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FII
Investments in RIL Move up to Rs 28k Crore
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Foreign
institutional investors are still bullish
on India. The number of blue-chip companies
where the value of FII investments has
crossed $1bn has trebled to 22 as on march
31, '06. Some public sector giants such
as ONGC, Bhel and NTPC have also seen
the value of FII investments swell during
the last one year. The new entrants into
the $1bn-club include GAIL, Hero Honda,
Grasim, Hindalco, M&M, SBI and Bajaj Auto.
The ET study covered 180 A-group companies
whose latest FII holdings were available.
These companies account for over 80% of
the total market cap on BSE. Analysts
point out that Indian corporates have
continued to attract new FIIs and their
exposure on India Inc is steadily rising.
Even after investing over $10bn in Indian
markets during last financial year, the
FII appetite for Indian paper is still
growing, said another analysts. According
to Sebi, the number of registered FIIs
stands at 898 as on April 21, '06 (last
Friday), from 685 a year ago on March
31, '05. Currently, India is among the
few economies in the world where annual
growth is over 8%, making the country
a hot destination for FIIs. According
to Sebi, in '06, FII investments have
crossed $3.7bn, so far. Analysts attribute
the swelling of the $1-bn club to the
meteoric rise of share prices across industries.
For instance, Bhel has seen its share
price shoot up to Rs 2,347.60 last Friday
from Rs 767 a year ago on March 31, '05.
The RIL share price has moved to Rs 974
last Friday from Rs 546 a year ago.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, April 24, 2006
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India
is Doing Well, Says IMF
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Terming
India's economic growth as "impressive",
the World Bank and IMF have said the country
faces a challenge in the infrastructure
sector which it needs to improve in order
to attract more foreign investment. "Overall,
India is doing impressively well, and
it's a very encouraging story of how a
very large country with an extraordinarily
diverse population can make real inroads
in poverty reduction and in development
with a democratic system, and I think
that's encouraging," World Bank President
Paul Wolfowitz, said, at a press conference
Sunday. "I think Indian officials that
I talk to aren't satisfied with the 7
per cent or so that they're doing, but
I must say that is impressive already,
and I think they are making every effort
to do more," Wolfowitz, said, after the
conclusion of the Spring Meetings of the
International Monetary Fund and World
Bank. Observing that India was attaining
its growth rate with very low inflation,
Managing Director of the International
Monetary Fund Rodrigo de Rato said "so
that shows that the Indian economy is
becoming much more efficient." "If I had
to say what is the key for the future,
we believe that maintaining this macroeconomic
stability and deepening reforms." "We
have seen some very encouraging announcements
by the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh)
regarding further liberalization of financial
reforms, and certainly, infrastructure
is a challenge for India and improving
the business climate as to attract more
foreign and domestic investment," he said.
On the issue of corruption, the head of
the Bank remarked, "...as I said in my
opening comments, the problem with corruption,
which is a problem that affects even the
richest countries in the world, is one
that can't be eliminated overnight. You
have to tackle it progressively". "And
I think many of the countries we're dealing
with are doing that. I just came back
from Indonesia, and it's almost a national
preoccupation is the fight against corruption,
and from the President on down to ordinary
people in the street, it's something that
Indonesians believe needs to be tackled
in order to tackle the problem of poverty
in their country, and I have seen that
in many other countries in the world,
including India," Wolfowitz remarked.
Courtesy:
Times of India, April 24, 2006
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India
Inc in Investment Mood
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Indian
industries are back to investment mood
again. Margins are growing, demand is
picking up and India Inc swears by a prosperous
future. The investment scenario, which
had looked indifferent only recently is
looking brighter once again following
higher industrial growth-index of industrial
production has grown by about 8% during
the last two years compared to an average
annual growth of 5.4% during five years,
between 1998-99 to 2003-04. What is significant
is that India Inc's investment drive this
time was not confined to increasing existing
capacity or modernising production process
alone. It now plans to invest in new projects.
This is reflected in the sharp rise in
the number of industrial entrepreneur
memorandum (IEM) filed in recent years.
It has filed more IEMs in 2005 compared
to 2004 and has committed larger funds
in new projects last year than what they
did in the previous year. The number of
IEMs filed last year has increased by
21.2% from 5,118 in 2004 to 6,203. The
proposed investment in the new projects
has increased by 32.5% from Rs 2,67,069
crore in 2004 to Rs 3,53,956 crore in
2005. However, many of these projects
will not be implemented-past record shows
that just about one out of every 10 IEMs
filed are executed-but following the same
arithmetic the aggregate investment will
be substantially higher in the coming
years. However, the implementation rate
of IEM too has witnessed significant improvement
last year. Though Gujarat has retained
its No. 1 position in terms of proposed
investment, Maharashtra, which has always
been in the top bracket, has come down
in the ladder. The state accounted for
just about 5.7% of the total proposed
investment in 2005. In terms of number
of IEMs filed, it ranked second with 11.6%
share in national aggregate. Both Orissa
and Chhattisgarh accounted for 11.8% each
of the total investment proposed in 2005.
Jharkand's share was about 8% during the
same period. This was, however, not a
sudden phenomenon, in 2004 Orissa and
Chhattisgarh were placed second and third,
respectively, in terms of share in proposed
investment. Orissa accounted for 15.9%
of the aggregate proposed investment in
2004 followed by 14.5% of Chhattisgarh.
West Bengal, which has put enormous stake
in industrial rejuvenation in recent years,
too appears to have finally won the approval
of India Inc. As many as 412 IEMs - 6th
highest- were filed for the state entailing
Rs 18,512 crore investment in 2005. This
was 5.2% of the national aggregate. In
actual terms, proposed investment in the
state has increased by nearly two-and-a-half
times from Rs 7,621 crore in 2004 to Rs
18,512 crore in 2005.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, April 24, 2006
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ONGC
Set to Open Account in Nigeria With 3
Oil Blocks
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India
is finally set to open its account in
the latest oil and gas hot spot of the
world - Nigeria. The Nigerian government
has assured ONGC Videsh and ONGC Mittal
Energy of at least three blocks in the
next round of mini-bidding slated to kick
off in May. What's more, OVL will be considered
as a special case and awarded blocks without
pledging investments in Nigeria's infrastructure.
OMEL, however, will need to pump in investments,
like every other player, in the country's
infrastructure to get the mining lease.
OMEL has assured investments up to $6
billion in power and rail infrastructure.
The special dispensation for OVL follows
the intervention by PM Manmohan Singh
last time around when OVL lost out on
a potential block to Korean National Oil
Company due to a last minute policy change
by Nigeria. China's CNPC is among the
other companies who would be invited for
this select bidding round, which will
offer 10 exploration and production properties.
The blocks which OVL would be looking
at are relinquished discovered blocks
for which the Nigerian government is now
offering on mining leases. ONGC has been
making attempts to make an opening in
Nigeria, which today has attracted the
largest oil majors from Shell to Exxon.
ONGC's earlier attempts to get a foothold
through an acquisition of the Akpo field
were turned down by the Cabinet.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, April 24, 2006
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Deutsch
Drive to Power India
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Auto
giant BMW, component manufacturer Bosch
and commercial vehicle maker Mann have
committed to set up or expand their manufacturing
facilities in India. "A lot of companies
such as BMW, Bosch, Mann, Carl Zeiss and
others expressed their commitment to invest
in India during their breakfast meeting
with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh
this morning,"commerce and industry minister
Mr Kamal Nath told reporters. Mr Nath
said BMW would invest about Rs 900 crore
in the long-term at their manufacturing
facility in Chennai. In the first phase,
the company would invest Rs 200 crore
in the next 18 months, he said. Auto component
maker Bosch, which has a subsidiary in
India named MICO, would invest €500 million,
while Mann would set up a facility at
Pitampura in Madhya Pradesh to manufacture
trucks and buses at an estimated investment
of € 300 million. Engineering major Siemens
would also invest $600 million over the
next few years to expand its manufacturing
facilities, Mr Nath added. "BMW has said
that it was the fastest clearance (in
six months) they have received anywhere
in the world," he said. Bosch will expand
its facilities at Nasik and Bangalore,
Mr Nath added. During the meeting, Indian
officials and German firms also discussed
other sectors such as electronic hardware,
infrastructure, energy, auto components,
biotech, technology research and development.
"German companies have also said that
they plan to set up an exhibition centre
in Mumbai," he said. India needs $150
b: PM During his interaction with 13 CEOs
of top German companies here, Dr Singh
today said India needed $150 billion to
improve its infrastructure and invited
investment from the European country in
this regard. He also said the Centre intended
to raise the cap on FDI in insurance sector
to 49 per cent and allow "greater role"
to foreign banks in a phased manner.
Courtesy:
The Statesman, April 23,2006
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Software
Exports Touch $23.49 Billion
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Software
and services exports from India are estimated
to have grown at 35.54 per cent year-on-year
in 2005-06 to $23.49 billion according
to figures released by Electronics and
Computer Software Export Promotion Council.
The exports this year have surpassed the
target of 22.27 billion dollars, according
to the provisional results released by
the Council. The rate of growth in computer
software exports this year has maintained
the momentum achieved in the previous
years despite the higher base. "The estimated
export for 2005-06 has overshot the target
set and there is an overall buoyancy in
the exports as is evident by the performance
results released by major software and
IT companies," ESC executive director
D K Sareen said. He said the accelerated
growth can only be sustained by empowering
the small and medium enterprises to export
more. Japan to showcase the strength of
India's SME sector to the ESC is planning
to set up incubators in the US, Europe
and Japan to showcase the strength of
India's SME sector to the world besides
providing a platform to such companies
to explore the opportunities outside the
country.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, April 23, 2006
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M-cap
Equals GDP Level at US$ 709 Billion
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India
Inc may be tearing its hair out over quotas
and oil prices may have breached the US$
74 mark, but Indian markets continue to
defy gravity. In the current week, a clutch
of better-than-expected results has further
boosted the animal spirits. In what is
rapidly becoming a routine affair, the
131-year-old BSE on Thursday crossed yet
another milestone - the fastest so far
-when it breached the 12,000-point mark,
backed by strong corporate earnings, higher
liquidity and robust economic growth.
Sensex leapfrogged from 11,000 to 12,000
points in just 16 trading sessions, to
end 1.2% up at 12,039.55. The number of
trading sessions are based on the closing
value of the index. Sensex had earlier
taken 29 sessions to travel from 10,000
to 11,000 points. NSE Nifty also surged
1% to end at 3,573.50 points. The reasons
are not hard to find, say market participants.
"The index has been driven by the strong
flow of liquidity," said Rahul Rege, senior
VP at Mumbai-based brokerage SSKI. "Earlier,
it was based on the expectations that
(corporate) results would be great...and
by the first few that we've seen, companies
are more than matching those expectations,"
he added. Local mutual funds have raised
more than Rs 18,000 crore in the past
few months after retail investors rushed
to buy shares in a booming equity market,
where returns have averaged in the 20-25%
range. Market regulator Sebi said mutual
funds bought securities worth Rs 68.63
crore on Wednesday. "Liquidity has been
a common theme, but this time, you can
say, that local funds are more active,"
said Naresh Kothari, head-institutional
equities at Edelweiss Securities. "The
current rally has also been led by index
heavyweights like Reliance Industries
and group companies." Reliance Industries,
India's largest private refiner, rose
8% on Thursday after ET reported that
the company has struck oil in the D-6
block of the Krishna-Godavari basin and
that the block has the potential to contain
one billion barrels or 60 million tonnes
of oil reserves. The stock has risen 28%
in the past one month alone. While the
index has been gaining new grounds regularly,
the number of sessions to cross 1,000
points has been falling. The market then
paused as it took a long time - 370 trading
sessions - to cross the 7,000 mark, at
7,001.55 on June 20, 2005. From 7,000
points, the sentiment improved distinctly
following strong liquidity from foreign
portfolio investors, and Sensex crossed
the 8,000 mark in just 55 trading sessions
to 8,060.26 on September 8, 2005. Later,
it crossed to the 9,000 level in 54 trading
days and 48 days to reach the 10,000 mark
on February 6, 2006, at 10,002.83. The
current trend looks cautiously optimistic.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, April 21, 2006
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Big
Retailers Double Sourcing of Garments
From India
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Big-ticket
US retail chains Wal Mart, JC Penney,
Target and Gap have doubled their sourcing
of garments from India over the last two
years to around US$ 2.5 billion last fiscal
(2005-06). What is also significant about
the outsourcing boom is that while Chinese
garment makers have gone about reducing
their prices by as much as 10-13 per cent,
their counterparts in India have largely
refrained from doing so. "While Chinese
players have reduced their prices in an
attempt to capture a larger share of the
market, Indian garment makers have tried
to focus more on quality," an assistant
director with consultancy firm, Technopack
Advisers, Mr Prashant Agarwal, told Business
Line. Of the $2.5 billion, Wal-Mart's
share is as high as $1.2 billion, while
that of JC Penney and Target put together
is around $800 million and the rest is
that of Gap. According to industry analysts,
Wal-Mart plans to source as much as $11
billion worth of textile merchandise from
India, while JC Penney plans to increase
sourcing to $2 billion. Mr Agarwal said
export of textile and garments from India
during 2005-06 was around $17 billion,
an increase of around 25 per cent. Out
of that, the share of garment export was
$9 billion. Exports to the US market rose
27 per cent, while for Europe it grew
18 per cent during 2005-06. One of the
main reasons for increased outsourcing
is the fact that retailers such as Wal-Mart,
JC Penney and others are moving away from
third-party buying offices to set up their
own wholly-owned sourcing and buying offices.
Mr Agarwal said investment in textile
industry has also been trying to keep
pace with the demand. For example, investment
in the textile industry during 2005-06
was $4.1 billion, which was 71 per cent
higher than the previous year. Globally,
India's share in exports is a mere 4 per
cent, while China's is around 25 per cent.
India expects to cross the $40 billion
mark by 2010 and even then its share globally
will increase to 7 per cent.
Courtesy:
The Hindu Business Line, April 21, 2006
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RPL
IPO Subscribed 52 Times
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The
initial public offer of Reliance Petroleum
(RPL) has broken all records. The IPO
has been subscribed 52 times and has received
applications worth around US$ 31 billion,
almost double the US$ 16 billion ONGC
received in its issue in 2004. The qualified
institutional buyer (QIB) portion of the
issue received 44 times subscription,
the high net worth individuals' (HNI)
portion 16 times and the retail individual
investors' portion 9 times. The issue
has got 2.1 million retail applications.
So far NTPC had received the highest number
of retail applications at 14.2 million.
The maximum bids have been made at Rs
62--the upper end of the band. The company
sold shares through nine investment banks,
including Citigroup and the local joint
ventures of Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
Analysts said the huge success of the
IPO was a crowning glory for Mukesh Ambani.
For a greenfield project, which had nothing
to show on the ground, the promoters'
track record alone prompted such a huge
response, they said. RPL, subsidiary of
Reliance Industries, was set up to build
a refinery and polypropylene plant in
the special economic zone of Jamnagar.
The issue is being made to part finance
the Rs 27,000 crore export oriented refinery
being set up by the company next to its
existing refinery project. The SEZ refinery
would focuses more on supplying Euro IV
grade diesel and gasoline to the EU countries
and also to the US market. RIL has come
up with IPO almost after 29 years as the
last IPO of Reliance group had hit the
market way back in 1977. The RPL issue
had hit the market on April 13 and closed
today.
Courtesy:
Business Standard, April 21, 2006
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Domestic
MFs Drive the Market With US$ 667 Million
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Domestic
mutual funds (MFs) are driving the market.
They have made a net investment of US$
667 million in last 16 trading days-between
March 26 when the Sensex closed over 11,000
and today. Foreign institutional investors
(FIIs), the traditional driver of the
Sensex, have turned mere onlookers this
time by making a meagre net investment
of Rs 216 crore during this period. Jaiprakash
Sinha, head of research in Kotak Securities,
said: "My belief is that the withdrawal
of money from the secondary market is
because the FIIs are re-allocating funds
to the RPL IPO. Most of the FIIs are long-term
investors and I do not see a lot of opportunistic
money going out. Besides this, chances
of a major correction due to the FII pullout
is less because the mutual funds are reported
to be sitting on a cash-pile of around
Rs 10,000 crores which they need to invest.
Some of this money is quite old and they
have mandatory periods under which they
must become fully invested. So with every
correction following an FII sell-out,
Indian funds are likely to start buying
as they cannot perennially wait for a
correction to start buying." The domestic
mutual funds, on the other hand, made
net outflow of Rs 2,935crore during the
Sensex rally from 9000 to 10000 and Rs
1,974 crore when the index rose form 6000
to 7000 points. Out of 16 trading days
of current 1000 points rally, except for
April 10 when the domestic fund sold Rs
201 crore worth of shares, they are net
buyers in 15 trading days. They made net
investments of over Rs 100 crore each
in nine trading days.
Courtesy:
Business Standard, April 21, 2006
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Eight
New Firms Join US$ 1 Billion Club
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Hindustan
Copper, BF Utilities, Unitech, Century
Textiles, Kirloskar Brothers, Aban Lloyd
Chiles, Balrampur Chini and Biocon have
joined the US$ 1 billion market cap club,
taking the US$ 1 billion membership to
112. Three weeks back, on March 27, when
Sensex closed at over 11,000 level, there
were 104 members in the club. These 112
companies collectively account for 76
per cent market capitalization of the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Oil and Natural
Gas Corporation (ONGC), Reliance Industries,
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC),
TCS and Infosys Technologies have market-cap
over $20 billion. ONGC is at top of the
list with a market-cap of $42.79 billion
(Rs 1,92,394 crore). The club's membership
is based on the rupee-dollar exchange
rates at the end of each calendar year.
Thursday's market capitalization was calculated
on an exchange rate of Rs 44.96 per dollar.
Of the entire lot, 13 companies have market-cap
of over $10 billion against seven in 2005
and three in 2004 - Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC), Reliance Industries
and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). In 2002,
only ONGC had a total market-cap of $10.4
billion (Rs 49,876 crore). A non-ferrous
metal player Hindustan Copper tops the
new entrant list with m-cap of $1.61 billion
(Rs 7,239 crore) followed by BF Utilities
$1.43 billion (Rs 6,445 crore), Unitech
$1.19 billion (Rs 5,366 crore), Century
Textiles $1.13 billion (Rs 5,079 crore)
and Kirloskar Brothers $1.13 billion (Rs
5,078 crore).
Courtesy:
Business Standard, April 21, 2006
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CII
to Create 100 New Billion-Dollar Companies
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With
the economy getting increasingly externalised,
the CII was targeting to create 100 new
billion-dollar companies over three years
through mentoring Indian companies from
the million-dollar club. This would be
achieved through the repositioning of
the country from a low-cost manufacturer
to creative and innovative product developer
in order to capture a greater portion
of the world trade."The next phase
of competitiveness should be triggered
by innovation. India needs to reposition
from a low-cost manufacturer to a creative
and innovative product developer to become
the laboratory and design centre of the
world,'' Mr R. Seshasayee, the new president
of the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) said, while speaking at his inaugural
press meet today." India's share
of world trade is still in decimals and
was just 0.9 per cent in 2004. This reflects
tremendous headroom for further growth,''
he added. The CII President today outlined
four missions on "manufacturing innovation",
"knowledge and skills development", "inclusiveness"
and "sustainability", which will be the
key drivers of the central theme of "competitiveness
for sustainable and inclusive growth".
Outlining the mission for manufacturing
innovation, Mr Seshasayee said the high
rates of growth registered so far have
been based on competitiveness triggered
largely by cost arbitrage. "India should
aim for a growth trajectory engineered
by value arbitrage through innovation,"
he said. The mission for manufacturing
innovation, chaired by Dr Surinder Kapur,
CMD, Sona Koyo Steering Systems, aims
to create 100 leader companies in Indian
industry. In conjunction with the agenda
for furthering globalization, Mr Seshasayee
announced a campaign on "Brand India",
chaired by Mr Nandan Nilekani, CEO, President
and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies,
to build salience for India in the next
five years in partnership with Indian
Brand Equity Foundation.
Courtesy:
The Hindu Business Line, April 21, 2006
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Goldman
Sachs May Invest US$ 100 Million in Pantaloon
Arm
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Goldman
Sachs' private equity arm is understood
to be in talks to invest around US$ 100
million as a strategic investor in Indivision
Capital, a private equity fund managed
by Future Capital Holdings, Pantaloon's
financial retail arm. Indivision, which
will invest primarily in small and regional
consumer-related companies as a strategic
investor and scale it up to a national
level, is currently undertaking roadshows
abroad as part of its fund-raising strategy.
The companies invested in will be provided
hands-on mentoring capabilities by Indivision
and a national distribution network through
Pantaloon Retail. Meanwhile, Pantaloon
has roped in Atul Kapur, the managing
director and principal strategist of Goldman
Sachs' private equity fund, to head Indivision
Capital as MD and chief investment officer.
While Mr Kapur will handle the investment
decisions for the fund, Coke India chief
Sanjiv Gupta will spearhead the operational
and mentoring capabilities in the companies
invested. Pantaloon Retail is trying to
attract top talent from global organisations
by offering a long-term wealth creation
model on a partnership basis. Mr Kapur,
42, has been with Goldman Sachs (London)
for 12 years in the principal strategies
group, which is responsible for investing
Goldman Sachs' proprietary capital. Within
that group, he headed the private equity
business for Europe and India. The principal
strategies group is one of the most profitable
arms of Goldman Sachs and currently has
over $14bn invested globally. While Sameer
Sain, CEO of Future Capital, refrained
from commenting on Goldman Sachs' investment
in the group, he confirmed Mr Kapur's
move. "Mr Kapur is a very successful investor
with significant experience in Europe
and Asia, specifically India. He will
be the chief investment officer of Indivision
Capital and will be responsible for all
portfolio investments." he said. Mr Kapur
will join other high-profile recent recruits
in Pantaloon Retail like Sanjiv Gupta
(former CEO of Coca Cola India), Dimple
Sanghi (ex-AIG Private Equity), Roopa
Purushothaman (former senior economist,
Goldman Sachs) and Sanjoy Chatterjee (ex-McKinsey),
among others.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, April 20, 2006
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India
All Set to Grab Centre Stage at Hannover
Fair
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After
the World Economic Forum meet at Davos,
India Inc is all set to stamp its impression
at this years's Hannover Fair, billed
as the world's largest and most important
technology event. A strong presence of
nearly 320 Indian companies, including
Reliance, Bharat Forge, Ashok Leyland,
would participate in the event that has
India as a partner country after a gap
a 21 years. And to replicate the success
at Davos 'India Everywhere' campaign will
see a re-run at Hannover with 'Brand India'
themes being showcased at the fair and
beyond in cities like Berlin, Frankfurt,
etc. "India's participation as a partner
country at Hannover Fair is a recognition
of the growing economic might of the country.
We expect major partnerships to emerge
from the trade show. It would also provide
a platform for engagement with SMEs of
Germany, who are yet to get a taste of
the vibrant Indian economy," commerce
and industry minister Kamal Nath told
reporters here on Wednesday. He said being
a partner country at the event, the Indian
pavilion would be the largest taken by
any partner country at the event in the
past. The Fair will be held from April
24-28 with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
inaugurating the event along with Chancellor
of Germany Angela Merkel. It will also
be attended by by Mr Nath and chief ministers
of Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Karnataka
and Gujarat besides a host of government
officials and CEOs of various PSUs.
Courtesy:
The Financial Express, April 20, 2006
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Wipro
Revenues Cross US$ 2.2 Billion
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Soap-to-software
maker Wipro Ltd posted better-than-expected
earnings growth for the fourth quarter
ended March 31, 2006, even as its revenues
crossed the US$ 2.2 billion mark for the
financial year 2006. The company announced
a cash dividend of Rs 5 per share. Net
profits for the financial year 2006 grew
by 27 per cent to Rs 2,067 crore on revenues
of Rs 10,626 crore compared to last year's
net of Rs 1,628.5 crore on revenues of
Rs 8169.8 crore. Wipro's combined IT revenues
crossed the $2-billion mark as its global
IT business grew by 33 per cent, while
the domestic business was up 22 per cent.
Net profits for the fourth quarter ended
March 2006 was up by 43 per cent to Rs
618 crore, while revenues were up by 35
per cent to Rs 3,113 crore over corresponding
last quarter. Sequentially, the net profits
were up 14 per cent and revenues grew
by 13 per cent over the previous quarter.
Wipro expects its global IT business to
grow by 34 per cent on an annualised basis
for the first quarter in the financial
year 2007 to $533 million over the orresponding
period in 2006. Analysts termed the performance
as pretty strong and above market expectations
but said the first quarter financial year
2007 revenue guidance was `muted'. The
billing rates were stable with an upward
bias, Mr Senapaty said. The currency volatility
had a positive impact of one per cent
on the margins and the company had a forex
gain of Rs 36 crore due to safe hedging,
he said.
Courtesy:
The Hindu Business Line, April 20,2006
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Salary
Growth Highest in India: Study
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Market
trends point towards sector shifts, growing
levels of attrition and variable salaries
and India has emerged as one of the highest
salary growth markets. HR managers seem
to seek innovative ways to harness and
retain talent as the market is witness
to demand-supply constraints. Similar
trend seems to provide a connecting link
not just in the knowledge-based technology
sector, but also in other verticals such
as retail, marketing and BFSI too. The
Cluster Lead, IT & ITES, Hewitt Associates,
Mr Nitin Sethi, said a recent study has
indicated that the salary growth was the
highest in India during the last two years
at 14.1 per cent followed by the Philippines
(8.1 per cent), China (7.9 per cent),
Korea (6.9 per cent), Thailand (6.4 per
cent), Singapore and Taiwan (4.2 per cent).
This momentum is set to continue this
year where the IT sector salary is set
to grow by about 13.7 per cent, and ITES
and BPO growth may be by 15.5-16 per cent.
Given the current forecast of India continuing
to be the fastest growing economies in
2006-2007 and the potential to be third
largest in terms of purchasing power parity
(displacing Japan to the fourth position),
this salary growth is likely to continue,
he said. Speaking at a Nasscom event on
HR best Practices: Talent Management &
Rewards, Mr Sethi said talent in 3 to
7 years has emerged as the hottest property.
This is one area that is witness to differential
salary compensation, which is something
new in the Indian context.
Courtesy:
www.thehindubusinessline.com, April 19,
2006
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Textile
Exports to US Grow 25 Per Cent
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Reporting
one of the fastest growth rates among
exporters, Indian textile exports to the
US in February have narrowed the gap between
its nearest competitor, the second-placed
Mexico. Indian exports to the US clocked
$922 million, within breathing distance
of Mexico's $ 963 million. While Indian
exports grew by 25 per cent in value terms,
the north American country's exports saw
a fall of 12 per cent. "If the Indian
exports maintain the momentum, as they
are expected to, we are sure to become
the second largest exporter to the US
in value terms when the March statistics
come out," said an industry analyst. The
latest report by the US Office of Textile
and Apparel (Otexa) also confirmed that
Chinese exports to the country have slowed
down for good. For the fourth month on
the trot, exports from India, Pakistan
and Bangladesh outpaced that of China's.
While in volumes, Chinese exports grew
by just abut four per cent, in value terms
the Dragon country's textile trade saw
a downfall of .63 per cent. Apparel exports
took most of the beating, going down by
almost 10 per cent. On the other hand,
Indian overall textile exports to the
world's biggest market saw a 22 per cent
rise in volumes. While apparel exports
grew by 21.2 per cent, non-apparel increased
by 22.5 per cent in volumes. In value
terms, India's non-apparel exports overtook
that of Pakistan clocking $ 302 million.
Pakistan reported $ 301 million in non-apparel
exports.
Courtesy:
Business Standard, April 19, 2006
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Thermax
Bags 3.6 bn Rupee Order
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Indian
car equipment maker Thermax Ltd. said
on Monday it had bagged an order worth
3.6 billion rupees. The company said the
order was for supplying an auxiliary boiler
and heat recovery steam generator for
an unidentified client's refinery project.
Thermax shares closed at 392.10 rupees
in a weak Mumbai market on Thursday
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, April 19, 2006
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India
Inc Casts Net Wide, Scouts Abroad for
Buys
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Domestic
companies are on an acquisition spree,
expanding their footprint across the globe.
In '05, India Inc shelled out more than
$3.5 billion in acquiring stakes in 104
overseas companies. In the first three
months of '06, corporate India has invested
$1.2bn for buying 17 companies overseas,
according to a study by the Mape Advisory
Group. This was the first time that there
were more Indian companies buying foreign
assets than foreign companies buying Indian
assets, the firm whose report is scheduled
for release on Wednesday said. The volume
of outbound deals was more than twice
the volume of in-bound deals in the year
'05. Between January, '00 and March 31,
'06, Indian companies acquired 244 foreign
firms. "A key factor compelling Indian
companies to look overseas is that in
many industries the main market for growth
is now the global rather than the domestic
market," said the study. A fast-growing
economy, an optimistically-buoyant capital
market and significant global investor
interest in India have meant easy availability
of capital for Indian companies. Along
with this, the easing of regulations has
also permitted increased access to cheaper
global funds. Pharma witnessed more outbound
activity than inbound deals in the cross
border arena. In the first quarter of
'06 domestic companies spent close to
$1bn buying up European assets. Oil and
gas sector has 18.6% of the total value
of overseas buys, largely due to the key
acquisitions by ONGC. The largest proportion
of Indian acquisitions have been in Europe
(40%) and North America (34%), showing
that Indian companies are acquiring or
investing in more developed economies.
The average deal size stood at about $35.1m.
"Except for few large transactions in
the oil/gas, pharma and some other sectors
most of these deals have been of low value
and bulk of the deals have been below
$10m in terms of outward investment. It
seems that domestic companies are treading
carefully and minimising their risk through
value buys," it added.
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