The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, September 08, 2002

How India Inc managed its investments
WITH growth opportunities hard to come by and capital expansion programmes put on hold, Indian companies have amassed large war chests of cash over the past few years. So much so that some leading Indian companies now have a larger portion of ... More

The untold story
LOOK through the segmental financial reports of Hindustan Lever and you will find that of the total loan and shareholder funds of Rs 3,043 crore available to the company, only Rs 509 crore is directly deployed in various business segments in ... More

US-64: Inconsequential tax incentives
THE announcement of a special `tax sops' package for investors in US-64 created hopes of a good deal to go with the Special Liquidity Package already in place and induce them to stay beyond May 2003, which was the government's intent. But the tax ... More

BSNL-MTNL merger: The wrong number dialled
THE Ministerial opposition to the disinvestment programme appears to be escalating. Late last week, the Communications Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, spoke of a `possible' merger of the 100 percent state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) with 56.25 ... More

Bail-out: No marks for UTI, yet
FOR existing investors in the UTI's assured returns schemes, the fact that the Government will meet the shortfall between assured returns and actual performance and ensure capital protection provides a high degree of comfort. They constitute the ... More

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Power: High-voltage reforms, the key
VIABILITY is the watchword in the power sector today. The single-point agenda of all concerned, including the Government, is to make the sector a commercially viable proposition, both for existing players and new entrants. Fortunately, more ... More

Vindhyachal: Power centre
CALL it the power-centre of the country, if you please. The Vindhyachal region, about 250 km from Varanasi on the Madhya Pradesh border, accounts for more than 10 per cent of the total generation capacity in India. The power generated here ... More

`Capex plans hit by CERC orders' — Mr C. P. Jain, CMD, National Thermal Power Corporation
NATIONAL Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), with almost 20,000 MW of generating capacity, accounts for about 19 per cent of the total capacity in the country and has ambitious plans to add a further 9,000 MW in the medium term. However, two ... More

Where are the funds going to come from?
THIS is the question for which nobody has an answer. The Government has targeted a capacity addition of 1,00,000 MW by 2012 which means that the minimum investment needed is a staggering Rs 4,00,000 crore assuming it is all thermal! This is apart ... More

Private investment: Low current
Tata Power: Hold
BSES: Hold More

INVESTMENTS

Nursing his portfolio through tough times
FOR a medical doctor, he has been rather skilful in looking after the health of his equity portfolio. But then it has taken a lot of interest, hard work and anxious moments as well as the equity market did many a spin. But 15 years after an ... More

Cruiser bikes: Speeding ahead
THE cruiser bike sub-segment (a super-premium segment) is witnessing a fresh round of action, with Yamaha Motor India taking the fight to the streets. Enticer versus Eliminator: The Indian subsidiary of the Japanese two-wheeler giant, ... More

Exi widens Ikon range

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

CellOne from BSNL
BHARAT Sanchar Nigam Ltd — the telecom behemoth owned by the Government — launched its cellular services on October 2 under the brand name of CellOne. BSNL plans to cover 850 cities/towns by December 2002. This would make it the ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

Alliance MIP: Invest
INVESTMENTS can be considered in the Alliance Monthly Income Plan as it has a good track record across various time periods. The fund has turned in returns of 15.4 per cent per annum since inception, and 15.6 per cent, 10.9 per cent and 12.4 per ... More

Birla Tax Plan 1998: Hold
INVESTORS in Birla Tax Plan 1998, the close-ended equity-linked savings scheme may stay with the fund for now. Though the mandatory three-year lock-in period for initial investors has expired, the fund may have reasonable upside potential in the ... More

Templeton schemes merger: Uncommon traits
FIGE: Hold
FIPP: Sell More

Tax sops for US-64
THE repurchase facility in US-64 under the Special Liquidity Package at Rs 12 per unit for holdings less than 5,000 units and at Rs 10 per unit for holdings of over 5,000 units will be available beyond May 2003 too. Earlier, this was to have ... More

Plan mergers
WHEN the acquisition of Pioneer ITI Asset Management Company by Franklin Templeton India was announced, there was concern over its impact on the investment strategy of the schemes of Pioneer ITI. Franklin Templeton India and Pioneer ITI, however, ... More

STOCKS

HCL Technologies: Hold
"HCL Technologies has weathered these challenging times well and efforts towards rebalancing the portfolio and repositioning the company to exploit emerging opportunities are underway. Investments made this year have provided us additional ... More

Hindalco: Value for the medium term
THE stock price of Hindalco Industries has been locked in a narrow band of Rs 560-600 over the past month. At the current market price of Rs 587, the stock is trading at a price earnings multiple of 7.7 times its annualised first quarter earnings ... More

Atlas Copco: Hold
AFTER two years of its acquisition of a group company, Chicago Pneumatic, Atlas Copco appears to be reaping the benefits now. The earnings numbers for the April-June 2002 quarter showed substantial improvement in operating margins. The turnover ... More

Whirlpool of India: Hold/Buy on declines
SHAREHOLDERS of Whirlpool of India can hold onto the stock. Fresh investments can be considered at declines in the stock price from the present levels. Given the depressed economic forecasts and the difficult operating environment for consumer ... More

Crisil: Hold
THE Credit Rating Information Services of India (Crisil) is the only credit rating agency to have its equity shares listed in the stock market. A slide in its share price recently — about 25 per cent in the last four months — has ... More

TNPL: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS can stay invested in the stock of Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers (TNPL). The gradual improvement in paper prices and the enhanced product switching flexibility of the company may provide some room for profit growth in fiscal ... More

INTERNET

What is EDIFAR?
EDIFAR is Electronic Data Information Filing and Retrieval system. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC) has set up the EDIFAR Web site to facilitate filing of certain ... More

HOUSING FINANCE

Housing loan rate cuts
Following the sharp cuts effected by the State Bank of India in the space of a month, a host of others including HDFC, LIC Housing Finance and Corporation Bank have followed suit. HDFC has cut its fixed rate to 9.75 per cent for five-year ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

LIC cover for Corporation Bank customers
Deposit holders in Corporation Bank are set to get their first tangible benefit from the LIC picking up a strategic 27 stake in the bank's equity. LIC has launched Corp Jeevan Raksha. This would provide group insurance coverage for the deposit ... More

Kotak Insurance Bond goes
Om Kotak Life Insurance has withdrawn one of its products — Kotak Insurance Bond. The bond had offered 8.05 per cent per annum for a 10-year tenure. The bond is being discontinued by September 9 and may be re-introduced at the end of the ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Further drop likely in ITC, HLL
ITC (Rs 663): As observed in earlier weeks, the overall trend in the scrip continues to remain bearish. Going by the recent chart patterns, the scrip could slide to the Rs 580-600 band shortly. A close below Rs 640 within the next few ... More

Zee, Guj Ambuja may remain subdued
AFTER some firm trend in earlier weeks, the stock market passed through a relatively bearish environment in the just concluded week. The weak trend in American bourses had a dampening impact on stock markets the world over. As a result, the ... More

Asian Paints up 3.3 pc
IT was a week of range-bound trading, with the exception of Friday that saw the Sensex lose about 40 points on fears of uncertainty surrounding the divestment process and US aggression against Iraq. Hexaware Technologies: The company ... More

Panic selling in Nalco
THE Ministerial chorus against the disinvestment exercise and the crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment to decide on the HPCL and BPCL disinvestment on September 7 have kept the markets on a tight leash. To add to the ... More

Not an 'august' month
MARKETS were rather cautious across the globe in August though the major countries ended lower, albeit marginally. The US market began the month lower due to a mix of gloomy economic reports (which indicated that the much-expected recovery in ... More

Nasdaq: Net decline

DEBT MARKET

Bonds likely to remain bid
THE yield curve has marginally shifted downwards in the last fortnight. The ten-year bond currently trades at 7.12 per cent, 5 bps lower than a fortnight ago. Going forward, the bond market may remain bullish, though the upside from the current ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Arbitrage trading, calendar spread
WE are relatively new to futures and options. Please suggest one or two books to get in depth knowledge in futures and options. - Arunachalam Ramaswamy, Anand Krishnan To understand the basics of derivatives, you can refer to the ... More

Forecasting stock volatility
FORECASTING a stock's volatility is a key aspect in determining pricing, especially in the options market. Volatility refers to the fluctuations in the stock price. Forecasting these fluctuations is important to an option trader, as higher ... More

BPCL in limelight
APPREHENSION about political turmoil in West Asia and growing opposition within the Government to privatisation of state-owned enterprises led to equities losing ground towards the end of the week. The BSE Sensitive Index closed at 3,141.11 ... More

Options guide

Futures guide

FIXED DEPOSITS

TN Power Finance: Not so powerful
TAMIL Nadu Power Finance accepts deposits under three schemes. Under the regular interest payment scheme (RIPS), deposits are accepted for 24, 36, 48 and 60 months. The 24-month deposit pays interest at 8.31 per cent per annum at quarterly ... More

INTERVIEW

`We try and keep our quality image visible' — Mr Homi R. Khusrokhan, MD, Tata Tea
BUSINESS LINE spoke to Mr Homi R. Khusrokhan, Managing Director, Tata Tea, on its strategies to ride out the rough patch. The first part of the interview appeared last week. Excerpts from the interview: How does ... More

INCOME TAX

TDS and clubbing — Income of the minor child
A MINOR child attained the age of majority in November 2001. The child's father is no more, while the mother has income chargeable to tax. The child derives income from salary, house property and also income from other sources. I wish to ... More

CARTOON

It Adds Up!
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Top Stories
How India Inc managed its investments

Power: High-voltage reforms, the key

Bail-out: No marks for UTI, yet

TDS and clubbing — Income of the minor child

BSNL-MTNL merger: The wrong number dialled

In Depth
Gender Justice

Simple Economics

Small Investor

Looking back
Sep. 1-Sep. 7
Loan cover assurance policies: A roof over the loan

Tea: The overflowing cup of woes

Huge bailout for UTI — No accountability

Corporate performance in April-June 2002 — Will gains evaporate on drought effect?

Infosys, L&T counters remain active

Good governance goes beyond disclosures