The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, April 27, 2003

Cement: Set on price recovery
CEMENT manufacturers would have dearly loved prices to be at higher levels in the last twelve months. With volumes showing growth at a good clip, higher prices would have delivered them bumper earnings. But disappointment is likely to be writ ... More

Shrinking options
Gujarat Ambuja Cements: Buy
Grasim: Buy
ACC: Hold
L&T: Hold and evaluate open offer More

Sellers aplenty...
... but buyers on pause mode
A slew of capacities — ranging from one to three million tonnes - awaits its turn to be acquired. But this waiting period is likely to last for at least another year. The two domestic players likely to be interested are Gujarat Ambuja ... More

Demand drivers in place
SPURT in housing and road construction — these two activities have been the key drivers, accounting for close to 10 per cent growth in cement demand in each of the last two years. The ground is well laid out for these two drivers to be at ... More

`Demand-supply balance round the corner' — Mr Anil Singhvi, Executive Director (Finance), Gujarat Ambuja Cements
Much of the savvy with which Gujarat Ambuja Cements has handled its finances and its strategic acquisition initiatives is widely linked to Mr Anil Singhvi, Executive Director (Finance). The string of acquisitions, especially the strategic ... More

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

MobileFirst unveils two packages

AIRLINES

Air Sahara's announces additional features

INSIGHT

Takeovers: Time to review change in control
TRUE to form, in mid-March, the SEBI Chairman, Mr G. N. Bajpai, announced that there was no "change of control" implicit in the acquisition of shares by Gujarat Ambuja Cement in ACC, and Grasim Industries in Larsen & Toubro (L&T). With that, the ... More

What did SEBI look into?
IN October 2002, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) overturned SEBI's original ruling in the Gujarat Ambuja-ACC case and asked SEBI to initiate an independent fact-finding investigation into the matter. This investigation was mainly to ... More

BSNL mobile services — Snapping at competition's heels
AL Ries and Jack Trout, in their seminal work titled The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, propounded the Law of Leadership, according to which it is better to be first in a market than it is to be better. They pose the question, "Who was ... More

Corporate governance ratings: Not really a value proposition
THE emerging business of corporate governance rating may not add much value for stakeholders in India Inc. In the past couple of months, the credit rating agencies have come up with corporate governance rating for a few companies such as Infosys. ... More

Improving corporate disclosure
I THINK the topic — how companies can improve their disclosures to investors — is an important one. As an economist, I generally see things from a different perspective than lawyers. When economists confront an issue, they think, ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

PruICICI Growth and Sundaram Growth: Sector weights dictate returns
PruICICI: Hold
Sundaram: Hold More

UTI Master Value Fund: Invest
SMALL exposures can be considered in UTI Master Value Fund. The fund seeks to generate returns by investing in mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The performance since launch has been better than its benchmark S&P CNX Midcap 200. The fund follows a ... More

March fund flows: Asset base shrinks sharply
A COMBINATION of redemption pressures, sluggish markets and an ownership change in the case of Zurich India Mutual Fund have led to a shrinkage in the asset base of private sector mutual funds by about Rs 5,500 crore. Close to 18 per cent is ... More

Templeton India Income Fund: Invest
TEMPLETON India Income Fund returned 14 per cent on a compounded annual basis since its launch in March 1997. Those with long-term investment horizon can consider taking small exposure in the fund. Consider the following factors before ... More

Will the fund managers please stand up?

Birla Dividend Yield Plus: Hold

Debt index scheme from Birla Sun Life

STOCKS

Hexaware Technologies: Pare exposures
SHAREHOLDERS of the Hexaware Technlogies stock can pare their exposures to the stock. The stock trades at a multiple of about 10 times its expected earnings per share for 2003. The multiple appears high considering the quality of earnings, ... More

Bharat Forge: Pare exposures
SHAREHOLDERS in Bharat Forge can pare exposures in the stock, which has been constantly edging up on the back of improved export prospects. At Rs 252, the stock trades at 17 times its trailing 12-month earnings per share. The current valuations ... More

Satyam Computer Services: Pare exposures
SATYAM Computer Services shareholders can reduce their exposure to the stock. Given the current valuation of the stock and the considerably watered down growth prospects, there may be a further downside of 10-15 per cent. Importantly, the ... More

Reliance: A complex play
Risk averse: Sell
Risk bearing: Hold More

Marico Industries: Hold
A COMBINATION of events has made the March 2003 quarter a taxing period for Marico Industries. After managing a 17 per cent growth in its net profits and a 13 per cent growth in net sales in the first nine months of 2002-03, Marico's growth ... More

Blue Dart: Carrying value
FRESH exposures can be contemplated in the stock of Blue Dart Express. The stock currently trades at Rs 56 at a price-earnings multiple of 6.3 times its year-ended March 2003 earnings. Downside from the current price levels is limited. The ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

A cover for house loans
OWNING a house probably tops the order of priorities for most. Though it calls for a substantial investment, the availability of loans at competitive rates has made house shopping easier. These days it is not uncommon to find people in their ... More

ING Vaisya's Creating Life
Creating Life — the new child protection plan from the ING Vysya — offers double protection to the child if his parent dies. It not only provides immediate relief but also acts as a savings plan for future needs such as marriage and ... More

SMALL SAVINGS

The EPF rate muddle
THE Central Board of Trustees of the Employee Provident Fund and the Labour Ministry are at it again. For the third year in a row, both are objecting to a cut in the coupon rate on EPF balances. The implication is that employees in the private ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Sustained weakness in HLL
NIFTY (924.3): The overall market sentiment remained bearish during the just concluded week. While the near-term outlook appears slightly positive, the major trend continues to remain weak. A move past 934 would impart short-term strength, ... More

Pare exposure in Hindustan Petroleum
THE market sentiment remained subdued during the week gone by. While the stocks from the technology sector were confined to a narrow range, the old-economy heavyweights such as Hindustan Lever, ITC and Reliance Industries acted as a drag on the ... More

Nasdaq: Bearish trend
AFTER some positive market sentiment towards the beginning of the week, the trend turned bearish towards the close. The flow of unimpressive economic data affected the sentiment on Friday. Reports indicated a slow down in the gross domestic ... More

NIIT gains 30 pc on improved performance
Satyam Computer (Rs 164): The stock price of Satyam Computer surged this week by 13.7 per cent despite registering a huge one-time write off and a subsequent loss in the quarter ended March 2003. For the quarter ended March 2003, the ... More

Index Funds vs Active Funds
IN a recent survey conducted by the Journal of Indexes the respondents stated that indexing provides superior returns compared to active management. Many studies on this subject have also concluded as much. Why? Take the S&P CNX Nifty. ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Active trading in HPCL, Wipro
THE average turnover at the derivative segment on the NSE were slightly higher during the last week at Rs 2,525 crore as compared with the previous week's average turnover of about Rs 2,241 crore (which had only three traded days). The July ... More

DO THE DERIVATIVES
Trading and taxation
IN the article Income from Derivative trading and taxability published in `Business Line' dated 22.12.02, it is mentioned that future/options transaction may be treated as speculative. However, can you please tell how the Income -Tax ... More

Options guide

Futures guide

CREDIT CARDS & DEBIT CARDS

India's first airline debit card launched

Hero Honda launches co-branded card

FIXED DEPOSITS

Sundaram Finance: Riding high
The company's fundamentals have remained strong and its prospects also appear bright, given the revival in the auto segment. An investment in any of the options can be considered. Schemes and features: Sundaram Finance offers cumulative ... More

INCOME TAX

Taxability of leave salary
I REFER to the column dated March 9, 2003. I was shocked to see the wrong advice given on the question of leave encashment and superannuation. Leave encashment is exempt from income-tax, and there is no need to postpone the receipt of leave ... More

Interest for house extension
CAN interest on capital borrowed for extension of a house be claimed as a deduction? If the answer is in the affirmative can an employer take into account the interest on the loan repaid for such extension in computing the tax to be deducted at ... More

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