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.