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IPCL Net Profit Declines

Net profit of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation declined 92.77% to Rs 18.00 crore in the quarter ended March 2007 as against Rs 249.00 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2006. Sales rose 30.85% to Rs 3007.00 crore in the quarter ended March 2007 as against Rs 2298.00 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2006.

For the full year, net profit declined 11.34% to Rs 1032.00 crore in the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 1164.00 crore during the previous year ended March 2006. Sales rose 11.05% to Rs 12129.00 crore in the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 10922.00 crore during the previous year ended March 2006. IPCL is managed by RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 6:39 PM  



Aurobindo Pharma net profit rises 108.13%

Net profit of Aurobindo Pharma rose 108.13% to Rs 78.11 crore in the quarter ended March 2007 as against Rs 37.53 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2006. Sales rose 15.06% to Rs 532.76 crore in the quarter ended March 2007 as against Rs 463.04 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2006.

For the full year, net profit rose 230.23% to Rs 229.08 crore in the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 69.37 crore during the previous year ended March 2006. Sales rose 34.47% to Rs 1979.72 crore in the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 1472.20 crore during the previous year ended March 2006.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 6:32 PM  



Sun TV Network launches FM station

Sun TV Network has announced the launching of its FM Radio Station in Bhubaneshwar under the brand 93.5 S FM from 28 June 2007 through its subsidiary South Asia FM.

This station can be heard at 93.5 MHz frequency in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack.

With this, the total FM stations of the company's group operational goes up to 8. The company hold licences for 45 FM Radio Stations across India, and will be one of the largest radio broadcasters in India when all the remaining 37 stations becomes operational.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 12:08 PM  



Centre's helping hand heats up Cairn India

As per reports, the Central government has agreed to Cairn India's proposal to lay a pre-heated 580-kilometre (km) pipeline at a cost of $600 million (Rs 2,400 crore) to transport the crude oil from its Barmer oil fields in Rajasthan to Virangam in Gujarat. The cost of laying the pipeline is to be shared between Cairn and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in a 70:30 ratio, the same as the shareholding in the oil field, laying to rest a contentious issue between the government and Cairn.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is expected to announce the decision shortly, reports suggest. With this, a solution will be in place to evacuate the waxy crude oil from Cairn's Rajasthan oil find, the largest in the country since ONGC's Bombay High in 1974.

Crude oil from the field will reach a peak production of 1.5 lakh barrels per day (bpd) of oil, which will boost the country's output by 20% from 6.8 lakh bpd. The area is estimated to have 1 billion barrels of oil. Cairn is confident of delivering 1,50,000 bpd as has been agreed by the government. Cairn had applied to the government to get the pipeline included in the overall field development cost, which will enable it to recover the cost from the revenue earned from selling crude oil. The field is expected to run at peak production for 10 years.

On 10 May 2007, Cairn India said it had made two new discoveries in the Rajasthan block in northern India. The company received a six-month extension from the government for further exploration in the block.

Cairn India reported net loss of Rs 8.54 crore in Q1 March 2007. Sales were Rs 0.50 crore in Q1 March 2007.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 2:51 PM  



Mphasis to Outperform

Ahead of the merger with EDS India, Mphasis posted a 10% growth in its consolidated revenue to Rs 337.25 crore in the quarter ended March 2007 over the December 2006 quarter. The growth in revenue was on a 24% rise in revenue from BPO services and 5% gain in IT services.

Operating profit margin (OPM) improved 30 basis points (bps) to 14.3% due to improvement in margin in the BPO operations (320 bps to 27.8%) on increase in offshore billing rate to US$ 10, from US$ 9 in the December 2006 quarter. The contribution of the non-voice revenue rose to 39% from 31% in the sequential quarter. Thus, operating profit (OP) advanced 13% to Rs 48.34 crore. Profit before tax (PBT) was up 26% to Rs 47.75 crore and net profit 27% to Rs 45.56 crore.

As a group, Mphasis follows the strategy of hedging its entire balance sheet. Also, many of its long-term contracts have built-in clauses for re-negotiation of billing rates to factor in the change in the value of the rupee.

Consolidated revenue of Mphasis was 27% higher to Rs 1195.82 crore in the year ended March 2007 over FY 2006 on a strong 30% growth in the IT services to Rs 836.11 crore, with a healthy expansion in the financial services business. On the other hand, the BPO business spurted 21% to Rs 359.71 crore with the increase primarily contributed by telecom clients in India. Net profit was down 20% to Rs 119.88 crore due to poor performance in the initial quarters ahead of the EDS merger talks. As per unaudited numbers, EDS India reported revenue of Rs 570 crore with net profit of Rs 59 crore in FY 2007.

In July 2006, Mphasis approved the merger of EDS India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), US, with itself. The swap ratio of the merger will be 5:4 (5 shares of Mphasis for every four shares of EDS India) and would entail the issue of 44,104,065 shares of the company. Though the legal merger has been delayed and will happen by July 2007, operational integration is already over. Post-merger EDS, US, will hold around 62% stake in Mphasis.

The in-house business from EDS Global is doubling, quarter-on-quarter. There was no business from EDS in Q1 June 2006 of FY 2007. In Q2 September 2006, it was US$ 2 million; Q3 December 2006 US$ 4 million; and in Q4 March 2007 US$ 9 million. The revenue from EDS Global will have a continuous momentum.

The manpower strength including that of EDS India stood at 20,249 employees end March 2007. For calendar year (CY) 2007, Mphasis including EDS has planned to add 8,000-10,000 people. Currently, about 550 employees are doing EDS work.

The Mphasis management had earlier identified four growth drivers: growth in existing Mphasis business, shared services work from EDS, offshore engagements within the existing accounts of EDS, and joint pursuit of large deals. Most of these growth drivers have started kicking in: internal finance & accounting (F&A)- and human resources (HR)-shared services work (employee ramp-up in BPO space in March 2007) as well as a large deal won from a European telecom company by the Mphasis-EDS combine. The management has also indicated the possibility of another large-deal-win from a retail major in the near future. The combine is also pursuing many multi-million multi-year deals.

EDS is playing catch-up with IBM and Accenture - the first in expanding their India headcount aggressively. For EDS’s revitalisation, it is necessary that it expands its offshoring to India fast. Mphasis will be the vehicle through which this will happen. EDS has indicated its intention to take its India headcount to 45,000 by CY 2008 and has set a US $ 1-billion revenue target for Mphasis.

Including EDS India, the FY 2007 EPS of the merged entity works out to Rs 8.6, which is expected to rise to Rs 13.4 in FY 2008. The share trades at Rs 310, giving a P/E of 23 times. With the EDS tag and expected earning growth of 50% for a couple of years, the scrip will outperform the market.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 11:35 AM  



Anil Ambani's RNRL wins Over Mukesh

In a landmark judgement handing over victory to anil Ambani, the High Court of Mumbai said, Reliance Industries (RIL) cannot sell the gas to any third party other than Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) and NTPC. In an interim order on a petition filed by RNRL, the high court has said that the 81.6 million cubic metres of gas per day (mmscmd) is to be earmarked for RNRL, NTPC or for RIL’s captive use for the next eight years to be pumped from Krishna Godavari basin.

Reports had suggested recently that RNRL had sent a legal notice to the petroleum ministry against the bids invited by Reliance Industries (RIL) for sale of gas and its proposal to enter into gas sales agreements. RNRL has claimed that this violates the interim stay order of the Bombay High Court. Rumors also say that Murli Deora, Petroleum Minister who was close to Sr. Ambani has sided with Mukesh Ambani.

RNRL is the gas trading company of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and the scrip is up 4.7% on NSE at Rs 35.60. Mukesh's RIL is down 1.2% at Rs 1,712.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 10:46 AM  



BSE Sensex Forward P/E Chart


We at Dalal Street had presented the graph of BSE Sensex historical data since its inception in 1979. Today we are presenting a Historical forward P/E Chart of Sensex since 1990 through 2007. [Above Chart]

The BSE Sensex which was quoting at a forward P/E of 11 in 2003 is at historic high of 18 in 2007. Is the Sensex overvalued ? Will BSE Sensex reach 18,000 or 25,000 as some speculators and investors like Rakesh Jhunjunwala predict ? Sorry we differ from their opinion.

Courtesy: Graph is obtained from Citigroup,Bloomberg Research Report June-19th-2007.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 11:35 AM  



Geodesic Information recommends bonus issue

The board of Geodesic Information Systems has recommended issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:2 to the shareholders.

The board also recommended increase of authorised capital by Rs 35 crore. The board also recommended raising funds through international offerings in one or more foreign markets upto US$ 150 million.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 2:56 PM  



Citi Upgrades Suzlon Energy to BUY

Citigroup Research which had a SELL recommendation on Suzlon Energy with a price target of Rs 1,137 has upgraded it to BUY with a price target of Rs 1,700. The new price target is based on P/E multiple of 23x Suzlon'e FY09 estimated earnings which is well supported by EPS CAGR of 44% and RoEs in the 30-40% range over FY07-10E.

The fact that Suzlon will stagger the payment of 1.2bn punds for REPower over three years implies that it would be EPS accretive from CY08E/FY09E onwards. REPower is a good strategic fit for Suzlon as it provides: (1) Immediate access to Europe, the largest WTG market over the next 5 years; (2) REPower's low margins (as it is basically an assembler) imply there is plenty of room for volume and margin growth; (3) REPower's product portfolio is complementary to Suzlon and would be helpful to make inroads into Europe.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 10:32 AM  



Asian Hotels net profit rises 50.83%

Net profit of Asian Hotels rose 50.83% to Rs 34.42 crore in the quarter ended March 2007 as against Rs 22.82 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2006. Sales rose 27.24% to Rs 132.41 crore in the quarter ended March 2007 as against Rs 104.06 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2006.

For the full year, net profit rose 61.38% to Rs 91.50 crore in the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 56.70 crore during the previous year ended March 2006. Sales rose 25.85% to Rs 413.42 crore in the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 328.49 crore during the previous year ended March 2006.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 12:48 PM  



Funds raising plan generates interest in IDBI

ICICI is making Follow on Public Offer after Offer every year. Its Peer IDBI is still struggling to make a comeback. The issue of bonds will fund IDBI's future expansion and acquisition purposes, reports sugget. It would be a medium-term programme and the money would be raised in different tranches, including perpetual Tier I and Tier II capital.

The funds would also used for carrying out operations of overseas branches proposed to be opened during FY 2008.

The net profit of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) rose 6.11% to Rs 213.54 crore in Q4 March 2007 as against Rs 201.24 crore in Q4 March 2006. Total income rose 12.41% to Rs 2185.35 crore in Q4 March 2007 as against Rs 1944.16 crore in Q4 March 2006.

The net profit rose 12.38% to Rs 630.31 crore in the year ended March 2007 (FY 2007) as against Rs 560.89 crore in the year ended FY 2006. Total income rose 10.68% to Rs 7372.60 crore in FY 2007 as against Rs 6661.17 crore in the FY 2006.

IDBI's principal activities are to provide commercial banking services which include merchant banking, direct finance, infrastructure finance, rehabilitation assistance, venture capital fund, advisory, trusteeship, forex, treasury and other related financial services.

The stock hit a low of Rs 97.40 and high of Rs 99.40 so far during the day.

The scrip gained from Rs 92 on 10 May 2007 to a high of Rs 104.10 on 21 May 2007. The Rs 100 level was breached later due to continuous profit booking and scrip fell to Rs 92.55 by 30 May 2007. The scrip, again bounced back to trade at Rs 101.25 by 7 June 2007, but fell soon to Rs 96.55 by 12 June 2007.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 12:14 PM  



Kotak Bullish on Crompton Greaves

Crompton Greaves' fourth quarter numbers are better than estimates. Kotak Securities maintains BUY with a target price of Rs 280.Crompton Greaves' standalone order book stands at Rs.20.6 bn up 41%, thereby indicating that current year revenue growth should also be robust.

The investment theme in CGL over the last two years has been that of a strong domestic business environment coupled with synergistic acquisitions in large overseas markets. Apart from access to larger markets, these acquisitions have also helped CGL plus gaps in technology. It has succeeded in turning around the operations at Pauwels and given the favorable demand conditions in Europe aims to replicate the same with Ganz and Microsol.

CGL is currently trading at a P/E ratio of 22.1x and 17.5x FY08 and FY09 earnings (consolidated EPS of Rs.11 and Rs.13.9 per share in FY08 and FY09, respectively)

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 9:41 AM  



Indian Rupee seen at Rs 40 aganist USD

Citigroup currency analysts forecasts the Indian Rupee to stabilize around Rs 40.00 against the US Dollar over the next 3 quarters.

The Rupee forecast against US Dollar for the next few quarters is as follows,

Q3-2007 - Rs 40.30
Q4-2007 - Rs 40.10
Q1-2008 - Rs 40.00

So IT exporters will be under tremendous pressure to re-negotiate billing rates or revise the earnings guidance lower.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 12:11 PM  



Reliance Ambani Vs DLF Singh - Corporate War

With every hour passing by, hectic lobbying and meetings are underway in the financial streets of Dalal Street, Mumbai.

At one end of the spectrum is Reliance - Mukesh Ambani who is rumored to be all determined to derail the IPO of DLF Realty. On the other end is Rajeev Singh who wants his father to be the Richest Indian by listing their flagship Real Estate company - DLF.

Corporate Rivalry is nothing new to Reliance and Mukesh Ambani. It dates back to the days of Bombay Dyeing Vs Sr. Ambani in 1980s.

Then in early 1990s, a stock broker by name Harshad Mehta unseated India's leading industrialist, Dhirubhai Ambani to become the Richest Indian and the Highest Tax Payer. Result - Ambani's 3rd son, now chief of Reliance SEZ, Anand Jain engineered a trap for Harshad Mehta in Stock Market. When Harshad came to compromise with Dhirubhai, he was the only Indian to drive a Toyota Lexus which caught Anil Ambani's attention and Harshad readily handed over the keys to Anil Ambani saying "It's all yours". [Read The Polyester Price - HOUSEKEEPING SECRETS Page 239]

Then in 2000, Dot Com Boom, it is rumored that Reliance group engineered the fall in Wipro stock which had made Azim Premji the richest Indian and 5th Richest person in the world.

Dec-2006: It is rumored that Reliance- Mukesh Ambani led the debacle of Cairn India IPO. Cairn is a global energy giant. Their was a last minute withdrawal of few large blocks of bidding in the Cairn IPO and underwriters had to make up for it. Cairn directly competes with Reliance Oil and Gas.

June-2007: Rajeev Singh son of DLF's founder Kushpal Singh is all determined to list his father's company and crown him the richest Indian. DLF directly competes with MukeshAmbani's dream project in Haryana - Reliance SEZ. Also Mukesh being an industrialist and wealth creator doesn't want a land lord to take his crown of being the richest Indian.

DLF is going out of the way to pay hefty commission to greedy Stock Brokers to make their clients apply for the issue. While several brokerage houses have come out with report that DLF issue is expensive. [Silent Operator on Dalal Street is believed to be a close confident of Mukesh Ambani and their firm is amongst the top 3 BRLMs in India. However, for DLF IPO they gave up because of the differences in pricing. ]

Updating:
After the Issue, DLF is likely to float a JV with some foreign company for Real Estate Investment Trust [REIT], which will give DLF the bargaining power and also Billions of Dollars in cash. This will push Mukesh Ambani at the receiving end in SEZ and Real Estate projects. But Mukesh is not a guy who will sit quiet, We'll keep you informed as we get more information.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 11:18 AM  



Citi Upgrades Punj Lloyd to BUY

You are reading this first here...
Citirgroup Analyst, Venkatesh Bala, in a report released just few seconds ago has upgraded Punj Lloyd Ltd to a BUY with a price target of Rs 305. Our Dalal Street Research Analyst had recommended Punj Lloyd in December-06 with a price target of Rs 300 [Post-split] So you notice the difference between our quality research and research coming from world's top brokerage house ? We were the first one to do it :-)

Citi in its report has also upgraded the stock from Risky- SELL to Low Risk - BUY. Punj is now pre-qualified for larger/more complex projects. Indications of this scale-up are already visible (average order is up from US$30mn to US$100mn in FY07 and likely to go up to US$200mn).

At the end of FY07 Punj Lloyd had the third largest order backlog of Rs159bn in Engineering & Construction sectors after BHEL (Rs550bn) and L&T (Rs369bn).

Earnings revisions of 20% in FY08E and 21% in FY09E. A rolling forward of our target P/E multiple to 23x FY09E, from 23x FY08E earlier. This is well supported by an earnings CAGR of 38% over FY07-10E with RoEs expanding from 17% in FY08E to 25% in FY10E.

Despite L&T being a more diversified and established player with a market cap which is ~ 10x that of Punj Lloyd, Citi uses a similar multiple for both companies given Punj Lloyd's superior earnings CAGR of 38% over FY07-10E coming off a smaller base vis-a-vis 31% for L&T.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 11:19 AM  



Currency Coin Scam Hits India.

You must have always noticed that whenever the Congress Government is in power, Indians have to face the wrath of a Financial Scam. Be it the Bofors Scam or the 1994 - Securities Scam or 2005 - SEZ Land Scam.

To your left you can see a Rs 2 coin made of Cupro-Nickel which weighs 6 gram and is 26 mm in diameter. Scamsters have been collecting coins of Rs 2 denomination and smuggling out of the country, mainly to Bangladesh where they are melted and re-minted to form statues and other metal articles. Why only coins of Rs 2 denomination ?
Because you get 6 gram of Cupro-Nickel. While in coins of Rs 5, the weight is only 9 gram, proportionately it should have been 15 gram but they aren't because the coins of Rs 5 came into circulation when the prices of Cupro-Nickel had already appreciated and thus they have just 9 gram of Cupro-Nickel.
It is the duty of the Central Government of India to protect its currency. Instead the Government has asked RBI to pump 900 Million fresh pieces of coins in May-2007. I overheard some folks talking that for every Rs 100 of these Cupro-Nickel coins, their is a kingpin who is paying Rs 160 in Cash. Imagine the depth of the racket and our government doing nothing.

Tags: , , ,

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 7:33 AM  



Amtek Auto extends gain on UK acquisition

Amtek Auto has acquired the entire assets of U.K. based J L French's (Witham) (JLF), a company engaged in the business of manufacturing of HPDC aluminium for automotive application. JLF's business has been developed to offer die-casting solutions including product design, simulation, testing, rapid prototyping, high pressure die-casting, precision machining and assembly. This is predominantly aimed at the European automotive industry. The company supplies its products to Land Rover, Jaguar, Trellborg, Ford and PSA (Peugeot).

JLF's current sales revenues are pegged at about $ 60 Million with 60% capacity utilization.

Amtek Auto is likely to fund the acquisition through $250 million foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) it issued in May 2006.

Net profit of Amtek Auto rose 47.78% to Rs 65.32 crore in Q3 March 2007 as against Rs 44.20 crore in Q3 March 2006. Sales were up 35.97% to Rs 314.64 crore ( Rs 231.41 crore).

In March 2007, Amtek Auto had inked a 50:50 joint venture with VCST Industrial Products of Belgium with headquarters in Sint Truiden, Belgium, to set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for powertrain components in India. The JV will primarily focus on the manufacture of gears and shafts for automotive on- and off-road applications.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 1:42 PM  



Tata Motors sales decline in May 2007

Tata Motors announced that its May 2007 sales slipped 4% to 42,558 units, as compared to previous year. May 2007 commercial vehicle (CV) sales declined to 20,675 units from 21,903 units in May 2006. May 2007 passenger vehicle sales were down 3% at 17,580 units, from previous year.

Tata Motors net profit rose 25.89% to Rs 576.72 crore in Q4 March 2007 from Rs 458.11 crore in Q4 March 2006. Sales rose 20.11% to Rs 8267.00 crore in Q4 March 2007 from Rs 6882.75 crore in Q4 March 2006.

The net profit rose 25.15% to Rs 1913.46 crore in the year ended March 2007 (FY 2007) from Rs 1528.88 crore in FY 2006. Sales rose 33.31% to Rs 27535.24 crore FY 2007 as against Rs 20654.35 crore in FY 2006.

As per reports, Tata Motors has more than doubled its stake in Automobile Corporation of Goa, one of its major suppliers. The move underlines Tata Motors' plan to increase control of the growing bus body business. Tata Motors, a co-promoter of Automobile Corporation with a stake of 10%, has upped its stake to 21% through a rights issue.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 12:47 PM  



ICICI - Zero Brokerage on Options Trading

You are reading this first here...
ICICI in an internal announcement just a while ago have introduced a new brokerage slab for Intraday Options Trading. ICICI is moving towards flat brokerage with effect from May-1st. That's right effective May-1st. New slabs are as follows.

Total Eligible Premium ValueBrokerage
Per Lot
Brokerage on
Second leg-of trade
Effective brokerage on each leg of intraday square-off
Above Rs.20 Lacs65Nil32.50
Rs.10 Lacs to Rs.20 Lacs70Nil35.00
Rs.5 Lacs to Rs.10 Lacs75Nil37.50
Rs.2 Lacs to Rs.5 Lacs85Nil42.50
Less than Rs.2 Lacs95Nil47.50

ICICI trading interface is far better than Reliance Money which is full of software glitches and fund transfer has been a headache. ICICI is getting more serious on preserving existing customers as well. For more details read here.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 11:34 PM  



Amtek Auto shifts gears on assembly of takeover components

As per reports, the $1-billion Amtek Group's flagship Amtek Auto is believed to be clinching the deal to take over the foundry business of the UK-based auto component major JL French Castings.

The acquisition is estimated between Rs 150 crore and Rs 160 crore and includes the company's operations in Whitham in the UK. Amtek Auto would fund the acquisition through $250 million foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) it issued in May 2006. The company is eyeing the US firm to gain a foothold in the aluminium case components business and to gain market access to the European Union.

The US firm will also help bring expertise to Amtek Auto in the manufacturing of cylinder heads, transmission case and engine blocks.

The turnover of JL French Castings' foundry business is Rs 240 crore ($70-80 million) and expected to touch $150 million in the next three years. The company has a capacity of about 20,000 units and services original equipment manufacturers like Jaguar, Land Rover, Ford and Peugeot among others.

Net profit of Amtek Auto rose 47.78% to Rs 65.32 crore in Q3 March 2007 as against Rs 44.20 crore in Q3 March 2006. Sales were up 35.97% to Rs 314.64 crore ( Rs 231.41 crore).

In March 2007, Amtek Auto had inked a 50:50 joint venture with VCST Industrial Products of Belgium with headquarters in Sint Truiden, Belgium, to set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for powertrain components in India. The JV will primarily focus on the manufacture of gears and shafts for automotive on- and off-road applications.

Published by DalalStreet Business @ 1:28 PM