.9% drop in quarterly profit, roughly in line with forecasts.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:51 am

Bullish on Infosys, target of Rs 2930: Anand Rathi - Moneycontrol.com


Indian Express
Bullish on Infosys, target of Rs 2930: Anand Rathi
Moneycontrol.com
India's second largest IT exporter Infosys Technologies has announced its fourth quarter results of FY10. It has reported a 1.14% jump in its net profit to Rs 1600 crore as against Rs 1582 crore, on quarter-on-quarter basis (QoQ). ...
Infosys revenue to grow in double digit in 2011Sify
Infosys shares rebound on foreign fund buyingEconomic Times
Indian shrs drop 0.2 pct; Infosys seesawsReuters
Fyoq News -BloombergUTV -CIOL
all 364 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:45 am

Oil falls for 5th straight session on U.S. supply glut

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell for a fifth straight session to below $84 on Tuesday, almost erasing April's gains, as a forecast increase in U.S. crude stocks highlighted rising supplies and weak demand in the world's largest energy consumer.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:41 am

IEA raises 2010 global oil demand growth forecast

LONDON (Reuters) - Global oil demand will rise by 1.67 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2010, 100,000 bpd more than previously forecast, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:36 am

Hu tells Obama: China to make its own call on yuan

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China will chart its own course in reforming the yuan, President Hu Jintao told U.S. President Barack Obama, reinforcing the view that Beijing is likely to tip-toe, not leap, towards appreciation.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:30 am

Starbucks eyes Japan growth, India market

Tokyo: Starbucks is planning aggressive growth again in Japan after having shored up its profit margins and is eyeing a partner to enter the Indian market, the head of the world’s largest coffee retailer said.
Chief executive Howard Schultz also told Reuters in an interview that Starbucks would launch an iced version of its Via brand instant coffee in the United States, adding to a product line it says will turn into a multi-billion dollar business.
Schultz was in Tokyo to promote the launch of Via in Japan, the world’s largest instant coffee market and therefore seen as a key test for the product. Via was introduced in the United States and Canada last year and the United Kingdom last month.
Starbucks will begin selling Via from Wednesday through its roughly 870 stores in Japan and eventually expand distribution to include grocery shops and other retail channels, Schultz said.
The launch will coincide with a new focus on growth in Japan, where decisions over the past few years to slow the pace of store expansion, review its cost structure and raise prices have firmed up profit margins following a slide into the red in 2003.
“We are nowhere close to saturation in terms of the number of stores we are going to have in Japan. We are going to start growing the company again, being aggressive,” said Schultz, declining to give a specific target for its number of stores.
Last month the Japan business, a joint venture with handbag retailer Sazaby League, said it would beat its profit targets for the year ended in March.
The push into instant coffee has pitted Starbucks against established brands from Nestle SA and Kraft Foods Inc, though the Seattle-based coffee giant says it is targeting a more discerning customer.
Starbucks has made subtle changes to tailor Via for different markets. The suggested serving size is smaller in Japan than in the US because Japanese don’t drink as much in one sitting, and it used a check mark on the packaging instead of “X” on packages in the US becuase “X” has a negative connotation in Japan.
Similar to other markets, Starbucks will promote Via in Japan with a taste test where store visitors will be challenged to tell the difference between brewed coffee and its new instant version, which it says replicates the taste of fresh coffee.
“Most soluble coffee, as you know, is in jars. Unfortunately -- not to say anything bad about any other company or competitor - but all of it is low-quality coffee and its stale,” Schultz told a news conference in Tokyo. “It’s not coffee, it’s fuel”.
Japan’s instant coffee market was worth about $2.3 billion in 2009, roughly the same size as the fresh coffee market, according to Euromonitor. By comparison, the US instant market came to about $640 million, against $7.6 billion for fresh coffee.
Nestle is by far the biggest player in Japan with nearly two-thirds of the market through the Nescafe and Excella brands. Another one-fourth is covered by AGF, a joint venture between Kraft and Japanese food firm Ajinomoto.
Starbucks will sell a box of three Via sticks for ¥300, or ¥100 per cup. A box of twelve sticks will sell for ¥1,000. It comes in two flavours -- Colombia and Italian roast.
That will make it considerably more expensive than rival offerings on shelves in Japan, where a Nescafe box of 15 sticks of ready-mix for cafe au lait sells for just under ¥300.
“For customers of Starbucks stores this comes to a third the price of a regular cup of coffee. From that standpoint it would be a match for those looking to save money,” said Naoto Yoshida, who analyses the coffee market at research firm Fuji Keizai.
“If they tried to take this to a regular retail channel at this price I think it would struggle to gain acceptance given the wide gap with the price of existing products.”
India Partner
Schultz reiterated his view that Starbucks could in the future have “thousands of stores” in Greater China, up from around 700 now, and said two of its next major targets in Asia would be India and Vietnam.
Schultz declined to comment on speculation that it would tie-up with Jubilant Foodworks to enter the Indian market. Media had reported in late January that the two firms may form an alliance.
“At some point in the near future we will make the right announcement and the right partner in India,” he said. “We are enthused about India. We are enthused about Vietnam.”
Schultz also said the company will launch an iced version of its Via brand instant coffee. A spokeswoman later confirmed it would roll-out the product in late June in Canada and the US.
Via helped the company post the first quarterly gain in US same-store sales in two years during the October-December fiscal first quarter.
Ahead of the company’s announcement of its second quarter results next week, Schultz said that overall the “momentum in Starbucks’ business is pretty good.”

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:27 am

Palm approached China's Huawei for acquisition talks

Huawei was approached through its investment bank sometime in mid-February to have "preliminary discussions".
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:22 am

Yamaha launches YBR 110 for Rs41,000

New Delhi: Japanese two-wheeler major Yamaha launched its new commuter segment motorcycle -- YBR 110 on 13 April, in the Indian market, priced at Rs41,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi).
“We have been studying the entry level market and wanted to launch a new bike at an affordable price that would give satisfactory mileage... We are confident that we will replicate the success of our premium segment bikes with the launch of all new YBR 110 in entry level space,” India Yamaha Motor chief executive officer and MD Yukimine Tsuji said in a statement.
The 4-stroke YBR 110 comes with a 106 cc engine and has 4-speed gearbox, it added.
The company currently sells three products in the mass segment -- Crux, Alba and G5. While Crux comes for Rs34,990, Alba and G5 are priced at Rs41,000 and Rs43,380, respectively.
The company’s current product portfolio includes high-end bikes -- VMAX, MT01 and YZF-R1. It also sells Fazer, FZ-S, FZ16, YZF-R15 and Gladiator in the premium and executive segments.
India Yamaha Motor currently has two manufacturing facilities at Surajpur in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana which produce motorcycles for both domestic and export markets.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:21 am

Gold buying slows, traders seek falls

Mumbai: India gold buying slowed on Tuesday after a brief pick-up in the previous session as traders sought lower prices to stock for festivals and weddings, dealers said.
“Demand is not much at the moment. However, there was a slight pick-up yesterday at about $1,162-1,165,” said a dealer with a state-run bank.
Spot gold edged down on Tuesday, with investors growing cautious about the pace of its recent rally after a round of physical selling pulled down the precious metal from a four-month high the previous day.
International spot gold, which guides the domestic markets, was trading at $1,148.90/1,149.70 an ounce at 2:3 pm as against the previous close of $1,155/1,156.00.
“They are expecting a fall to $1,135 in the evening, when they hope to buy,” said another dealer with a private bank.
A weak rupee, which makes the dollar-quoted asset expensive, weighed on sentiment, they added.
The Indian rupee was weaker in afternoon trade on Tuesday but recovered some losses as exporters sold dollars to take advantage of the sharp drop in the rupee over the last two sessions, but weak domestic shares prevented further gains.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:20 am

EXCLUSIVE - Ford says cautiously open to partnerships

LAGUNA NIGUEL, California (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co is open to partnerships in green car technology but will be cautious in committing to any alliance, Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said on Monday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:19 am

Rupee trims fall on short-covering; shares eyed

Mumbai: The Indian rupee recovered some of its losses on Tuesday afternoon as banks sold dollars following a sharp drop in the rupee over the last two days and exporters also came in to take advantage of the unit’s weakness.
At 2:25pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs44.51/52 per dollar, off a low of Rs44.68 but still below Monday’s close of 44.47/48 when the unit had risen as high as 44.18 intra-day, its strongest since 8 September, 2008.
Dealers had built short dollar positions late last week as speculation that Beijing was close to allowing the yuan to rise intensified.
However, the absence of any such revaluation over the weekend has prompted banks to cut these short dollar positions on Monday and Tuesday, which dealers said was overdone, leading to short-covering in the rupee.
Indian shares were trading down 0.2%, with financials leading the decline, taking cues from weak Asian markets.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs44.60, weaker than the onshore spot rate.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both quoting at Rs44.5825, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $6 billion.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:15 am

IPL can of worms: Tharoor denies Modi’s charges

New Delhi: Union minister Shashi Tharoor, locked in a fresh controversy around the Kochi IPL team which he helped set up, on Tuesday hit back at IPL boss Lalit Modi alleging he had made attempts to pressure the winning consortium to abandon their bid for the Kerala outfit.
Tharoor also denied that he had told Modi not to ask details about owners of the consortium led by Rendezvous that bought the new franchisee.
In a statement, the minister of state for external affairs trained his guns on the powerful cricket board official alleging that various attempts were made by Modi and others to pressure the members of the consortium to abandon their bid in favour of another city in a different state. According to reports, Ahmedabad was being mentioned as the other city.
“I deny Mr Lalit Modi’s allegation that I called him during his meeting with investors in the Kochi consortium in Bangalore on Saturday night in order to press him not to question the composition of the consortium,” Tharoor said.
Voicing his displeasure at the turn of events which saw him pitted against Lalit Modi, Tharoor also tweeted, “I have had enough.”
“Rendezvous includes a number of people including many I have never met, and Sunanda Pushkar, whom I know well,” he said. Tharoor is reportedly planning to marry Sunanda. Rendezvous bought the franchise for the IPL Kochi team for $333 million.
In his tweet on Monday, Modi had not only publicly disclosed the names of the owners of the consortium that bought the franchisee but had also alleged that he was told by Tharoor not to ask who these shareholders were.
Tharoor said he was issuing the statement in a personal capacity to respond to the allegations made against him personally.
He said Rendezvous bid successfully in an open and transparent process. “Their unexpected success upset the plans of a lot of powerful people, who had wanted the franchise to go elsewhere,” he added.
“Mr Modi raised assorted objections to the bid documents but finally had no choice but to approve them, ” he said.
Tharoor alleged that Modi’s extraordinary breach of all propriety in publi cly raising issues relating to the composition of the consortium and himself personally is clearly an attempt to discredit the team and create reasons to disqualify it so that the franchise can be awarded elsewhere.
The minister also emphatically said he did not intend to benefit in any way financially from his association with the Kochi team now or at a later stage.
“My role in mentoring the consortium included several conversations with Lalit Modi, who guided us through the process and presented himself as a trusted friend,” he said.
A consortium led by Rendezvous was set up to bid for an IPL team, he said, adding, they approached him for help and guidance. “I steered them towards Kerala”.
Tharoor said contemptible efforts have been made to drag in matters of personal life which “I do not intend to dignify by commenting on them.”
The minister said he called Modi to ask why he was further delaying the approval of the franchise when all the legal requirements had been fulfilled.
“Mr Modi had held up approval by the IPL of the franchisee agreement earlier in the day, by insisting on the reversal of a change in the document that he himself had earlier suggested.
This change was made, the consortium members flew to Bangalore and met with Mr Modi after that night’s IPL game for what they had been told would be a routine exercise.
Instead they were submitted to a barrage of questions which led some to suspect that Mr Modi was seeking a further excuse to delay approval. This was the reason for my intervention with Mr Modi. Had he conducted himself in good faith throughout, no call would have been necessary.”
On the question of his interests in the franchise, Tharoor said he was proud to have helped the consortium come to Kerala.
“I have neither invested nor received a rupee for my mentorship of the team. Whatever my personal relationships with any of the consortium members,” he added.
The “unethical” efforts that have been made by Modi and others to thwart the Kerala franchise which had been won fair and square in a transparent bidding process are disgraceful, he said.
“It has been clear for some time that the real motive is to assign this IPL team elsewhere than Kerala. All of us in Kerala hope that the BCCI will not permit statements and activities which seek to discredit the Kerala team before it has even had a chance to prove its worth. The public attempts by Mr Modi to besmirch the consortium in fact bring the IPL itself into disrepute,” he said.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:14 am

Better to dump 'most powerful lists' in the garage: Nooyi

PepsiCo's India-born Chief Indra Nooyi, says it is better to leave the lists in the garage as such crowns do no good to her and are only a good way to sell magazines.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:13 am

Euro steady; Greek T-bill auction awaited - Reuters


Globe and Mail
Euro steady; Greek T-bill auction awaited
Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) - The euro steadied against the yen and dollar on Tuesday, paring overnight losses racked up as relief over Greece's aid package turned to caution, as investors awaited a Greek Treasury Bill sale to gauge appetite for risk. ...
Greece bond issue clears test of investors' confidenceBBC News
Greek crisis faces latest test with debt sell-offThe Guardian
German Banks: New Debt Rules Needed Alongside Greek AidWall Street Journal
Financial Times -Economic Times -Reuters
all 2,712 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:06 am

Want all financial products to move to 'no-entry load': FM - Moneycontrol.com


Oneindia
Want all financial products to move to 'no-entry load': FM
Moneycontrol.com
Only yesterday the Finance Minister was in the middle of a bitter battle between the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The bone of contention - unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs). ...
Insurance sector scores self goalEconomic Times
Ulip row: Distributors field calls, put applications on holdBusiness Standard
Policy-holders jam insurance agents' phone linesHindu Business Line
Financial Express -Livemint -Moneycontrol.com
all 541 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 3:00 am

Best Buy to sell Barnes Noble\'s Nook ereader

Barnes Noble Inc will sell its Nook electronicbook reader at Best Buy Co Inc, expanding distribution as it faces growing competition with the entry of Apple Inc\'s iPad
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:58 am

Atlas Energy to enter into long term service contracts

Atlas Energy plans to enter into longer term contracts with oil and gas services companies as it targets to ramp up its drilling activities in the Marcellus shale, following its recent deal with India\'s Reliance Industries.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:58 am

Global wind power to rise 160% in 5 yrs: GWEC

Global wind power capacity is expected to increase by 160% over the next five years with China leading the lowcarbon power push, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said on Monday
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:58 am

Congo Republic says ZainBharti deal breaks law

Congo Republic complained on Monday it had not been informed of Bharti Airtel\'s USD 9 billion deal to buy Kuwaiti telco Zain\'s African assets, saying that was a contravention of Zain\'s licence terms
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:58 am

Mukherjee says to maintain ULIP status quo ante

The capital markets and insurance regulators have agreed to maintain current status on unitlinked insurance products, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:58 am

3G bids up 24% from base on third day of auction

Bids rose further on the third day of the thirdgeneration (3G) spectrum auction, with one provisional winning bid for national cover touching Rs 4324 crores (USD 972 million), or about 24% higher than the base price, government data showed on Monday
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:58 am

Punjab National Bank opens 10 kiosks in unbanked villages of Haryana

Under Project Namaskar, Punjab National Bank plans to set up one lakh kiosks or touch points in unbanked villages by 2013.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:49 am

Monsoon seen normal this year

New Delhi: A second straight poor summer monsoon is unlikely, India’s weather office chief said ahead of an official forecast for the rains that are crucial to the economy of the world’s second most populous nation.
In 2009, the worst monsoon rains in 37 years caused widespread losses in key crops like oilseeds and sugarcane, which fed through to food price inflation that reached double digits in the past year.
The latest data showed the food price index was up 17.70% in the year to 17 March, strengthening expectations of a hike in interest rates when the central bank reviews policy next month.
But weather observations made against a historical set of parameters modelled on a supercomputer to predict the monsoon signal good rainfall this year, and the chief of the India Meteorological Department, Ajit Tyagi, said the chances of a monsoon failure two years in a row are remote.
“It happens rarely,” Tyagi told Reuters.
Data from the weather office shows that out of about 20 droughts since 1901, 17 were followed by near-normal rainfall. The weather office will issue its formal monsoon forecast in the second half of April.
Summer monsoon rains traverse the subcontinent from its southern tip to the Himalayan north from June through September.
The rains are vital for rural India, home to two-thirds of its billion-plus people who are a key support base for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government voted back to power last year as its policies boosted farm incomes.
India, the second largest producer and top consumer of sugar, had to import a record five million tonnes of the sweetner last year as cane fields were hit by the drought, making it a key driver of New York raw sugar futures which peaked at 30.40 cents a pound on 1 February.
Rainfall is vital for higher cane production to boost sugar output during processing.
Higher sugar supply could also encourage the government to reverse a series of measures, including duty-free imports of sugar, that were taken last year when output fell sharply.
Oilseeds and Wheat
Lower oilseed output also last year led India to overtake China as the world’s biggest edible oils buyer, and good monsoon rains would reduce Indian imports, an industry official said.
B V Mehta, head of the Solvent Extracters’ Association, said adequate rainfall was important for the edible oils industry.
“Good rainfall is very important, but it should also be well distributed across oilseeds producing regions,” he said.
Hopes for a normal monsoon this year has also brightened prospects for wheat exports from India, which banned shipments three years ago amid fears of scarcity.
India faces a storage problem as the 2010 harvest is expected to be a record, exceeding demand for the fourth straight year.
The government has already allowed limited exports of wheat to neighbouring countries, and last week, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said the country had received trade queries for overseas sale of wheat on bulging stocks.
“The government can make bold decision on wheat exports. It can tinker policies if the monsoon shapes up on expected line,” said S Raghuraman, a Delhi-based independent analyst.
Normal rainfall would also help Indian government that has faced protests against rising prices.
Weather officials are particularly encouraged by the weakening of the El Nino phenomenon, which can create havoc in weather across the Asia-Pacific region, unleashing droughts and heavy storms.
“There are indications of a weak and neutral El Nino. Towards the end year, there could be La Nina (the opposite, cooling phenomenon),” Tyagi said.
Last month, the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said the El Nino had peaked, but was expected to influence climate patterns up to mid-year before dying out.
Agricultural secretary, P K Basu, said it was too early to predict the monsoon, but weather conditions such as the El Nino augured well for the rainy season.
High temperatures before monsoon rains, which usually start on 1 June, also augur well for the rainy season, scientists say.
The weather office said this year’s March temperature rose to a record in several regions, while April has seen severe heat wave conditions over many parts of the country.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:42 am

Pimco shuns Greek debt despite rescue package

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pimco will not be buying new Greek debt as it believes a euro zone rescue package fails to tackle the country's longer-term solvency challenges, the chief executive of the bond fund told Reuters.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:35 am

Twitter set to make money through advertisements

The advertising program known as "Promoted Tweets" will be rolled out to 2 to 10% of users via search on Twitter.com beginning Tuesday, company spokesperson Sean Garrett said.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:15 am

Carlyle raises $2.55 billion Asian fund

Called Carlyle Asia Partners III, the fund holds capital from large institutional investors in Asia, Europe, the United States and the Middle East, Caryle said in a statement.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:08 am

India will grow 8.2 pc in 2010: ADB

India will grow 8.2 per cent in 2010 and 8.7 per cent in 2011 but rising inflation will bog the country's policy makers, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday.


Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 2:06 am

Edelweiss plans big boost to wealth business

Singapore: Indian financial services firm Edelweiss Capital plans to hire hundreds of relationship managers to boost its wealth management business as it sees growing demand from India’s wealthy to invest for the long-term.
Edelweiss said it expects retail broking as well as wealth management to contribute to 30-40% of the group’s overall business in four to five years, from 18-20% after the completion of its purchase of retail broker Anagram.
Its ambitious plan is a sign of how homegrown wealth managers in India are putting the pressure on their western rivals, as the fight for clients’ wallets in the world’s second-fastest growing market for millionaires after China intensifies.
“It’s still an emerging opportunity, but a large part of the high networth market is shifting from brokerage to integrated private banking and wealth management services,” Rashesh Shah, chairman of Edelweiss Capital, told Reuters in an interview in Singapore on Tuesday.
To drive this diversification from investment banking to wealth management, the Indian firm aims to boost its number of relationship managers that serves the high networth market in India to 400-500 in four to five years from 65 now.
“Eight to 10 years ago, a high networth individual, all he or she wanted to do was to invest in the markets. Now they want allocations across mutual funds, real estate and alternative assets,” Shah said.
Edelweiss estimates that there are half a million people in India who have at least $500,000 assets each to invest and that market is growing rapidly, which will increase demand for other services as well such as estate planning and family offices.
“The challenge in the entire private banking and wealth management space is not the opportunity, it is the supply. There are not many quality relationship managers and product managers who can cater to this demand.”
Shah said he may also hire experienced bankers as well as people from the capital markets and fresh university graduates who could be trained to work as relationship managers.
Recently Edelweiss hired Anshu Kapoor, head of the wealth unit from HSBC in India, to help build its wealth management business.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:49 am

Infosys shares rebound on foreign fund buying

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Infosys Technologies, India's No.2 software services exporter, shrugged off early choppiness and rose as much as 3.7 percent on Tuesday afternoon on foreign fund buying, traders said.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:47 am

Posco raises 2010 sales target after strong Q1

Seoul: Posco, the world’s No. 4 steelmaker, expected a further recovery in the global steel industry and raised its 2010 sales target, as an economic rebound drove demand from China and auto and appliance manufacturers.
Asian steelmakers led by Japan’s Nippon Steel and China’s Baosteel are set to raise steel prices to defend margins after agreeing to pay nearly double for iron ore imports and accepting a quarterly pricing system instead of annually fixed deals.
But the flagging construction and shipbuilding industries, major steel consumers, may hold back steelmakers’ efforts to fully pass on soaring cost pressure to customers, denting their second-half earnings outlook, analysts say.
“Steel trading has improved both in the domestic and overseas markets, lifting our sales and shipments...we expect the market would continue its recovery and thus decided to raise 2010 sales and production forecasts,” Posco said on Tuesday in a statement.
The South Korean firm lifted its 2010 sales target by 8% to 31.9 trillion won ($28.6 billion) and crude steel output forecast by 100,000 tonnes to 34.5 million tonnes.
Posco, which ranks behind ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel and Baosteel, is expected to make two rounds of price increases between now and the third quarter.
They would be its first increases since it unexpectedly slashed prices last May due to sagging demand and cheaper raw material costs.
The increases may also help Posco report better earnings this quarter as it has yet to use up all the cheaper stocks of raw materials imported through March, analysts say.
Posco, the first of Asia’s big steel firms to report March quarter results, posted operating profit of 1.45 trillion won, almost a four-fold jump from the year-earlier’s 373 billion won and compared with 1.6 trillion won three months before.
The results were broadly in line with a mean forecast of 1.5 trillion won from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
It reported quarterly sales of 6.95 trillion won, versus a forecast 7.1 trillion won.
Shares of Posco, Asia’s most valuable steelmaker by market value and South Korea’s second-largest listed company, closed down 1.3% at 538,000 won prior to the results announcement.
The stock has lost around 15% from its two-year highs in early January on concerns that soaring raw material costs would hit earnings this year.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:41 am

Posco raises 2010 sales target after strong Q1

Seoul: Posco, the world’s No. 4 steelmaker, expected a further recovery in the global steel industry and raised its 2010 sales target, as an economic rebound drove demand from China and auto and appliance manufacturers.
Asian steelmakers led by Japan’s Nippon Steel and China’s Baosteel are set to raise steel prices to defend margins after agreeing to pay nearly double for iron ore imports and accepting a quarterly pricing system instead of annually fixed deals.
But the flagging construction and shipbuilding industries, major steel consumers, may hold back steelmakers’ efforts to fully pass on soaring cost pressure to customers, denting their second-half earnings outlook, analysts say.
“Steel trading has improved both in the domestic and overseas markets, lifting our sales and shipments...we expect the market would continue its recovery and thus decided to raise 2010 sales and production forecasts,” Posco said on Tuesday in a statement.
The South Korean firm lifted its 2010 sales target by 8% to 31.9 trillion won ($28.6 billion) and crude steel output forecast by 100,000 tonnes to 34.5 million tonnes.
Posco, which ranks behind ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel and Baosteel, is expected to make two rounds of price increases between now and the third quarter.
They would be its first increases since it unexpectedly slashed prices last May due to sagging demand and cheaper raw material costs.
The increases may also help Posco report better earnings this quarter as it has yet to use up all the cheaper stocks of raw materials imported through March, analysts say.
Posco, the first of Asia’s big steel firms to report March quarter results, posted operating profit of 1.45 trillion won, almost a four-fold jump from the year-earlier’s 373 billion won and compared with 1.6 trillion won three months before.
The results were broadly in line with a mean forecast of 1.5 trillion won from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
It reported quarterly sales of 6.95 trillion won, versus a forecast 7.1 trillion won.
Shares of Posco, Asia’s most valuable steelmaker by market value and South Korea’s second-largest listed company, closed down 1.3% at 538,000 won prior to the results announcement.
The stock has lost around 15% from its two-year highs in early January on concerns that soaring raw material costs would hit earnings this year.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:41 am

POSCO says net profit quadrupled in Q1

South Korea's leading steelmaker POSCO said on Tuesday its first-quarter net profit more than quadrupled from a year earlier thanks to rising demand and higher steel prices.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:37 am

Markets drop 0.2%; Infosys seesaws

Mumbai: Indian shares were trading 0.2% lower on Tuesday morning, dragged by lower Asian peers, while Infosys Technologies rose as it forecast stronger-than-expected annual revenue growth of 16-18 percent.
The country’s no. 2 software services exporter Infosys reported a 0.9% drop in quarterly profit, and forecast June quarter consolidated earnings per share to grow up to 1.8%.
A. N. Sridhar, a fund manager at Sahara Mutual Fund called the company’s earnings per share outlook for this quarter “quite conservative.”
“I think going forward the currency movements, especially that of the rupee and dollar will play a significant role in the financial performance,” he said, adding the management had rightly expressed concerns on it.
The stock was up 2.1 in choppy trade, after falling as much as 1.8%.
By 11:21am, the 30-share BSE Index was trading down 0.19% at 17,819.50, with 22 of its components declining.
The benchmark is up 1.7% so far this year. Foreign funds have poured in around $5.2 billion in Indian equities so far in 2010, a portion of which was absorbed by primary market issuance.
“The underlying sentiment in the market is still positive, as results are not likely to disappoint,” said Neeraj Dewan, director of Quantum Securities from New Delhi.
Financials edged lower, weighed down by concerns over rising inflation.
India’s March inflation will be “pretty high,” Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry, had told reporters on Monday. He added that core inflation, excluding food and fuel prices, is around 5.5% currently.
Top lender State Bank of India fell nearly 1%, while leading private lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank shed 1.5% and 0.1% respectively.
Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the Sensex, was down 0.5% at Rs1,120.45.
In the broader market, gainers almost equalled the number of losers in a volume of 147 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index was down 0.2% at 5,328.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:36 am

Infosys to pay 300 per cent final dividend to investors

Recovering from the worst economic slump, a resilient Infosys Technologies Ltd on Tuesday proposed to pay a final dividend of Rs 15 per share or 300 per cent on par value of Rs 5 per share for fiscal 2009-10.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:27 am

Google adds a touch of Microsoft to applications

Google has upgraded its online package of word processing and spreadsheet programs so they work even more like the Microsoft applications with which they're competing.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:23 am

RBI seen tightening policy further

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to further tighten its monetary policy, R. Gopalan, secretary for financial services in the finance ministry, said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:19 am

RBI seen tightening policy further

New Delhi: The Reserve bank of India (RBI) is expected to further tighten its monetary policy, R Gopalan, secretary for financial services in the finance ministry, said on Tuesday.
India’s rising inflation has kept markets betting on another interest rate rise next week.
Investors have already priced a 25-basis point rate rise at the central bank’s policy review on 20 April after it raised rates last month.
“I share the views of some experts that some further amount of tightening is required,” Gopalan told reporters.
A pick up in the economy has seen a rise in inflation with the headline number expected to have breached 10% in March, for which the data is due on Thursday.
The RBI had cited increased capacity utilisation as one of the principal factors driving up inflation and analysts expect the central bank to try to cool demand until companies boost their potential output.
However, Gopalan stressed the need for the central bank to strike a balance between containing inflation and supporting growth.
“But there is an issue of growth. They (central bank) have to make a balance (between growth and inflation),” he said.
India, the world’s second fastest growing major economy after China, is expected to grow 8.5% in the current fiscal year and 9% in 2011-12.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:18 am

PVR Ltd board approves merger of Leisure World Pvt - Business Standard


PVR Ltd board approves merger of Leisure World Pvt
Business Standard
PTI / Mumbai April 13, 2010, 12:45 IST Multiplex chain operator PVR Ltd today said it will merge Leisure World Pvt Ltd with the company effective from April 1. The board of the company has unanimously approved merger of Leisure World Private Ltd with ...
PVR board approves merger of Leisure World Pvt with itselfMoneycontrol.com
PVR bags board nod for Leisure World mergerMyiris.com
PVR To Merge Promoter-Owned Firm With ItselfVC Circle
Equity Bulls -Indiantelevision.com
all 7 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:16 am

Rana Dasgupta wins Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

New Delhi: British-Indian author Rana Dasgupta today won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for 2010 for his epic tale “Solo” set in Communist and post-Communist Bulgaria while Australian Glenda Guest’s “Siddon Rock” picked up Best First Book at the award’s grand finale ceremony.
Dasgupta, whose book was earlier adjudged the best in the South Asia and Europe region, beat off stiff competition from the three other regions to win the £10,000 prize.
Minister of state for external affair Shashi Tharoor gave away the awards at the event held for the first time in Delhi, the venue for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in October.
“I dont see the Prize in any way as a celebration of colonialism or an acknowledgement of the historical past but surely as one that binds us together through language,” said Tharoor who was a recipeint of the prize around 20 years ago.
The contenders, who lost out to Dasgupta in the race were South African author Marie Heese’s ‘The Double Crown’, Canadian writer Michael Crummey’s ‘Galore’ and Samoan author Albert Wendt’s ‘The Adventures of Vela’.
Similarly, Glenda Guest won the 5,000-pound prize seeing off competition from seven regional winners of the Best First Book from Africa, the Carribbean and Canada, South Asia-Europe, South East Asia-Pacific regions.
The panel of judges that decided the overall winners included Chair of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Justice Nicholas Hasluck, Elinor Sisulu Antonia MacDonald Smythe Muneeza Shamsie Anne Brewster and Makarand Paranjpaye, the representive from India.
Born in the UK, the 38-year old author, whose first book ‘Tokyo Cancelled’ was shortlisted for the 2005 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, has been based in Delhi for the last nine years.
“Solo” is Dasgupta’s second book and is a story that encompasses a century of Communist and post-Communist regimes in Bulgaria, told from the perspective of a near centenarian man.
Guest’s ‘Siddon Rock’ won the award over other first timers — Nigerian author Adaobi Tricia Nwaubeni’s ‘I Do Not Come to You by Chance’, Canadian debut novelist Shandi Mitchell’s ‘Under This Unbroken Sky’ and Pakistani author Daniyal Mueenuddin’s ‘In Other Rooms, Other Wonders’.
The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, is presented annually to reward the best Commonwealth fiction written in English by both established and new writers.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 1:08 am

India can surpass US economy in three decades: Economist

Bangalore: India can emerge as the world’s second largest economy by 2039, if it continues to grow at the rate of 8-9% annually, says a senior economist.
Former senior advisor and a director at The World Bank, Harinder Kohli said India’s average per capita income would jump 22 times from $940 to $22,000 in 30 years from now.
“India’s footprint in the global economy will go to more than 17% in 2039 from less than 2% in 2007,” he said.
But he underlined that it can become a reality if the current economic growth momentum is sustained in the next three decades.
“It (India becoming the world’s second largest economy and related indicators) could happen if things go well. That if all goes well.”
Kohli warned against India getting caught in the “middle income trap.”
At that stage, India needs to improve the quality of its workforce and address issues such as inequality in terms of per capita income between different states, and start working on those matters now itself as it takes a long-time to produce results.
In addition, he said to meet its growing energy needs, India will have to tap hydro, nuclear and other renewable energy sources in a big way.
And also, India has to understand that it cannot do well economically, if its neighbourhood is not friendly. Failed states around it is not in India’s interest, Kohli, who is currently president and CEO of Centennial Group, said.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:51 am

Asia shares fall, euro consolidates vs dollar

Singapore: Asian shares fell on Tuesday ahead of key earnings in the United States while the euro consolidated against the dollar but fell against the yen ahead of a treasury bill sale by Greece later in the day.
European stock markets were also expected to open lower, with spreadbetters seeing Britain’s FTSE 100 down 12 to 13 points, or as much as 0.2%, Germany’s DAX down 5 to 7 points, or as much as 0.1%, and France’s CAC-40 down 11 to 12 points, or as much as 0.3%.
Several Asian stock markets and regional currencies fell back after strong rises over the past several weeks.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei fell 0.81%, moving further away from 18-month highs hit last week, as the yen strengthened and investors took profits in chipmakers ahead of earnings from tech bellwether Intel Corp later in the day.
“Though good earnings are expected, these predictions are factored in, so that anything except a large positive surprise could lead to selling once the results are out,” said Takashi Ushio, head of the investment strategy division at Marusan Securities.
Other major US companies to report results this week include JPMorgan, Google, Bank of America and General Electric.
But sharp falls are not expected, with support likely to hold for now near the Nikkei’s 25-day moving average, currently at just under 11,000. The index closed at 11,161.23 points.
“Demand overall isn’t bad, and the market currently lacks strong reasons to either buy or sell,” said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.
The MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan was down 0.89%.
Traders said the low-yielding yen, which tends to get bought back when investors turn cautious, was helped by the slide in share markets and advanced on the dollar and the euro.
The dollar slipped about 0.4% against the yen, hovering around 92.8 yen.
SHORT-LIVED
The euro’s rally against the dollar ppeared to be short-lived as it hovered around $1.3588, broadly steady from late in New York on 12 April, and well below a high of $1.3691 struck in the previous session.
The single currency had jumped after euro zone finance ministers approved a 30 billion euro ($40.5 billion) rescue package of loans, which Greece could tap if needed. At least 10 billion euros are also expected from the International Monetary Fund.
The euro shed about 0.4% on the yen, as doubts returned about how and whether Athens uses the bailout fund and how it copes with its debt mound longer term.
Many traders said in the longer term the bailout package was not a game-changer and the currency would head lower in the next few months. But a trader at a European bank said the single currency could test $1.37 later in the day if a proposed 1.2 billion euros sale of Greek Treasury paper draws a good response.
“The auction results would be a litmus test as it’s the first sale after the announcement of the aid package for Greece,” said Mitsuru Sahara, chief manager for the currency derivatives trading department at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
A sharp drop in yields following Sunday’s deal on the rescue package for Greece should snuff out doubts over Athens’ ability to place the treasury bills, traders in Europe said.
YUAN FLEXIBILITY UNLIKELY SOON
US President Barack Obama met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington on Monday and called for more flexibility in the yuan. The Xinhua news agency later quoted Hu as telling Obama that Beijing would “firmly stick” to its own path on the yuan.
The Malaysian ringgit , often used as a proxy for the yuan, fell 0.7% on the news.
“It seems that the market had built up dollar-short positions in the past two weeks in anticipation of China moves. What we are seeing is just some short covering,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based dealer.
On metals markets, London’s three-month copper futures fell more than half a percent, extending losses after the market failed to hold on to a rally to a 20-month peak in the previous session on worries that growth in prices have outpaced demand.
US crude futures fell for the fifth straight day, edging toward $84, ahead of data due later in the day that is expected to show a build in US crude stockpiles.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:43 am

Google adds a touch of Microsoft to applications

Mountain View: Google has upgraded its online package of word processing and spreadsheet programs so they work even more like the Microsoft applications with which they’re competing.
The changes introduced 13 April include several editing tools for word processing and quicker ways to fill cells in spreadsheets. The new features have long been staples in Microsoft’s widely used Office suite of software.
Google Inc. has been trying to lure users away from Microsoft Corp.’s products for several years in an effort to siphon revenue from one of its biggest rivals. At the same time, Google hopes to diversify its own business, lessening its financial dependence on Internet advertising powered primarily by its search engine.
Winning converts has taken time because Google requires people to reach its programs over the Internet — a concept that has become known as “cloud computing.” Microsoft’s competing applications typically are installed on individual computers.
Google believes it has developed a superior, less expensive alternative because hosting the applications in a Web browser makes them accessible on any computer with an Internet connection. But many companies remain reluctant to entrust their technology to an outside service that could be hacked or suffer lengthy outages.
To promote cloud computing’s advantages, Google hosted the technology decision makers from about 400 companies at its Mountain View headquarters Monday.
In a question-and-answer session at the end of the event, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company’s online suite is aiming to provide about 80% of all the tools available in more established programs such as Office.
“Our applications aren’t full replacements for the incumbents,” Schmidt said.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:36 am

Google adds a touch of Microsoft to applications

Mountain View: Google has upgraded its online package of word processing and spreadsheet programs so they work even more like the Microsoft applications with which they’re competing.
The changes introduced 13 April include several editing tools for word processing and quicker ways to fill cells in spreadsheets. The new features have long been staples in Microsoft’s widely used Office suite of software.
Google Inc. has been trying to lure users away from Microsoft Corp.’s products for several years in an effort to siphon revenue from one of its biggest rivals. At the same time, Google hopes to diversify its own business, lessening its financial dependence on Internet advertising powered primarily by its search engine.
Winning converts has taken time because Google requires people to reach its programs over the Internet — a concept that has become known as “cloud computing.” Microsoft’s competing applications typically are installed on individual computers.
Google believes it has developed a superior, less expensive alternative because hosting the applications in a Web browser makes them accessible on any computer with an Internet connection. But many companies remain reluctant to entrust their technology to an outside service that could be hacked or suffer lengthy outages.
To promote cloud computing’s advantages, Google hosted the technology decision makers from about 400 companies at its Mountain View headquarters Monday.
In a question-and-answer session at the end of the event, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company’s online suite is aiming to provide about 80% of all the tools available in more established programs such as Office.
“Our applications aren’t full replacements for the incumbents,” Schmidt said.

Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:36 am

SBI not seeking govt funds - finmin official

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - State Bank of India has not sought funds from the government and is looking at alternative options to raise capital, R. Gopalan, secretary for financial services in the finance ministry, said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:34 am

Infosys cautious on recovery; flags currency risk

A firming rupee on the back of rising foreign investment in India's fast growing economy may keep earnings growth muted for outsourcers, and Infosys expects its profit margins to take a hit this year.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:29 am

India can surpass US economy in three decades: Economist

Former senior advisor and a director at The World Bank, Harinder Kohli said India's average per capita income would jump 22 times from $940 to $22,000 in 30 years from now.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:25 am

Microsoft launches Kin phones for youth market

The software company's first foray into designing its own phones comes six months before it rolls out its new Windows software for phones made by handset makers HTC Corp, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and others.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:21 am

Infosys won't outperform going forward, says Sanju Verma - Moneycontrol.com


Hindu Business Line
Infosys won't outperform going forward, says Sanju Verma
Moneycontrol.com
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Sanju Verma, CEO, Institutional Biz Proactive Universal Group, spoke about her outlook on Infosys results and the auto space. Here is a verbatim transcript of an exclusive interview with Sanju Verma on CNBC-TV18. ...
Infosys sees FY11 revenue growing 9-11%BloombergUTV
Experts reaction on Infosys resultsEconomic Times
Rupee gains sharply but has little impact on IT stocksHindu Business Line
Financial Express -Livemint -Daily News & Analysis
all 35 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:10 am

Opera browser gets accepted for Apple iPhone

Opera applied on March 23 for its mobile browser to be distributed on iPhone, seeking to crack a new and potentially lucrative market closely guarded by Apple.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:09 am

Menon discusses India’s access to Headley with US NSA

Washington: National security adviser Shivshankar Menon has met his US counterpart James Jones here and discussed modalities by which access could be given to David Headley, Lashkar-e Taiba operative blamed for role in Mumbai attacks.
Menon’s meeting with Jones to discuss next steps in the bilateral ties came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised the issue of Headley with president Barack Obama.
Modalities and ways in which India could be given access to Headley, a Pakistani-origin American national, were among the various issues discussed by the two National Security Advisers, sources said.
Besides access, India is determined to seek Headleys’ extradition.India has said that it would use every occasion to seek Headley’s extradition and access to him.
Headley, who was arrested in Chicago in October last year, has confessed to playing a crucial role in the Mumbai attacks. In this plea bargain with the US government, he has offered to be subjected to questioning by foreign investigators through deposition, video conferencing or Letters Rogatory.
The sources said India would push for Headley’s extradition. But if that takes time, India will seek direct access to him to unravel the entire conspiracy to which he was a part not only in terms of 26/11 but other planned attacks in India.
“Extradition will be our preference because the crime has been committed in India,” they said.
At the same time, the sources noted that India was still in the midst of legal processes with regard to seeking access to and extradition of Headley. Formal communication would be sent to the US after that.
India is keen to interrogate Headley in a way that is legally acceptable in a court in the country.
“The interrogation should be legally usable and satisfy our legal processes,” the sources said.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:08 am

Honda unveils all-electric scooter, China in sights

The EV-neo, similar in size to a 50cc scooter, will be aimed at commercial users in Japan, with a range of more than 30 km on a full charge.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:03 am

Respite for the euro, but will it last?

Probably not, was the consensus on Monday as the European currency rallied, along with Greek bonds, in reaction to the news that EU leaders had committed a total of €30 billion in emergency three-year loans to Greece at around five per cent
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

Feb industrial growth up 15% led by capital goods

A sustained revival in production of capital goods and consumer durables has powered a 15.1 per cent growth in the official Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

Television Eighteen India (Rs 83.7): Buy

Investors with a short-term trading perspective can consider buying the stock of Television Eighteen India. This stock was in a medium-term down-trend since last June. This down-move resulted in the stock giving up most of the gains recorded
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

Recognising the emerging entrepreneurs of Tamil Nadu

The ‘Tamil Nadu Emerging Entrepreneurs' award of the Confederation of Indian Industry will be an annual affair, Mr Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman of the Award Committee, said at a press conference here
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

Tata Steel re-negotiating coal, ore prices with global suppliers

Stung by steep increases in raw material prices in international market, largely caused by the emergence of quarterly contracts in place of earlier annual contracts, Tata Steel is re-negotiating prices of coal and iron ore with some of the
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

Atlas deal gives triple advantage to Reliance

Reliance Industries' definitive agreement to enter into a joint venture with US-based Atlas Energy, Inc, for a 40 per cent interest in Atlas' Marcellus Shale acreage is a positive for Reliance mainly from three
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

SEBI, IRDA to jointly approach court on ULIP jurisdiction

The tussle between the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority on regulating Unit- Linked Insurance Policies took a new twist, with the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, on Monday stepping
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

FIIs can offer Govt securities as collateral

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) now have the option to offer Government securities as collateral for their transactions in the cash segment of the capital
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

Day Trading Guide

The stock is witnessing selling interest at higher levels. We recommend a sell in ICICI Bank with stop at Rs
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

Bharti, RCom, Idea Cellular may post lower Q4 profits

The January-March 2010 quarter may reflect subdued growth for telecommunication operators with more subscribers going in for aggressive tariff plans offered by new
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am

March qtr growth seen at 8.5 pct - adviser

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's economy is likely to have expanded 8.5 percent in the March quarter, a top government adviser said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:48 pm

World leaders meet on nuclear terrorism threat

Washington: World leaders meet in Washington on Tuesday for the biggest summit hosted by the United States since 1945, and they will have just one item on the agenda — stopping terrorists from getting a nuclear bomb.
President Barack Obama, who is hosting the 47-nation summit, says nuclear terrorism is the single biggest threat to global security. He wants to galvanize countries to take action to prevent terrorist groups from getting their hands on nuclear material that could be used to make a bomb.
Some nations are skeptical about the seriousness of the threat, however, and view it as an American preoccupation after al Qaeda’s attacks on the United States on 11 September, 2001.
Obama’s counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, said on Monday that al Qaeda had made it a top priority to acquire the expertise and material to make a nuclear bomb, which he warned would allow them to “threaten our security and world order.”
Washington is concerned about the security of hundreds of tons of highly enriched uranium and plutonium scattered about the globe in nuclear reactors, research facilities and military installations that may be vulnerable to theft.
After the end of the Cold War, Washington worked with Moscow to improve often poor security of nuclear material in Russia and former Soviet republics. Now it wants to broaden the focus of these efforts and to persuade countries to take more responsibility for cracking down on nuclear trafficking.
According to a draft summit communique, leaders will pledge to work toward safeguarding all “vulnerable nuclear material” within four years and to take steps to stamp out nuclear smuggling.
US officials have sought to emphasize the historical nature of the summit, the biggest gathering on US soil since a conference in 1945 that created the United Nations.
“I think it’s an indication of how deeply concerned everybody should be with the possibilities of nuclear traffic, and I think at the end of this we’re going to see some very specific, concrete actions that each nation is taking that will make the world a little bit safer,” Obama said on Monday.
Ukraine To Hand Over Enriched Uranium
The first tangible results of the summit came as Obama held a series of meetings with foreign leaders, including Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who announced Ukraine would get rid of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium by 2012.
The move by Kiev is designed to make it harder for terrorists to get hold of nuclear material. Ukraine will also convert its civil nuclear program to operate on low-enriched uranium, Yanukovich said.
Also on Monday, Canada announced it would return a significant amount of spent nuclear fuel to its place of origin — the United States, which may also take some of Ukraine’s Russian-origin nuclear material.
The summit is the culmination of a hectic period of nuclear diplomacy for Obama.
Last week he signed a new treaty to cut US and Russian nuclear arsenals and unilaterally announced the United States would limit its use of nuclear weapons, a plan that came under heavy fire from his conservative critics.
Iran and North Korea, which are both locked in stand-offs with the West over their nuclear programs, are not on the agenda of the summit and were not invited to attend.
The White House has repeatedly stressed that the summit is narrowly focused on nuclear terrorism, but many were watching to see what emerged from Obama’s meeting on Monday with Chinese President Hu Jintao, whose country has close economic ties with Iran and has been reluctant to impose tougher sanctions on it.
Obama stressed to Hu the need to act urgently against Iran’s nuclear program, and Hu agreed that Beijing would help craft a UN sanctions resolution. There was no sign though that China would accept the tougher sanctions sought by Obama.
In addition to China’s Hu, summit attendees include Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Also represented are India and Pakistan, which never signed the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but have atomic arsenals, and Israel, another NPT holdout that is presumed to have atomic weapons but has never confirmed it.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:45 pm

India can surpass US economy in three decades: Economist

India can emerge as the world's second largest economy in the year 2039, bigger than the US, if its GDP continues to grow at the rate of 8-9%, says a senior economist.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:44 pm

Infosys cautious on recovery; flags currency risk

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies, India's No.2 software services exporter, forecast stronger-than-expected annual revenue growth of 16-18 percent, noting that a pick-up in global technology spending was improving demand for outsourcing.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:44 pm

Tatas to do social audit of Orissa project - Rediff


Rediff
Tatas to do social audit of Orissa project
Rediff
Tata Steel is to form a committee to undertake a social audit of its Kalinganagar project in Orissa, in a bid to counter allegations on the negative impact of industrialisation. Said HM Nerurkar, managing director of Tata Steel [ Get Quote ]: "We will ...

and more »

Source: Business - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:11 pm

Oil falls for 5th straight session on US supply glut

Singapore: Oil fell for a fifth-straight session to about $84 on Tuesday, almost erasing April’s gains, as a forecast increase in US crude inventories fanned concern about excess supplies and sluggish demand growth.
US crude stockpiles probably rose for the 11th week in a row last week, a Reuters survey showed ahead of an industry supply report later on Tuesday.
“The market is turning back into consolidation mode,” said Stefan Graber, a commodities analyst with Credit Suisse in Singapore.
“There have been fundamental improvements, but the last two weeks have not really shown that much improvement to warrant the strong move higher. There is not a lot of fresh impulse to push prices further.”
Front-month West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the US crude benchmark, slid 23 cents to $84.11 a barrel at 9:43am, down almost $3 from an 18-month high of $87.09 a week ago.
ICE Brent crude, the marker for the Atlantic Basin and most of Europe, Africa and Asia, reasserted a premium it gained over WTI on Monday, the first time on a sustained basis this year. Brent posted as smaller decline than WTI at 4 cents to $84.73.
The abundance of crude in storage in Cushing, Oklahoma, the pricing point for WTI crude, occasionally triggers a disconnect between the US benchmark and global crude markets better represented by Brent. Traders and analysts label this price divergence as “dislocation.”
“On the WTI side we have the inventory situation simply not improving much further and lots of imports into the United States,” Graber said. “Crude that was outside in floating storage is also coming back onshore.”
US crude stockpiles probably gained 1.6 million barrels in the week ended April 9, the Reuters poll showed, while supplies of distillates including heating oil and diesel may have added 1 million barrels. Gasoline stocks were anticipated to have slid 700,000 barrels, according to the poll.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) will release US inventory data on Tuesday at 2030 GMT, followed by government statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday at 8:00pm.
Support for oil prices could come from China’s GDP data to be published on Thursday, Credit Suisse’s Graber said.
The Chinese economy probably grew 11.5% in the first quarter, a Reuters survey showed. That would be the fastest year-on-year rate of growth since the third quarter of 2007.
China’s March crude oil imports jumped to their second-highest monthly level on record of 4.95 million bpd, up 2.5% from February on a per-day basis.
“China’s oil imports were strong numbers and it confirms that the uptrend in Chinese consumption remains intact,” Graber said. “But China alone doesn’t seem to enough to keep the rally going.”
China plans to raise retail diesel and gasoline prices as early as Wednesday, a source familiar with the issue told Reuters on Tuesday.
Speculation has been rampant that China might increase retail fuel prices to match rising crude, with most analysts saying that the price rise could be around 300 yuan ($44) per tonne but others expecting it could be as high as 500 yuan per tonne.
The discount at which the front-month crude futures contracts trade to the second month, known as contango, stayed at about $1 a barrel for both WTI and Brent amid unusually high inventories.
Some analysts expect that recovering demand later this year will drain stockpiles, causing the discount to shrink or even disappear. The market could even flip into the opposite market structure, known as backwardation, where the front-month contract trades at a premium to future contracts.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 11:08 pm

Pressure mounts on Thai PM after deadly clashes

Bangkok: Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva came under mounting pressure on Tuesday to resolve a stand-off with anti-government protesters after the Election Commission recommended his party be dissolved.
Abhisit, who came to power in December 2008 when the army brokered a deal in parliament, would have to step down if a court, following the election commission’s findings, eventually found his party guilty of funding irregularities.
Further isolating the embattled premier, the army chief said on Monday at a joint news conference with the deputy prime minister that early elections could end the impasse.
It was the first public comment on the deadlock by the head of the powerful army after the security forces failed on Saturday to eject protesters from their base in central Bangkok in clashes that killed 21 and injured more than 800.
“It looks like Abhisit’s fortune may be waning,” said Sukhum Nuansakul, an independent political scientist.
“The tide could still turn, but at this point it looks like the army and the coalition partners are becoming risk averse and looking out for themselves. Violence on Saturday altered the equation a little and is making things difficult for Abhisit.”
The “red shirt” protesters, mostly rural and working-class supporters of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup, want Abhisit to call polls immediately.
The electoral fraud case could take months as prosecutors and the Constitutional Court act on the commission’s recommendation.
A guilty verdict could lead to the dissolution of Abhisit’s Democrats, the country’s oldest party, and party executives could be banned for politics for several years. The court found two Thaksin-allied parties guilty of fraud in 2007 and 2008.
Red Shirts Reject Offer
On Monday, coalition partners proposed that Abhisit dissolve parliament in six months. He had already offered nine months.
“It could help solve the crisis and we should not rule out negotiations with every side, including Thaksin,” Bhumjaithai Party leader Chavarat Charnvirakul told Reuters.
The Bangkok Post said the red shirts had rejected the idea.
Financial markets are closed from Tuesday for the three-day “Songkran” festival that marks the new year. Stocks fell 3.6 percent on Monday after a boisterous but peaceful month-long red-shirt demonstration in the capital turned violent.
Despite army commander Anupong Paochinda’s comment that “parliamentary dissolution seems to be a reasonable step”, some questioned whether the army top brass agreed on the way forward.
“It’s not clear if the army is speaking with one voice,” said said Charnvit Kasertsiri, a prominent Thai political historian.
“Anupong is retiring and is looking for a graceful, non-confrontational exit but others, including his potential successor, may have a different solution.”
The deadlock brought back speculation of another coup in a country that has seen 18 since 1932.
Deputy Prime Minister Trirong Suwankiri told a roundtable in Washington that a street clash among civilians — involving anti-Thaksin “yellow shirts” for example — could prompt the military to stage another coup.
“Nobody has to order them,” Trirong said, adding the army may feel it had a responsibility to restore order.
Bangkok has been calm since Sunday. Ministers have suggested security forces would not conduct operations over the holiday.
Thousands of red shirts remain camped out in two areas of Bangkok, including an upmarket shopping district whose big malls have had to stay closed for much of the past 10 days.
Red shirt guards man checkpoints, direct traffic and check the identity of passers-by. Pick-up trucks, taxis and motorcycles are parked on streets, stopping traffic from entering areas under red shirt control. Police and soldiers are nowhere in sight.
Rate Hike Unlikely
Rahul Bajoria, a regional economist for Barclays Capital in Singapore said the uncertainty was not good for investors and it meant the Bank of Thailand was unlikely to raise interest rates this month, but he said the economic picture remained favourable.
“Commodity prices are still strong, rural consumption is going up, auto manufacturing is rising and inflationary pressure is only gradually building up,” he said.
“If the domestic uncertainty is prolonged, it will affect consumer confidence as the tourism sector suffers, thus affecting private consumption, which will go down,” he added.
Tourism accounts for 6 percent of the economy and directly employs 1.8 million people.
The tourist sector was badly hit in Monday’s stock market sell-off. National carrier Thai Airways fell nearly 14 percent and Airports of Thailand 4%.
The Asian Development Bank forecast on Tuesday that the Thai economy would grow 4% this year, although bank officials said that might be revised, depending on the outcome of the political crisis. The government has forecast 4.5%.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:42 pm

ArcelorMittal undecided on Macarthur bid for Gloucester

Macarthur said ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steel maker, supported its rejection of two takeover offers from New Hope Corp and US miner Peabody Energy.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:38 pm

Rupee eases by 15 paise against dollar in early trade

The rupee dropped further by 15 paise to 44.61 a dollar in early trade today on capital outflows by foreign funds and the US currency's gain overseas.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:34 pm

Sensex down 78 points in early trade on weak Asian cues

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell over 78 points in early trade today on capital outflows by foreign funds amid weak Asian cues.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:29 pm

India, Kazakhstan to conclude talks for civil nuclear deal

Washington: India and Kazakhstan will soon wrap-up inter-governmental negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation, a move that came after meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazakh President Noorsultan Nazarbayev.
External affairs minister S M Krishna, is scheduled to visit Kazakhstan next month to draw a road map to implement the agreements and initiatives that were agreed between the two countries when Nazarbayev, visited New Delhi in January 2009.
During a 45-minute meeting with Singh, on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Nazarbayev also invited Indian companies to invest heavily in Kazakhstan.
Singh and Nazarbayev also discussed the situation in the region including Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Both agreed on the importance of stability, security and economic development of Afghanistan and also expressed concern at production of narcotics and trafficking of narcotics.
“Nazarbayev was very appreciative of India’s role in development and reconstruction of Afghanistan,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash, told journalists, adding that he was of the view that once the situation in Afghanistan stabilises that would pave the way for direct surface link between India and Kazakhstan.
“The President invited Prime Minister to visit Kazakhstan, which he accepted,” Prakash said.
“President Nazarbayev mentioned to the Prime Minister that they were planning 170 major projects in a variety of sectors to speed up the industrialisation of Kazakhstan and invited Indian companies to participate in those projects.
He also noted that there was a Customs Union between Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia and that Indian companies present there could supply their goods and services to the entire customs union so that they have a large area and population to cover,” he added.
”The two leaders reviewed the relationship, the agreement and the initiatives that had been agreed upon since President’s visit to India.
President Nazarbayev spoke upon very appreciatively of India’s economic development and evinced keen interest in Indian companies playing a greater role and in expanded presence in Kazakhstan,“ he said.
The two leaders wanted enhanced cooperation in a number of areas especially agriculture, civil construction, mining, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, and petrochemicals as well as other sectors.
They particularly spoke of concertising collaborations and initiatives that could be implemented on ground at the earliest, he added.
“Kazakhstan is energy rich and they are keen on having more thermal power plants,” the spokesperson said adding that Nazarbayev President also told the Prime Minister that a framework for greater cooperation in the hydro carbon sector would be approved soon by the Kazak Government.
The President also invited Indian companies’ thermal power plants in Kazakhstan, he said.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:23 pm

Infosys Q4 profit at Rs 1,617 crore

Infosys Technologies on Tuesday reported a marginal rise of 0.25% in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,617 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:20 pm

Sensex down 78 points on weak Asian cues

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell over 78 points in early trade today on capital outflows by foreign funds amid weak Asian cues.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:20 pm

Infosys Q4 net falls 0.9 pc, lags forecast

Infosys Technologies, India's No. 2 software services exporter, reported a 0.9 per cent drop in quarterly profit, slightly more than the market estimates, as a firmer rupee countered the impact of rising demand for outsourcing.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:19 pm

Honda unveils all-electric scooter, China in sights

Wako-Shi, Japan: Honda Motor Co unveiled on Tuesday an all-electric scooter that will mark its first attempt at mass-marketing zero-emission motorbikes, with an eye to eventually taking on rivals in the massive Chinese market.
The EV-neo, similar in size to a 50cc scooter, will be aimed at commercial users in Japan, with a range of more than 30 km on a full charge. Lease sales will begin in December in Japan, the world’s top motorcycle maker said.
Toshiyuki Inuma, general manager of Honda’s motorcycle operations, said the automaker had no immediate plans for a launch outside Japan but that China was in its sights, with annual demand for electric bikes in that market estimated at 17 million units.
“We’ll need to work on the cost and performance further to make it commercially viable,” Inuma told reporters at a test-ride event for the prototype model.
Honda did not disclose a price range for the EV-neo, but said the cost to the customer would be roughly equivalent to a similar gasoline scooter after accounting for lower power, maintenance and other running costs.
The scooter’s lithium-ion batteries can be recharged to about 80 percent of capacity in 20 minutes using a rapid charger, or fully charged with a normal socket in four hours, Honda said.
Rival Yamaha Motor Co, the world’s second-biggest motorcycle maker, is also due to begin selling a battery-run scooter in Japan later this year, with plans for launch also in Taiwan and Europe.
Yamaha had discontinued a range of electric scooters sold between 2002 and 2006 in Japan after their lithium-ion batteries, made by a unit of Hitachi Ltd, were recalled.
Honda’s EV-neo will use batteries made by Toshiba Corp.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:09 pm

Truce, but battle moves to court now

The finance ministry brokered a temporary truce between the capital market watchdog and the insurance regulator, but left unresolved the issue of regulatory overlap stemming from hybrid products such as unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) that combine equity and insurance.
Restoring status quo: A file photo of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. Sebi chairman C.B. Bhave and Irda chairman J. Hari Narayan met ministry officials on Monday to help resolve their differences on Ulips. Ramesh Pathania / Mint
Restoring status quo: A file photo of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. Sebi chairman C.B. Bhave and Irda chairman J. Hari Narayan met ministry officials on Monday to help resolve their differences on Ulips. Ramesh Pathania / Mint
On Monday evening, after a day of discussions between the ministry, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda), finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said that Sebi would set aside its Friday order targeting 14 insurers who have issued Ulips, and that both regulators would jointly seek a binding legal mandate on the issue from an appropriate court.
Mukherjee did not indicate a timeline for this.
“We are relieved that some clarity has emerged and it’s status quo ante,” said Rajeev Jhamkherkar, chief executive officer, Aegon Religare Life Insurance Co. Ltd. “We will abide by whatever resolutions come in the due course.”
The dispute between the two regulators stems from the basic incompatibility between long-standing regulatory legislation and recent developments in financial products, said a finance ministry official, who was a part of Monday’s negotiations and did not want to be identified.
The recent Union Budget tried to address the situation by suggesting reforms on the overarching architecture and attendant legislation, this person added.
As Irda chairman J. Hari Narayan walked into the finance ministry on Monday morning to take part in negotiations involving ministry officials and Sebi chairman, C.B. Bhave, he indicated there was a turf war on Ulips.
“I think we will have to have greater clarity on respective jurisdictions,” he told reporters.
Ulips are a combination of insurance and investment. The majority of the premium in a Ulip goes towards investment, and a fraction towards insuring the product holder.
Mukherjee’s Budget proposal acknowledged the potential pitfalls of lack of clarity on regulatory issues.
“Most of our legislation governing financial sector are very old. Large number of amendments to these Acts made at different points of time has increased ambiguity and complexity,” Mukherjee had said.
Mukherjee had suggested establishing a financial sector legislative reforms commission to rewrite and clean up legislation. He also proposed to set up a financial stability and development council to address issues between regulators.
It is not clear whether recent developments will fast-track the creation of this entity. The finance ministry official declined comment on this.
On Friday, Sebi barred 14 insurance firms from selling Ulips on the ground the instrument had an investment component which brought them under its purview. Sebi’s order asked the insurers to stop selling Ulips unless they got it registered with the capital market regulator.
Sebi’s move came after the two regulators had sparred on the issue for a few months. Once Sebi received legal opinion supporting its right to regulate the investment component of Irda, it issued an order.
Ulips have been the insurance industry’s blockbuster product.
According to Irda, in 2008-09, there were 70.3 million Ulips involving a premium of Rs90,645 crore. Between April 2009 and February, the insurance industry sold another 1.67 million Ulips which brought them a premium of Rs44,611 crore.
According to one finance executive, there are similarities between the investment component of Ulips and mutual funds, but a dissimilarity in regulation, which may have forced Sebi’s hand.
“In the way Ulips are sold, they are essentially investment products sold as insurance products and Sebi taking over (regulation of the) investment part is fully justified,” Parag Parikh, chairman, Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services Ltd, said.
“Sebi has removed load from mutual funds and this is creating anomaly between the two products since agents are pushing Ulips which have a huge commission incentive,” he added. Parikh said that Sebi’s move would also ensure that insurers and distributors wouldn’t mis-sell Ulips.
Deepti Bhaskaran and N. Sundaresha Subramanian contributed to this story.
sanjiv.s@livemint.com

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 8:39 pm

Tata Steel has not dropped Chhattisgarh project - The Hindu


Tata Steel has not dropped Chhattisgarh project
The Hindu
Tata Steel will stay put in Chhattisgarh, where it has planned a Rs. 20000-crore steel plant. It signed the memorandum of understanding with the State government in 2005. The delay in execution sparked questions whether India's largest private sector ...


Source: Business - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:12 pm

ULIP sales can go on for now: Pranab

In a major relief to investors, the finance ministry intervened on Monday to ensure that selling of Unit Linked Insurance Plans continues.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:53 pm

ONGC offshore premium down 20%

Flagship explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has brought down the insurance premium for its offshore assets by around 20% in spite of an 8% increase in their valuation.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:50 pm

Q4 results will reflect IT recovery, say experts

The numbers from the Q4 earnings announcement season are expected to reinforce the view that the IT sector is making a smart recovery from the depths to which they had fallen last year.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:47 pm

Bids high but 3G tariffs won't rise

The government's revenue target from the 3G auctions exceeds Rs 30,000 crore. Telecom minister A Raja has said even Rs 50,000 crore of revenues is not out of reach.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:45 pm

NSE to hit publicity trail on board Rajdhani

To connect with the masses in selected big cities and also some other places with substantially large population, the National Stock Exchange, the country's largest bourse by turnover, is boarding the Rajdhani Express.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:42 pm

Industrial output grows 15% in February

India's factory output declined to 15.1% in February from 16.7% in January, indicating that the recent surge in industrial production is ebbing.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:38 pm

Fast-forward for India's rich

At the start of the decade, the Ambani family (father and two sons) was worth Rs 33,000 crore. It seemed a big number then, but it is only slightly more than half of what Gautam Adani, the logistics and power player, is worth today (Rs 60,474 crore).
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:29 pm

Industrial output up 15.1%

The countrys industrial production was up 15.1 per cent in February on the back of expansion in mining, manufacturing and electricity generation.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:28 pm

Round 1 to Irda: Ban on sale of Ulips lifted

The ban on the sale and renewal of unit linked insurance products (Ulips) stands revoked, with the government brokering peace between the two financial sector regulators Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (Irda).
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:26 pm

Input price surge to hit corus profits - Business Standard


Input price surge to hit corus profits
Business Standard
Corus, the European arm of Tata Steel, is to face a cost push of $140-150 a tonne on account of surging raw material prices. HM Nerurkar, managing director of Tata Steel, said coking coal prices had increased by $125 to around $220 a tonne, ...


Source: Business - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:21 pm

Status quo for now in ULIP war

SEBI sounded the battle cry on Friday. IRDA replied with equal force on Saturday. And on Monday — Day 3 of the war over the Rs 135,000 crore unit linked insurance plan market — finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told them both to back off.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 12 Apr 2010 | 1:04 pm

Indian cos may revive Singapore Reit plans

Hongkong / Singapore / New Delhi / Mumbai: The success of Singapore’s first real estate trust offering this month has prompted talk that other similar, previously shelved, offerings are now being dusted off.
India’s top real estate firms, DLF Ltd and Unitech Ltd may revive their Singapore initial public offering (IPO) plans, banking officials said, while the Embassy Group is actively looking into raising funds in the city state.
Cache Logistics Trust raised $300 million (Rs1,332 crore) after its IPO was priced at the high-end of an indicative range at a time when Asia’s IPO markets have seen mixed success since last year’s bull run. The stock rose 13% on its debut on Monday.
“Cache’s success could point to a Reits (real estate investment trusts) proliferation in Singapore,” one of the sources said. “Some of the Indian companies have been approaching bankers for the process,” said the source, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
DLF had planned a $1.5 billion IPO, while Unitech had sought to raise about $500 million for its IPO, but these were put on hold in 2008 due to the global financial crisis. DLF and Unitech are India’s two largest listed developers.
“The (Reit) plan is still there,” said a source at DLF, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Singapore is the third largest Reits market in Asia Pacific with a total industry market capitalization of around $20 billion, ranking behind Australia and Japan.
The developed market makes it an ideal listing spot for companies in other Asian countries, such as India, where Reits are not allowed to be floated.
Timing for the possible Indian IPOs may be tricky, with another banking official in Singapore saying DLF needed to restructure its assets to package the right properties if it wanted to list its Reits.
But officials familiar with the issue say it’s a matter of time.
For Unitech, its immediate focus was to spin off non-core businesses that include power, hotels, telecoms and special economic zones, media reports said in March.
Executives at DLF and Unitech say they have no immediate plans to revisit their Singapore IPOs, but sources say they’ve been keeping a close eye on Cache’s public offering process.
Apart from the two, Bangalore-based Embassy is looking into raising $300-$500 million by floating its Reit in Singapore, after stalling plans during the financial downturn, sources said earlier this year.
A Reit is a fund that invests in mainly commercial property and pays most of its rent to shareholders as dividends, which are usually higher than yields of government bonds and offer capital gains if property prices rise.
The average dividend yield of Singapore’s Reits was 7.74% last year, according to property services firm CB Richard Ellis, much higher than the country’s average 10-year government bond yield of 2.3%.
On Monday, Suntec Reit’s dividend yield was 8.31%, compared with Singapore’s 10-year bond yield of 2.8%.
Ernst and Young said it expected the global market value of publicly-traded Reits to grow this year after rebounding to about $568 billion at end-2009 from $430 billion in mid-2009, partly due to renewed IPO interest.
During the property boom from 2006 to most of 2008, a slew of Indian developers were actively seeking to float their Reits in Singapore, but almost all shelved their plans during the global downturn.
— Reuters
feedback@livemint.com
Saeed Azhar, Devidutta Tripathy and Prashant Mehra contributed to this story.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:52 pm

IT spending to rise 5.3% in 2010: Gartner

Helsinki / New York: Global information technology (IT) spending will increase 5.3% this year to $3.39 trillion (Rs150.52 trillion), boosted by strong consumer demand for personal computers and a weakening US dollar, research firm Gartner Inc. said on Monday.
Forrester Research expects IT spending in the US alone to grow by 8.4% this year to $550 billion. That is up from its January forecast of a 6.6% increase compared with 2009.
“Following strong fourth-quarter (October-December 2009) sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up 2010 for solid IT spending growth,” Richard Gordon, research vice-president at Gartner, said in a statement.
Gartner said nearly 4 percentage points of the growth will be the result of a projected decline in the value of the US dollar, with spending in exchange-rate-adjusted dollars to rise 1.6% this year, after a 1.4% fall in 2009.
Gartner sees worldwide software spending rising 5.1% to $232 billion, with the majority of enterprise software markets growing.
Global IT services spending is seen rising 5.7% to $821 billion.
“The industry experienced some growth in reported outsourcing revenue at the close of 2009, an encouraging sign for service providers,” Gartner said, adding it sees this trend spreading to consulting and system integration in 2010.
Forrester expects the worldwide technology market to grow by 7.7% in terms of the US dollar, to nearly $1.6 trillion. This is slightly lower than Forrester’s previous forecast of a 8.1% growth. That’s because the Greek financial crisis weakened the euro and strengthened the US dollar, Forrester analyst Andrew Bartels said.
Technology spending appeared to hit the bottom in the third quarter of 2009, and started to turn around late in the year, according to Forrester.
As expected, technology spending in the fourth quarter were “generally level with or slightly higher than the same period in 2008—clear evidence that the downturn is over and that renewed growth has started,” Bartels said in Thursday’s report.
Spending on computer equipment and software will be strong this year, with percentage growth in the double digits for both sectors, Forrester predicts.
Many businesses had put off replacements and upgrades during the economic downturn.
IT consulting services and communications equipment will each grow by about 7%. IT outsourcing will see slower growth, just under 4%, though it had been the only sector to grow last year.
A recent earnings report from business software company Oracle Corp. confirms Forrester’s outlook.
For the fiscal third quarter that ended in February, the company posted a 17% revenue increase to $6.4 billion, a sign that large companies are steadily boosting their technology spending.
Reuters & AP
feedback@livemint.com

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 12:51 pm

Bringing a smarter search to Twitter, with fees

Bill Gross, the serial entrepreneur who pioneered search advertising, is unveiling a venture on Monday that aims to make money by allowing people using Twitter to bid on key words to give their posts top ranking.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:55 am

Appointment | RBS hires UBS’ Kamlani for global banking

London:Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), Britain’s biggest government-controlled lender, hired former UBS AG executive Suneel Kamlani as president of global banking and markets, a spokeswoman for the bank said.
Kamlani was previously chief operating officer of the UBS global investment bank and has worked in London, New York and Hong Kong.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:54 am

GAIL ties up with Engineers India to sell CNG in cities

State-run gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd has said it is in talks with Engineers India Ltd to set up a joint venture to sell CNG for automobiles and piped natural gas to households in cities.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 12 Apr 2010 | 10:35 am

Corus to see rise input cost in FY'11 - Press Trust of India


Corus to see rise input cost in FY'11
Press Trust of India
Kolkata, Apr 12 (PTI) Tata Steel's European arm Corus will see a rise in the input cost pressure during the current fiscal as it does not have captive reserves of iron ore and coking coal used in making steel, a top company official said. ...


Source: Business - Google News | 12 Apr 2010 | 4:55 am

UBS Q1 best since crisis began, withdrawals slow

Zurich: UBS delivered its highest pretax profit since the credit crisis began, just ahead of a likely tense shareholder meeting, and said withdrawals had slowed substantially as the bank rebuilds client trust.
In an unscheduled announcement, the world’s second-largest wealth manager said first-quarter pretax profit was “at least” 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.3 billion), nearly three times higher than the previous quarter.
Profit was likely driven by strong fixed-income revenue, particularly in forex trading, where UBS has a 15% market share.
The Swiss bank added that money withdrawals by rich clients, disappointed with its losses during the financial crisis and with its US tax woes, had shrunk to a third of what they were in the previous quarter. That surprised some analysts and helped push shares 4% higher.
“Net new money outflows in all businesses were substantially lower than in fourth quarter 2009,” UBS said.
Chief executive Oswald Gruebel on Wednesday will face some disgruntled shareholders who are ready to reject a UBS bonus system and plans to clear management of responsibilities for the crisis, but the surprise profit statement could take the edge off some of the tension.
UBS is due to report full first-quarter figures on 4 May.
While UBS’ investment bank is on the mend, persistent bleeding of client money has been Gruebel’s toughest challenge. Since the middle of 2008, 225 billion Swiss francs have left the bank, or about 11% of total assets
“What is of surprise is the net new money which we believe is a sentiment change for investors that UBS is going in the right direction now,” said Vontobel analyst Teresa Nielsen.
UBS’ pretax profit would be above a mean estimate of five analysts of 2.375 billion Swiss francs, ThomsonOne data show.
UBS said on 30 March first-quarter fixed-income division revenues would be nearly $2.3 billion.
At 0937 GMT, share in UBS were up 4.1%, outperforming a 1.1% rise in the Stoxx Europe 600 banking index
“This short interim statement points to the question of whether the glass is now half empty or half full,” analysts at bank Wegelin said in their morning report.
“The return to profit is welcome and the weakening of outflows is encouraging. But how sustainable is the earnings development and when will client withdrawals stop?”
On Track For Target
Strong first-quarter earnings are putting Gruebel, a former Credit Suisse CEO who was pulled out of retirement in February 2009 to turn around UBS, on track to achieve its mid-term target of annual pretax profit of 15 billion francs, analysts say.
After posting the biggest annual loss in 2008, UBS returned to profit in the final quarter of 2009, the first quarterly profit for the bank since Gruebel took over.
But some investors are angry at how UBS management, led by former chairmen Marcel Ospel and Peter Kurer, drove the bank close to collapse and they may still reject proposals to clear executives from responsibilities in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
“What came out today will not change the negative feeling investors have against the discharge of management,” said one analyst.
Discharging executives from their responsibilities would make it more difficult to pursue legal action against them.
Total first-quarter outflows at UBS would be only a third of the around 56 billion francs the bank bled in the final quarter of 2009, with a much improved performance at UBS’ main Wealth Management and Swiss Bank business.
UBS estimates net outflows at the division of around 8 billion francs, or less than 1% of assets.
The bank said withdrawals at the Wealth Management Americas division would be 7 billion francs and that it saw withdrawals of 3 billion francs in Global Asset Management.
“We expect the reduced outflows to enhance confidence in the overall franchise,” said KBW analyst Matthew Clark.
“With relatively few global, scale plays on the attractive wealth management sector, we believe a rehabilitated UBS could ultimately enjoy a premium rating to the banks sector.”

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 3:37 am

Global IT spending to rise 5.3% in ’10: Gartner

Helsinki: Global IT spending will increase 5.3% this year to $3.39 trillion, boosted by strong consumer demand for PCs and a weakening US dollar, research firm Gartner said on Monday.
“Following strong fourth-quarter sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up 2010 for solid IT spending growth,” Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner, said in a statement.
Gartner said nearly 4 percentage points of the growth will be the result of a projected decline in the value of the US dollar, with spending in exchange-rate-adjusted dollars to rise 1.6% this year, after a 1.4% fall in 2009.
Gartner sees worldwide software spending rising 5.1% to $232 billion, with the majority of enterprise software markets growing.
Global IT services spending is seen rising 5.7% to $821 billion.
“The industry experienced some growth in reported outsourcing revenue at the close of 2009, an encouraging sign for service providers,” Gartner said, adding it sees this trend spreading to consulting and system integration in 2010.

Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 12 Apr 2010 | 2:26 am