The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, November 24, 2002

ACC-Gujarat Ambuja issue — A test-case in control
WILL the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) order Gujarat Ambuja to make an open offer at Rs 370 per share for ACC? It well may do so. But it may not have the last word, as Gujarat Ambuja may contest in higher legal forums any order ... More

Who stands where?

The definition of `control' in the SEBI Takeover Code is an inclusive one and enables SEBI to determine the nature of control through enquiry.

Management control may confer sufficient hold over a company in normal circumstances and only ... More

Loans against shares — Using equity to good effect
YOU are urgently in need of funds to tide over a contingency, but your money is locked in select equities. With depressed stock market conditions, you are not too keen to dispose them off, as you think they hold considerable upside potential. ... More

Growth pangs in fund industry
THE Indian mutual fund industry is hardly a decade old. While it does not account for a significant portion of the Indian savings, especially household savings, it is undergoing substantial changes with the prospect of a few large players making ... More

Indian steel on a roll
THE domestic steel manufacturers are on a roll. Buoyed by a dramatic improvement in steel prices, starting from January this year, the steel majors are all seeing an improvement in performance this fiscal. The recently announced half-yearly ... More

L&T open offer — SEBI rightly puts Grasim on the mat
THE Securities and Exchange Board of India has taken the right course in putting on hold Grasim's open offer at Rs 190 per share for Larsen & Toubro. SEBI had initially failed to critically evaluate the Grasim-Reliance deal (priced at Rs 306 per ... More

Invest smart, retire hurt
EQUITY investment by pension and provident funds has been the subject of recent debates on pension reforms. Many experts have argued that smart investment, considered synonymous with equity investment, could be the panacea to the problem of low ... More

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Phosphatic/complex fertilisers — In need of nutrients
THE players in the phosphatic fertiliser industry are certainly in better shape to face the challenges thrown up by decontrol than their counterparts in nitrogenous fertilisers. After all, unlike urea manufacturers, players in phosphatic ... More

What the new policy sows
THE subsidy bill for decontrolled fertilisers may not have attracted the same degree of attention as that for urea. But it has bloated, all the same. Between 1995-96 and 2002-03, the Government's outlay on concessions to decontrolled fertilisers ... More

Fertiliser stocks: It can only get better
FERTILISER stocks, which witnessed a brief surge between March and June 2002 on expectations of a "normal" monsoon and a change in the fertiliser policy, have since dropped. After a promising start to the year, DAP and other complex fertiliser ... More

OPEN OFFERS

Aventis CropScience: Accept
THOUGH the open offer price of Rs 157 per share is not very attractive, shareholders in Aventis CropScience India may tender to the offer. Even if a portion of the company's shareholders do so, it is likely to reduce the liquidity in the stock ... More

INVESTMENTS

Bolero Sportz
Mahindra & Mahindra has launched Bolero Sportz in Chennai at a price tag of Rs 4.99 lakh. This follows the evolution of the successful Bolero GLX. The new variant of the Sportz is available in both seven and eight-seater models. BL ... More

More IDBI Bonds
The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) is launching its Rs 250-crore 2003-B Flexibond series on November 28. The IDBI will have the option to retain Rs 250 crore of over-subscription. The series closes for subscription on December 23. ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES

Transfer of properties — The immovables angle
WHAT is the law that governs transfer of immovable property? It is the Transfer of Property Act, an old enactment still in force. Is real estate a transfer of property? Is purchasing an immovable property the same as buying a movable property ... More

FOREX

Travel abroad with more forex
IF you are going abroad on a private visit, you can now carry a heavier wad of hard currency. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the limit of forex for such visits from $5,000 to $10,000, or its equivalent. Authorised dealers and ... More

Citibank's forex currency account
Citibank has launched "Citibank International Account". Customers can hold any amount in the resident foreign currency account. The only caveat is that the foreign currency deposited in these accounts must be earned through channels specified by ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

New AMC for UTI-II
THE new asset management company for UTI-II will be formed by Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Life Insurance Corporation. UTI-II will comprise the assets of the UTI's NAV-based schemes. The move to float the AMC ... More

Kotak Mahindra K-30: Switch
INVESTORS in Kotak K-30 can consider switching out of the scheme. The fund is morphing into an asset allocation fund rather than a strict diversified equity fund. The change in strategy is in tune with the change in fundamental attributes of the ... More

UTI Master Value Unit Plan: Hold
UNITHOLDERS in the Master Value Unit Plan (MVUP), the close end equity fund from the Unit Trust of India can stay with in the fund for now. MVUP is proposed to be made open-ended from January 1, 2003. Thereafter, unitholders will have the option ... More

Tactical funds need support
TACTICAL balanced funds, launched recently, appear to be worthy ideas that seem to suffer solely because of the built-in passive equity component. This may not be solely the fault of the asset management companies. In fact, they may have had no ... More

K-Bond Deposit Plan: Invest
THE K Bond Deposit Plan (growth) returned 14.45 per cent since last November. Investors can take small exposures in the fund. The recommendation is based on the following factors: The fund's portfolio consists of corporate bonds, and ... More

Prudential ICICI Power: Hold
INVESTORS in Prudential ICICI Power can stay with the fund. Its performance last year has been impressive relative to that of its peers. That has also given a sizeable lift to its longer-term performance record, which has been inferior to that of ... More

STOCKS

SBI: Hold/Buy on declines
SHAREHOLDERS of State Bank of India can hold on to the stock. The improving financial ratios of the bank vis-a-vis its levels of non-performing assets and operational costs indicate the scope for further improvement in profitability. This ... More

Indian Oil Corporation: Hold
THE first question that strikes one about the second quarter performance of Indian Oil Corporation is: How has the company managed a five-fold jump in net profits to Rs 2,513.69 crore when turnover has risen by a piffling 4.35 per cent in the ... More

Blue Dart: Buy
INVESTORS who are not averse to taking risks can consider an exposure to the stock of Blue Dart Express, which trades now at Rs 73. The company is the market leader in the express courier business with a share of 38 per cent. It recently ... More

PNB Gilts: Hold
PREDICTING the trend in interest rates is difficult at the least. The importance of the measure to the economy, however, ensures that a large number of people are engaged in predicting interest rate movement. One company that does it diligently ... More

SKF Bearings: Buy
THE sustained improvement in automobile production since the second half of the previous fiscal has had a positive impact on the performance of quite a few companies. Bearings producer, SKF Bearings, is once such company that has benefited ... More

L&T: SEBI decision will take long time
EXISTING shareholders of Larsen & Toubro can stay invested till the cloud of uncertainty over the open offer by Grasim Industries clears up. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has put on hold Grasim's open offer at Rs 190 per ... More

TAXATION

Kelkar Committee Recommendations — A mixed bag for the corporate sector
THE task force headed by Dr Vijay Kelkar has submitted its recommendations on the taxation reforms that need to be introduced for the smooth and proper administration of the tax law, and also improve the tax collections. In this light, the task ... More

HOUSING FINANCE

HDFC lowers loan and deposit rates
Following the move by ICICI Bank, HDFC has also cut its interest rates on home loans. The prime-lending rate has been cut by 0.25 percentage points to 10.25 per cent. HDFC has also cut the interest rate on fixed rate loans as well as on NRI loans ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Book profit in Satyam
NIFTY (1020.15): The index witnessed a strong uptrend during the week gone by. As anticipated, the index touched the target zone of 1015-1020 mentioned last week. As of now, the near-term trend continues to remain positive. Existing ... More

Arvind Mills perks up over 10 pc
IDBI Bank (Rs 21): The stock price of IDBI Bank, went up this week by 11.3 per cent. This has to be viewed in the context of the interest displayed by foreign banks and financial institutions in this stock since the Government announced a ... More

Positive outlook for Sterlite Opticals
THE stock market sentiment was distinctly bullish during the week gone by. The Sensex has also convincingly broken above the downward sloping trend line, which also indicates bullish undertone. Sensex (3141.61): Technically, the Sensex ... More

Nasdaq: Uptrend in force
AFTER a relatively subdued beginning, the market sentiment at the American bourses improved as the week progressed. Flow of weak economic data coupled with earnings warning from Home Depot affected market sentiment on the first two trading days ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Tech stocks in limelight
EQUITIES firmed up last week on the heels of significant buying in blue chips. It is difficult to pinpoint the reason for the surge in investment. All that can be said with a degree of certainty is that investors perceive value in blue chips once ... More

Where derivative markets should go
SEBI Advisory Committee on Derivatives under the chairmanship of Prof. J.R. Varma submitted its report on the "Development and Regulation of Derivative Market in India" with the following recommendations: Derivative Products: SEBI and ... More

Explaining volatility smile
A RECENT NSE publication on the Indian capital market carries a small article on the volatility smile in options. What is volatility smile? If you plot the implied volatilities of all the strike prices of options of a particular maturity (say, ... More

Options guide

Futures guide

RBI & OTHER CENTRAL BANKS

RBI on Rs 500 notes
The RBI announced last week that the Rs 500 notes continue to be legal denomination. It has indicated that banks not accepting these notes should be brought to its notice — either the Regional Director of the RBI's office concerned or Chief ... More

GOVT BONDS

Floating Rate Bonds 2006
The RBI has announced an interest rate of 5.72 per cent per annum for the Floating Rate Bonds 2006. This is applicable for the half-year ending May 21, 2003. The interest rate on the FRBs has been fixed based on the mark-up in auctions and the ... More

FIXED DEPOSITS

Sundaram Finance: High on credit
THE fixed deposit programme of Sundaram Finance could be a good option for investors with a low risk profile. The interest rates offered by the company are quite attractive in the wake of the recent decline in the interest rate level. Sundaram ... More

IPOS

Canara Bank: Buy
CANARA Bank's initial public offer can be considered for investment. The bank has the financial health (reflected in lower net non-performing assets) to deal with adverse developments and the ability to grow without resorting to equity expansion ... More

CARTOON