Success in my Habit

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Oracle's Ellison highest paid CEO of the decade: Report


WASHINGTON: Oracle Corporation founder and chief executive Larry Ellison topped the list of best-paid executives of the decade with 1.84 billiondollars, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The 65-year-old software pioneer, who founded Oracle in 1977, beat Internet tycoon Barry Diller into second place on just over one billion dollars.

Ellison has a 23 percent stake in the company, the Journal reported in Monday's editions.

In the 10 years ended May 31, 2009, the most recent fiscal year for which Oracle has disclosed pay data, its market capitalization nearly tripled, to 98 billion dollars, up from 36 billion, and has risen even more since, it said.

In second place on the compensation list was Diller, who received some 1.14 billion dollars from IAC/Interactive and Expedia Inc, the online travel site IAC spun off in 2005, where he remains chairman.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. CEO Ray Irani came in third place, with 857 million dollars.

Apple's Steve Jobs was fourth with 749 million dollars.

Jobs took a one dollar annual salary throughout the decade, but ranked fourth primarily because of a 647 million dollar gain on restricted stock that was granted in 2003 and vested in 2006. He still holds the shares.

Reliance Industries Q1 net up 32%, beats forecast


MUMBAI: Reliance Industries posted a 32 percent rise in quarterly profit, beating estimates, helped by higher gas output from its fields off India's east coast. ( Watch )

India's largest listed conglomerate with interests in petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas exploration, and retail, posted April-June net profit of Rs 4,851 crore ($1.04 billion) versus Rs 3,666 crore a year earlier.

During the quarter, the country's largest company saw its total income soaring by 85 per cent to Rs 58,950 crore from Rs 31,896 crore in the year-ago period.

Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, said the year-ago result had been restated to include figures from Reliance Petroleum, which it absorbed last year.

Shares of Reliance Industries today closed at Rs 1,053.50 on the BSE, up 0.14 per cent from the previous close.

Reliance shares valued at around $74 billion, have fallen 3.4 percent in 2010, while the Mumbai market has gained 3.5 percent.

BP's CEO Tony Hayward quits as oil spill cost put at $32 bn

LONDON: BP Plc chief executive Tony Hayward will step down as head of the oil giant on Oct. 1 and be replaced by fellow executive Robert Dudley News of Hayward's departure came as the company announced on Tuesday it would take a charge as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amounting to $32.2 billion, driving BP to a second quarter loss of $16.97 billion.

"The tragedy of the Macondo well explosion and subsequent environmental damage has been a watershed," chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said, announcing Hayward's departure. "BP remains a strong business ... but it will be a different company going forward."

BP said Dudley, currently head of BP's U.S. operations, would be based in London and hand over his present duties to Lamar McKay. Hayward will receive a year's salary amounting to 1.045 million pounds ($1.6 million). Excluding oil spill and other non-operating costs, BP's replacement cost profit was $4.98 billion, in line with the average forecast from a Reuters poll of 11 analysts.

Replacement cost profit strips out gains or losses related to changes in the value of fuel inventories and as such is comparable with net income under U.S. accounting rules.

In a third statement BP said it planned to sell assets worth up to $30 billion over the next 18 months and cut its net debt level down to between $10 billion and $15 billion over the next 18 months. The company said it would consider its position on future dividend payments at the time of its fourth-quarter results

Monday, July 12, 2010

SBI, RIL in Fortune 500 global list

Eight Indian companies, including oil major Indian Oil Corporation and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, have made the cut in the list of the world's 500 largest companies compiled by Fortune.

The league of 500 elite companies for 2010 is topped by US retailer Wal-Mart Stores, followed by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell and another oil major, Exxon Mobil, in that order.

Besides IOC and RIL, the other Indian companies in the list are steel-maker Tata Steel, auto company Tata Motors, oil entities Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Oil & Natural Gas and public sector bank SBI.

Tata Motors has made an entry into the list for the first time this year, while seven other Indian entities, which were part of the list in the previous year as well, are also featured in this list.

The list also features Citigroup, ArcelorMittal, Pepsico and Motorola, four companies led by people with Indian roots.

IOC has the highest rank of 125 among the featured Indian companies, followed by RIL at the 175th spot, SBI (282), BPCL (307), HPCL (354), Tata Steel (410), ONGC (413) and Tata Motors (442).

According to the magazine, IOC had revenues to the tune of USD 54.28 billion, RIL USD 41.08 billion, SBI USD 28.21 billion, BPCL USD 26.59 billion, HPCL USD 23.88 billion, Tata Steel USD 21.58 billion, ONGC USD 21.44 billion and Tata Motors USD 19.5 billion.

Vikram Pandit-led Citigroup is at 33rd place, with revenues of USD 108.78 billion, while NRI billionaire L N Mittal's ArcelorMittal bagged the 99th position with revenues worth USD 65.11 billion.

Pepsico, run by Indira Nooyi, was ranked at 171st place with revenues of USD 43.23 billion and Sanjay Jha's Motorola is at the 391st place, with USD 22.06 billion in revenues.

Interestingly, American companies have cornered 139 seats in the list, followed by Japan with 71, and then China, with 46 seats. This year, there are 12 Fortune Global 500 companies run by women, compared to 13 last year.

The magazine said that Wal-Mart Stores had revenues to the tune of USD 408. 21 billion, while Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil raked in revenues worth USD 285.12 billion and USD 284.65 billion, respectively.

Others on the list include BP at fourth place, followed by Toyota Motor (5th), Japan Post Holdings (6th), Sinopec (7th), State Grid (8th), AXA (9th) and China National Petroleum (10th.)

TKM to invest Rs 500 crore to make Etios engines

New Delhi: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) will invest Rs 500 crore to make engines and gearboxes for Toyota’s new small car, Etios, that is expected to be launched by year-end.

TKM subsidiary, Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP), would set up the plant with an annual capacity to produce 52,000 engines and 1.7 lakh gearboxes, which would also be exported to Thailand and Argentina.

The auto component arm will also invest an additional Rs 500 crore, to increase the capacity to make transmission boxes by 2013 and also set up a third plant with a capacity of 1 lakh engines per year. The company will hire 500 employees for the new unit.

TKM, a joint venture between Japanese automaker Toyota and local business group of Kirloskar, operates two manufacturing plants at Bengaluru in Karnataka.

The first plant, set up with an investment of Rs 1,700 crore, makes Innova, Corolla and the Fortuner SUV, while the second plant that absorbed an investment of Rs 3,200 crore, will churn out its small car, Etios, later this year.

Prestigious mathematics prize to be awarded to Indian professor

New Delhi: Radha Charan Gupta has been chosen to be awarded the Kenneth O. May Prize for the History of Mathematics for his work on the history of development of trigonometry in India.

A retired mathematics professor, Gupta, is the first Indian to receive the award, which will be conferred at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in Hyderabad during August 19-27, being held in India for the first time.

Named after mathematician and historian Kenneth O. May, founder of the International Commission for the History of Mathematics and instituted in 1989, the award consists of a bronze medal and is given once in four years in recognition of a mathematician's scholarly work in the field.

The nine-day ICM meet will be attended by around 3,000 delegates from across the globe and will be inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil.

Ford India begins export of compact car Figo

Flags off first consignment to South Africa; looks at other markets.

Chennai: Ford Figo, the compact car from Ford India, is going international.

The first consignment of 1,200 Figos was flagged off to Durban, South Africa, from the Chennai port by Ford India's President and Managing Director, Mr Michael Boneham, in the presence of the Chairman of Chennai Port Trust, Capt Subhash Kumar.

There is an order for 5,000 Figos from South Africa. “We are also looking at other emerging markets for Figo and will soon announce the new destinations other than the US and Europe,” he told newspersons at the Chennai port.

Export hub

The Indian plant will be the only Ford unit to export Figos. “We want to make India the export hub for Figo,” he said.

Ford India will export the 1.4-litre petrol and diesel Figo variants to Ford Motor Company of South Africa.

“Just as the Figo has taken the Indian market by storm, we are confident that it will have a similar impact in South Africa,” said Mr Boneham, who will be in South Africa shortly to receive the consignment.

It will take two weeks for the vehicles to reach Durban through the ro-ro ship operated by K-Line, the Japanese shipping line.

Since its debut in March, the Ford Figo has generated over 24,000 purchase orders for Ford India. In June, Ford India sold 7,269 units compared with 1,982 units in June 2009, a 267 per cent rise. Mr Boneham said Ford India had been exporting the ‘Fiesta' in the last four years.

It also exports nearly 2,500 engines a month to Thailand, where the Ford unit in the country will soon launch the Fiesta.

Mr Boneham said Ford India today commenced its second shift at the company's plant in Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai to meet the increasing demand for Figo. This will increase the production capacity of the small car by 30-40 per cent.

The company plans to hire 600-700 personnel at the plant and most of them would be diploma holders and fresh pass-outs.

Ford India manufactures Ikon, Endeavour, Fiesta and Figo. It employs around 4,000 people.

Indian services sector witnesses two-year high growth in June 2010

New Delhi: The services sector in India grew at its fastest in two years in June 2010 led by an increase in business expectations and new orders.

According to the HSBC Markit Business Activity Index, based on a survey of 400 firms, the service sector rose to 64.0 in June 2010 from 58.2 in May 2010, pointing to a substantial rate of growth as a figure above 50 indicates expansion.

All the 6 sub-sectors covered by the survey recorded growth in new business ventures since May 2010, with postal services and telecommunications registering the fastest expansion.

The survey also highlighted that the Indian services companies raised their charges for the seventh consecutive month.

India second on the Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index: Deloitte

New Delhi: India ranks second, in terms of manufacturing competence as per the 2010 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index; a result of the collaboration between Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the US Council on Competitiveness.

"In less than a decade, a new world order for manufacturing competitiveness has emerged along with a tectonic shift in regional manufacturing competence," the report said. Furthermore, the detailed report highlighted that the rise in the manufacturing competitiveness of three countries in particular—China (10), India (8.15) and the Republic of Korea (6.79)—appears to be parallel to the rapidly expanding and important Asian market.

"Perhaps more surprising is that India is now positioned at number two and gaining an even stronger foothold on that position over the next five years," the report said. In addition, the report brought to light India's rich talent pool of scientists, researchers, and engineers along with its vast, educated English-speaking workforce and the democratic administration; in all making it an attractive destination for the manufacturers.

Noting that since the mid-1990s, India's software industry has increased to new heights and post-economic liberation has also opened a pathway to unprecedented market opportunities for Indian manufacturing, the report said moreover, beyond low-cost, Indian manufacturers gained experience in quality improvement and Japanese principles of quality management, with the largest number of Deming Award winners outside of Japan.

The report further points out that "The country is also rapidly expanding its capabilities in engineering design and development and embedded software development, which forms an integral part of many modern-day manufactured products."

IMF lifts India growth forecast to 9.4% in 2010

New Delhi: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday raised its India growth forecast for 2010 to 9.4 per cent from 8.8 per cent estimated in April.

In its July update of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) projections, the Washington-based multilateral agency, however, kept unchanged its 2011 India growth forecast at 8.4 per cent.

In a report released today, the IMF said that India's GDP growth is expected to accelerate to 9.4 per cent in 2010 as robust corporate profits and favourable financing conditions fuel investments.

The Government expects the country's economic growth to be over 8.5 per cent in 2010-11 (April-March). The growth forecast made by IMF and the Indian government are strictly not comparable, as they count different months for arriving at an annual period.

While IMF forecast is for the calendar year 2010, the Government makes its growth projection for fiscal year (April-March).

Reacting to the IMF's India GDP growth forecast upgrade, Mr T.C.A. Anant, Chief Statistician of India, told Business Line that this was a positive signal and reflected their confidence in the economic growth outlook for India in the near term.

“IMF is an independent body monitoring India. It is a positive signal. If there are similar signals and confirmation from other agencies (monitoring the Indian economy), it will give greater confidence to us about the Government's own assessment of the growth prospects for the year,” Mr Anant said.

Meanwhile, in the July update, the IMF has raised its global growth forecast for 2010 to 4.5 per cent from its earlier estimate of 4 per cent in the April 2010 WEO, reflecting stronger activity in the first half of 2010 (January-June).

The IMF said that the higher growth was on expectations of a modest but steady recovery in most advanced economies and strong growth in many developing and emerging economies.

At the same time, IMF has noted that downside risks have risen sharply amid renewed financial turbulence.

IMF expects the Chinese economy to grow by 10.5 per cent in 2010. It also said that the first quarter GDP numbers in Asia were generally stronger than anticipated at the time of the April 2010 WEO and high frequency indicators suggest that economic activity remained brisk during the second quarter.

The GDP growth forecast for Asia has been revised upwards to about 7.5 per cent from about 7 per cent in the April WEO.

Dr Pronab Sen, Principal Advisor, Planning Commission said that he was not surprised by the IMF move to raise India GDP growth forecast to 9.4 per cent.

“It is not a surprise. It was on expected lines given that we had a strong GDP performance in January-March 2010 (Q1 for IMF's calculation) and will also have good one in April-June (Q2 for IMF's calculation) due to base effect,” Dr Sen told Business Line.

He highlighted that the January-March quarter had the highest weightage in GDP calculation. There was also stronger than expected growth performance in that quarter. “The fourth quarter (January-March) is usually the best quarter for us,” Dr Sen said.

When IMF came up with its initial forecast in April, it was unlikely that they would have factored the actual numbers for January-March 2010.

“Since now they are getting a better idea of the performance in the two quarters — January-March and April-June — which are high growth-cum-high weightage periods, they have pushed up the growth forecast,” Dr Sen said.

Dr Sen maintained that there was still a question mark over sustainability of investments even as many positive indications had emerged in the recent months.