Mega showroom of
LG products inaugurated
at Sainik Colony

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 30: To make available all its state of the art ......more'

Essar Oil to mop up Rs 8,000 cr

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: The Ruia-promoted Essar Oil Ltd today said it will raise about Rs 8,000 crore (two billion dollars) through various financial instruments to ......more

DLF Q3 net at Rs 2,145 cr

MUMBAI, Jan 30: DLF, the country's largest real estate developer, today posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,144.98 crore and total revenue of Rs 3,651.25 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007........more

Bharti Airtel Q3 net jumps 42 pc at Rs 1,722 cr

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel today posted a 42 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 1,722 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007, against Rs 1,215 crore in the corresponding period ......more

Bajaj Auto Q3 net down over 16 pc at Rs 274 cr

MUMBAI, Jan 30: Country’s second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto Ltd today posted a 16.61 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 273.82 crore for the third .....more

Dabur Pharma Q3 net down 7.84 pc

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Dabur Pharma Ltd today said it has reported a 7.84 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 8.23 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 .......more

TRAI recommmends change in DTH guidelines, revision of STB norms

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today suggested to the Government to amend the .....more

FDI norms relaxed in civil aviation, other sectors

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: The Government today allowed greater Foreign Direct Investment in areas such as civil aviation, petroleum and natural gas and commodity exchanges.Norms have also been relaxed for sectors like mining, and credit .....more

     
     

Honda Motor reports 38 pc surge in profit on sales...

Airtel’s net profit rise 42 pc to Rs 1,722 cr in Dec quarter..

Airtel gets additional spectrum in 5 circles...

CCEA nod for 1,795.97 crore RRB’s recapitalisation package ....

Mega showroom of LG products
inaugurated at Sainik Colony

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 30: To make available all its state of the art products to consumers at one stop, LG Electronics, launched it mega showroom under the banner of Mahotra Electronics at Sainik Colony, near Railway bridge Jammu.

While inaugurating the showroom, Jammu Branch manager of LGEII Rajinder Gupta said, "we aim to make the life of our consumers comfortable with technologically advanced and operationally simple products. We also keep introducing new concepts to interact with the customers in a receptive ambience and LG showrooms provide an opportunity to do so", said Rajinder Gupta.

At the said showroom, the customers can relish LG’s innovation in all its products which included air conditioners in direct and split form, entire cooking range including microwave ovens, refrigerators to the rage of LG Mobile phones.

Essar Oil to mop up Rs 8,000 cr

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: The Ruia-promoted Essar Oil Ltd today said it will raise about Rs 8,000 crore (two billion dollars) through various financial instruments to fund activities such as expansion of refining capacity, and exploration and production (E&P) activities.

The Board of Directors which met yesterday decided to raise long-term finance by issue of equity shares and/or convertible debentures and/or GDRs/ADRs/FCCBs by way of public and/or private offering in domestic/International market(s) and/or qualified institutional placement for an amount not exceeding two billion dollars (about Rs 8,000 crore).

The Board has also decided to consolidate its uptream E&P activities under its proposed subsidiary, Essar Exploration & Production Ltd, in order to build a strong fully integrated oil company having upstream, refining and downstream marketing activities, a statement said.

After the completion of E&P consolidation, Essar Oil will have nine Oil & Gas and Coal Bed Methane blocks namely three onshore blocks in Madagascar; one offshore block in Nigeria; oil & gas block in Mehsana, Gujarat; Coal Bed Methane block in Raniganj, West Bengal; offshore field Ratna & R Series and two onshore blocks in Assam, it added.

Essar Oil has commissioned all the processing units of its 10.5 mmtpa refinery which are expected to reach full capacity by the end of this quarter.

In addition the dispatch facilities by rail and road have also been fully commissioned.

(UNI)

DLF Q3 net at Rs 2,145 cr

MUMBAI, Jan 30: DLF, the country's largest real estate developer, today posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,144.98 crore and total revenue of Rs 3,651.25 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007.

On a standalone basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs 605.84 crore and total revenue of Rs 1,812.59 crore for the third quarter of this fiscal, DLF said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company was not listed on the bourses in the year-ago period and hence, the corresponding figures were not available for comparison.

DLF raised over Rs 9,000 crore through its initial public offer last year and got listed on the bourses in July 2007.

The company presently has more than 700 million sq ft developable area.

(PTI)

Bharti Airtel Q3 net jumps 42 pc at Rs 1,722 cr

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel today posted a 42 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 1,722 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007, against Rs 1,215 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company’s consolidated revenues grew 42 per cent at Rs 6,964 crore for the quarter under review, compared to Rs 4,913 crore in the same quarter last year.

The company added 63.9 lakh new users during Q3 and the total number of subscribers at the end of third quarter were 5.7 crore.

Bharti Airtel market share of all India wireless subscribers stood at 23.6 per cent at the end of third quarter.(PTI)

Bajaj Auto Q3 net down over 16 pc at Rs 274 cr

MUMBAI, Jan 30: Country’s second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto Ltd today posted a 16.61 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 273.82 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007 as against Rs 328.35 crore in the same period a year ago.

The total income of the group decreased 2.33 per cent to Rs 2,633.26 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs 2,696.03 crore during the corresponding period last year, the bank said in a communique to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The standalone profit of the firm reported a dip of 5.32 per cent at Rs 326.81 crore in the latest quarter, from Rs 345.19 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The total income was recorded at Rs 2,680.35 crore in the latest quarter as against Rs 2,729.18 crore in the year-ago period, down 1.79 per cent.(PTI)

Dabur Pharma Q3 net down 7.84 pc

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Dabur Pharma Ltd today said it has reported a 7.84 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 8.23 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 as compared to Rs 8.93 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The total income also dipped by 11.57 per cent to Rs 69.04 crore in the third quarter, against Rs 78.07 crore during the corresponding period a year ago. (PTI)

TRAI recommmends change in DTH
guidelines, revision of STB norms

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today suggested to the Government to amend the DTH guidelines to permit its operators band neutrality and allow them to operate in both C and Ku bands.

This should be done to maintain level-playing field with High End in the Sky (HITS) operators who may use both the bands for transmission, TRAI said in its recommendations on the issue sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The existing DTH license conditions permit DTH operators to provide signals in KU band only to consumers directly without any other intermediary.

The Authority has looked at this issue from the point of maximising competition among different delivery platforms so that the consumer has enough choice.

It had recently sent its recommendations regarding transmission of digital signals to the cable operators through HITS both in C band and KU band, which will in turn enable the cable operators to supply digital signals to the consumers.

Thus, the consumers will have enough choice from among DTH operators, digital cable operators through HITS and conventional analogue cable operators.

It is necessary to maintain a clear distinction between DTH and HITS, and this distinction would have been blurred if DTH was also allowed to offer KU band signals to cable operators. Therefore, the Authority has recommended that DTH should continue to supply signals only to the consumers directly and not to any other intermediary.

But to maitain a level-playing field, it feels, DTH operators should be permitted band neutrality and allowed to operate in both C band and Ku bands by amending the DTH guidelines.

It has also suggested to the Ministry to take up the issue of revision of standards for DTH set top boxes with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to update them for advanced technologies.

Revision of standards should be prospective and should apply to DTH subscribers who are enrolled after six months from the date of such revision.

However, such revision should not compulsorily require the DTH operators to upgrade the STBs of existing subscribers to conform to revised standards, though they would be free to do so on their own,TRAI said.

(UNI)

FDI norms relaxed in civil aviation, other sectors

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: The Government today allowed greater Foreign Direct Investment in areas such as civil aviation, petroleum and natural gas and commodity exchanges.

Norms have also been relaxed for sectors like mining, and credit information companies.

Announcing the decision of the Union Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said that in general terms, there is a 49 per cent cap on foreign investment, including 23 per cent FII component, in all these sectors.

"FDI percentage will be 26 per cent and the investment component of FIIs at 23 per cent," he told reporters.

The FDI review, aimed at streamlining the process and opening up labour-intensive sectors, has been due for long.

However, FDI norms for retail have not been changed. Under the present dispensation, 51 per cent FDI is allowed in single brand retail, while none is allowed in multi-brand. (PTI)

Honda Motor reports 38 pc surge in profit on sales...

TOKYO, Jan 30: Honda, Japan's second biggest automaker, said today its third-quarter profit jumped 38.1 per cent as sales boomed in North America, Europe and Asia, excluding Japan.

Honda Motor Co's profit for the three months ended December 31 rose to 200 billion yen (US$1.87 billion), a record for the fiscal third quarter, from 144.8 billion yen in the same period the previous year.

Honda's October-December sales climbed 10 per cent on year to 3.045 trillion yen (US$28.52 billion) from 2.769 trillion yen, the Tokyo-based manufacturer said. That was the eighth straight record for fiscal third quarter sales, it said. (AGENCIES)

Airtel’s net profit rise 42 pc to Rs 1,722 cr in Dec quarter..

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Airtel today posted a 42 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 1,722 crore for the quarter ended December 31, on the back of a record addition to its subscriber base.

The company had earned a net profit of Rs 1,215 crore in the December quarter last fiscal.

The consolidated revenues also grew by 42 per cent to Rs 6,964 crore from Rs 4,913 crore a year ago.

The third quarter of this fiscal saw a highest-ever net addition of 63.9 lakh users, taking the total subscriber base to over 5.7 crore at the end of December. "We expect to maintain this growth in subscriber addition in the coming time... It is sustainable," company’s Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kohli told reporters here.

He said the company’s growth momentum would further enhance in the future. "We aim to cover 70 per cent of the country by middle of this year," Kohli added. Bharti currently covers 68 per cent of the country.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) for the quarter was Rs 358, against Rs 427 a year ago, while minutes of usage increased to 474 in the quarter from Rs 467 in the year-ago period.

Kohli said a falling ARPU was not a concern as minutes of usage is increasing due to affordable offerings by the company. Bharti Airtel would offer more such schemes in the next few weeks, he said.

When asked if the industry has room for more pan-India players, company’s MD Akhil Gupta said competition is good for the industry as it would expand the market further.

On the issue of number portability, he said it would be beneficial for Bharti Airtel as there is a large number of high-value customers in the CDMA space who would like to shift to the GSM technology. (PTI)

Airtel gets additional spectrum in 5 circles...

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Country’s top mobile operator Bharti Airtel today said it has been alloted additional spectrum in five circles, which would enable it to meet its expansion requirements.

"We have received formal communication by the Department of Telecom for getting additional spectrum in five circles and we expect to receive airwaves in the other five circles in a couple of months," Bharti Airtel President and CEO Manoj Kohli told reporters here.

Bharti Airtel applied for additional frequency in 10 circles, and has received the radio waves in West Bengal, Gujarat, Assam, Haryana and UP (West). It is awaiting additional airwaves in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu and Chennai.

When asked if the company was facing any impediment because of spectrum constraint, he said "only in central business districts of major metros, we are facing hurdles."

In about 25 cities, the spectrum scenario is tight.

He said Bharti Airtel would add more capacity rapidly and network optimisation would be heightened. It would also use best spectrum efficiency measures to make its network the most spectrum efficient, Kohli added. (PTI)

CCEA nod for 1,795.97 crore
RRB’s recapitalisation package ....

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today gave its approval for recapitalisation of 27 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) having a negative networth with the total package being assessed at Rs 1,795.97 crore.

Briefing newspersons on the CCEA meeting, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Centre will bear 50 per cent of the cost of recapitalisation, which works out to Rs 897.98 crore.

Mr Chidambaram said the amount will be released to the RRBs along with the contribution by the State government and the respective sponsor bank.

The Finance Minister said recapitalisation would improve the viability of RRBs having negative networth.

The share of State government is 15 per cent and that of the sponsor bank 35 per cent.(UNI)



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