BHEL eyes overseas markets for exports

TIRUCHIRAPALLI: PSU power equipment manufacturer BHEL is eyeing overseas markets for exports, a top company official today said.

"BHEL is looking at the markets of South Africa, Zambia, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya and Bangladesh", Executive Director of BHEL Trichy Complex A V Krishnan told reporters here.

"We have participated in the tenders," he said, adding that Indonesia was a big market.

To a query, he said that BHEL was looking at inorganic and organic growth.

"We do not want to enter into any JV with any other company for boiler manufacturing," he said.

Krishnan said that the Trichy complex of BHEL, which manufactures boilers, was eyeing a turnover of Rs 12,765 crore during the current fiscal, and Rs 16,000 crore by 2011-12.

He said that BHEL's Trichy complex was currently undergoing a capital expenditure of Rs 750 crore.

Krishnan said that the third boiler unit would be ready by March 2012, adding that annual capacity would rise to 15,000 MW at Trichy from 10,000 MW at present.

Overall, BHEL's total annual capacity would rise to 20,000 MW by 2012, the balance 5000 MW of which would come from solar, hydel, and nuclear. Besides this, BHEL was also coming up with a new piping plant at Thirumiyam near Trichy and upgrading its steel tube manufacturing plant.

Krishnan said that BHEL was also outsourcing some components to reduce costs and importing non-critical items from China

L&T's subsidiary bags Rs.2,503 crore-worth orders

NEW DELHI: Construction and engineering major Larsen & Toubro's (L&T) subsidiary Electrical and Gulf Projects Operating Company has bagged orders worth Rs.2,503 crore for transmission, substation and railway construction projects during the third quarter of 2010-11.

"Electrical & Gulf Projects Operating Company (E&GP OC) has secured orders aggregating to Rs.2,503 crore from transmission, substation and railway construction projects in the domestic and international markets during the third quarter of 2010-11," the company said in a regulatory filling.

According to the filling, the company secured orders worth Rs.1,516 crore in the domestic markets, which included projects for laying down of transmission lines, manufacturing of electrical equipment used in energy generation and railway construction activity.

The company's international segment bagged Rs.987 crore in the middle east region for seven substation projects and 153 km of transmission line projects.

The company's shares closed at Rs.1,979.05 at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 0.35 per cent higher than Thursday

After Dabur, Pepsi faces raids in Nepal

KATHMANDU: Four days after Dabur India’s factory in Nepal was raided by anti-corruption watchdogs over allegations of manufacturing irregularities , another Indian multinational’s corporate office and factory in Kathmandu were raided by revenue officials .

Varun Beverages , the bottler of Pepsi and related soft drinks in India and Nepal, and an associate company of India’s RKJ Group chaired by Ravi Jaipuria, was raided Friday by the newly-formed flying squads under the finance ministry that have begun scrutinising corporate houses for evasion of VAT (Value-added Tax), excise duty and other taxes.

Along with Varun, its subsidiary company and the distributor of Budweiser Beer in Nepal, Arctic International, was also raided. However, the raids failed to unearth any incriminating evidence.

“Our factory in Sinamangal and corporate office in Baluwatar were raided Friday,” Surajan De, CEO of Varun, said. “The factory was given a clean chit and is functioning as usual. Though the search at the corporate office continued till late at night, the squad could not find anything incriminatory.”

De said that since raids had started on many other companies, Varun was not taking it as an untoward incident. However, given the recent campaign against Indian multinationals, that led to the raid by the Commission of Investigation of Abuse of Authority on the godown of Dabur Nepal Monday, Indian investors were watching the developments closely to see whether it was a routine move or an attack targeting Indian companies.

Last year, Varun and another of its subsidiary companies, Devyani International, opened the first international fast-food chain outlets in Nepal with the inauguration of Pizza Hut and KFC in the capital. But just a month later, their plans to take the chains to Pokhara city and other locations had to be put on hold after labour unrest fomented by the opposition Maoist party’s trade union.

DTH industry to rev up as subscribers rise, costs ease

MUMBAI: After years of depressed growth, the direct-to-home industry is likely to improve over the next two years as costs decline, companies aggressively increase their subscriber base and the market leader nears breakeven.

However, profits at loss-making DTH providers, bogged down by high subscriber acquisition costs, selling and marketing expenses and low revenue per user, might take longer, analysts said.

"Like in a lot of businesses, the first round of economic destruction has happened, the business has bled, but from here on, the industry will take off," IDFC Securities analyst Nikhil Vora said.

Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer at Dish TV, said the Indian DTH industry should have 33 million subscribers by the end of this fiscal and expects it to be the largest globally, overtaking the U.S., much earlier than analysts' projections of 2012.

The historically high subscriber acquisition costs -- cost the DTH provider records for each subscriber -- have stabilised over the last one year.

Subscriber acquisition costs, which were initially as high as 6,000 rupees, have now stabilised at somewhere between 3,000 rupees and 4,000 rupees, Anil Khera, chief executive at Videocon D2H, a unit of Videocon Industries , said.

Subscriber acquisition costs should fall by 20 per cent in the next two years, an analyst, who did not wish to be named, said.

"Subscriber acquisition costs should definitely come down because of stabilisation in price war and reduction in the price of set-top boxes," the analyst added.

Dish TV launched its DTH services in 2005, becoming the first entrant in the Indian market. Tata Sky, Sun TV Network's Sun Direct, Reliance Big TV, Bharti Airtel's Airtel Digital TV and Videocon D2H jumped in later, setting off a price war to gain subscribers in an analog-dominated market.

Prices of set-top boxes, a large chunk of the subscriber acquisition cost, have dropped considerably over the years, especially in markets such as China and Taiwan. Service providers such as Videocon D2H are also manufacturing their own set-top boxes to cut down on costs and avoid import duty.

Additionally, the rupee's appreciation against the dollar is also pushing the cost down. The rupee has appreciated 3.2 per cent against the dollar so far this year.

MUTED ARPUs COULD EDGE UP

Cut-throat competition has so far kept average revenue per user (ARPU) subdued, but going forward DTH companies could see ARPU rising to 225-260 rupees in the next three years from the current 140-150 rupees, Vora said.

Changes in the content sharing agreements between broadcasters and service providers are also helping DTH companies reduce costs to a certain extent.

Earlier, the broadcasters' fee would change depending on the DTH companies' total subscriber pool, but of late, many DTH providers have worked out fixed-pay agreements with broadcasters.

Dish TV, which recently crossed the 9-million-subscriber mark, is leading the way to recovery. The company is aiming at profitability in the coming months and analysts expect the firm to break even in calendar year 2011.

"Others should be able to breakeven by FY13 or FY14 because you need to have more subscribers to breakeven faster," K.R. Choksey analyst Rohit Maheshwari said

Sony India eyes 54% sales growth to Rs 5700 cr this fiscal

NEW DELHI: Consumer electronics giant Sony India today said it expects to witness a 54 per cent jump in sales to Rs 5,700 crore this fiscal on the back of its enhanced distribution network, aggressive marketing campaign and newly launched products.

The company said it clocked sales worth Rs 2,600 crore in the first half of the 2010-11 financial year, a 46 per cent increase compared to the same period last fiscal.

"Sony aims to clock a turnover of Rs 5,700 crore this financial year, which would be a 54 per cent increase over the last fiscal," the company said in a statement. Sony India had reported sales worth Rs 3,700 crore last fiscal.

The key strategic pillars of growth include sales channel expansion, service operation enhancement, aggressive brand promotion and introduction of an innovative product line-up, it said.

The company said a major chunk of its overall sales revenue during the first six months of the current fiscal came from its 'Bravia' range of televisions and 'Vaio' computers and laptops. It also witnessed a 54 per cent surge in sales during the festive season this year vis-a-vis the year-ago period.

"All key categories of Sony have achieved very aggressive growth figures, with 'Bravia' registering 65 per cent growth from corresponding period last year, 'Vaio' growing by 160 per cent and digital imaging ('Cyber-shot' and 'Handycam') by 20 per cent," the firm said.

It also attributed the robust growth to expansion of its distribution network to 4,000 channels in the first half of FY'11, compared to 3,000 at the end of the previous financial year.

"India is amongst the top 10 priority markets for Sony and we eagerly look forward to expand our operations here... We aim to attain No 1 position in terms of market share, brand value and customer satisfaction in the Indian market," Sony India Managing Director Masaru Tamagawa said.

Sony also undertook an aggressive advertising campaign this year, which featured Bollywood superstar Kareena Kapoor in its 'Go Vivid' campaign to promote the Vaio range of laptops and computers and Deepika Padukone for the 'Superzoom' campaign promoting its Cyber-shot range of digital cameras

NTC raises Rs 1.46 bn via land auction

MUMBAI: India's state-run National Textile Corporation has raised 1.46 billion rupees ($32.46 million) by selling two of its surplus mill lands in the western Indian city of Gujarat via e-auctions.

NTC had fixed a reserve price of 687.4 million rupees for both the assets.

Gujarat-based firm Ahmedabad Advance Mills Ltd paid 1.18 billion rupees for a 33,222 sq meters plot while Lok Prakashan paid 412.7 million rupees for a 61,040 sq meters plot, the firm said in a statement to the exchange.

It has so far raised 19.79 billion rupees via two auctions earlier.

NTC, which has about 1,300 acres of land in various cities across India, is modernising 24 mills at a total estimated cost of 91.02 billion rupees.

An improvement in demand for textile products and apparel has prompted the federal government to spend more on reviving and modernising dormant textile mills

After Honda split, Munjals to focus on exports

NEW DELHI: Hero Honda managing director Pawan Kumar Munjal has told vendors that exports will get sharp focus after the formal split with Japanese partner Honda Motor Company. “Work hard. We are planning to build a new brand and market it internationally," Munjal told vendors on Tuesday.

Exports account for a meagre 2.6% of Hero Honda's production of 34.48 lakh units as the 26-yearold joint venture put restriction on entry into key overseas markets. The Hero group will compete with partner Honda in global markets once the definitive pact to dissolve the partnership is signed in four weeks. A Hero Honda spokesperson declined comment.

Executives from key suppliers such as Rico Auto, Motherson Sumi, Sandhar Technologies, Minda Industries , Sunbeam Auto, Lumax Industries , Omax, Excide Batteries, Sriram Pistons, MRF Tyres, and Falcon Tyres attended the first vendors' conference after the announcement of split. The Munjals will buy 26% stake from Honda, taking their total stake in Hero Honda to 52%.

The Hero Group will export bikes and scooters under its new global 'Hero' brand in places such as Latin America, Africa, East Europe and Asia. It now sells in countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

"The company is yet to harvest its full potential of 5.4 million capacity. Hero Honda aims to be a major players in exports," said a Delhi-based supplier.

"Exports to emerging markets like Africa and Latin America are more lucrative in terms of margins, but would be a challenge to find space in the crowded South East Asia which is one of the largest block in terms of sales. Brand visibility and product positioning would be a challenge for the Hero Group," Mahantesh Sabarad, a Mumbai-based analyst at Fortune Equity said.

TVS Motors December sales up 42% y-o-y

MUMBAI: TVS Motor Co Ltd , India's No. 3 two-wheeler maker, said on Saturday total sales for December rose 42 percent to 171,790 units.

Total two-wheeler sales alone for the month stood at 168,359 units from 119,701 units a year ago, it said

HMSI sales up 20 pc in December

NEW DELHI: Two-wheeler manufacturer Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) today reported 20 per cent growth in sales at 1,40,642 units in December 2010 over the same month previous year.

In a statement, HMSI said the overall growth during the month stood at 20 per cent in December 2010 and the motorcycle segment contributed the most.

In the domestic market, the company sold 53,821 units of motorcycles, 76,263 units scooters.

The exports contributed 10,558 units in December 2010, it added

SEBI officials to question Puri in Citibank fraud

GURGAON: A two-member team of capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has arrived here to question Shivraj Puri , the mastermind behind the Rs 300 crore Citibank fraud .

Officials from investigation department of SEBI will question the accused as the fund raised from High Networth Individual (HNIs) were diverted into the stock market, said Gurgaon Police Commissioner S S Deswal.

Puri, Relationship Manager employed with Citibank's Gurgaon branch allegedly collected fund from HNIs and corporates by showing a forged notification of SEBI to lure them into investments on promise of unusually high returns.

Among other things the SEBI team may try to figure whether the fund was invested in share price rigging or manipulation, sources said.

Meanwhile, Gurgaon Police yesterday questioned senior officials of brokerage firms Religare and Bonanza through which diverted money was invested into the stock market.

Religare Securities said that Puri has been a client since December 2009.

As on October 15, 2010, there is balance of Rs. 0.30 in his account, Religare said, adding, there has been no trading transaction in his account since October 1 2010.

Since the investigating agencies are already seized of the matter Religare is in the process of providing the details as are required by investigating agencies, it said.

According to Police, Rs 200 crore belonged to corporates including Hero Group and Rs 100 crore to individuals.

Brijmohan Lal Munjal-led Hero Group meanwhile admitted that its exposure to the fraud is to the tune of Rs 28.75 crore and it was done through its entities.

The fraud was detected when there was default in payments in later part of this year. The number of investors could be 18 to 20 including corporates and HNIs who are both local.