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Reliance Mediaworks redeems Rs 130 crore FCCBs

January 26, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

Reliance Mediaworks, an entertainment and media company, announced the redemption of about €21 million or Rs 130 crore worth of foreign currency convertible bonds. It said that of the total FCCBs of €84 million issued in 2006, a total of about €63 million were converted into equity shares. The remaining debentures were redeemed on January 25, at a premium of 122%, that is it would have repaid a sum of about Rs 160 crore these debenture holders.

L&T and Kobe Steel in Rs 60 crore JV for tyre equipment

January 26, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

Larsen & Toubro and Kobe Steel will make rubber processing machinery in India. The two companies will collectively invest about Rs 60 crore in L&T Kobelco Machinery Pvt. Ltd, with L&T owning a 51% stake with the rest owned by Kobe. The company will make internal mixers and twin screw rollerhead extruders used in tyre production.

RBI goes by the script, hikes rates by 0.25%

January 25, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stuck to its trajectory of calibrated rate hikes in the current credit policy too. It hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5% and the reverse repo rate also by 25 basis points to 5.5%. The repo rate is what banks pay to the RBI to borrow funds to meet short term liquidity needs and the reverse repo rate is what they get from the RBI, when they park surplus funds with the central bank.

ICICI Bank’s loan provisions halve, net profit up by 31%

January 24, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

ICICI Bank’s December quarter results were better than expectations, and it appeared to be benefiting from a phase, when rising interest rates result in better yields on loans, as the cost of funds rises with a lag. It has also managed to improve its asset quality during the quarter, which is a positive sign.

Union Bank of India’s net profit up 91%, over September quarter

January 24, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

Union Bank of India’s net profit growth continued to be affected by higher provisions for non-performing assets in the December 2010 quarter, rising by just 8.5% to about Rs 580 crore, compared to the same period a year ago. But the bank’s performance improved compared to the September quarter, with profit rising by 91%, chiefly due to a sequential decline in provisions.

TVS Motor’s net profit up 137%, stock steadies

January 22, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

TVS Motor Company’s results do not show an improvement over the September quarter, as sales and net profit rose by just 2% each. But it has done much better over the year ago period.

TVS Motors, the Chennai-based two-wheeler company, with a market capitalization of Rs 2,947 crore saw its December 2010 quarter sales increase by just 2% over the September quarter to Rs 1,647 crore. Net profit too rose by 2% sequentially to Rs 56 crore.

BHEL’s orders crawl, accounting policy change boosts profits

January 21, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

Engineering company Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, or Bhel, saw its order book rise by a meagre Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 158,000 crore in the December 2010 quarter, compared to the previous quarter. Order book position is a key variable for any engineering company, as future revenue streams are forecasted, based on the order book’s level and growth. There appears to be a slowdown in new projects, which was visible when Larsen & Toubro declared its results too, recently.

Wipro’s Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani quit, ending joint CEO structure

January 21, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

There were always questions on whether two men –or women- can co-exist at the top. One more answer to that never ending debate was added by Wipro. In 2008, Wipro appointed two people, Suresh Vaswani and Girish Paranjpe at the helm, as joint chief executive officers. This debate of joint leadership is best exemplified in large global corporations, with large operations in two continents, notably of Anglo-Saxon origins. Unilever Plc is another example which moved to a single line of command in recent years.

FDC to consider buyback of shares

January 20, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

Pharmaceutical company FDC’s board is considering a buyback of its shares. This will be its second attempt in recent times, after its previous one failed to get any shares. In December 2010, the company had announced the completion of the buyback of its shares, announced in Jan 2010. FDC is a mid-sized, Rs 660 crore company with products in niche segments such as ophthalmology and is famous for the Electral brand of oral rehydration salts.

Tikona Digital Networks buys HCL Infinet

January 20, 2011August 20, 2014Editor

HCL Infosystems, an information technology (IT) hardware and services company, is selling its 100% subsidiary HCL Infinet to Tikona Digital Networks. HCL Infinet is an enterprise telecom service provider, with revenues of Rs 77 crore in the year ended June 2010.