In the face of a credit crunch in the global and domestic markets, Indian corporates will have to preserve capital and judiciously use it for their expansion plans, Larsen and Toubro chief financial officer Y M Deosthalee said.
Three manufacturing sectors (engineering and construction, industrial commodities and materials and commodities) created more value for its shareholders in last five years than IT or pharmaceutical companies. Engineering and construction companies, led by Larsen & Toubro and BHEL, posted a total shareholder return of 81 per cent in the last five years trailing March 31, 2007, the BCG-CII study showed.
Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd (JPVL), promoted by the $7-billion Jaypee group, has signed a Rs 4,000-crore agreement with Larsen & Toubro Ltd, the engineering and construction major, for supply of equipment for its Nigrie Super Thermal Power Project in Madhya Pradesh.
Larsen & Toubro on Monday said it is yet to take any decision on selling its over 8 per cent stake in Mahindra Satyam, but had sought market regulator Sebi's approval for offloading the holding in the IT company.
A team from India's $7 billion engineering behemoth, Larsen & Toubro, which holds 12 per cent stake in Satyam Computer Services started inspecting the books of the troubled company.
Larsen & Toubro Ltd's board will meet held on Jan 29 to consider and take on record the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended December 31, 2002.
At least seven companies, including Larsen & Toubro, i-Gate, Spice and Mahindra Group, have already submitted proposals to the board last week and the bids to be accepted till March 20. The board has already said that it has received adequate interest from both Indian and international bidders, including private equity firms.
The board will make the financial and legal data available to those shortlisted companies who will qualify in the EoI criteria.
As with TCS, most companies put their money in mutual funds, corporate bonds and bank deposits, which are losing their appeal versus government bonds in terms of both returns and safety.
Engineering major Larsen & Toubro said on Tuesday it has not received any intimation from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India regarding its chairman and managing director, A M Naik's comment on the Satyam issue.
The prospects of India becoming a credible manufacturer of defence platforms or major weapon systems for export are remote, says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
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Shares of the company were trading at Rs 1240.10 apiece on the BSE at 1350 hours, down 1.23 per cent from the previous close.
Says Satyam is not a commodity. B K Modi of Spice had earlier pushed for e-auction, for its transparency.
Amid a crowd of suitors lining up for acquiring Satyam Computer Services, the board of the beleaguered IT firm started its meeting on Wednesday.
Comparing the capabilities of India and China in services and manufacturing respectively, Finance Minister P Chidambaram empasised the need to excel in the manufacturing sector.
Speaking to private TV news channel CNBC TV18, Naik said, "Some corporate action will take place in the near future but we cannot comment on taking over Satyam at this stage."
The NSE Nifty ended at 4,239, up 28 points. The index had dropped 565 points in the last two trading sessions.
Indian corporates have raised around $11.9 billion through overseas borrowing in the first five months of 2007-08, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on external commercial borrowings (ECB).
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has cleared a proposal by German plastic moulding major Ralf Schneider to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India, setting aside objections raised by its former Indian partner Larsen & Toubro under Press Note 1 of the Foreign Direct Investment policy.
Amongst the most aggressive of India's hopeful new Lockheed Martins is the Rs 1,30,000-crore Tata Group, which has launched a carefully crafted bid to become a major player in India's defence industry.
The S&P BSE Sensex surged 160 points to close at 25,262.
Shares of ITC, Axis Bank and Larsen & Toubro are likely to stay with the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India, which was to be wound up in June.Legal opinion received by the government suggests that SUUTI can exist as long as all investors in one of the schemes floated by the erstwhile Unit Trust of India have not redeemed their investment, sources close to the development said. The value of the shares of the three blue chips was estimated at over Rs 15,000 cr.
Hinting towards a possible takeover of Satyam Computer, engineering major Larsen & Toubro on Friday raised its stake in the beleaguered IT firm to 12 per cent through open market share purchases.
French cement major Lafarge SA, the world's second-largest cement maker, has emerged the frontrunner in the race to acquire the ready-mix concrete business of engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro.
India Inc raised $2.78 billion from overseas markets in October this year, up 44 per cent from a year ago, according to the Reserve Bank data released on Friday.
India only has 3.5 million workers undergoing skills courses a year, compared with 90 million in China
After last Monday's massive fall in the Indian markets, a lot of quality stocks have fallen significantly.
Grasim Industries Ltd said it that since Larsen & Toubro Limited is contemplating consideration of the existing proposal before it to demerge its cement business, Grasim should also submit an alternate proposal.
Indian companies led by Anil Ambani's Reliance Power (RPower), Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) plan to invest over Rs 100,000 crore in the next five years to expand their presence in the nuclear energy sector after the country signs the nuclear agreement with the US, paving the way for import of fuel and transfer of technology.
L&T is planning a foray in PE fund in the real estate market with a Rs 4500 crore fund.
As IT midcap stocks ride high, it has created speculation around a potential bubble with analysts picking the midcaps' client concentration as the biggest concern area.
Private players are increasingly looking at the defence market which is a promising multi billion-dollar arena.
Old economy companies such as Hero, M&M (Tech Mahindra), Aditya Birla, Essar, Hindujas and Larsen & Toubro have sprung into action with large acquisitions and major deals.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Larsen & Toubro will sell its 11.49 per cent stake in the Aditya Birla Group-owned UltraTech Cement in the open market, after the latter waived its first right of refusal to buy the stake.
Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir, actor Manoj Bajpayee, mountaineer Bachendri Pal, ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and Odisha tea seller D Prakash Rao were among the recipients of the honour.
Lockheed Martin is in talks with Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Reliance Industries, the Tata group, Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Aeronautics to source software services, components and systems.
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.
Two former directors on the Larsen & Toubro board have returned the employee stock option shares to the company following an out-of-court settlement reached this week with two government-owned financial institutions.
There were 35 defects that still remained to be resolved. Of these, 29 could not have been resolved during the monsoon since they required testing in absolutely calm seas. Nor is the Khanderi being commissioned with a full complement of its primary weapon, the torpedo.
