Reliance Communications FY09 financial results

April 30th, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in Results

Reliance Communications (RCOM) announces its financial results for the financial year ended March 31, 2009. Key Highlights:
Net Profit up by 9.4% to Rs. 5,908 crore (US$ 1,165 million)
Revenues HIGHER BY 20.3% AT Rs. 22,941 crore (US$ 4,523 MILLION)
EBITDA higher by 13.3% at Rs. 9,288 crore (US$ 1,831 million)
EBITDA margin stable at 40.5%, among the highest in India                                   
Fast track NETWORK EXPANSION ACCELERATED WITH Rs. 19,417 CRORE (US$ 3.8 BILLION) CAPITAL EXPENDITURE DURING THE year, 35% lower capex than original guidance of Rs. 30,000 crore
Only company to have nationwide gsm & cdma services in india
Second largest mobile operator in india with 73 million subscribers

Mumbai, April 30, 2009:Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) today announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the year ended March 31, 2009.

Highlights of the financial performance for the year are:

Net Profit of Rs. 5,908 crore (US$ 1,165 million), higher by 9.4% compared to Net Profit of Rs. 5,401 crore (US$ 1,350 million) in the last year.

EBITDA at Rs. 9,288 crore (US$ 1,831 million), growth of 13.3%. EBITDA margin stable at 40.5%with strong contributions across all businesses – Wireless, Global and Enterprise

Revenue growth of 20.3% at Rs. 22,941 crore (US$ 4,523 million) from Rs. 19,068 crore (US$ 4,765 million).

Commenting on the results, Mr Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Communications Limited, said:

“Reliance Communications have completed the World’s largest network roll-out in FY2009 ahead of schedule and at a very competitive cost which is approx 35% lower than original guidance. We are confident of improved performance in the coming years.”

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTS

RCOM launched its GSM services all over India
RCOM announced the world’s largest customer experience program and launched GSM services in 11,000 towns all over India. RCOM has launched its GSM services in just 11 months from the receipt of start-up GSM spectrum in January 2008. RCOM added over 11.3 mn wireless subscribers during the quarter, an increase of 110% compared to the previous quarter and also increased its town coverage from 11,000 to 20,000 in just 3 months. RCOM GSM is the state of the art next generation network with digital voice clarity and India’s first nationwide enhanced EDGE network for fast internet access. RCOM GSM will also offer widest R-World mobile content offering entertainment, music, news, cricket, bollywood, maps and search and one-click set-up and access to email and social networking offering communication convenience of a PC.

RCOM announced India’s fastest internet service “Netconnect Broadband Plus”
RCOM recently rolled-out its fastest internet service “Broadband Plus” with the downlink speed of upto 3.1 Mbps which is 30% faster than any other wireless broadband offering. This makes Netconnect Broadband Plus best suited for video streaming, video surveillance, rich media content & superior Internet browsing. Netconnect Broadband Plus service will be available in 35 major cities with seamless handover to high speed 1x service covering 20,000 towns and 4.5 lakh villages as well as all major road and rail routes across the country covering 99% of India’s Internet population.

Acquisition of Global Managed Network Services provider VANCO Group
Reliance Globalcom, subsidiary of RCOM, signed an agreement to acquire Global Managed Network Services provider VANCO Group who have strong presence in developed markets with the annual revenue of US$ 365 mn (Rs. 1,550 cr) through secure long-term contracts with large enterprise customers. VANCO have over 220 MNC customers which includes AVIS, British Airways, Siemens and Virgin Megastores. VANCO’s services are available in over 40,000 locations across 163 countries. 90% of VANCO’s revenue is from developed markets like UK, US, France and Germany.  FLAG’s reach & capacity along with VANCO’s long-term relationships & expertise would be a perfect combination to offer high margin value-added services to enterprise customers.

Reliance launched BIG TV, added 1.4 million DTH subscribers
RCOM launched its DTH services “BIG TV” in August 2008. Within 90 days of launch, BIG TV acquired over 1 million subscribers. This is the fastest ramp up ever achieved by any DTH operator in the world. BIG TV would be tapping into the existing customer base of Reliance ADA Group companies to rapidly gain market share. The subscribers can enjoy over 200 channels, 32 on-demand channels, which is highest in the industry. The product is available in 1 lakh retail outlets across 6,500 towns.

RCOM repurchased its FCCBs at a discount
RCOM has repurchased its zero coupon Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) with face value of US$ 64.7 million (approx Rs. 320 crore) in different tranches at a discount to their face value.

Dr. Reddy’s launches anti acne drug Nexret

April 28th, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in News

Hyderabad, India, April 28, 2009 – Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY) has launched Nexret (Tretinoin 0.04% & 0.1% as microspheres) in India. It marks the entry of Dr. Reddy’s into the topical anti-acne segment, a commonly diagnosed condition by dermatologist.

Nexret is a next generation anti-acne formulation made from a proprietary non-porous microsphere technology. This unique technology minimizes irritation associated with drugs like Tretinoin and provides controlled delivery of drug to the skin.

Nexret is available in gel formulation and in pack size of 15 gms.

The anti-acne market in India is about Rs 130 crores growing at the rate of about 14%.(Source: ORG IMS)

Maruti Suzuki financials for 2008-09

April 24th, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in Results

Total Income up 14.28%; Premium compacts and sedan segment drive topline growth
Hyderabad, April 24, 2009: India’s number one carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited today announced its financial results for the quarter ending March 31, 2009 and for the full year 2008-09.
 Fiscal 2008-09 
The company’s Total Income (Net of Excise) (Income from Operations plus Other Income) for the financial year 2008-09 climbed to Rs 21,453.8 crore. This is the highest Total Income (Net of Excise) ever in the company’s history, and marks a growth of 14.28 per cent over 2007-08. The growth in Total Income (Net of Excise) included higher realisations, largely contributed by the company’s popular hatch-back Swift and premium sedan Swift Dzire (Diesel and Petrol variants).
Net Profit during the year stood at Rs 1,218.7 crore, down 29.6 per cent over 2007-08. 
The company’s EBDITA for the year stood at Rs 2,433.4 crore, a fall of about 22 per cent over the previous year.
During the year, commodity prices went up sharply and remained high for most part of the year. Forex fluctuations were also adverse and impacted the bottomline significantly.
In recent months, commodity prices have eased.
With regard to foreign currency exposure, the company’s exports in 2009-10 are expected to be higher and cover its imports.
Dividend
The Board of Directors recommended a dividend of 70 per cent for 2008-09. (Fiscal 2007-08: 100 per cent).
Quarter 4
The company registered Total Income (Net of Excise) (Income from Operations plus Other Income) of Rs 6,538.3 Crore during January-March 2009, a growth of 30.26 per cent compared to January-March 2008.
Net profit during January-March 2009 was Rs 243.1 crore vis-à-vis Rs 297.7 crore during January-March 2008.
While there was a 17 per cent growth in unit sales during the quarter, the adverse foreign exchange movements during the year, impacted the bottomline in Q4 as well.
Highlights of 2008-09
In the fiscal 2008-09 Maruti Suzuki sold a total of 792,167 vehicles. The annual sales in 2008-09 is the highest ever by the company in its 25 year history. The previous highest annual sales were 764,842 units in 2007-08.
During the fiscal, Maruti Suzuki Swift crossed the 3 lakh-sales mark cumulative domestic sales since launch and became the quickest vehicle model to do so. During the fiscal, Maruti Suzuki’s Alto continued to be the preferred vehicle for the great Indian middle class crossing the 1 million-mark in cumulative sales in domestic market.
The company’s sales included exports of 70,023 units in 2008-09, up by 32.1 per cent over sales of 53,024 recorded in 2007-08. The 2008-09 export numbers, the highest ever by the company, was led by A star, the fuel efficient compact car launched in Europe during the year as Suzuki Alto. The export tally includes around 19,000 units of A-star exported to Europe including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland.
Fiscal 2008-09 marked Maruti Suzuki’s Silver Jubilee year in India. Over these 25 years the company has sold over 7 million (70 lakh) cars in the domestic market. Additionally, over half a million cars made by Maruti Suzuki have been exported world-over.
During the year, the company continued its focus on long term initiatives, despite the challenging market situation. These include:
Focus on R&D: Manpower strength to 730 engineers from 460 in end March 2008. Company plans 1,000 engineers in R&D by 2010
          New technology engine: Brand new facility for K-series engine launched on schedule
·          Launching new models: A star launched. Introduced Maruti 800 Duo – an alternate fuel option that runs on LPG and petrol
·          Annual capacity to manufacture expanded from 800,000 to one million units (Gurgaon plus Manesar plants)
·          Reached out to new segments of customers – government employees and rural customers – through innovative programmes
·          Export of A star (as Suzuki Alto) to Europe commenced as per schedule
·          Dedicated export port facilities for cars at Mundra completed, used for A-star shipment.
·          Network expansion:
o       Sales: From 600 sales outlets (in 393 cities) last year to 681 outlets  (in 454 cities)
o       Service: From 2,628 service outlets (1220 cities) last year to 2,767 (in 1314 cities);
o       TrueValue: From 265 outlets (in 166 cities) last year to 315 outlets (181 cities)
·          Increased Pre-owned car sales from 1.01 lakh units in 2007-08 to 1.23 lakh units in 2008-09
·          National Road Safety Mission launched – a nation-wide Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative to train 500,000 people in safe driving in three years. The network of Maruti Driving Schools further expanded and crossed 50 schools.
Accolades
During the year, the company, its products and services received many awards and accolades instituted by independent expert groups, media houses and research agencies.
These include:
A star as the “Car of the year”
A star as the “Best small car of the year”
K10B Engine as the “Automotive technology of the year” 
Maruti Suzuki as the “Manufacturer of the year”   
The company was rated No. 1 for a record 9th consecutive year in the JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index Study.

Federal Cartel Office of Germany, BSE and NSE OKs Satyam-Tech Mahindra deal

April 24th, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in News

Hyderabad, 24 April 2009: Satyam Computer Services Limited. (NYSE: SAY; BSE: SATYAM; NSE: SATYAMCOMP) (the “Company”), announced today that the Seventh Division of the Federal Cartel Office of Germany has issued a letter dated 22 April, 2009 (the “FCO Letter”), permitting the completion of the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Company by Venturbay Consultants Private Limited, a subsidiary controlled by Tech Mahindra Limited. 
The Company has also received ‘in-principle’ approvals from the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited dated 22 April, 2009 (the “BSE”, and such letter, the “BSE Letter”)  and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited dated 22 April, 2009 (the “NSE”, and such letter, the “NSE Letter”)  for the issuance of 30,27,64,327 (Thirty Crores Twenty Seven Lakhs Sixty Four Thousand Three Hundred and Twenty Seven Only) equity shares (the “Initial Shares”) of Rs. 2/- each at a premium of Rs. 56/- per share to Venturbay Consultants Private Limited on a preferential basis. Upon allotment of the Initial Shares, the Company will seek the approval of the BSE and NSE for listing and trading of the Initial Shares.
This press release, an English translation of the FCO Letter, the BSE Letter and the NSE Letter are being furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on Form 6-K and are available to the public over the Internet on the Company’s website at http://www.satyam.com and the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Further, this press release and the FCO Letter are being submitted to the BSE and the NSE.

Reliance Industries Ltd FY09 Net profit Rs. 15,607 crore

April 23rd, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in Results

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) today reported its financial performance for the year ended 31st
March, 2009. Highlights of the un-audited financial results as compared to the previous year are:
• Turnover increased by 8.3% to Rs. 150,771 crore (US$ 29.7 billion)
• Exports increased by 12.6% to Rs. 94,038 crore (US$ 18.5 billion)
• PBDIT increased by 5.1% to Rs. 25,428 crore (US$ 5.0 billion)
• Cash Profit before exceptional items increased by 2.7% to Rs. 21,566 crore (US$ 4.3 billion)
• Net Profit before exceptional items increased by 2.3% to Rs. 15,607 crore (US$ 3.1 billion)
• Gross Refining Margin at US$ 12.2 / bbl for the fiscal year 2008-09
• Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) was 20.7% for the fiscal year 2008-09
• Return on Equity (ROE) was 21.0% for the fiscal year 2008-09
• Net Debt to Equity is 0.24 as on 31st March 2009

Click here for full details…ril-fy09-media-release

Reliance Power Ltd FY09 income at Rs 360.38 crore

April 23rd, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in Results

Mumbai, April 23, 2009: Reliance Power Limited, a group company of the Reliance ADA Group, today announced its audited financial results for the financial year ended 31st March, 2009. The key financial results for the year are:
• Largest Project Finance debt raised in India for 3960 MW Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project.

• Won 4000 MW Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project along with a captive coal mine at a levelised tariff of Rs 1.77 per kwh.

• Access to captive coal mines having reserves of 2 billion tones – Largest in private sector in India.
• Net Worth of Rs 13,779 crore (US$ 2,717 million)

• Total Income of Rs 360.38 crore (US$ 71 million)

• Cash & Liquid Balances of Rs 10,334 crore (US$ 2,037 million)

Updates on the power projects being developed by Reliance Power – Milestones achieved include:

• Financing tied up for the Rs 19,400 crore Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project.

• Largest project finance debt to be raised in India.

• Favourable Debt:Equity of 75:25 against industry norm of 70:30.

• First integrated coal mining cum power project to be project financed in India.

• During the year the company won 4000 MW Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project along with a captive coal mine at a levelised tariff of Rs 1.77 per kwh.

• The company has now won 3 of the 4 Ultra Mega Power Projects and has access to captive coal mines having reserves of 2 billion tones.

• The implementation of the 2 x 300 MW Rosa Thermal Power Plant is ahead of schedule and the first unit of the plant achieved an important milestone of Boiler Hydro Test in a record time of 6 months from Boiler Drum lifting.

• During the year the company placed EPC contracts for Sasan (3,960 MW), Rosa Phase II (600 MW), Butibori (300 MW). Construction work has commenced on all these sites and is progressing.

• During the year the Mining Plans for all the coal blocks for Sasan Power Project were prepared and approved. Government of India also granted the environment clearance for the Moher and Moher-Amlori Extension Coal block.

• The Delhi High Court dismissed Tata Power’s petition against Government of India’s decision allowing usage of incremental coal from Captive mines allotted to Sasan Project at the admission stage itself on all grounds viz.

• There has been suppression of material facts.

• Tata Power does not have any locus standi to maintain the writ petition

• There was a delay in approaching court during which significant developments have taken place

• Petition is devoid of any public interest element.

• Hydroelectric projects:

• Infrastructure development activities commenced for 1000 MW Siyom and 700 MW Tato II.

• Defence Clearance has been obtained for Siyom Project in Arunachal Pradesh.

RPL Refinery achieves stable operations, supplies to global markets

April 23rd, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in News

MUMBAI, 23rd April 2009: Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) has recently commissioned
SEZ refinery at Jamnagar and processed 3.6 million tonnes of crude during the quarter
ended 31st March 2009. The refinery has also commissioned several secondary processing
units during the quarter.
These facilities are operating at design capacities. All the essential support units and
utilities are fully operational.
RPL has commenced production and despatch of products from its refinery to the quality
conscious markets of US and Europe. This is a reflection of its ability to produce and place
high quality, value-added products within a short time of production.
After the successful commissioning, RPL is focusing on achieving the highest standards of
safety and reliability at its facilities. The refinery is designed keeping in mind changing crude
and product dynamics and hence has the inherent capability of delivering superior returns
even in challenging market conditions.
Commenting on the progress Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of RPL said “RPL
refinery has achieved start-up and successful stabilisation of its operations within a short
period of time. The proposed merger with RIL will lead to a globally competitive and industry
leading refining business and create sustainable value for shareholders.”
Key Notes:
1. Commercial production has been considered from 15th March 2009.
2. Trial run income and expenses except interest are included under the respective
heads. An amount of Rs. 43 crore (US$ 8 million) being the net expense over income
during trial run is capitalized and adjusted from ‘Other expenditure’. Turnover
includes, trial run sales of Rs. 2,418 crore (US$ 477 million).
3. The company is operating an integrated refinery and has identified only one
reportable segment. The total capital employed of the company is Rs. 33,982 crore
(US$ 6.7 billion).
4. The Company has adjusted the foreign currency exchange differences on amounts
borrowed for acquisition of fixed assets to the carrying cost of fixed assets in line with
the amendment to Accounting Standard (AS 11) on “Effects of Changes in Foreign
Exchange Rates” vide GSR Notification 225 (E) dated 31st March 2009.

Source: Company Release

NTPC ranked 317 by Forbes Global 2000

April 23rd, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in News

MUMBAI: NTPC Limited the largest power utility of the country has been ranked 317th in the Annual ranking of top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four performance metrics of sales, profit, assets and market value. The ranking is considered an indicator of the leading public companies of the world.

With a gross revenue of over Rs. 45500 crore, provisional unaudited sales of Rs 42182 crore and profit after tax of Rs 7414 crore in 2008-09, NTPC is the leader in Indian power sector. Company contributed 28.60% of the total electricity generated in the country during 2008-09 with 18.79% share of the total installed capacity of the nation.

Operational excellence is the key to NTPC’s success with fifteen of its coal based stations achieving a PLF of 90% which includes 4 registering PLF of over 95% during 2008-09. Dadri station of NTPC achieved an all time high PLF of 99.36% and Talcher thermal (average age 36years) a PLF of 92.7% during the period.

NCDEX Spot (NSPOT) launches Chana Contract

April 23rd, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in Commodities

MUMBAI: NCDEX Spot Exchange Ltd. (NSPOT) has launched compulsory delivery contract of Chana Kantawala on its electronic platform from April 21, 2009. The delivery center for the contract would be at Indore with minimum trading lot of 10MT. All trades on the exchange are guaranteed by the exchange for delivery and payments. The tick size of the contract will be Re 1 per quintal.

Chana contracts would be traded between 1000 to 2100 hours, Monday through Friday and between 1000 to 1400 hours on Saturdays on NSPOT.

Chana sellers would deposit the assayed commodity in NSPOT pre-notified accredited warehouses before putting sell orders. The buyer would deposit prescribed margin for the relevant type of contract with NSPOT through a member of NSPOT before putting the quotes. The online buy and sell orders would be matched on real time basis by process of time and price priority and get settled. All trades outstanding at the end of the day would result into delivery obligations on settlement day. Thus, only those sellers who own the commodity would only be allowed to sell on the platform thus allowing only serious players.

Mr R Ramasheshan MD & CEO, NCDEX said “NCDEX is very happy with the initiative by NSPOT and is optimistic about the success of the concept. After successful launch of sugar and pepper this move of NSPOT will benefit the farmers of the Indore and Rajasthan immensely.”

Thus NCDEX Spot Exchange has created real time, online, transparent and vibrant spot platform for chana in India.  The contract will allow participants from all over the country to buy chana, thereby enabling producers in MP and Rajasthan to discover best price for their chana traded on NSPOT. 

This initiative is widely supported by all the major value chain participants in the region and in the country.

NCDEX Spot exchange would be launching various agricultural and non-agricultural contracts in coming months.

Hero Honda Motors Ltd Q4 results update

April 23rd, 2009 by | No Comments | Filed in Results, Updates

Hero Honda Motors Ltd  has  planned  a  capex  of Rs.350 cr in FY10 for product development,
investment  in  engine technology (due to new emission norms), setting up a
paint  shop in Haridwar and plant modernisation at the facilities. In 2009,
HHML  launched  9 models alongwith its variants and plans to launch similar
number  of  models  in  2010.The  management is looking at a volume of 4 mn
units  in  FY10,  which is ~8% growth from FY09 volume of 3.7 mn units. The
raw  material  prices  are expected to soften/remain stable in Q1 and Q2 of
FY10, which could help improve the margins.

In  a period where the business threw up much larger cash than required for
working  capital  and  capex,  the decision to cut payout ratio to 30.6% in
FY09 is perplexing.

In  FY09,  HHML  has  earned  an EPS of Rs.65.4 (vs our revised estimate of
Rs.57).  We  are  introducing  quick  estimates  for  FY10.  At  the CMP of
Rs.1110.9,  HHML  quotes at 14.5 times FY10(E) EPS. Given the recent run up
in  prices, lower dividend payout ratio and slower growth expected in FY11,
we  feel  the stock is fairly valued at the CMP. However, due to its strong
marketing position, healthy balance sheet, strong earnings outlook and free
cash  flow  generation, HHML remains one of the best picks on dips (ideally
in the price band of Rs.988 to Rs.1,017).