Daily Excelsior...Business

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 21: The Maxx Mobiles Communications Ltd. has launched Max mobile phones in Jammu by Nitin Kumar ( north area) in presence of Rakesh Verma...more

Shaurya Motors holds free
check up camp

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 21: A free check up camp was organised on behalf of MSIL, by Shaurya Motors Ltd, at its workshop on Bye pass road, here today....more

Total Govt debt in US, UK, Japan 25-times higher than India

NEW DELHI, June 21: In their efforts to tackle the financial crisis, the world’s three top developed nations-the US, UK and Japan-have accumulated massive ....more

‘Small scale exporters not getting insurance cover’

NEW DELHI, June 21: Exporters, especially in the small scale sector, sending shipments to high risk countries like the US are being refused insurance cover, ....more

DHFL Venture Capital to raise Rs 250 cr this fiscal

MUMBAI, June 21: Advisory, management and consultancy services provider DHFL Venture Capital, today said it would raise Rs 250 crore in the current fiscal from the domestic markets to fund real estate projects in Tier-II and Tier-III cities......more

DCB to close down unsecured personal loan portfolio in 2009-10

MUMBAI, June 21:Hit by losses, private sector lender Development Credit Bank (DCB), has decided to close down its unsecured personal loan portfolio in 2009-10 and focus on its secured loans portfolio, the bank Managing Director and CEO Murali Natrajan said.....more

ICRA open to acquisitions, aims to boost non-rating revenue

KOLKATA, June 21: Rating major, ICRA has said it is open to acquisitions in the KPO and IT space to boost its non-rating revenues in the coming years.......more

Mahindra Holidays IPO may signal primary mkt revival

NEW DELHI, June 21: Ending a four-month long lull in the domestic IPO segment, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts is set to come out with an initial public offering tomorrow, which analysts feel could signal a revival in the primary market....more

EPFO to decide interest rate on PF deposits on July 4..........

SRL to invest Rs 100 crore in the next two years on expansion........

Masoor rises on stockists buying.........

Maxx Mobiles launches phones

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 21: The Maxx Mobiles Communications Ltd. has launched Max mobile phones in Jammu by Nitin Kumar ( north area) in presence of Rakesh Verma( state head), here today.

Rajeev Mahajan of Mahajan Video House, distributor for Jammu was also present on the occasion.

The company with a range of 20 to 30 models is targeting a market share of 10 per cent during this financial year.

Speaking on the function, Mr Verma explained different features and gave other details of every model.

Maxx Mobile Communications Ltd was incorporated on January 1, 2004 as a private limited company at Haridwar, which is engaged in manufacturing of various mobile phones and accessories like batteries and chargers. The turnover of the company is around Rs 400 crores per annum.

Shaurya Motors holds free check up camp

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 21: A free check up camp was organised on behalf of MSIL, by Shaurya Motors Ltd, at its workshop on Bye pass road, here today.

About 190 vehicles were checked in the camp during the day.

Harinder Pal Singh, Area Service Manager and Rinku Koul, Area Manager True Value from MSIL visited the camp and appreciated the staff for efficient management of the camp. Gifts were distributed among the customers, a release said.

The customers were awared about the new entrance in the MSIL and main highlights were display of A-Star and Ritz customers expressed their satisfaction.

Chairman, Shaurya Motors, Sneh Gupta and Vicky Mahajan, MD of the organisation, expressed appreciation to all the staff and other participants in the camp.

‘Small scale exporters not getting insurance cover’

NEW DELHI, June 21: Exporters, especially in the small scale sector, sending shipments to high risk countries like the US are being refused insurance cover, at a time when the world economy is passing through turbulent times.

The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC), the state-owned provider of insurance to exporting firms, admits it is "discouraging" cover risk on single order.

"We are discouraging exporters who are asking for cover for one shipment or single buyer in a particular country...We are advising them to come for turnover cover (a bouquet of shipments)," a senior ECGC official said.

With the US and several countries in the Europe in the grip of recession, exporters are facing more and more cases of payment defaults. They would like the risks against payment defaults covered.

After receiving complaints from the exporters, the Commerce Ministry is taking up the issue with the Finance Ministry. While the Commerce Ministry is believed to have asked for additional stimulus to the ECGC, it would like the cover to be extended to small exporters.

The government had earlier announced Rs 350 crore scheme for the Corporation, which expires on June 30.

"We have urged the Government to extend the time period till March 31, 2010," the official said. (PTI)

DHFL Venture Capital to raise Rs 250 cr this fiscal

MUMBAI, June 21:Advisory, management and consultancy services provider DHFL Venture Capital, today said it would raise Rs 250 crore in the current fiscal from the domestic markets to fund real estate projects in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

"We will raise Rs 250 crore in this fiscal which will be deployed in real estate projects in Tier-II and Tier-III cities," DHFL Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Kapil Wadhawan said.

Wadhawan said that the fund would be raised from financial institutions and High Networth Individuals (HNIs) domestically.

Established in 2005, DHFL Venture Capital had raised Rs 100 crore, its maiden, in 2006 domestically from leading financial institutions and banks. The fund has performed well with over 35 per cent Rate of Return (ROR).

"We will target 30 per cent Internal Rate of Return (IRR) with the upcoming fund too," Wadhwan said, adding that the fund would target both individuals and developers for disbursement.

IRR is a capital budgeting metric used by firms to decide whether they should make investments. It is also called ROR, an indicator of the efficiency or quality of an investment. (PTI)

DCB to close down unsecured personal loan portfolio in 2009-10

"A major part of the loss in the last financial year came from the unsecured personal loans. We plan to run off this portfolio gradually. The process could be completed by 2010-11," Murali Natarajan said here.

DCB started shutting down its unsecured personal loans business in mid-2008 when such lending contributed 34 per cent to total advances. The bank has successfully reduced the portfolio size to 23 per cent, Natarajan said.

The bank witnessed a net loss of Rs 91.30 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31 against Rs 7.6 crore dip in the same period in last year.

DCB’s gross non-performing assets escalated to 8.78 per cent as on March 31, 2009 from 1.49 per cent in FY09 while net NPAs grew to 3.58 per cent from 0.66 per cent in the same period last year.

The lender made a total provisioning of Rs 163.4 crore in FY09 to cover its bad loans, he said.

Natarajan attributed the rise in NPAs to challenging market conditions and default from a single large coporate account. (PTI)

ICRA open to acquisitions, aims to boost non-rating revenue

KOLKATA, June 21:

Rating major, ICRA has said it is open to acquisitions in the KPO and IT space to boost its non-rating revenues in the coming years.

"We are open to more acquisitions in KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) and IT space if we get right offers. In March, we had acquired US-based IT company of Sapphire Group through our analytics subsidiary," ICRA vice-chairman and group CEO P K Choudhury said.

Sapphire was a USD 1.5 million revenue company and was acquired for around USD 1 million.

Choudhury said the company is aiming to increase its non-rating revenues to 50 per cent of the total group earnings by 2011-12.

"Currently, rating revenues are 60 per cent and 40 per cent (comes) from non-rating activities," he said.

ICRA group revenue for 2008-09 was Rs 149.81 crore, of which rating services was Rs 88.51 crore.

ICRA is not aiming for any big ticket acquisition and is eyeing value-based companies in knowledge domain. (PTI)

Mahindra Holidays IPO may signal primary mkt revival

The IPO of Mahindra Holidays would be the first public offer to hit the market in the last four months since the public offering of Chennai-based EdServ Softsystems in early February.

Faced with uncertain financial conditions and economic sluggishness, firms have been holding back their plans to hit the capital market. With possible signs of revival, experts feel the segment is now expected to witness frenzied activity.

The IPO of Mahindra Holidays, which is part of diversified group Mahindra & Mahindra, opens on June 23 and the entity plans to mop up Rs 301 crore from the primary market, as per data available on the National Stock Exchange.

The company would be hitting the capital market with an IPO of 92.65 lakh equity shares and has fixed a price band in the range of Rs 275-325.

"Since the IPO is being brought in by a business conglomerate, the response would be closely watched by the investors.

If hugely subscribed we can safely conclude that the primary market space has become a safe haven once again, else we will have to wait for the public sector IPOs," SMC Capital’s Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said. (PTI)

EPFO to decide interest rate on PF deposits on July 4

NEW DELHI, June 21: Employment Provident Fund Organisation’s advisory body Central Board of Trustees is likely to decide the interest rate on PF deposits for the fiscal 2009-10 at its meeting on July 4.

"The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) is expected to decide the interest rate for this fiscal on provident fund deposits during the meeting scheduled on July 4," an EPFO source said.

Once the CBT, which is headed by the Labour Minister, recommends the interest rate on provident fund deposits, it is sent to the Finance Ministry for final approval.

"The CBT is in a position to recommend 8.5 per cent interest rate for 2009-10, the same that depositors received in the previous fiscal," he said, adding that the final decision will be taken by the trustees.

At present, there are about 4.49 crore provident fund subscribers and they have been receiving 8.5 per cent interest on their deposits since 2005-06.

Even after paying an interest of 8.5 per cent, the source said, "the EPFO would have a surplus of Rs 6.4 crore during 2009-10." The organisation is expected to earn an income of Rs 12,994 crore in 2009-10. (PTI)

SRL to invest Rs 100 crore in the next two years on expansion

NEW DELHI, June 21: Diagnostics chain Super Religare Laboratories (SRL) will invest more than Rs 100 crore over the next two years for expanding operations within and outside the country, and on marketing.

"SRL has 50 labs in the country and has a capacity to perform around 25,000 tests per day. In the next two years, we will be doubling our capacity as well as the number of labs in India," Super Religare Laboratories Ltd CEO Sanjeev K Chaudhry said.

When asked about the investments, Chaudhry said, the total investments on expansion and operational expenses like marketing and branding will be around Rs 100 crore.

The company will look at both organic and inorganic options to expand its footprint.

"However, this amount doesn’t include the cost of acquisitions, which company might do in this period," Chaudhry said while declining to share details citing confidentiality.

On the services side, the company has announced the launch of ‘Food Intolerance Test’ which will be the first of its kind in the country and will help patients to find out the type of food that suits them the best.

"SRL will implement a highly advanced Protein Micro-array technology called ‘Genearrayt’ and soon roll it out as a nation-wide programme for creating awareness about the test," Chaudhry said. (PTI)

Masoor rises on stockists buying.........

NEW DELHI, June 20: In an otherwise steady market, masoor prices rose by Rs 100 per quintal in national capital today on increased buying by stockists against tight supply.

Prices of other pulses continued to trade around previous levels in restricted buying or selling and settled around previous levels.

Marketmen said increased buying by stockists along with firming trends at producing belts mainly pushed masoor small prices.

Masoor small and bold prices rose by Rs 100 each to Rs 4,200-5,300 and Rs 4,000-4,100 and its dal local and best quality also traded higher by the same margin at Rs 4,650-4,800 and Rs 5,000-5,300 per quintal.

Following are today’s quotations in Rs per quintal:

Urad Maharashtra 3,100-3,500, Rangoon 3,200-3,375, Urad chilka (local) 3,900-4,200, best 4,400-4,700, Dhoya local 4,000-4,200, best 4,400-4,900, Moong Maharashtra 3,375-3,730, Rajasthan 4,200-4,275, Dal moong chilka local 4,700-5,000, best 5,000-5,400, Moong Dhoya local 4,775-4,975 and best quality 5,075-5,575.

Masoor small 4,200-5,300, bold 4,000-4,100, Dal Masoor local 4,650-4,800, best quality 5,000-5,300 Malka local 4,700-4,850, best 4,900-5,000, Moth 3,200-3,300, Arhar Maharashtra 3,970-4,070, Rangoon 3,970-4,070, dal arhar dara 5,300-5,350 and patka 5,550-5,750.

Gram 2,150-2,250, gram dal (local) 2,400-2,450, best quality 2,500-2,650, besan (35 kg) Shakti bhog 1,050, Rajdhani 1,050, Rajma chitra Pune 2,900-3,500, China 3,100-3,500, red 2,700-2,800, kabli gram small 2,900-3,700, dabra 2,700-2,800, imported 4,500-4,600, lobia 2,150-2,550, peas white 1,700-1,800 and green 2,250-2,450. (PTI)