Glenmark settles patent suit for skin lotion with US firm

    Drug firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals today said it's subsidiary Glenmark Generics has entered into a settlement and licence agreement with US-based Nycomed to resolve patent infringement lawsuit for fluticasone propionate lotion, used for treating skin pain and itch.
    "Glenmark Generics Ltd has entered into a settlement and and license agreement with Nycomed US to resolve the patent infringement suit regarding Glenmark's abbreviated new drug application for Fluticasone Propionate 0.05 lotion," Glenmark said in a filing to the Bombay stock Exchange.
Fluticasone propionate 0.05% lotion by Glenmark is generic version of Nycomed's 'Cultivate' lotion."Under the terms of agreement, Glenmark will be able to market and distribute it's Fluticasone Propionate lotion under a royalty-bearing license from Nycomed US in March 2012, or earlier in certain circumstances," it added.

Union Bank of India Q4 net at Rs 597 cr

    State-owned Union Bank of India has reported Q4 net profit of Rs 597 crore for the quarter ending March 31, 2011 as against Rs 594 crore in same quarter the previous year.Net interest income increased 22.9% to Rs 1,716 crore from Rs 1,396 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Net interest margins stood at 3.44%.Gross non-performing assets (NPA) declined at 2.37% as against 2.68% on quarter-on-quarter basis.

Cipla net profit dips 22%

    Pharmaceutical company Cipla reported a 22 per cent dip in net profit to Rs 214 crore in the fourth quarter of financial year 2010-11 compared to Rs 275 crore in the same period last year. Net sales went up by 23 per cent to Rs 1,627 crore against Rs 1,329 crore on an year-on-year (y-o-y) basis.    Domestic sales grew by 15 per cent and exports by more than 28 per cent. Net profit for the year ended March 2011, went down by 10 per cent to Rs 967.12 crore, compared to Rs 1,081.49 crore in the last year.
    For the year ended March 2011, net sales stood at Rs 6,172.55 crore, compared to Rs 5,411.68 crore in the previous year, growth of 14 per cent.

Cairn Energy to sell 40% stake in India arm to Vedanta

    Cairn Energy Plc on Thursday said it would sell 40 per cent stake in Cairn India to Vedanta Resources for Rs 30,811 crore, leading to a transfer of majority stake to the Anil Agarwal-promoted company. If the government clears the deal, Vedanta will have a 58.5 per cent stake in Cairn India. However, Cairn Plc will continue to retain a significant stake of 21.7 per cent in its Indian subsidiary, said a company announcement.

    Sesa Goa, a Vedanta Resources company has already acquired 18.5 per cent stake in Cairn India — 10.4 per cent — in a block deal from Petronas (at Rs 331 per share) and 8.1 per cent through the open offer (at Rs 355 per share) that ended on April 30. Vedanta paid Rs 6,547 crore to Petronas and spent Rs 5,502 crore in the open offer. Vedanta will pay another Rs 30,811 crore to Cairn Energy for a 40 per cent stake.
   

Muthoot Finance debuts with 12% premium on NSE

      Muthoot Finance, a non-banking finance company, engaged in the gold loan business, made a strong debut on the NSE today, opening with a premium of over 12% vis-a-vis its issue price of Rs 175.Shares of the company debuted at Rs 196.60 apiece, up 12.34% from their issue price on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Within minutes of trade, the scrip saw some profit booking and was trading at Rs 177.15.On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the scrip debuted at Rs 180 a piece over the issue price, reflecting a jump of 2.85%.In terms of volume, over two crore shares of the company changed hands on the bourses within first one hour of trade.

     Muthoot Finance had entered the capital market with a price band of Rs 160-175 a share under its IPO of 5.15 crore equity shares.The company raised Rs 901.25 crore through the issue of 5.15 crore equity shares, which will be mainly used to augment its capital base for meeting future capital needs, to fund of loans and for general corporate purposes.

NSE, BSE extend trading for gold ETF on Akshaya Tritiya

    The NSE and BSE will conduct trading in Gold ETF till 9 pm in Gold ETF on Akshaya Tritiya, considered an auspicious day for buying the yellow metal.Seeking to cash in on the investor demand for gold on the festive day, the country's top bourses said they have jointly decided to conduct extended live trading session on Friday — on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya — for trading in gold exchange traded fund (Gold ETF) securities.

The trading will begin at 9 am, as on other days.Trading in other segments of the two bourses will start and stop at the usual hours.Akshaya Tritiya is observed on the third day of the Hindi month of Vaishaka and this year it falls on May 6. Last year Akshaya Tritiya had fallen on a Sunday and the exchanges had kept trading open till 5 pm.Trading in gold ETFs allows investors to buy or sell gold in electronic mode and not in the physical form.

The traded value of gold ETFs on NSE surged to Rs 4,074.30 crore in 2010-11, as against Rs 1842.36 crore in the previous year. The traded value on NSE for 2006-07 stood at Rs 13.95 crore, which grew to Rs 478.8 crore in 2007-08 and to Rs 1,172.30 crore in 2008-09.

There was only one asset management company offering gold ETF in 2007, as against about 10 now. These include Axis, Benchmark, UTI, HDFC, ICICI Prudential, Kotak, Quantum, Reliance, Religare and SBI mutual funds.

EGoM on fuel to meet on May 11

    The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee-headed Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on fuel would meet on May 11 to review diesel prices and discuss ways to cut the rising losses of oil marketing companies.The meet could lead to a diesel price increase of around Rs 2 per litre, after a gap of nearly 11 months. A Rs 2-3 increase in the price of petrol, which had been freed from government control last June, is also on the cards immediately after polling in the last phase of Assembly elections is completed on May 10.

    The OMCs — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum — which purchase crude oil at market rates, are required to sell diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at government-subsidised prices, resulting in losses.The companies incur an under-recovery or revenue loss of Rs 8.50 on every litre of petrol, Rs 16.17 on every litre of diesel, Rs 29.69 on every litre of kerosene and Rs 330 for every LPG cylinder.The diesel price has not been raised since June 26 last year. At these rates, the OMCs could end the current financial year with an all-time high loss of Rs 180,000 crore.

    The OMCs incurred a gross under-recovery of over Rs 47,000 crore for the first three quarters of the last financial year. The under-recovery for the last quarter is estimated at about Rs 37,000 crore.These losses are partly compensated through a mix of cash subsidy from the government and discounts from upstream companies like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India and partly absorbed by the OMCs.

Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills reports 17% drop in its FY11 net profit

    Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills has reported results for the year ended March 31, 2011.The company has registered a drop of 17.07% in its net profit at Rs 44.94 crore whereas the same was at Rs 54.19 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Its total income has increased by 21.22% at Rs 792.64 crore for the year under review whereas the same was at Rs 653.91 crore for the previous year.Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills has recommended a dividend of Re 1 per share of Rs10 each for the year ended March 31, 2011.

Shoppers Stop’s subsidiary opens new stores

    Shoppers Stop’s subsidiary company - Crossword Bookstores has opened one “Crossword" store at Central-Bangalore. Further, the company has also opened one franchises store of “Crossword” at Vapi, Gujarat. With the opening of these 2 stores, there are now 73 'Crossword' stores.

    Recently, Crossword Bookstores has opened one “Crossword” store each at Shoppers Stop, Indore and at R Mall, Thane.

Silver falls to one-month low after COMEX margin hike

    Silver prices fell 1% on Thursday to a one-month low, after the CME Group hiked margin requirement on COMEX silver again, while gold held steady.
    Spot gold was little changed at $1,516.29 an ounce by 0042 GMT, after falling for three sessions straight.COMEX gold futures edged up $1.30 to $1,516.60.COMEX silver futures fell 1.2% to a one-month low of $38.91. Spot silver fell by 1% to $38.92.

    The CME Group set successive hikes on COMEX silver futures margin, pushing margin up 84% in just eight days.As COMEX silver tumbled under the weight of surging margins, the iShares Silver Trust , the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, experienced a near 5% fall in its holdings.
    Mexico massively ramped up its gold reserves in the first quarter of this year, buying over $4 billion of bullion as emerging economies move away from the ailing US dollar, which has dipped to 2-1/2-year lows.

Bharti Airtel Q4 net slips 31% at Rs 1,401 cr

    Bharti Airtel, India's top mobile phone carrier, on Thursday reported a bigger-than-expected 31.5% fall in quarterly profit, hit by losses at its African operations.

     The company’s net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 has decline by 13.70% at Rs 1837.90 crore as compared to Rs 2129.70 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Its total income has increased by 10.20% at Rs 9856.60 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 8944.30 crore in the  corresponding previous quarter.

   The company has registered fall of 18.13% in its net profit for the year ended March 31, 2011 at Rs 7716.90 crore as compared to Rs 9426.20 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Its total income has increased by 6.80% at Rs 38128.70 crore for the year from Rs 35699.20 crore in previous year.

On consolidated basis, the group’s net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 was down by 31.49% at Rs 1400.70 crore as compared to Rs 2044.40 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Total income for the quarter has increased by 51.38% at Rs 16304.20 crore as compared to Rs 10770.50 crore for the corresponding previous quarter.

For year ended March 31, 2011 on consolidated basis, the group’s net profit for the year was down by 32.64% at Rs 6046.70 crore as compared to Rs 8976.80 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Total income for the year has increased by 42.19% at 59601.80 crore as compared to Rs 41916.90 crore for the previous year.

14% decline in Hero Honda net profit

    Hero Honda Motors has announced the results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2011.The company has posted a net profit of Rs 501.61 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 598.81 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, down 16%. Its total income has increased from Rs 4191.81 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 to Rs 5465.27 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

    For the year ended March 31, 2011, the company has posted a net profit of Rs 1927.90 crore as compared to Rs 2231.83 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010, down 14%. Total income of the company has increased from Rs 16096.14 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010 to Rs 19669.29 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011.Meanwhile, the board of directors of the company has recommended a final dividend of 1750% i.e. Rs 35 per equity share of Rs 2 each for the financial year 2010-11.

Jairam Ramesh clears Posco project

    After five long years, India's largest FDI investment has got a nod from the environment ministry on Monday. Environment Minster Jairam Ramesh gave clearance to South Korean steel giant Posco on the steel project in Orissa, although with 60 additional conditions.The conditions include the likes of ensuring tribal rights, compensatory afforestation are few of the 60 conditions laid down. Posco will have to bear the cost of regeneration of degraded forest land.

Glenmark gets final US FDA nod for generic Cutivate lotion

    Glenmark Generics Inc, the US arm of India’s Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, has received final approval from US Foods and Drugs Administration for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Fluticasone Propionate skin lotion.Glenmark’s Fluticasone Propionate is the generic version of US pharmaceutical company Nycomed’s Cutivate lotion.Nycomed had in 2008 filed a patent infringement lawsuit in relation to Glenmark’s ANDA for fluticasone propionate lotion. Glenmark filed a paragraph IV certification that involves a patent challenge with the US drug regulator for its generic version.
    Nycomed’s Cutivate lotion had sales of about USD 48 million in 2010 in the US market.

RBI hikes key rates by 50 bps

    In a bid to clamp down on resurgent inflation, the Reserve Bank of India, in its first monetary policy review of 2012, raised repo and reverse repo rates by 50 basis points,while lowering the economic growth projection to 8% for the current fiscal.The RBI has also increased the saving bank rate by 50 basis points to 4% to give higher returns to depositors in the wake of high inflation.RBI Governor D Subbarao announced these measures as part of annual credit policy to contain inflation, which is hovering around 9%, and sustain economic growth in the medium-term.
    RBI has pegged GDP growth rate for the current fiscal at 8% against the government's projection of 9%. The economy grew by 8.6% in FY11.The reverse repo, the rate at which bank park funds with RBI, has been raised by 50 basis points to 6.25%. CRR remains unchanged at 6%.Savings rate has been increased to 4% from 3.5% for the first time since 2003.Inflation forecast for FY12 has been kept around 6% with an upward bias.Six-months comply to banks over 10% invesment in Mutual Fund liquid funds

ARSS Infra bags Rs 45.54 cr order

    ARSS Infrastructure Projects has received two new work orders from the Executive Engineer (R&B) Division, Bhubaneswar aggregating to Rs 45.54 crore.Recently, the company had bagged new work order from Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC), Bhopal for construction of Road from Damoh - Bhatiagarh - Hirapur on BOT basis. The total length of the road was about 69.60 kms.

Zuari Industries resumes Urea production

    Zuari Industries has resumed the production of Urea which was affected due to the fire at the Zuarinagar’s factory premises. Earlier, Zuari Industries had reported fire incident outside the factory premises near the parking shade of DAP Gate. The cause of the fire was due to rupture of the Naphtha pipeline which supplies naphtha to the company's plant at Zuarinagar. The company’s factory premises caught fire on April 18, 2011 and it had reported an incident of fire on April 19, 2011 due to which the Urea production was stopped.

Bajaj Hindusthan’s Q2 net profit jumps 129%

    Bajaj Hindusthan has announced the financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.The company has reported a jump of 129% in its net profit at Rs 72.82 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 against Rs 31.79 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. The company has reported net sales / income from operations of Rs 1252.49 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 against Rs 567.44 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.The company has reported an EPS of Rs 3.19 for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 1.66 for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

Andhra Sugars 60.35% surge in its Q4 net profit

    Andhra Sugars has reported results for the quarter and the year ended March 31, 2011.The company’s net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 has surged by 60.35% at Rs 20.22 crore as compared to Rs 12.61 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Its net sales / income from operations rose 12.68% at Rs 142.64 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 126.59 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

    The company has registered a fall of 47% in its net profit for the year ended March 31, 2011 at Rs 35.38 crore as compared to Rs 66.76 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Its sales / income from operations has decreased by 14.79% at Rs 470.03 crore for the year from Rs 551.59 crore in year ago.

Apple launches iPad 2 in India

    Apple's iPad 2 hit Indian stores on Friday, just over a month after the company started selling the updated version of its popular tablet device in the United States.The iPad 2, a thinner and faster version that features two cameras for video chat, is priced between Rs 29,500 and Rs 46,900, depending on the model.

    The model with 16 GB of memory that works only on Wi-Fi is priced at Rs 29,500, while the one that can operate on both Wi-Fi as well as third-generation (3G) mobile networks costs Rs 36,900.Customers have the option to buy an iPad 2 with 16, 32 or 64 GB of memory and can choose a model that works only on Wi-Fi or on both Wi-Fi and 3G.

    The first iPad - which went on sale a year ago - sold 300,000 units on the first day, 500,000 in the first week, and crossed the 1 million unit mark in 28 days

BHEL bags Rs 5,000 cr order

    Engineering major BHEL has bagged a prestigious order worth Rs 5,450 crore from Bajaj Hindustan Delhi for the supply, erection and commissioning of a 3x660-MW capacity thermal power plant at Lalitpur in UP.
    BHEL sources told PTI that the order comprises supercritical boiler (once-through variety) bagged with ahd a generator package.They added that for the eacn of the six 660-MW thermal power plant units, the design engineering manufacturing of boilers would be undertaken by BHEL's Trichy unit, supplies of boiler auxillaries by Ranipet unit, electronics and instrumentation by Bangalore unit and erection and commissioning by BHEL North Sector.

Oriental Bank Q4 net up 5% at Rs 333 cr

    Oriental Bank of Commerce today posted a net profit of Rs 333.66 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, up 5.24% as compared to Rs 317.04 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago.Total Income has increased to Rs 3,532.14 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, up 19.69% Rs 2,950.9 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.
    The Bank has posted FY11 net profit of Rs 1,502.87 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011, up 32.44% from Rs 1,134.68 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010.Total Income for FY11 has increased to Rs 13,047.89 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011 from Rs 11,457.17 for the year ended March 31, 2010.

United Phosphorus Q4 net profit down

    The company has registered fall of 13.12% in its net profit from Ordinary Activities after tax for the year ended March 31, 2011 at Rs 157.50 crore as compared to Rs 181.29 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Its total income has increased by 16.65% at Rs 3064.68 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011 from Rs 2627.34 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010.

    On consolidated basis, the group’s net profit after tax with Income / (Loss) from Associates Companies for the year was up by 5.98% at Rs 557.64 crore as compared to Rs 526.16 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Total income for the year ended March 31, 2011 has increased by 7.38% at 5898.16 crore as compared to Rs 5492.79 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.United Phosphorus has recommended dividend of 100% or Rs 2 per equity share on the face value Rs 2 each.

Sadbhav Engineering bags Rs 236.20 crore order

    Sadbhav Engineering in joint venture with GKC Projects has been awarded the contract by the Executive Engineer (CPC- I), Sardar Sarovar Narmda Nigam (SSNL), Gandhinagar, Gujarat for aggregating value of Rs 236.20 crore. Sadbhav Engineering will lead the joint venture with 52% participation share.The scope of work includes EPC contract for construction of Radhanpur Sub Branch Canal, Manpura Sub Branch Canal, Distributaries & Minors of Radhanpur Branch Canal, RSBC & MSBC (Earthwork, lining, Structures, Service Road, CR/Escape/HR, Gates, Stop logs, Control Cabin) including Geo Tech investigation, Design of structures and Operation and maintenance for the same for five years.

Karnataka Bank joins hands with Way2Wealth

    The Mangalore based, Karnataka Bank has joined hands with Way2Wealth brokers to launch an online trading facility.Way2Wealth's online trading platform will now be available to the Karnataka Bank's account holders, enabling the customers of the bank to trade from any Internet-enabled location.The bank will offer a unique integrated 3in 1 account for its customers consisting of savings, demat and trading accounts. The savings and demat accounts will be Karnatak Bank while trading account will be of Way2Wealth.Karnataka Bank has a national presence with a network of 463 branches across 19 states and 2 Union Territories.

Dena Bank Q4 net up 15% to Rs 157 cr

       Dena Bank posted a net profit of Rs 157 crore , up 14.59% from 137 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.The Net Interest Income for the quarter was posted at Rs 471 crore as compared to Rs 326 crore.The profit for FY11 was posted at Rs 611.6 crore, up 19.64 from Rs 511.2 crore last fiscal.The bank has also recommended a dividend of 22% amounting to Rs 2.20 per equity share of Rs 10 each.

Crompton Greaves reports 5.82% drop in its Q4 net profit

    Crompton Greaves has reported results for the quarter and the year ended March 31, 2011The company’s net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 has decline by 5.82% at Rs 217.64 crore as compared to Rs 231.09 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Its total income has increased by 8.26% at Rs 1788.37 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 1651.88 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
    The company has registered growth of 12.47% in its net profit for the year ended March 31, 2011 at Rs 694.33 crore as compared to Rs 617.34 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Its total income has increased by 12.67% at Rs 6030.85 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011 from Rs 5352.74 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010.
    On consolidated basis, the group’s net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 was down by 17.97% at Rs 251.43 crore as compared to Rs 306.51 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Total income for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 has increased by 16.29% at Rs 2954.83 crore as compared to Rs 2540.83 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
    For year ended March 31, 2011 on consolidated basis, the group’s net profit for the year was up by 3.35% at Rs 888.67 crore as compared to Rs 859.87 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Total income for the year ended March 31, 2011 has increased by 9.42% at 10105.02 crore as compared to Rs 9234.55 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Sujana Metal Products gets approval for amalgamation

   Sujana Metal Products has received approval for scheme of amalgamation of Lakshmi Gayatri Industries, Glade Steel, Sriganga Steel Enterprises and Topaz Steel India with Sujana Metal Products and their respective shareholders with requisite majority.

    The company has received its shareholders and secured creditors approval for the same at their respective meetings held on April 28, 2011. Earlier on March 28, 2011, the company has received approval from Andhra Pradesh HC at Hyderabad for the same.

Vijaya Bank’s Q4 net profit declines 59%

        Vijaya Bank has announced results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2011.The bank has reported a decline of 58.58% in its net profit of Rs 54.23 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 130.92 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Total income has surged by 15.88% to Rs 1751.66 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 where as the same was at Rs 1511.67 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

    For the year ended March 31, 2011, the bank’s net profit increased marginally by 3.25% to Rs 523.82 crore as compared to Rs 507.29 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Total income of the bank has rose by 8.45% to Rs 6377.24 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011 from Rs 5880.10 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010.

    Vijaya Bank has recommended a dividend of Rs 2.50 per share on bank’s equity share capital and at 7.75% per annum on Perpetual Non Cumulative Preference Share Capital (PNCPS) of the Bank payable of Government of India for the Financial Year 2010-2011.

Phoenix Mills gets approval for equity stake in Pinnacle

    Phoenix Mills has received an approval for acquisition of residual 33.33% equity stake in Pinnacle Real Estate Development (Pinnacle) by the company. Pursuant to acquiring the residual equity stake Pinnacle would become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.The company has received the approval for acquisition at its board meeting held on April 28, 2011.

Last year in October, Phoenix Mills had secured its board’s nod for the acquisition of the entire shareholding of Butala Farm Lands, which holds 8% equity in the company's SPV for the Phoenix Market City project in Pune, Vamona Developers. The board gave its approval at its meeting held on October 28, 2010.

Food inflation at 8.76%

    India's food price index rose 8.76% and the fuel price index climbed 13.53% in the year to April 16.In the previous week, annual food and fuel inflation stood at 8.74% and 13.05%, respectively.

The primary articles price index was up 12.08%, compared with an annual rise of 11.96% a week earlier.The wholesale price index-based inflation , the most widely watched gauge of prices in India, rose 8.98% in March from a year earlier, higher than February's 8.31% rise.

Coal India faces demand supply mismatch

Coal India is facing demand supply gap of 450 million tonne as per Letters of Assurance (LoA) issued so far and its production plan for the next 10 years for consumers with whom it has already signed supply agreements.

The mismatch has widened as CIL failed to expand existing mines and take up new projects due to restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoF). Adding to this, the LoA for supply is linked to certain milestones to be achieved by the respective companies. Even on achievement of 50% as per LoA the company will face a supply shortage of 200-250 million tonnes. To full fill this demand supply gap the company is looking another option of importing coal from global suppliers.

ICICI Bank Q4 net profit Rs 1452 cr

Country's second largest lender ICICI Bank has reported fourth quarter net profit of Rs 1,452 crore, a 44.5% growth as compared to Rs 1,005 crore in quarter ended March 2010.

Net interest income for the January-March quarter was Rs 2,510 crore, which grew by 23.3% as compared to Rs 2,035 crore in same quarter the previous year.

Net non-performing assets (NPAs) declined to 0.94% as against 1.87% on year-on-year basis. Net NPA was down by 37% at Rs 2,459 crore versus Rs 3,901 crore.

The bank made provision of Rs 384 crore in the quarter ended March 2011, which was down by 61% as compared to Rs 990 crore in same quarter of 2010.

Current and savings account (CASA) deposit ratio increased to 45.1% from 41.7% on year-on-year basis.

As on March 31, 2011, the bank had 2,529 branches and 6,104 ATMs, the largest branch network among private sector banks in the country.

20% drop in HCL Infosystems Q3 net profit

    HCL Infosystems has announced results for the third quarter ended March 31, 2011.The company has reported a drop of 19.17% in its net profit of Rs 53.96 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 66.76 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Net sales of the company has decreased marginally by 7.39% to Rs 2587.39 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 where as the same was at Rs 2793.83 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

    On the consolidated basis, the group has reported a fall of 11.33% in its net profit of Rs 53.28 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 60.09 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Net sales of the company has decreased marginally by 3.92% to Rs 2730.01 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 where as the same was at Rs 2814.50 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

BOB reports 42.82% jump in net profit

    Bank of Baroda has announced results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2011.The company has reported a jump of 42.82% in its net profit of Rs 1294.35 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 906.28 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Total income has surged by 39.99% to Rs 7168.65 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 where as the same was at Rs 5120.73 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

For the year ended March 31, 2011, the company’s net profit increased by 38.69% to Rs 4241.68 crore as compared to Rs 3058.33 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Total income of the company has jumped by 27.14% to Rs 24695.10 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011 from Rs 19423.25 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010.

Cox & Kings to raise Rs 1,500 crore

    Travel operator Cox & Kings has approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 1,500 crore through issue of fresh shares/convertible instruments or any other instruments. As per the Companies Act, 1956, the board has also approved increasing borrowing limit to Rs 1,500 crore from the current Rs 1,000 crore.

ONGC makes two new oil and gas discoveries

    Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has made two oil and gas discoveries in Gujarat taking the number of oil and gas strikes to 24 in the 2010-11 financial year. The first of the two latest discoveries was made at block CB-ONN-2004/2 in Gujarat.

The company has 50% interest in the block that it had won along with Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (40%) and Sunterra (10%) in the seventh round of bidding under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Exploratory well Vadtal-3 produced oil at a rate of 22.5 cubic meter per day and gas at a rate of 3758 cubic meter per day on testing. The oil produced is of very good quality with a gravity of 41.10 API.

In the western offshore, ONGC has made an oil discovery in a nomination block Linch Extn-1. Development well North Kadi-461 in Linch Extn-I PML, Western Onshore Basin, was drilled to a depth of 1600 meters. The oil is heavy oil with 25.390 API gravity.

Biocon’s Q4 net profit up 21%

    Biocon has announced the results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2011.The company has posted a net profit of Rs 88.03 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 72.64 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, up 21%. Total income of the company has increased from Rs 341.79 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 to Rs 387.24 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

    For the year ended March 31, 2011, the company’s net profit surged 85% to Rs 459.25 crore as compared to Rs 248.36 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010. Its total income has increased from Rs 1228.92 crore for the year ended March 31, 2010 to Rs 1592.13 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011.

Thomas Cook Q1 net profit shrinks 48%

    One of the largest integrated travel and travel related financial services compay Thomas Cook (India) has announced the financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.
    The company has reported net profit of Rs 4.04 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 against Rs 7.85 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, down 48.53%. The company’s net sales / income from operations stood at Rs 78.20 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 against Rs 70.31 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

DCB to raise Rs 300 crore through QIP

    Development Credit Bank (DCB)’s board of directors have approved to raise an amount not exceeding Rs 300 crore, which includes an amount of Rs 150 crore, through issue of further shares including under QIP.
    The Bank’s shareholders at fifteenth AGM held on June 01, 2010 authorized the bank to raise Rs 150 crore which could not be raised till yet. However, the bank due to unfavorable market conditions for capital raising last year could not raise the money as planned. However, the bank taking into consideration the improving market condition has now planned to raise capital by Q2 this fiscal (2012).
    The bank has reported growth of 27.76% in its total income for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 at Rs 177.48 crore as compared to Rs 138.92 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. The bank has registered net profit after extra ordinary items at Rs 11.35 crore as compared to loss of Rs 8.16 crore for the similar quarter last year.

Gammon India likely to sell stake in overseas arm

    Gammon India is considering to restructure its business verticals and might go for stake sale in its European offshore power subsidiary Gammon Holdings BV. The stake sale to strategic investors is likely to yield close to Rs 700-1000 crore, thereby clearing the debt burden to great extent.

In June 2008 the company acquired three Italian companies, for which it had raised about Euro 100 million at 2.25-2.5% over the prevailing Libor rate. This has added cost of servicing the debt on the company's books since then. The company currently incurs about Rs 700 crore annually to service this debt.

Ultratech to spend Rs 11,000 crore on capacity expansion

    The country's largest cement-maker Ultratech Cement plans to spend around Rs 11,000 crore over three years to increase its cement-making capacity by 9.2 million tonnes per annum

    The company has planned a capital outlay of around Rs 11,000 crore, to be spent over the next three years. These include setting up of additional clinkerisation plants in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka , together with grinding units, bulk packaging terminals and ready-mix concrete plants across the country. Orders have already been placed for major equipment for setting up the projects and these expansions are expected to be operational from early FY'14 and will enhance the company's cement capacity by 9.2 mtpa.

RPP Infra bags pilot project worth Rs 50 crore

    RPP Infra Projects, one of the India’s leading and fast growing Non Metro/Rural based company has bagged a pilot project of Rs 50 crore for building housing for the internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sri Lanka. The company will build 1000 houses for IDPs in two packages in Mullaitheevu, Vavuniya, Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mannar district in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. The execution period defined for the project is 6 months.

The project awarded to the company has been funded by the Government of India (GOI) through the Ministry of External Affairs and the execution of the project will be done by Hindustan Pre-Fab (HPL), a GOI subsidiary.

    The company is engaged in the business of infrastructure development such as highways roads, bridges, civil construction works, irrigation and water supply projects and power plants.

Govt to allocate Rs 2,500 cr to TUFS for MSMEs

    The government today said it will create a Rs 2,500-crore corpus for technology modernisation of the micro , small and medium units by the next year.At present, only textiles sector is availing these benefits under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) wherein the units get 5 per cent subsidy on loans, for upgrading technology, from the government.

    The MSMEs account for 45 per cent of the country's manufacturing output and 40 per cent of exports. The sector employs 50 million people in 26 million units producing over 6,000 products.

Patni Computer Systems net profit up 12%

    Patni Computer Systems has announced the results as per Indian GAAP for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

    The company has posted a profit after taxation of Rs 176.75 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 158.37 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, up 11.60%. Total income of the company has increased from Rs 511.83 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 to Rs 562.42 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

    On consolidated basis, the group’s net profit increased marginally by 3.33% at Rs 162.28 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 157.04 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Its total income has increased from Rs 831.79 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 to Rs 912.60 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

RBI penalises 19 banks for violating rules

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) meted out some small but long overdue penalties for a long forgotten issue. It penalised 19 banks, mostly private and foreign, for violating RBI instructions while selling derivative products.
    The regulator has imposed a fine of Rs 15 lakh on names such as Axis Bank, Barclays Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and YES Bank.BNP Paribas, Citibank, RBS, ING Vysya Bank, Standard Chartered and State Bank of India were fined Rs 10 lakh. Bank of America, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JPMorgan Chase Bank were fined Rs 5 lakh each.

Suven Life Sciences secures seven products patents

    Suven Life Sciences has been granted seven products patents, two from Canada, three from India and one from Eurasia and Japan each corresponding to the New Chemical Entities (NCEs) for the treatment of disorders associated with Neurodegenerative disease and these patents are valid throughout 2023, 2024 and 2025.

    With these new patents, the company now has total of five granted patents from Canada, thirteen granted patents from India, nine granted patents from Eurasia and finally four granted from Japan for the NCE. These granted patents are exclusive intellectual property of the company are achieved through the internal discovery research efforts. However, products out of these inventions may be out-licensed at various phases of clinical development like at Phase I or Phase II.

Wipro Q4 net up 13.7% to Rs 1,375.4 cr

    WiproIndia’s third-largest IT services company Wipro’s consolidated net profit registered a year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 14% for the fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2011, powered by the demand from outsourcing services from the clients.

    The net revenue of the company’s flagship IT services business stood at Rs 6,289 crore an increase of 20% y-o-y. For the January-March period of the FY11, the revenues of the company stood at Rs 8,302 crore an increase of 18% y-o-y.

    Net profit for the financial year 2010-11 ended on March 31, 2011 witnessed a jump of 15% y-o-y. The IT services revenues stood at Rs 23,485 crore an increase of 16% y-o-y for the fiscal 2011. The total revenue of the company for the FY11 was Rs 31,099 crore an increase of 15%.

Ambuja Cement’s Q1 net dips 11.84%

    Ambuja Cement has reported a decline of 11.84% at Rs 407.48 crore in its net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 against Rs 462.19 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. However, total income of the company has increased by 11.24% at Rs 2274.56 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 against Rs 2044.74 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

M&M launches sedan - the Verito

    Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) a part of $11.1 billion Mahindra Group has launched its sedan - the Verito. The new Verito retains the fame strength of the Logan, while adding a new style with some key changes. Now equipped with several rugged and sporty styling elements, the Verito is all set to be the most exciting buy in the entry level sedan category for Indian Consumers. It is competitively priced at Rs 4.82 lakhs (petrol BS3 version) and 5.62 lakhs (Diesel BS3 version).The BS4 compliant version is also available for BS4markets. Verito which is derived from the Latin word “veritas” means truth and goes with the overall image of an honest, sensible and dependable car.