Tata Global Beverages Q3 profit down to Rs.71.93 crores

Tata Global Beverages Ltd has announced the Audited financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

The Company has posted a profit after tax of Rs 471.50 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to Rs 367.50 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009. Total Income has increased from Rs 4713.50 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 to Rs 5272.10 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

The Group has posted consolidated net profit of Rs 719.30 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to Rs 922.30 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009. Total Income has increased from Rs 15543.00 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 to Rs 16116.10 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

The stock closed the day at Rs.100, down by Rs.5.60 or 5.30%. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.106.45 and low of Rs.98.60.

The total traded quantity was 3.97 lakhs compared to 2 week average of 2.49 lakhs.

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Investment Philosophy of Rakesh Juhunjuhunwala

Although he claims to put only a minuscule of his networth on the table for trading activity, he has often leveraged his own capital and managed to make a fortune from his calls, more often than not. His stock picking strategy is influenced by the lessons from Mr George Soros's trading strategies and Dr Marc Faber's analysis of economic history. He endorses the thumb rule of 'trend is my best friend'.

He is the poster boy of the Indian bull run but admits to have been a bear in the Harshad Mehta days and believes that a person in the market should be like a chameleon. He calls the markets as temples of capitalism and believes that they are the ultimate arbitrators.

Much like Mr Warren Buffet, he buys into the business model of a company and for judging the longevity and growth potential, he gives top priority to 'competitive ability', 'scalability' and 'management quality' of the enterprise. The 'entrepreneur', according to Jhunjhunwala is what makes an invaluable difference to his expected investment returns. According to Jhunjhunwala, believing in the vision and the beliefs of the entrepreneur and validating the risks that may not be perceived by the entrepreneur are the key success factors for an investor.

Jhunjhunwala has managed to identify numerous multi-baggers in the past decade, notable being Karur Vysya Bank, Praj Industries, Crisil, Titan, Nagarjuna, HOEL and PSUs like BEML and Bharat Electronics, among others. The typical traits to look for while identifying potential multi-baggers, according to Jhunjhunwala are - low institutional holding, under-researched and general pessimism about the stock.

A good time to sell a stock, according to Jhunjhunwala, is not based on any 'price' targets, but when the 'earnings' expectations have peaked or the business model has peaked or the valuations appear ridiculously unreasonable.

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Midvalley Entertainment ends 17% lower on debut

Media and entertainment company Midvalley Entertainment started the first session on a positive note but rally fizzled out in last one hour of trade today. The stock settled at Rs 58.05, down 17% from issue price of Rs 70 a share on Bombay Stock Exchange.

It has touched an intraday high of Rs 76.50 and low of Rs 55. Traded volume was nearly four times to 3,38,71,723 equity shares as against issue size of 85,71,429 shares.

Chairman, Datuk K Keetheswaran said the company's net profit would grow by 12-15% in FY11. "We will open 200 screens by 2012," he said.

Midvalley is a film production, distribution and exhibition company, actively engaged in the media and entertainment industry in South India. It has presence in the media and entertainment activity from concept to completion i.e. from script to screen. It produces, distribute and exhibit movies both in Indian and foreign languages.

Issue proceeds of Rs 60 crore are proposed to be utilised for entering into screening agreements with 300 cinema theatres. It will be used for renovation and up-gradation of cinema infrastructure with digital equipment and other related assets for a select 100 screens. The proceeds will also be used for acquisition of screening rights of company having similar line, range and objects of business.

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Black Money - Pranab says can’t reveal names

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the tax department would launch prosecution proceedings in relevant cases from the names of account holders given by foreign banks.

Ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on a public interest litigation (PIL) on black money, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee at a press conference on Tuesday detailed the government’s strategy to deal with black money and said the tax department would launch prosecution proceedings in relevant cases from amongst names of account holders given by foreign banks.

The government has the names of account holders in Liechtenstein’s LGT Bank and information given by German banks.

Mukherjee refused to name account holders citing secrecy clauses attached to legal frameworks with different countries which are used to obtain information on Indian account holders in foreign banks.

The information, however, has been given to the Supreme Court in a “sealed envelope,” Mukherjee, said. The names would be revealed when the tax department launches prosecution proceedings in relevant cases, he added.

The Supreme Court on 27 January resumes hearing a PIL on black money being held in European banks by Indians, initiated by senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani along with some former civil servants, who want the court to examine the issue as well as the falling standards of administration on the part of the government.

The PIL claims this is a “colossal failure to enforce the law” due to influential politicians in various parties being involved in the offences.

According to Mukherjee, the press conference had its roots in a suggestion by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking the finance ministry to place in public domain the strategy to deal with black money. Singh had made the suggestion during a recent cabinet meeting which discussed amendments India had signed with its tax partners to elicit information on foreign bank accounts of Indians.

During a hearing on 19 January, the Supreme Court took a tough position against the union government, asking it why it was not disclosing the names of Indian citizens who allegedly stashed away large sums of unaccounted money in European banks from 2002 to 2006.

The main pillar of the government’s strategy to deal with the problem is to amend tax treaties with different countries to allow for information on bank details to be shared.

According to Mukherjee, a change in international opinion in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis had played a positive role in amending treaties.

The G-20 countries had decided to jointly take on countries or tax jurisdictions, which were reluctant to share critical information, Mukherjee, said.

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Sensex dips below 19,000 on hike in RBI key rates; down 182 points

Trading sentiment turned bearish and the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell 181.83 points to 18,969.45 on heavy selling in pivotals led by banks after the RBI increased key policy rates to a two-year high and revised upwards its inflation forecast.

Besides, investors unwound their pending positions in the derivatives segments ahead of the current month settlement expiry, and a weakening global trend.

Opening on a higher note, the gauge climbed to 19,340.99 before ending with losses as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the key lending and borrowing rates by 0.25 percentage points and forecast inflation at 7 per cent by March 31, higher than the earlier prediction of 5.5 per cent.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 55.85 points to 5,687.40, after touching the day's high of 5,801.55, as the market remained under pressure following the seventh time hike in interest rates in a row within a year.

Barring Japan's Nikkei, Asian stock markets closed lower and a weak opening in Europe further dampened trading sentiment here.

Retail investors and funds indulged in squaring up their pending positions before the end of January settlement in the derivatives segment.

The banking sector index suffered the most by losing 2.34 per cent to 12,349.75 with most of the big lenders like State Bank of India , ICICI Bank and HDFC banks closed with losses despite their better performance in the third quarter.

Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector was the second worst performer losing 1.67 per cent to 3,487.72 as Hindustan Unilever , the largest household products maker, plunged 5.45 per cent to Rs 281.65, its steepest drop since July 2009 after its Q3 profit fell as higher input costs reduced operating margins.

With the general weakening trend, the heaviest weighted Reliance Industries dropped by Rs 12.50 to Rs 958.55 and second-heavy Infosys Technologies by Rs 24.10 to Rs 3,254.10.

A rise in stocks of Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Power Sector, cushioned the market from a major fall.

The market will be closed tomorrow, the Republic Day.

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As expected, RBI raises repo rates by 25bps

To curb rising inflation, the RBI raised repo and reverse repo rates by 25 basic points (6.5% and 5.5% respectively) in its first monetary policy review of 2011. This move is in line with what analysts expected in the last few days. The apex bank also warned that higher food prices could become fixed if steps to improve output are not taken.

The cash reserve ratio (which is the percentage of their deposits that banks must keep with the RBI as cash) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) have been left unchanged. Thus, CRR and SLR continue to stand at 6% and 24%, respectively.

The Reserve Bank of India also upped its inflation forecast to 7% from the current 5.5%. This is likely to moderate in Q1FY12, RBI says. "Policy action will contain spill over to generalised inflation." It also stated that the GDP growth rate could decline in FY12.

Experts believe that the RBI will continue to raise rates going forwards. C Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council said RBI has taken the right decision and hopes that it will continue to raise rates going forward.

The brokerage community too finds this to be a well-balanced move. When contacted, Sushil Finance said the RBI had tried to balance growth and inflation. "RBI is waiting for higher inflation." Hike of interest rate in month of April is highly possible, they say.

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BSNL, RCom bear initial brunt of mobile number portability

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Reliance Communications have emerged the biggest losers as a result of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), introduced a month ago in Haryana. According to initial numbers, BSNL has lost a net of over 20,000 subscribers, while RCom has lost nearly 13,500 subscribers as on January 16.

Idea Cellular, which was the first to start an advertising campaign on MNP, has a net loss of 1,863 subscribers with 15,604 subscribers leaving its network and 13,741 coming in.

Even new players, including Sistema Shyam, Loop Telecom and Datacom (Videocon), have ended up with a net loss in numbers as a result of MNP.

Though these are initial numbers, the trends indicate a strong preference for incumbent GSM players.

Vodafone gained the most with 30,015 subscribers joining its network and only 9,267 leaving. Although Bharti Airtel lost 10,837 of its subscribers, it ended up in the positive as it managed to lure 18,271 subscribers from other operators' networks.

While these numbers are for Haryana, initial trends coming in from other parts of India are on similar lines.

While MNP was introduced in Haryana in November, the system was launched across the country on January 20.

Teething issues

Sources in the Department of Telecom said that there were teething problems in implementing the system, with complaints coming in from various quarters that porting was not being completed in some cases.

The DoT has written to all the operators to implement the scheme according to the rules set out by the TRAI and the Government.

“If a subscriber sends porting request to number 1900, operators have to respond back with the unique porting code. There should not be any exceptions or excuses for this. We have received some complaints of operators who are not processing porting requests. We are investigating these complaints,” said a top DoT official.

A Reliance Communications spokesperson said, “We believe that the customers who may have ported from one service provider to another are likely to port again on completion of the set time frame of three months. Our focus has been to provide a superior customer experience through better network quality, a wide array of applications at affordable tariffs to attract the high ARPU customers to the Reliance Network. We are satisfied with the initial experience and expect a significant shift in the trend on in the next 2-3 months.”

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Mahindra Aerospace to roll-out first aircraft by March

Mahindra Aerospace, the first Indian private firm to manufacture small civil aircraft for the domestic aviation market, is likely to roll-out its first aircraft by March this year.

"We are hopeful of rolling-out our first indigenous small aircraft by March this year. But we should make sure that the aircraft is properly certified for airworthiness standards," Mahindra and Mahindra's President (Systech Sector), Hemant Luthra, said on the sidelines of an event here.

"We will provide the aircraft at a price at least 20 per cent lesser than a Cessna aircraft," Luthra said.

Mahindra Aerospace is the first Indian private firm to manufacture smaller civil aircraft for the Indian general aviation market.

Mahindra Aerospace is developing a five-seater and eight-seater version of small aircraft for the Indian market at its Bangalore facility, Luthra said.

However, Luthra, didn't reveal the cost of the flight and development.

Mahindra Aerospace acquired a majority stake (75.1 per cent) in GippsAero and Aerostaff Australia for Rs 175-crore (USD 38-million) in December 2009 jointly with Kotak Private Equity .

Aerostaff is a 20-year-old manufacturer of aerospace components and assemblies for global aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) at Port Melbourne in Victoria state.

The 26-year-old GippsAero is a leading turboprop aircraft manufacturer for the general aviation sector and has certification in 32 countries world-wide, including the US Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR 23), which testifies the highest degree of safety to fly fare-paying passengers between small and remote airfields.

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Bharti Airtel aims 3G in all licensed zones by March

Bharti Airtel aims to launch 3G wireless services across all its 13 telecoms zones in India by March and expects the premium offering to help stabilise its average revenue per user (ARPU).

The No 1 mobile operator in India, which spent USD 2.7 billion last year to buy third-generation (3G) radio airwaves in an auction, on Monday launched the services in southern Karnataka state, whose capital is the technology hub of Bangalore.

The company hopes to cover 40 cities by March, and expand the services to 1,500 cities and towns by a year later, a senior company official said.

3G services facilitate faster Internet on mobile phones and let customers use services such as video calls. The services are expected to boost mobile carriers' data revenue in a market where low-margin voice calls account for close to 90 percent of the total revenue.

Voice call prices plunged in India after a price war in the fiercely competitive Indian mobile market of 15 carriers. Bharti's monthly ARPU in India in the September quarter fell 20% from a year earlier to Rs 202 (USD 4.4).

"We expect the ARPUs to definitely stabilise to a much greater extent than they would have otherwise, for the very simple reason that there would be an explosion in terms of new products and services on the non-voice side," Atul Bindal, Bharti's president for mobile services, told reporters.

No single carrier in India managed to get 3G airwaves in all of India's 22 zones in last year's auction and companies are in talks with rivals to forge alliances to offer the services beyond the zones they got licences for.

Bindal said Bharti's talks with other operators for 3G alliances outside the firm's 13 licensed zones were in "active closure" stage, but declined to name the possible partners.

Its rivals Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices have started 3G services in some telecoms zones, while Vodafone Essar has said it plans to launch the services during the current quarter that ends in March.

Bharti had last year selected Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei Technologies as its network equipment partners for 3G services.

Bharti operates mobile services in 19 countries across Asia and Africa and is the world's fifth-largest wireless carrier by subscribers.

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India Bajaj Auto Q3 profit up 40 pct

* Targets exports of $1 bln in current fiscal

* Sees achieving oper margins of 20 pct for FY11

* Shares rise as much as 2.3 pct

MUMBAI, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Bajaj Auto (BAJA.BO), India's second largest two-wheeler maker, met estimates with a 40 percent jump in third-quarter profit, and expects a rise in vehicle sales next year, signalling confidence in the country's growing auto market.

The company expects unit sales in 2012 to grow to 5 million vehicles, Rajiv Bajaj, vice chairman and managing director, told the CNBC-TV18 channel. It has a target of 4 million unit sales for the current fiscal ending March 2011.

"They have just hiked prices in January so that will help them maintain margins in the fourth quarter since I don't foresee a drop in volumes," said Umesh Karne, analyst at Brics Securities in Mumbai.

Auto sales in the third quarter tend to be higher because of the Hindu festive season that peaks in October-November and is considered an auspicious time for purchases such as vehicles and white goods.

The company is also confident of achieving an EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margin of 20 percent for the fiscal ending March 2011, it said in a statement on Wednesday, adding it was targeting exports of $1 billion for the period.

India's domestic auto sales have grown by a third in 2010, powered by strong economic growth, an expanding middle class, and easy financing options. The pace of growth has made it the second fastest growing auto market in the world after China, which grew at a comparable rate.

A Fitch report earlier this year on the Indian passenger vehicle industry cautioned growth would slow to 12-15 percent in 2011.

Domestic sales of motorcycles for calendar 2010 have grown 27.2 percent, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), an industry body.

However, rising costs of raw materials have put some automakers on the backfoot on the question of margins, given runaway increases in the price of steel and rubber, forcing most automakers to raise prices.

"The good part is that raw material prices have gone up but they (Bajaj) have other expenses under control, suggesting operating efficiency," Karne of Brics Securities said.

A report from Vaishali Jajoo, analyst at Angel Broking, said raw material costs at Bajaj had increased 240 basis points in the December quarter over the year-ago period. Rajiv Bajaj told CNBC-TV18: "Raw material prices have done their worst, and besides rubber, I don't see any concern in terms of steel, aluminium, copper...there might be a little (concern) on nickel."

BEATING COSTS, MEETING ESTIMATES

Bajaj Auto reported third-quarter profit of 6.67 billion rupees ($147 million), while revenue grew 27 percent to 40.28 billion rupees.

A Reuters poll of 10 analysts estimated net profit of 6.18 billion rupees on revenue of 40.93 billion rupees. Bajaj Auto's domestic sales in the quarter rose 22.6 percent to 872,682 units.

Shares of Bajaj Auto, valued by the market at $8.35 billion, turned positive after the results. The stock, which touched a high of 1324.45 rupees earlier, closed up nearly 2 percent at 1319.85 rupees in a main Mumbai market .BSESN that closed down 0.6 percent.

The stock was among the best performing in 2010, rising 75 percent through the year, outperforming a 17.4 percent rise in the main index. ($1=45.35 rupees) (Reporting by Tanmaya Nanda; editing by Aradhana Aravindan)

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Sensex down 114 points; Infosys, RIL lead the fall

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The BSE benchmark Sensex today washed out nearly half of its last two days of gains and closed about 114 points down to end at 18,978.32, following late sell-off in some heavyweight counters on continued fears of interest rate hike in view of high inflation.

Selling in Infosys Tech, RIL, L&T, SBI, HDFC Bank, HDFC and ONGC contributed largely to the fall. However, smart rise in ICICI Bank, Hindalco, Sterlite Ind, TCS, Bajaj Auto and DLF cushioned the dip to some extent.

Brokers said that fears of rise in key interest rates by the apex bank RBI in its quarterly monetary policy review on January 25 continued to daunt the market sentiment.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer initially moved in a narrow range but selling after mid-session pulled it down to close at 18,978.32, a net loss of 113.73 points or 0.60%. In the last two days, it had gained by 231.61 points or 1.23%.

Similarly, the NSE 50-issue Nifty also fell back by 33.00 points or 0.58 per cent to 5,691.05.

Capital goods, IT and refinery counters attracted profit booking while Metal and realty shares were in demand. IT stocks suffered losses despite a positives like better than expected Q3 results announced by TCS, which had lifted the market yesterday.

Meanwhile, Asian markets ended firm today due to gains on Wall Street yesterday, while European shares were trading stable in their late morning deals.

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HCL Tech Q2 net profit seen up at Rs 366.7 cr

India's fourth largest software services exporter HCL Technologies is set to announce its results for the quarter ended December 2010. According to CNBC-TV18 estimates, its net profit is expected to go up at Rs 366.7 crore in Q2 as against Rs 331 crore in Q1FY11.

Revenues in terms of dollar are seen going up at USD 857.42 million versus USD 804 million and in ruppe terms, revenues are likely to be at Rs 3840 crore as against Rs 3708 crore.

Earning before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBIDTA) is expected to go up at Rs 611 crore from Rs 603.3 crore.

Q2FY11 expectations
* Expect revenue growth of 6% in dollar terms (QoQ)
* Expect growth to be led equally by application services and IMS.
* 28% exposure to GBP/EUR to aid dollar-revenue growth.
* Expect margins to be down slightly due to continued losses in BPO and Rupee appreciation
* Previous quarter profit includes forex loss of US dollar 14.2 million; forex losses of USD 5 million expected in Dec quarter.
* Expect positive comments on deal pipeline, BPO business likely to remain troubled
* Key things to watch - outlook for pricing/volumes; margin commentary; large deal announcements

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Omkar Speciality Chemicals IPO to open on Jan 24

Omkar Speciality Chemicals is entering capital market with an initial public offering of 81 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each on January 24. The issue constitutes 41.27% of the fully diluted post issue paid-up capital of the company.

The company has fixed price band at Rs 95-98 per equity share for the issue, which closes on January 27. Bids can be made for minimum 60 equity shares and in multiples of 60 equity shares therafter.

Omkar Speciality hopes to raise Rs 76.95-79.38 crore through issue, which are proposed to be deployed for setting up of new manufacturing facility at Unit 4 at Badlapur, Maharashtra, with cost of Rs 32.16 crore; expansion of existing manufacturing facilities at Unit 1, Unit 2 & Unit 3 at Badlapur, Maharashtra, with Rs 14.62 crore; and working capital requirements of Rs 10 crore.

Company is mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of speciality chemicals viz. selenium compounds, iodine compounds, molybdenum compounds etc. and pharma intermediates viz. Potassium Iodate, Bismuth Ammonium Citrate, Bromoform etc.

For the period of six months ended on September 30, 2010, it has reported net profit of Rs 5.05 crore on total income of Rs 51.56 crore.

Almondz Global Securities Ltd is the book running lead manager to the issue.

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Mobile number portability to come in force from Jan 20: TRAI

After a long wait, the Mobile Number Portability (MNP), which allows a mobile subscriber to change his service provider without changing his number, is all set to come in force all over India from January 20.

According to a notification issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the MNP would come into force all over the country from January 20.

'The authority in exercise of powers conferred by clause(b) of sub regulation(2) of regulation (1) of the Telecommunications Mobile Number Portability Regulations 2009 (08 of 2009) and for ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the licence and for protecting the interests of the consumers of the telecom sector hereby directs that regulations 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the Telecommunications Mobile Number Portability Regulations 2009 (8 of 2009) shall come into force in all telecom service areas in the country from January 20, 2011,' the notification by TRAI said.

The MNP has already come into force in Haryana on November 25.

The facility allows consumers to retain their mobile numbers while switching operators. Industry experts say that MNP gives rise to genuine competition, leading to an improvement in the quality of services by the service providers.

Telecom consulting firm Analysys Mason's data suggests a reasonably high subscriber churn after the launch of MNP of as much as 17 per cent in the prepaid and 19 per cent in the postpaid segment.

In the high average revenue per user segment, this level rises to 20 per cent, climbing to 22 per cent in the enterprise market and 18 per cent in the business category.

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Renault soft pedals its role in Bajaj small car

Bajaj Auto’s ultra low-cost car project may have a bumpy ride ahead, with partner Renault India still to take a final call on branding and marketing the vehicle.
“We have not seen the car being developed by Bajaj. We will take a decision on whether to partner on branding and marketing the vehicle only when we see the final product. The product being developed by Bajaj has to be a car for us to go ahead with the agreement,” said Jerome Stoll, executive vice-president (sales & marketing) at Renault.

According to a 2008 agreement, Renault and Nissan will brand, sell and market the Bajaj car. However, launch of the vehicle has been postponed twice in the last three years. The project has faced several delays on branding, pricing, distribution and marketing.

Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj declined to comment on Stoll’s statement. In an emailed response, Bajaj said, “I have no comments at this stage.”

Renault’s take on the ultra low-cost car project comes at a time when the French automaker is preparing to independently develop a small car for the Indian market. Renault has a technical centre in Chennai manned by 1,500 people and has set up an engineering & design studio in Mumbai.

“The ultimate directive for the engineering & design studio is to understand consumer preferences and come up with a car for the Indian market,” said a senior executive at Renault’s local unit. The product will then be customised for markets such as Brazil and Russia.

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Tata Steel FPO opens tomorrow: Should you subscribe?

World's seventh largest steel maker Tata Steel's follow-on public offer (FPO) is set to open for subscription tomorrow. It has fixed price band of Rs 594-610 a share for its FPO of 5.7 crore ordinary equity shares of Rs 10 each.

The company aims to raise Rs 3385.8-3477 crore through the issue, which will close on January 21.

Experts are divided on the issue. Deven Choksey of KR Choksey and Manish Bhatt of Prabhudas Lilladher are positive on it while Investment Advisor, SP Tulsian has given a thumps down to the same.

"We are not excited by this Tata Group company’s FPO plans, as there is not enough left on the table for the prospective investors. Infact, value will be seen more in FPO of SAIL, as and when it will hit the market. Concern on global presence of Tata Steel still exists. Hence, we have given a thumps down to the issue on grounds of steep pricing, for those looking for listing gains. This issue may be attractive only for the lenders and institutional investors of the company," Tulsian said.

However, Choksey advises buying for long term investors. Even according to Bhatt the issue looks good.

Research firm PINC Research maintained buy on the stock with a target price of Rs 817.

The report says, "Contract prices for Q4FY11 has settled at higher level due to increased spot prices. Coking coal spot price continues to strengthen, as floods in Australia disrupt supply. We believe high raw material prices would exert further pressure on steel processing margin in FY12. However, integrated operation of Tata Steel India would benefit from rising steel prices on cost push."

"At FY12E EV/EBITDA of 4.8x and 4.9x at upper band of FPO and CMP respectively, the stock is attractively valued. We maintain buy on the stock with a revised target price of Rs 817 (blended 6.1x FY12E EV/EBITDA),” according to the report. The firm recommend subscribing to FPO.

Tata Steel has a steel production capacity of approximately 27.2 mtpa. According to WSA, the company was the seventh largest steel company in the world in terms of crude steel production volume in 2009. The company is also one of the most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in more than 50 countries.

Tata Steel intends to use issue proceeds for partly financing the company’s share of capital expenditure for expansion of existing works at Jamshedpur; and payment of redemption amounts on maturity of certain redeemable non-convertible debentures issued by the company on a private placement basis.

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GAIL Q3 net profit jumps 12.56% at Rs 968 cr

State-run GAIL has announced its results for the quarter ended December 2010. It has reported standalone net profit of Rs 968 crore as against Rs 860 crore, a growth of 12.56% on year-on-year basis (YoY).

Standalone net sales rose 35.19% to Rs 8,365 crore from Rs 6,187.8 crore (YoY).

Numbers were slightly above their estimates; CNBC-TV18 was expecting profit after tax at Rs 945 crore and sales at Rs 7800 crore.

In a press conference GAIL said:
-Profit boosted by gas trading, transmission
-All pipeline projects are on stream as of December 2010
-Will add additional 1500 km pipeline by December 2011
-Successfully completed bond issue of Rs 500 crore recently

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Sensex regains 19,000 level help by TCS, ITC, Infosys

The Sensex extended gains and is trading above the crucial 19,000 mark. IT, teck and metal stocks traded higher.

At 2.56 p.m., the Sensex was trading up 156.75 points or 0.83% at 19,039 with 21 components gaining. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading higher by 52.20 points or 0.92% at 5,706.95 with 36 components gaining.

The 30-share benchmark index, BSE Sensex opened with a gain of 100.95 points or 0.53% at 18,983.20, while the broad based NSE Nifty started with a rise of 27.80 points or 0.49%, at 5,682.55.

Sensex Movers

Tata Consultancy Services contributed rise of 48.25 points in the Sensex. It was followed by I T C (25.4 points), Infosys Technologies (20.63 points), State Bank Of India (14.24 points) and Sterlite Industries (India) (13.6 points).

However, Reliance Infrastructure contributed fall of 7.41 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Housing Development Finance Corporation (6.47 points), Reliance Industries (6.41 points), Bharti Airtel (5.39 points) and Tata Power Company (4.29 points).

Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Tata Consultancy Services (5.80%), Sterlite Industries (India) (3.63%), Wipro (2.89%), Bajaj Auto (2.20%), I T C (2.18%), and Cipla (2.08%).

On the other hand, Reliance Energy (4.99%), D L F (1.85%), Tata Power Company (1.49%), Bharti Airtel (0.93%), Housing Development Finance Corporation (0.60%), and Hero Honda Motors (0.58%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

Mid & Small-cap Space

The BSE Mid and small caps underperformed their larger counterparts gaining 0.20% and 0.02% respectively.

The major gainers in the BSE Midcap were A B G Shipyard (1.41%), Core Projects and Technologies (1.36%), Aban Offshore (0.47%), Alstom Projects India (0.34%) and A I A Engineering (0.21%).

The major gainers in the BSE Smallcap were Action Construction Equipment (0.72%), A B G Infralogistics (0.25%), Ador Welding (0.11%), Adhunik Metaliks (0.1%) and Reliance MediaWorks (0.08%).

Sectors in Limelight

The IT index was at 6,700.72, up by 150.53 points or by 2.30%. The major gainers were H C L Technologies (2.97%), Mphasis (1.66%), Core Projects and Technologies (1.36%), Infosys Technologies (1.04%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (0.22%).

The TECk index was at 3,925.61, up by 60.45 points or by 1.56%. The major gainers were Mphasis (1.66%), Idea Cellular (1.08%), Deccan Chronicle Holdings (0.76%), Oracle Financial Services Software (0.22%) and Reliance MediaWorks (0.08%).

The Metal index was at 16,398.23, up by 242.88 points or by 1.50%. The major gainers were JSW Steel (3.62%), NMDC (3.19%), Bhushan Steel (2.06%), HindalcoIndustries (1.95%) and Jindal Steel & Power (0.06%).

On the other hand, the Realty index was at 2,453.10, down by 11.5 points or by 0.47%. The major losers were Mahindra Lifespace Developers (2.79%), D L F (1.85%), D B Realty (1.42%), Ackruti City (0.19%) and Anant RajIndustries (0.1%).

Market Breadth

Market breadth was negative with 1,407 advances against 1,436 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

Adani Enterprises topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 1,800.90 million. It was followed by State Bank Of India (Rs. 747.15 million), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 700.02 million) and Tata Consultancy Services (Rs. 688.22 million).

The volume chart was led by Cals Refineries with trades of over 9.17 million shares. It was followed by Spectacle Infotek (7.94 million), Bampsl Securities (6.13 million) and Comfort Intech (5.21 million).

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India software giant TCS net profit up near 30%

MUMBAI: India's largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services on Monday said consolidated net profit rose 29.8 percent in the third quarter, beating forecasts, as outsourcing orders strengthened.

Net profit was 23.69 billion rupees ($526 million) for the three months to December, up from 18.24 billion rupees a year earlier.

Turnover for the quarter rose 29 percent to 98.57 billion rupees, a statement to the Mumbai stock exchange said.

Analysts expected TCS to show profit of about 22 billion rupees.

"We have delivered another stellar quarter, capturing volumes. Demand continues to be strong," the company's chief executive N Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

The US and European markets continued to lead demand recovery, the company said.

During the quarter, TCS added nearly 12,500 employees and 35 new clients.

On Monday, TCS shares rose 1.74 percent or 19.45 rupees to 1,138.45 on the Mumbai stock exchange prior to the earnings announcement.

Last week, rival tech giant Infosys posted a disappointing 14.1 percent rise in consolidated net profit to 17.8 billion rupees, warning future growth could be hurt if recovery in developed markets weakens.

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Vibrant Gujarat 2011: Mahindra to invest Rs 3,000 cr

AHMEDABAD: Farm equipment-to-software group Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday said it will invest Rs 3000 crore in Gujarat to step up presence in the hospitality and real estate sectors in the state.

"Our group companies have signed six MoUs with the Gujarat government totaling an investment of Rs 3000 crore," Mahindra & Mahindra Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra said here at the 5th Global Summit of Vibrant Gujarat. He, however, did not specify the time frame for these investments.

Mahindra Lifespaces , the real estate development arm of USD 7.1 billion Mahindra Group , has signed two MoUs with the state government. "Mahindra World City is developing a real estate project spread across 500 acres of land," he said.

Another group company, Mahindra Holiday & Resorts , that runs the Club Mahindra resorts, will open seven new resorts in the state, Mahindra said, adding "all these new projects will create a lot of new jobs". Moreover, investments will also be made on solid waste management and domestic waste management projects, he added.

Acknowledging that the investment by M&M is much less compared to those announced by other corporates during the summit here, Mahindra said "but we are doing it with passion". "Mr Modi I hope you are not angry now as you have been saying that we do not make investments in the state," he quipped.

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The Mahindra Thar Adventure Off Roader

Indian off road enthusiasts for long have been left with minimum choice really. Apart from the very affordable and capable Maruti Gypsy, there is a serious dearth of choices in the sub 10 Lakh rupee SUV segment. So, Indian off roading enthusiasts, in their quest for off road vehicles have had to look at rebuilding de-commissioned Mahindra army jeeps or buy new Maruti Gypsys with nothing really in between.

Mahindra answered many a fervent prayer and unveiled the Mahindra Thar at the 2010 Indian Auto Expo. Powering the Mahindra Thar is a powerful diesel CRDe engine displacing 2498cc. This powerful engine generates 105 Bhp at a low 3800rpm and a ery useful 247 Nm of torque coming in from 1800-2000rpm. This obviously will give the Mahindra Thar plenty of poke in terrains where cars can’t even dream of treading.

A ground clearance of 200mm, four wheel drive and a fully articulated suspension means that the Mahindra Thar meets all the off roading criteria enthusiasts were so hoping for. This Jeep like a true blue off roader will seat just two persons. While the Mahindra Thar is mainly meant for exports, insiders at Mahindra are mulling a Indian launch after seeing the excellent response by Indian Off Road enthusiasts.

Website : http://www.mahindrathar.com

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Mahindra Thar Launches in Kerala

Mahindra & Mahindra , market leader in utility vehicles today introduced the Thar CRDe , 4x4 offroader in the Kerala market.

It is priced at Rs 6.11 lakh for BS IV variant (ex-showroom price) Kochi.

Kerala has been the largest market for such vehicles and the company was totally geared to meet any requirements,Behram Dhabher, General Manager (Vehicle Development) told reporters here.

The Thar aims to play a significant role in shaping the lifestyle vehicle segment both in urban and rural India. Consumers are looking for a different lifestyle as they seek adventure and a fun experience which the vehicle will offer, he said.

The Thar is a manual 4x4 machine coupled with a powerful CRDe 105 BHP engine and driven by wire technology, which is capable of providing it variable speeds and acceleration. To handle this excess power, Thar CRDe's tough rigid ladder frame chassis has been optimised to enable crisp handling.

The vehicle would be available in Mumbai, Delhi , Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bangalore, Kochi, Mangalore and Kolkatta and would be launched in the rest of India by this month.

It will be positioned as a lifestyle vehicle for the rural market with both two wheel and four wheel options. The BS III variation will be priced at Rs 4.33 lakh (ex showroom kochi), Sunil Lohani, General Manager (South Zone)said.

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