Airtel denies forming cartel to distort competition

Govt to facilitate cement import from Pak

Eicher Motors March sales fall marginally

IT firms may post decent earnings growth on rupee reversal

Plastic prices remain flat

NEW DELHI, Apr 7: Low and high density polymer prices closed on a flat note on the wholesale plastic market here today following sporadic demand against restricted arrivals.

Following are today's quotations in Rs per kg:

LD No 40 - 93.00, LD No 400 - 92.00 LLDP blowing 86.00, colour 75.00 HD Blowing 83.00, HD moulding (deshi) 81.00, HD moulding (colour) 85.00, PP No 100 81.00, PP Colour 105, ABS (Indian) 97, acrylic 130-140, colour 139-144, crystal (Indian) 80, colour 90, poly carbonate 180-190, Nylon No-6 160, Nylon No 66 -181-191, PVC resin deshi 56.00, PVC pest grade 85. (PTI)

Scrap, saria prices dip on increased supply

NEW DELHI, Apr 7: Saria and scrap prices fell by Rs 500-1,000 a ton on the local iron and steel market here today due to increased arrivals and fall in raw material prices.

However, other steel prices, including saria garder and angle remained quiet on some support.

In saria section, CTD saria (kamdhenu) 8-mm, 10-mm, 12-mm and 16-25 mm dropped by Rs 500 each at Rs 48,500, Rs 47,950, Rs 47,975 and Rs 47,450.

Rathi tor steel : 8-mm, 10-mm, 12-mm, 16-20mm and 25-32mm dipped by Rs.500 each at Rs.48500, 47,850, Rs 47,950 Rs 47,350 and Rs 47,500 a ton respectively.

Amba saria (iso-9002) 8-mm, 10-mm, 12-mm and 16-25-mm fell by Rs 500 each at Rs 46,700, Rs 46,200, Rs 45,600 and Rs 46,000 a ton respectively.

Amba shakti: (TMT) 8-mm, 10 mm, 12 mm and 16 to 25 mm also dropped by Rs 500 each at Rs 48,500, Rs 47,700, Rs 47,100 and Rs 47,400 a ton respectively.

Scrap Govindgarh declined from Rs 34,500-35,000 to Rs 33,000 a ton on increased arrivals.

Bhivari and Gaziabad dipped from Rs 33,000-34,000 and Rs 33,500 to Rs 32,000 and Rs 31,000 a tonne respectively.

Following are today's quotations in Rs per tonne:

CTD saria (kamdhenu) 8-mm, 48,500, 10-mm, 47,950, 12-mm 47,975, 16-25 mm 47,450.

Rathi tor steel : 8-mm 48,500, 10-mm 47,850, 12-mm 47,950, 16-20 mm 47,350 and 25-32 mm 47,500.

Saria Jai bharat (iso 9002) 8-mm 46,300, 10 mm 45,800 12-mm 45,000, 16-25 mm 45,500.

Amba saria (iso-9002) 8-mm 46,700, 10-mm 46,200, 12-mm 45,600, 16-25-mm 46,000.

Amba shakti: (TMT) 8-mm 48,500, 10 mm 47,700, 12 mm 47,100, 16 to 25 mm 47,400.

M S Angle: (50x5) (50x6) 40,200, (25x3) (32x3) (40x3) 39,700, (40x5) (40x6) 40,400. Angle capital (ISI) (50X5) (50X6) 42,000, (40X5) (40x6) 42,500, (35X5) (65X6) 42,700.

Garder (joist) (150x75) 43,000 (175x85) 43,200 (200x100) 43,000 (125x70) 43,200. T-IRON (40X5) (40X6)(50X6) 42,500.

Ingot and Scrap: Bhivari 32,000, Govindgarh 33,000, Ghaziabad 31,000, Muzaffarnagar 30,500. (PTI)

Freight rates remain flat

NEW DELHI, Apr 7: Freight rates for nine metric tonne load have not showed any huge fluctuations in the local truck transport market here today following easy availability of lorries as compared to the cargo movements.

Following were today's freight rates for the nine metric ton load:

Ahmedabad 10,000 Hyderabad 23,000 Mumbai 17,000 Vijayawada 24,000 Baroda 12,000 Bangalore 29,000 Pune 18,000 Mysore 31,000 Surat 14,000 Pondicherry 35,000 Kanpur 7,000 Coimbatore 39,000 Kolkata 24,000 Chennai 33,000 Ludhiana 9,000 Kochi 40,000 Chandigarh 5,000 Thiruvananthapuram 46,000 Jaipur 4,500 Goa 24,000 Indore 11,000 Gwalior 6,500

Patna 20,000 Guwahati 39,000

(PTI)

Airtel denies forming cartel to distort competition

NEW DELHI, Apr 7: Country’s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel today denied allegations of forming a cartel with other GSM players to distort the competition for increasing tariffs.

"There is no question of cartelisation. In a competitive industry like this (telecom), nobody will allow any other player to be at a higher pedestal," Bharti Group CMD Sunil Mittal told reporters here.

He said in such a competitive industry if Airtel reduces tariff today everybody will follow suit within 24 hours.

Last week, anti-monopoly watchdog Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) had issued a notice of enquiry against three GSM players Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular for allegedly forming a cartel to distort competition by increasing tariffs simultaneously.

The local call charges were increased from Re 1 to Rs 1.20 per minute, while the STD rates were increased by 10 per cent on a few pre-paid plans.

The MRTPC’s investigative wing Director General of Investigations and Registrations (DGIR) had noted that these telecom service providers have simultaneously increased the price by colluding.

It has directed the companies to file their reply before it within four weeks. The next hearing is scheduled for July 31. (UNI)

Govt to facilitate cement import from Pak

NEW DELHI, Apr 7: Faced with increasing political pressure to check price rise, the Government will facilitate more cement import from Pakistan in its all-out efforts to rein in inflation, which has touched a three-year high.

"Lot of cement capacity is coming up. The Government will facilitate more cement import from Pakistan. In the last one year, cement prices have been reasonably stable," Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Ajay Shankar told reporters on the sidelines of a CII function today.

Shankar said though the Government expects moderating of prices, it is keeping a constant watch on the price situation of both steel and cement.

"We are watching the situation carefully," he said hoping that the steps already announced by the Government will have an impact on checking inflation.

He said the Government expects a balance in demand-supply of cement in the current fiscal.

Inflation touched a three-year high of seven per cent for the week ended March 22, on higher prices of food, vegetables, minerals and manufactured items, prompting the Government to take a slew of measures to check the price rise.

The Government had last week decided to abolish import duty on crude form of edible oils, cut rate on refined edible oils and ban non-basmati rice exports among other measures to ease the pressure off prices. India has already scrapped import duty on cement to boost domestic supplies. (PTI)

Eicher Motors March sales fall marginally

NEW DELHI, Apr 7: Commercial vehicle manufacturer Eicher Motors today reported a marginal fall in its total sales in March at 3,704 units, against 3,730 units in the same month last year.

The domestic sales increased marginally to 3,297 units as compared to 3,283 units in the corresponding period last year, the company said in a statement.

Exports during the month stood at 407 units, compared to 447 units last year, down by 8.95 per cent.

Light commercial vehicle sales in the domestic market during the month rose by 8.06 per cent at 2,775 units, the same stood at 2,568 units in March 2007.

Heavy commercial vehicle sales dipped 27 per cent at 522 units, as against 715 units in March last year, it said.

The total sales during 2007-08 rose by 6.25 per cent at 29,827 units compared to 28,072 units in the previous fiscal, Eicher Motors said.

Its total domestic sale during the last fiscal stood at 27,611 units as against 26,072 units in the year ago period.

Exports of the company also increased to 2,216 units in FY08 from 2,000 units in FY07, the company said.

"In 2007-08, we successfully piloted and introduced a range of new products and variants. The significant investments made in augmenting our product range will help us grow further in the current financial year," Eicher Motors CEO (Commercial Vehicles) A Ramasubramanian said. (PTI)

IT firms may post decent earnings growth on rupee reversal

NEW DELHI, Apr 7: Major information technology firms are expected to post decent revenue growth and may come up with a surprise for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007-08, analysts say.

The rupee had depreciated against the dollar in the last quarter after continually appreciating for the past three quarters, this reversal is likely to help the revenue growth this quarter, domestic brokerage Sharekhan said in its IT earnings preview.

"The frontline tech stocks are expected to show a sequential revenue growth of 5-8 per cent during the fourth quarter ended March 2008, driven by a 4-7 per cent growth in the volumes aided by the depreciation of rupee by around 90 basis points over Q3 FY2008," the Sharekhan report stated.

The average exchange rate of Rs 39.8 against the dollar is also above the assumption of Rs 39.3-39.4 made by the domestic companies. This would aid the growth of IT companies in the fourth quarter of FY2007-08, it added.

However, analysts believe that in the long run the appreciation of the rupee against dollar continues to be a cause for concern.

IT major Infosys would kickstart the quarterly earnings season from April 15 along with HCL Technologies, followed by Satyam Computer Services on April 21.

"Forward earnings for most of the companies are healthy. The IT sector might come out with surprises following the Infosys results, which are likely to give a new direction to the markets," SMC Global Vice President Rajesh Jain said.

The Sharekhan report stated that in terms of earnings the guidance for Infosys is likely to be in the range of 17-19 per cent factoring in the decline of around 50-60 basis points in margins and the further dilution of equity (due to stock options).

While, for Satyam Computers, the brokerage firm expects higher growth guidance with 23-24 per cent in revenues and 21-22 per cent in earnings, on the back of the strong growth momentum in its enterprise solutions business.

On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services is expected to lag behind due to customer specific issues, whereas HCL Technologies could face pressure on its earnings growth due to foreign exchange fluctuation.

Besides, the stocks of IT firms have been among the major losers in the past quarter due to the meltdown in the markets during the January-March period. The key factors dragging down the technology stocks have been the global and domestic cues giving mixed signals on the overall demand outlook resulting in continued uncertainty.

Infosys scrip lost 15 per cent from Rs 1749.70 on January 1 to Rs 1482.90 on April 4, while shares of Satyam, TCS and HCL Technologies also fell between 5 to 24 per cent in the period. (PTI) MBH