Asia Africa Intelligence Wire articles from May 2005

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire archives from May 2005

(AA) ASX shareprice FALLS today.
May 31, 2005... (From RWE) Sydney - Tuesday - May 31 (RWE): Company name ASX Code % Move Change Price --------------------------------------------------------------------- MULTIPLEX GROUP MXG - 22.39 - 0.730 2.530 PORT BOUVARD LTD PBD - 13.91 - 0.210...

(AE) Aus shares midday: ALL ORDS UP 3.2 AT 4092.7.
May 31, 2005... (From RWE) Sydney - Tuesday - May 31: (RWE Aust Business News) - The Australian sharemarket rose slightly this morning as investors sought direction following market closures in Britain and the US overnight. At midday the All...

S.KOREAN MANUFACTURING CONFIDENCE FOR Q3 EDGES DOWN.
May 31, 2005... (From Asia Pulse) SEOUL, May 31 Asia Pulse - The majority of South Korean manufacturing companies expect their business conditions to improve in the third quarter, but the percentage of optimists is down from three months earlier. ...

S.KOREA, JAPAN PUSHING TO CONDUCT JOINT BIRD FLU RESEARCH.
May 31, 2005... (From Asia Pulse) SEOUL, May 31 Asia Pulse - South Korea and Japan are pushing to conduct joint research to deal more effectively with bird flu and reduce the movement of the disease across borders, the national veterinary service said...

PAKISTAN-US TALKS ON BILATERAL INVESTMENT TREATY TO BE HELD IN JUNE.
May 31, 2005... (From Asia Pulse) LAHORE, May 31 Asia Pulse - Pakistan's Federal Minister for Commerce Humayun Akhtar Khan has said that the next round of Pakistan-US talks on Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) will be held in Washington in June this...

PAKISTANI PRODUCTS DISPLAY CORNER TO BE SET UP IN LISBON.
May 31, 2005... (From Asia Pulse) KARACHI, May 31 Asia Pulse - Pakistan's Ambassador-designate to Portugal, Ms Fauzia Sana has said that she will open a Pakistani products display corner at the Pakistan Embassy in Lisbon and will hold small products...

IOC net profit dips 30 pc to Rs 4,891 cr: To pay 100% final dividend.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, May 30 - INDIAN Oil Corporation Ltd has reported a drop of more than 30 per cent in its profit after tax during 2004-05 to Rs 4,891 crore from Rs 7,005 crore during the previous year. This is mainly on...

ICAI finalises Guidance Note on fringe tax.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: K.R. Srivats New Delhi, May 30 - CORPORATES would soon have guidance on how they should account and disclose the amounts paid towards fringe benefit tax (FBT). The Institute of Chartered Accountants...

States asked to desist from levying sales tax on textiles meant for exports.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Coimbatore, May 30 - THE Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has asked the State Governments to desist from levying sales tax on textile items meant for exports. The Union Minister said that he was ready...

EPF interest rate.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) The decision of the EPFO board to pay a 9.5-per cent interest for EPF for the financial year ending March 2005 is a welcome move, especially in the present falling interest regime. The government has extended a...

FMCG goods turn dearer.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Sindhu J. Bhattacharya New Delhi, May 30 - WITH increasing global oil prices, FMCG companies have been hard put to contain the resultant input cost increases over the last few months. But a combined...

GE to partner NTPC, BHEL for Dabhol project revival.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, May 30 - MR Scott Bayman, President and CEO, GE India, announced on Monday that GE Energy would join National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) to determine a course...

Iffco announces $1 b investment plan.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, May 30 - THE world's largest fertiliser cooperative, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (Iffco), on Monday announced a $1-billion (approximately Rs 4,400 crore) investment plan to ramp up domestic...

WTO talks: Govt offers new areas for services Not keen on opening up retail, legal sectors.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: G. Srinivasan New Delhi, May 30 - INDIA'S revised offer on trade in services, under the ongoing liberalisation talks of the WTO, cover a broad spectrum and new areas ranging from advertising, management...

Harig Crankshafts bags Rs 150-cr Tata Motors' order.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Virendra Verma Mumbai, May 30 - HARIG Crankshafts Ltd, an automotive components company, has bagged a Rs 150-crore order from Tata Motors that has to be executed in the next one year. "We have...

Nava Bharat Ferro posts lower net in fourth quarter, to go in for share-split.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, May 30 - THE board of Nava Bharat Ferro Alloys Ltd has recommended the splitting of shares of Rs 10 each into five shares of Rs 2 each. The board, which met here on Saturday, has also recommended a 100...

Heritage Foods Q4 net slips to Rs 3.25 cr.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, May 30 - HERITAGE Foods (India) Ltd has reported a fall in net profit for the fourth quarter of fiscal ended March 31, 2005, despite recording a growth in turnover. According to the audited financial...

M&M's profit inches up in fourth quarter.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - MAHINDRA & Mahindra Ltd has reported a 4.87 per cent rise in profit after tax for the fourth quarter of 2004-05 to Rs 152.7 crore from the previous corresponding Rs 145.6 crore. Net sales/income...

Godrej Ind Q4 net lower at Rs 30 cr.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - GODREJ Industries Ltd has ended the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2005 with a net profit of Rs 30.32 crore against Rs 36.44 crore in the year-ago period. Sales from operations were at Rs 209.29...

Ispat to sell sponge iron, directly reduced iron from June.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Kolkata, May 30 - BEGINNING June, steel maker Ispat Industries Ltd will market sponge iron and directly reduced iron (DRI). Hitherto, DRI produced by the company was meant for captive consumption. According to...

Cost pressures tell upon TVS Motor's performance.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Chennai, May 30 - OTHER income of Rs 37 crore, which came from reduction in tax liability arising out of the company prepaying sales tax, helped TVS Motor Company post 14 per cent growth in net profit for the fourth...

Jain Irrigation picks up significant stake in Terra Agro Tech.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - JAIN Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL) has announced that it has acquired a significant strategic stake in Coimbatore-based Terra Agro Technologies Ltd. This investment will culminate in the merger...

Colgate PAT lower.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) MUMBAI: Colgate Palmolive India Ltd has reported a profit after tax of Rs 32.34 crore for the quarter ended March 2005 against Rs 36.68 crore in the year ago quarter. Total revenue increased to Rs 252.61 crore...

Hindustan Sanitaryware net up.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) NEW DELHI: Hindustan Sanitaryware and Industries Ltd's gross sales increased 31 per cent to Rs 110.96 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2005. Net profit from the operations was up about 60 per cent at...

Dishman net dips marginally.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) AHMEDABAD: Contract drug manufacturer Dishman Pharmaceuticals Ltd has reported a marginal fall in its fourth quarter net profit from Rs 8.83 crore to Rs 8.73 crore on a sales turnover of Rs 44.7 crore. The...

Rane to up stake in Kar Mobiles.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) CHENNAI: Rane group intends to pick up 27.9 per cent stake in Kar Mobiles Ltd, in which it has 27 per cent holding, through an open offer that is likely to hit the market on July 20. Shareholders of Kar Mobiles...

Mirza Tanners net up.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) NEW DELHI: Mirza Tanners Ltd (MTL) has reported a net profit of Rs 26.09 crore for the year ended March 31,representing a 138 per cent increase over the net profit of Rs 10.96 crore recorded in the same period last...

TERI award for BILT.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) NEW DELHI: Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT) has bagged this year's TERI national award for corporate social responsibility. The Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Gautam Thapar, said: "This award for BILT is...

Tata Power Q4 net up at Rs 170.55 cr, to pay Rs 7.5.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - PROCEEDS from the sale of investments have enabled Tata Power to report a multi-fold increase in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2005, despite a decrease in revenues during the period....

LGB plans to go global.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: R.Y. Narayanan Coimbatore, May 30 - COIMBATORE-BASED L.G. Balakrishnan & Bros Ltd (LGB), an auto component and forging company, whose fortunes have been on an upswing after it reorganised its operations,...

Centre to focus on drinking water supply.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, May 30 - KEEPING in view the worsening water crisis, the Centre has decided to focus on the availability, sustainability and quality of drinking water. Worried over depleting groundwater levels, the...

SAT gets two new members.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - AFTER months of lying vacant, the 'member' positions at Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) have been filled. Mr Chandan Bhattacharya, former Managing Director, State Bank of India, has been...

Siemens to set up transformer facility in Maharashtra.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - SIEMENS Ltd is setting up a greenfield power transformer factory at its Kalwa complex near Mumbai to cater to the domestic and overseas markets. The factory, which will be the company's eighth in...

'WTO insensitive to crisis engulfing textile industry'.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: G Gurumurthy Coimbatore, May 30 - THE textile and clothing industries worldwide are engulfed in a crisis under the impact of the liberalised trade but the WTO remains 'insensitive' to this, the...

Plea for changes in FDI guidelines in real estate.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, May 30 - INDIA Inc on Monday petitioned the Ministries of Finance and Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation not to levy further taxes on the real estate sector as this would "derail" it and "muzzle its...

PDS kerosene waiver, LPG subsidy to increase GAIL's profitability.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Kolkata, May 30 - GAIL India Ltd on Monday announced that its profitability will increase following the recent hike in gas prices. Though admitting that the hike will enhance operational costs of the company by...

FCB to offer promotions as added service.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Purvita Chatterjee Mumbai, May 30 - FCB Ulka plans to expand its interactive services by including promotions as an added feature. FCB Interactive, one of its divisions, will now offer promotions as...

Pizza Hut to focus on smaller towns.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Chennai, May 30 - PIZZA Hut plans to increase the number of outlets to 135 from the current 98, and expand its presence in smaller towns, Mr Pankaj Batra, Director (Marketing), Yum! Restaurants International, said....

RAI offers two-month course on retailing.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - THE Retailers Association of India (RAI) is offering a two-month course on retailing that will guarantee a job after the course's completion. According to RAI, applicants must have an HSC or...

IOC chief for equitable sharing of burden of under-recoveries.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, May 30 - THE Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation, Mr S. Behuria, on Monday said there was a need for three things to happen. "International oil prices have to come down, which is happening. There...

Apparel brand Daks plans expansion, to enter malls.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Anna Peter Mumbai, May 30 - THE apparel division of the Forbes Gokak Group, which is the licensee for Daks, Trussardi and Savile Row, is confident that the Indian market will notch up sales of Rs 75 crore...

K Sera Sera plans to distribute Ram Gopal Varma's D.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - K SERA SERA Productions said it plans to distribute Ram Gopal Varma's D all over India. It has the exclusive nationwide distribution rights for D. The movie, which is a prequel to Varma's earlier...

Sandy Media plans tradeshow.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, May 30 - WITH an eye on the Rs 3,500-crore film, audio-visual, and lighting market in the country, Sandy Media, a division of Sandy Acous Tech Pvt Ltd, is planning to organise a three-day international...

Radico, Mason, BDA in fray for part of SWC liquor biz: ICICI Bank talking to suitors.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Boby Kurian Bangalore, May 30 - SPIRITS companies Radico Khaitan, Mason & Summers and BDA are the likely suitors for a part of Shaw Wallace & Co's (SWC) liquor business, which the new management of the UB...

MLM forum to set up Indian arm soon.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Vinson Kurian Thiruvananthapuram, May 30 - THE US-based Multi Level Marketing International Association (MLMIA) will soon have an Indian affiliate that will look at galvanising all non-IDSA (Indian Direct...

Jamdat buys Blue Lava.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, May 30 - JAMDAT Mobile, the global wireless entertainment publisher, has announced the acquisition of Blue Lava Wireless and long-term licence from Tetris, a wireless gaming application. The company,...

Walky: Tata Tele told to pay Rs 47.5 lakh to BSNL.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - TATA Teleservices will have to pay up Rs 47.5 lakh, half of the amount demanded by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) as interconnectivity charges payable by TTSL's 'Walky' service, according to an...

Pricol Tech, Blue Ridge tie up.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: L.N. Revathy Coimbatore, May 30 - PRICOL Technologies has joined hands with the Virginia-based Blue Ridge Numerics, developer of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to offer 'Upfront CFD solution'...

Telecom operators upbeat on zero rental schemes.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: V. Rishi Kumar Hyderabad, May 30 - AFTER the success of what the telecom industry refers to as 'Formula 99', with sub-Rs 100 rentals per month, various telecom operators - both GSM and CDMA - are now...

Andhra Bank to lend more to women.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, May 30 - ANDHRA Bank has chalked out a programme of empowering women by increasing lending, especially in the backdrop of rising individual and household incomes and consumption levels. To meet the...

SBBJ to scale up Net banking.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Kolkata, May 30 - STATE Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, which has launched inquiry level Internet banking, proposes to introduce shortly transaction-level Internet banking. Giving this information at the bank's annual...

It's value investment, says Gujarat Ambuja.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - INDUSTRY watchers were rather surprised at the Gujarat Ambuja Cements' move to acquire 14.87 per cent stake in ING Vysya Life Insurance Company for Rs 60.9 crore. Is the fourth largest cement...

Rupee weakens; bonds steady.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) MUMBAI: The rupee weakened against the dollar on Monday as corporates, mainly oil companies, bought dollars. The rupee was also dragged down because euro lost in value against the dollar in the international...

Federal Bank Q4 net up 30%.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Kochi, May 30 - THE net profit of Federal Bank grew 30 per cent to Rs 29.86 crore during the fourth quarter of 2004-05 from Rs 23 crore a year ago. However, the net profit for 2004-05 fell by 34 per cent to Rs...

Insurers may hike premiums on corporate medical covers.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: C. Shivkumar Bangalore, May 30 - NON-LIFE insurance companies in the country are preparing to hike medical insurance premia to cut losses on the portfolio. Sources said that the claims ratios in the...

Safexpress opens offices in North-East.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) New Delhi, May 30 - SAFEXPRESS on Monday opened three offices in the North-East. The opening of three new service locations will cut down the transit times between Delhi and the North-East from the current 10-15 days...

Kochi box terminal gets four new RTG cranes.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Kochi, May 30 - DUBAI Port International, which has taken over the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal of the Kochi port, has brought in four brand new rubber-tyred-gantry (RTG) cranes to operate in the container yard....

AFL bags contract to manage supply chain for PCS Tech.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - AFL Private Ltd has bagged a contract to provide its supply chain management (SCM) solutions to PCS Technology Ltd. According to an official statement, under the contract, AFL will implement its...

Railways may need to import 18,000 wheels to meet demand.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Mamuni Das New Delhi, May 30 - WITH increased supply of 25,000 wheels from Durgapur Steel Plant and Bangalore-based Rail Wheel Factory (RWF), Indian Railways may need to import about 18,000 wheels in the...

Concor urges shipping lines to make more use of Dadri ICD.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Kolkata, May 30 - THE Container Corporation of India (Concor) has urged the shippers and shipping lines to make more use of its inland container depot (ICD) at Dadri in preference to the one located at Tughlakabad....

ABG Shipyard raises Rs 140 cr through private equity.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Mumbai, May 30 - ABG Shipyard Ltd has concluded a Rs 140-crore private equity financing agreement with Standard Chartered Private Equity and IL&FS Investment Managers. ABG is expanding its shipbuilding facilities...

Removal of excise duty for synthetic sector at appropriate time: Chidambaram.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Coimbatore, May 30 - THE Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has assured the textile industry that the Union Government is determined to end fiscal duty distortion still lingering in the industry by removing...

Revision of approval norm for service exports likely.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: K. R. Srivats New Delhi, May 30 - FIRST, the good news for trade and industry: The Finance Ministry has agreed to review the stipulation that requires trade and industry to get approval from the Revenue...

Kochi port going ahead with preliminary activities for SEZ.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Kochi, May 30 - THE Cochin Port Trust is going ahead with the preliminary activities for setting up of the port-based special economic zone covering a total area of 456.5 hectares (consisting of 170.7 hectares in...

Hero in real life too.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: R. C. Rajamani IT IS not given to every film star to replicate his acts of "reel heroism" in actual life. Sunil Dutt perhaps was an exception. He saved his wife-to-be, Nargis, from a fire on the sets of...

Oil price hike: Government must pump up courage.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: G. Srinivasan THE United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, led by the Congress, is skating on thin ice in its efforts to be keep the reforms going alongside a power-sharing coalition experiment.. Its...

Beyond the bailout brew.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) THE BAILOUT PACKAGE for coffee growers and a new scheme for tea sector modernisation recently cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs are sure to provide substantial financial relief to the beleaguered...

Accenture moves to new facility in Hyderabad.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Hyderabad, May 30 - ACCENTURE, the $13.67-billion global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, has moved its operations in Hyderabad to a larger facility in Mindspace IT Park. It set...

UCO Bank close to deal on core banking solution.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: L.N. Revathy Coimbatore, May 30 - UCO Bank plans to deploy core banking solution. The bank's Chairman and Managing Director, Mr V. Sridhar, told Business Line: "This will be our major initiative this...

Income tax issues.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) It is sad that while tax authorities are strict about collecting taxes from the people, they do not refund excesses collected with the same promptness and rigidity. It seems that the administrators of the law focus...

Farm exports: Not yielding full potential.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: M. Y. Khan INDIA'S robust export performance and the setting up of a target of $150 billion for 2009 has prompted the Commerce Ministry to focus its foreign trade policy on agricultural exports, auto...

Call to strengthen farm marketing strategy.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: L.N. Revathy Coimbatore, May 30 - FARM scientists are no longer confining their research to sustainable and pest resistant breeding techniques. They are today reorienting their focus to ensure the smooth...

Coonoor tea prices continue to fall.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: P.S. Sundar Coonoor, May 30 - WITH the demand remaining sluggish and the volume on offer rising to new highs, the market continued to crash at the weekend sale No. 21 of the Coonoor Tea Trade Association....

Karnataka industry plans raw cashewnuts imports.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: A.J. Vinayak Mangalore, May 30 - THE cashew season is drawing to a close in Karnataka with the State having produced around 35,000 tonnes of raw cashewnuts this year. Cashew manufacturing units in...

Vegoil imports continuing despite losses, lower domestic prices.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: G. Chandrashekhar Mumbai, May 30 - DESPITE negative margins and unattractiveness of edible oil imports following continued disparity between domestic and international prices, arrivals into the country...

Rubber prices continue to remain stagnant.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Kottayam, May 30 - SPOT rubber prices continued to remain stagnant as major market participants stayed inactive on Monday. Covering groups and purchase agents were not interested to give higher quotes waiting for...

GEAC move to amend rules for approving Bt cotton: Rift between Monsanto sub-licencees, others widens.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Mamuni Das New Delhi, May 30 - SO far the fight was limited to those for or against introduction of Bt cotton hybrids. Now, a recent Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) move has seemingly...

China swings aluminium market.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: G. Chandrashekhar Mumbai, May 30 - LATEST data from the International Aluminium Institute and other sources show that aluminium production grew by 3.5 per cent year-on-year in the first four months. It...

Glut forces drop in steel prices.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: G. Chandrashekhar Mumbai, May 30 - THE latest data on steel production from China will send tremors through the steel world. The rate of growth of Chinese production is almost exponential as April...

Bear domination.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: K. Premkumar BEARS gained control of Monday's trading activity. The sentiment reading of the tradable counters stands mildly bearish. Bull domination on Tuesday has the potential to turn the...

India Cement active on cheap loan hopes.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Jayanta Mallick Going by the Dalal Street grapevine, India Cement has paved the way for further interest cost reduction. After its debt restructuring with domestic banks through a one-time settlement...

New SEBI rule likely to hit sub-brokers.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: Virendra Verma Mumbai, May 30 - THE stock broking business of regional stock exchange (RSE) subsidiaries is likely to take a hit from next month. This is due to a new norm that will be implemented by...

Rich China's poor yuan.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: ITS nature, a fast moving developing country has insatiable The reserves, thus, were also augmented by net capital inflows. Such a performance, ceteris paribus, should have caused the yuan to...

Tea industry: Need for greater synergy between corporate and small producers.
May 31, 2005... (From Business Line) Byline: V. Ramaswamy PRICES for Indian tea at the six auction centres have shown that they have improved in 2004, but are still much below the prices achieved in the late 1990s. Consider the figures shown in the...