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The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed amendments to the Budget. It is customary for the FM to take in suggestions from various sides and introduce any necessary amendments. The FM has said that the priority was to provide a stimulus to economic activity.
Sanofi Aventis is acquiring the 80% stake that Merieux Alliance held in Indian vaccine company Shantha Biotech. The Hyderabad-based 90mn euro (Rs 620 crore) turnover company makes vaccines and its flagship product, a hepatitis-B vaccine Shanvac-B brought it fame. The company says this is India’s first WHO-Geneva pre-qualified vaccine. It also makes other vaccines including those used in inoculation of infants.
Reliance Industries chose to focus on margins rather than improve volumes during the June 2009 quarter. Its performance was affected by a mix of factors. Export volumes dipped during a period when the rupee depreciated, which would have normally added extra rupees to RIL’s bottom line. The Jamnagar refinery voluntarily gave up its export oriented tax status as it wanted to focus on the domestic market. Gas production from its KG basin started, contributing to sales and profits, but also upped its depreciation outgo.
Continue ReadingUnited Breweries, a company that sells Kingfisher beer, did well on the sales front but operating margins dipped in the June 2009 quarter. The company’s sales during the quarter grew by 17.2% to Rs 556 crore. The company, which sold Rs 1,700 crore worth of the liquid in 2008-09, said that it sold 12% more beer during the quarter over the corresponding previous period, twice the industry average. Strong beer sales grew by 25%.
Bharti Airtel’s results tell a different story, based on whether you compare it with the previous quarter or June 2008. Its performance seems to have improved compared to March but has deteriorated when compared to a year ago. It does appear that Bharti’s operating performance in 2009-10 will be lower, compared to the previous year.
Ultratech Cement’s sales and profits during the June 2009 quarter grew handsomely. The company is a subsidiary of Grasim Industries, a Aditya Birla Group company. Its net sales grew by 31% to Rs 1953 crore, and net profit rose by 58% to Rs 418 crore. Several factors contributed to its good performance: volume growth (partly due to new capacity), firm prices, excise duty reduction, lower coal prices and power costs.
Ranbaxy Laboratories will start selling the generic version of Norvasc, a drug sold by Pfizer Inc and is used to treat hypertension and angina (a heart condition). The drug’s generic name is amlodipine besylate. Ranbaxy said that the Canadian market for amlodopine besylate is CAD $456mn or Rs 2014 crore (1CAD=Rs 44.2). Ranbaxy’s launch is thanks to the European pharmaceutical company, ratiopharm of Germany.
Sterlite Industries, a non-ferrous metal producer and subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, announced a massive fund raising exercise, with the amount exceeding media reports. The company, with 2008-09 revenues of Rs 21,144 crore or $4.4bn, has said it will raise about $1.5bn with the promoter subscribing to $500mn or about one-third of the issue. The issue will be priced at $12.15 or Rs 583 per ADS.
Continue ReadingBajaj Finserv, the financial services company spun off from Bajaj Auto, reported good results for the June 2009 quarter. Its income –earned from life and general insurance, retail lending and other financial services- rose by 59% to Rs 106.2 crore. Despite a sharp increase in employee costs, its net profit for the quarter was Rs 66.9 crore compared to a loss of Rs 44.1 crore. The key reason for the turnaround in its performance is an increase in its income from investments.
Highlights
Indian mobile value added services provider OnMobile Global secured a key win by entering the Latin American market. The company has signed a long term agreement with Spanish telecom company Telefonica Internacional to provide value added services in the region. The company recently tied up with Vodafone to provide value added services to its global telecom customers, initially in emerging markets.
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