Termed AiroCide, the technology is supposed to eliminate 99.9 per cent of all air-borne micro-organisms, bacteria and pollutants.
Shikha Sharma's contentious appointment as CEO of Axis Bank doesn't detract from her sound reputation in the financial world.
The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-promoted Sasan Power was Rs 2,500 crore short of the roughly Rs 15,000 crore it needed to borrow for the project. Now, India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd has agreed to lend around Rs 2,500 crore. A consortium of 12 domestic banks have already committed around Rs 12,500 crore, with State Bank of India and Power Finance Corporation leading the pack, with Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 1,800 crore respectively.
With a good 69 per cent of its existing customers having trimmed their IT budgets by about 10 per cent, volumes too could be weaker. In a difficult environment, business from new clients is understandably harder to come by and taking far longer than it did earlier. Which is why the tech major has announced a fairly conservative dollar revenue outlook: revenues for 2009-10 will be lower by 3-7 per cent over 2008-09 levels.
Lupin Ltd, one of the top five domestic pharmaceutical companies, plans to revamp its drug research programme and foray into novel biotech and reverse engineering of biotech drugs (or biosimilars).
The L&T stock, which fell by over 5 per cent in intra-day trades on Monday bounced back towards the end of the session though it was still in the red. The stock has been badly de-rated since the engineering major made it clear that it was a contender for Satyam, picking up a 12 per cent stake in the tech firm. Had L&T won control at the winning bid of Rs 58 per share, the stock may have lost further ground. As it stands, not too much damage has been done.
The Satyam buyout gives the tech firm a chance to diversify away from telecom, something it badly needed to do. It shouldn't be too difficult for Satyam to be able to turn in an operating profit of close to Rs 1,000 crore in 2009-10, so that would translate into an EV/ebitda of 8.4 times for the company.
Promoters in India aren't afraid to borrow as the chances of them losing their companies is very slim, says Shobhana Subramanian.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Jubilant Organosys, Orchid Chemicals, Aurobindo Pharma and Shasun Chemicals and Drugs are among those who have borrowed either to expand locally or to acquire companies abroad, but are now struggling to repay the dues, analysts say. Some of the companies' debt now exceeds their market capitalisation, as local and global investors sold stocks on concerns over slowdown and falling revenues. A few drug makers may be forced to sell assets to repay debt.
Habil F Khorakiwala's exit as managing director of pharma major Wockhardt may have been somewhat inglorious but it is one he didn't deserve.
The Rs 3,290 crore (Rs 32.9 billion) Sun plans to sell Topamax in four strengths ranging from 25mg to 200mg, the combined market for which is estimated to be $2.5 billion. There is, of course, no litigation with the patent holder OrthoMcneill Janssen. The US market, which brings in about 40 per cent of Sun's consolidated sales and has driven revenues in the past few year could lose momentum.
After launching the Nano early this week, the country's leading truck and bus maker, Tata Motors, is now looking to set up a truck manufacturing plant in Myanmar with support from the Indian government in the form of financial participation.
Judging by the actions of most companies, you wouldn't think they cared two hoots what shareholders thought or didn't think, says Shobhana Subramanian.
RIL is grappling with other priorities -- sliding oil prices, shrinking refining margins and a battle with the Anil Ambani group over the supply of gas. The plan was to build an integrated pharma company in two to three years, on the lines of large domestic majors such as Ranbaxy's or Dr Reddy's Laboratories. Instead, the plan has been modified to being a start-up bulk drug manufacturing company that will launch six bulk drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredients by 2010.
The Nano may ultimately be a winner but cannot turn around the company in the near term. For the present, Tata Motors continues to stare at a weak demand for both commercial vehicles as also cars. While CV volumes were lower by 51 per cent y-o-y in January 2009, compared with a fall of 46 per cent y-o-y in the December 2008 quarter, to revert to the mean could take a while given that the downturn in the economy persists.
L&T has spent around Rs 600 crore for the Satyam stake, leading to a de-rating of its stock. But the bigger worry seems to be a loss of momentum in order inflows; L&T had indicated that orders would increase by about 30 per cent in the current year; that target may be missed because of a delay on the part of ONGC in awarding contracts. Besides, a small part of the current order book, which is a robust Rs 69,000 crore, could see delays of between 8-10 months.
The sector has expansion plans worth more than Rs 2,000 crore to increase their bed strength in response to robust demand. Fortis, which now manages 3,000 beds with a network of 26 hospitals, is planning to double capacity by 2012 with 40 hospitals. Apollo Hospitals, which has 7,500 beds in 43 hospitals in India and overseas, plans to add 2,000 beds in two years. Meanwhile, the 17-hospital Wockhardt chain will soon add hospitals at Kolkata, Mumbai and at Nasik in Maharashtra.
If what Citi CEO Vikram Pandit is suggesting is true, namely that the bank is seeing a turnaround in its fortunes, there cannot be better news for the US' battered financial markets. After all, Citigroup is still a huge institution and if it can be put back on the rails, then there's hope for many others, says Shobhana Subramanian.
There could be some significant changes in motorcycles over the next few years says Shobhana Subramanian.
Domestic pharmaceutical market registered a value growth of 14.4 per cent in January and 9.9 per cent in the 12 months ended January 2009. The yearly turnover was Rs 34,487.17 crore. The growth of the domestic drug sector, which was just 6.8 per cent in November 2008, improved to 13.2 per cent in December and to 14.4 per cent this January.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances