The Ibs Times 34 Edition

THE IBS TIMES Intelligence beyond success Issue— 34

November 1 2008 [Saturday]

Cover Story Google-Yahoo deal in jeopardy Some new bad news for Yahoo. Ten days after the troubled web portal announced it will lay off 1,500 employees, it was reported on Thursday that Yahoo‘s deal with Google is on shaky ground. Internet search majors Google Inc and Yahoo Inc are on way to terminating their search deal amidst an ongoing regulatory review and fears expressed by advertisers that the partnership would lead to higher advertisement rates. The two companies, which had, earlier this month, decided to delay implementing the controversial deal, struck in June (Yahoo signed the deal after rejecting a $47.5 billion acquisition bid from Microsoft ), are likely to terminate the deal by the middle of next week. Confidence in the deal has been constantly waning. In mid-June, Google and Yahoo originally said they would give the feds 100 days to review the ad pact before moving forward with the agreement. But the pair had faced an uphill battle in Washington. In early August, Yahoo filed a heavily redacted version (Just Click to go directly) of the deal to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Then Google CEO Eric Schmidt told that he planned to go ahead with the partnership in mid-October with or without approval from the Justice Department. So far, the feds have yet to give the Internet ferneries the green light on the legitimacy of their online advertising partnership. The deal allowed Google to sell advertising for some of Yahoo's online advertising space. Google and Yahoo together owned more than 80 per cent of the internet search market in August. Yahoo needed breathing room, and outsourcing some search business to Google accomplished that. Yahoo got Microsoft and Carl Icahn off its back and figured out a new strategy -- and it got a new source of shortterm revenue. The company expected the Google deal would hike its revenue by $800 million in the first year and boost its operating cash flow by $250 million to $450 million. The partnership would have let Yahoo put ads sold by Google on its search query pages. Yahoo said the partnership with Google will help strengthen its competitive position and deliver better quality for advertisers, publishers and users. It would have given Yahoo more money and stability, and allowed Google to expand its already staggering reach. Google also complemented the deal saying it would drive competition. Google thought that it is good for users, advertisers and publishers. By offering Google's industry-leading technology to Yahoo, the whole system would become more efficient, and everyone would benefit. Google said consumers will see more relevant ads, advertisers will benefit from Google‘s technology and ads will reach target audiences more efficiently. However the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) said the online partnership between Yahoo and Google would erode competition and probably result in higher prices. On its Web site, ANA, which represents about 400 companies, said it sent a letter to the US Justice Department‘s antitrust division after reviewing the agreement and meeting with executives from Yahoo and Google. The letter ―notes that a Google-Yahoo partnership will control 90% of search advertising inventory and expresses concern that the partnership will likely diminish competition, increase concentration of market power, limit choices currently available and potentially raise prices to advertisers for high quality, affordable search advertising‖. Microsoft hates it too, and has turned its army of lobbyists loose to oppose it and raise antitrust questions. Some people are wondering if Google will bail, fleeing the intense antitrust scrutiny that would make any 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 industry-dominating company uncomfortable. But Yahoo has let Google in the front door, and now risks the possibility that Google takes its customers and sneaks out the back door.

INDEX

Cover Story- 1 Google-Yahoo deal in jeoepardy

Knowledge Desk 2 Editorial

4

News at a glance 5 Market Watch

7

Company Profile 8

T HE I BS TI MES Cover Story (Contd..) But if Google leaves, Yahoo could fall back into the open arms of Microsoft, who might make another acquisition bid for the company (at a reduced price, of course). However Google has denied that the deal is part of a master plan to take over the world, and said it would neither increase its share of search engine traffic nor boost advertising prices. Google noted that Yahoo is free to make similar deals with others. Google and Microsoft shares are up about 3%. Analysts and pundits have had some time to digest the drama, and today they're all over the board on whether Yahoo is smart or insane. Henry Blodget thinks Yahoo scored. Yahoo's search days may be limited, if its market share continues to decline, he writes. "In the years that its search business has left, Yahoo can now focus almost all of its efforts on revitalizing its properties and display business, which is where its future lies." Some think Google emerges as the ultimate winner, especially if it can get new customers out of the deal. Yes, Yahoo will get a short -term financial windfall, but it may lose its "must-buy" status with advertisers. After all, doesn't this deal make Google, not Yahoo!, the 'must-buy' for online advertisers. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin wonders if the ad deal will ultimately cause advertisers to jump ship for Google, "leaving Yahoo without a viable search advertising product and Google as the only search advertising game in town."Om Malik thinks Yahoo has made a critical blunder and has lost its way. Antitrust officials will surely be investigating the Google deal, ensuring that Yahoo is distracted and muzzled for some time. Yahoo's best hope, he said, is that someone buys it. "The sad part of this whole thing is that Yahoo was once a great company that had great products, and that made news by launching great products." On Wednesday, J.P. Morgan Internet analyst Imran Khan sent a note to clients on why Yahoo should forget about the Google deal and sell its search business to Microsoft (MSFT). Khan suggests that Yahoo can gain an additional $725 million in operating cash flow from outsourcing search to Microsoft. The software company had offered Yahoo a reported $2 billion to buy its search business after talks to acquire all of Yahoo failed. Now it is to see if antitrust laws intended for heavy industries such as railroads, steel and oil have relevance in the digital age. Google is right about competing companies buying technology from each other - but when the company says Yahoo is free to sign similar deals with others, the obvious question is: Like who?

Compiled by -Deepika Pandey

Knowledge Desk Cheer returns to Dalal Street Some wealth returned to the battered Equity markets worshipping Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, during Diwali this week, with the key share indices ending with a gain of 12.5 percent after losing more than 35 percent in the first three weeks of October. The benchmark 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ended the week Friday at 9,788.06, up 1,086.99 points or 12.5 percent from its close the previous Friday at 8,701.07. Similarly, the broader-based 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) finished the week Friday at 2,885.60 points, up 301.6 points or 11.7 percent from its close Friday previous week at 2,584.00.The BSE midcap ended Friday this week at 3,200.02 points, up 104.34 points or 3.4 percent from its close Friday previous week at 3,095.68 points.The BSE smallcap ended Friday this week at 3,765.11 points, up 103.28 points or 2.8 percent from its close Friday previous week at 3,661.83 points. The week, however, began disastrously with the Sensex hitting a three-year low in intra-day trading Monday falling even below the 8,000 mark to 7,985.07 points before recovering somewhat to end the day at 8,509 points, down 191.51 points or 2.2 percent from its close previous Friday at 8,701.07 points. At the NSE, the broader-based 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed Monday at 2,524.2 points, down 59.8 points or 2.31 percent from its close Friday previous week at 2,584.00 points. Tuesday happened to be Diwali and with brokers worshipping Lakshmi at the BSE, cheer returned to the markets and the Sensex made a sharp U-turn to regain the psychologically important 9,000 mark after falling freely for the past few trading sessions. In special ‗muhurat‘ trading Tuesday, Oct 28th ,marking the beginning of the Hindu Samvat calendar year 2065, the 30-share Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock exchange closed at 9,008.08 points, up 498.52 points or 5.86 percent.

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Knowledge Desk The Nifty too ended 160.4 points or 6.3 percent higher at 2,684.6 points from its previous close Monday at 2,524.2 points. Wednesday too saw the Sensex finish a tad higher at 9,044.51 points to post a marginal gain of 36.43 points, or 0.40 percent, over Tuesday‘s close. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader S&P CNX Nifty ended Wednesday at 2,712.50 points, up 27.90 points or 1.04 percent from its previous close Tuesday at 2,684.6 points. There was no trading Thursday as markets were closed on account of Hindu festival Bhai Duj. After the bear market excesses of the last few weeks, Friday saw Indian equities markets really bounce back with the Sensex closing with a gain of 743.55 points or 8.22 percent - the biggest single-day gain in recent weeks. Markets opened strong Friday with the Sensex up more than 300 points over its previous close and rallied upward throughout the day to finish at 9,788.06, up 743.55 points or 8.22 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 9,044.51 points. Analysts were, however, cautious to point out that despite the upward rally, there is still little depth in the market as investors continue to be jittery, especially now that the US has reported a contraction of its economy in the third quarter raising fears of a recession in the world‘s largest economy.

Compiled by -Varun Bhagath NSE Weekly GAINERS

Company Name

Day5

Day4

Day3

Day2

Day1

Today

Change

Change %

Sah Petroleums Ltd.

20.75

22.85

25.15

27.70

30.50

32.05

9.75

30.42

Kirloskar Brothers Ltd.

84.00

87.20

96.20

100.15

112.20

123.45

28.20

22.84

Alfa-Laval (India) Ltd.

691.75

830.10

840.90

855.80

871.60

860.40

179.85

20.90

Zenith Infotech Ltd.

217.35

208.90

204.20

224.35

264.85

249.80

47.50

19.02

Greenply Industries Ltd.

74.05

75.35

72.50

79.65

94.70

113.35

20.65

18.22

263.50

240.45

256.00

278.85

318.85

320.15

55.35

17.29

Gokaldas Exports Ltd.

90.55

94.25

97.85

93.50

112.20

134.65

21.65

16.08

Khandwala Securities Ltd.

24.75

28.15

24.10

27.00

29.00

26.90

4.25

15.80

Dewan Housing Finance

46.20

42.25

41.05

49.25

56.40

65.75

10.20

15.51

Ambuja Cements Ltd.

48.60

44.90

49.55

53.35

58.00

60.95

9.40

15.42

263.65

260.30

268.75

271.95

312.80

329.50

49.15

14.92

Day3

Day2

Day1

Today

Change

Change %

Hindustan Zinc Ltd.

Fag Bearings India Ltd. NSE Weekly Worst Performers Company Name

Day5

Day4

Time Technoplast Ltd.

397.75

347.35

326.00

370.90

37.95

37.55

359.80

958.19

United Phosphorous Ltd.

182.65

173.15

140.00

165.70

84.55

106.20

98.10

92.37

Allcargo Global Logistics Ltd.

570.00

456.00

364.80

344.45

311.40

289.00

258.60

89.48

Puravankara Projects Ltd.

87.50

47.70

50.55

55.30

51.15

47.85

36.35

75.97

Suzlon Energy Ltd.

77.90

47.10

46.90

52.10

46.15

44.40

31.75

71.51

Sanghi Industries Ltd.

43.05

36.80

31.05

33.00

28.00

25.30

15.05

59.49

210.30

205.35

164.30

172.85

138.30

129.15

72.00

55.75

53.65

45.70

38.40

39.75

34.60

35.95

19.05

52.99

Dishman Pharmaceuticals and... Brigade Enterprises Ltd.

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Editorial Social Entrepreneurship: Opportunity for new development or Opportunism? ―We can create a powerful alternative to the orthodoxy of capitalism - a social-consciousness-driven private sector, created by social entrepreneurs.‖ Muhammad Yunus , 2006 - Noble Peace prize winner A social entrepreneur is one who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial abilities to organize, create, and manage a venture to bring social change. A business entrepreneur on the other hand, is one who measures performance or return in monetary profit. Difference between a Business and Social Entrepreneur The difference between a social business and other businesses lies on its principle of social benefit. While dominant business enterprises are driven by profit-maximization and are intended to achieve some personal gains, social business operates with the aim of addressing a social cause. For this purpose, investors who want to do something noble with their money can invest in a business that works towards achieving a specific social objective or in a business that is owned by poor people who want to escape from poverty. The investors, however, are entitled to recover only the amount invested and not dividends. The surplus made here gets reinvested in the business itself either for expansion or for starting up another, related social business, thus passing on the gain back to the target group of beneficiaries. As Yunus aptly puts it, a social business is a ―non-loss, non-dividend business‖. The nascent field of social entrepreneurship is growing rapidly and attracting increased attention from many sectors. The reasons behind the popularity of social entrepreneurship are many. On the most basic level, there‘s something inherently interesting and appealing about entrepreneurs and the stories of why and how they do what they do. People are attracted to social entrepreneurs like 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus for many of the same reasons that they find business entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs so compelling – these extraordinary people come up with brilliant ideas and against all the odds succeed at creating new products and services that dramatically improve people‘s lives. Some of the historically noteworthy people whose work exemplifies classic "social entrepreneurship" include Florence Nightingale (founder of the first nursing school and developer of modern nursing practices), Robert Owen (founder of the cooperative movement) and Vinoba Bhave (founder of India's Land Gift Movement). During the 19th and 20th centuries some of the most successful social entrepreneurs successfully straddled the civic, governmental and business worlds - promoting ideas that were taken up by mainstream public services in welfare, schools and healthcare. Following are some of the examples of development through social entrepreneurship: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Grameen Bank SKS Microfinance Project Shakti and Annapurna Salt story at Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL) The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) ITC e-Choupal

Social Entrepreneurship as Opportunism Although, social entrepreneurship is an opportunity for the social development, many individuals and organizations use it as opportunism for their own benefit. It is the innate nature of a human being to shed their integrity for self benefit. There is no doubt, that there are a few sections of society that are selflessly working for the social cause. Three major such sections are 1. Those who have attained peak in their professional career have earned a lot of money and want to do something for the society. Many NRIs falls under this category, which left their job while at the peak of their career to either promote social entrepreneurship or themselves become a social entrepreneur. 2. Those who have suffered immense pain, scarcity and ignominy all through their life. They are the one who know what the basic problems are and how we can go on to eradicate them. If supported by some altruistic people, they become social entrepreneurs really interested in development of the society. 3. At last, there is a small chunk of people who are neither too rich nor suffered pain in their life, but are so moved by the sufferings of the society that they want to do something full-heartedly for the society and its improvement.

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TH E IBS TI ME S The Road Ahead Today lucrative offers from corporate world mean nothing for new generation `Y' or social entrepreneurs who are looking more at opportunities in the rural and underprivileged sector through independent ventures. Gen Y believes in changing and redefining systems, stretching the boundaries to be innovative and bring about a change; through a new concept of social entrepreneurship germinating in India. Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS), Narsee Monjee Institute of Management and Higher Studies (NMIMS) and S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (Department of Corporate Citizenship) in Mumbai and XLRI Jamshedpur have started offering programmes in Social Entrepreneurship. Apart from that, Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, IITs and IIMs are also encouraging social entrepreneurial education in a significant manner. As the training is getting more and more business oriented for social ventures, so are the finances, which is a very crucial aspect of any business. There are dedicated venture capitalists investing in such models, which have social impact and are also commercially viable at the same time. Acumen Fund and Aavishkaar India Micro Venture Capital Fund are two such examples. While the concept of social entrepreneurship is well organized in the Western world, in India it still needs to pick up. "This field is fledgling in India. To sum up, social enterprises should be seen as a positive force, as a change agent providing leading-edge innovation to unmet social needs

Compiled by -Gautam Lunawat

News at a glance-Stocks/Commodity/Money Market Cotton farmers’ hopes belied as meltdown hits prices It happened to sugarcane in 2006. This time, it is happening to soyabean and cotton — a case of growers responding enthusiastically to bullish crop price signals only to find their hopes belied during harvest. The primary reason for this — unknown to the majority of growers – was the growing international demand for Indian cotton in the wake of lower supplies from key producers. The domestic ramifications of this are beginning to be felt, as harvesting of the 2008-09 crop is in full swing with many areas already witnessing two rounds of picking. Farmers in Punjab‘s cotton belt are selling their crop at Rs 2,600-2,700 a quintal; better than last year but nowhere near the promised Rs 3,500-4,000 levels. The current rates are below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,800 a quintal fixed by the Centre for medium-long staple hybrids. Last year, the MSP was set way lower at Rs 1,950 a quintal. With market prices higher, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) — the nodal agency responsible for price support operations — did not have to intervene. This year, with market rates dipping below the MSP, CCI had to step in, though not to the farmers‘ satisfaction. Weak sentiment across commodities It was a disastrous week for the commodities market. There was an across-the-board collapse covering especially industrial metals, base metals, precious metals, ferroalloys, scrap and energy products. Among commodity groups, it is noticeable that energy and industrial metals saw the steepest falls, followed by precious metals. Agriculture markets have declined less. The collapse of the commodity market in tandem with the financial market reflects growing fears of a severe global recession. Currently, the markets concern is largely confined to the demand side with buyers adopting a wait-and-watch attitude. Withdrawal of credit facilities and uncertainty about future movements of the market has forced participants to turn extremely cautious. While consuming industries are in the process of de-stocking (using up existing stocks), producers have begun to undertake production cuts. Price falls have been so massive that low-cost producers have no choice but to cut back output. It is not only that steel, nickel and zinc producers who have announced output cuts; on Friday, OPEC too decided to cut crude output by 1.5 million barrels a day beginning November. Inflation declines further to 11.07% Continuing with its declining trend, the annual Wholesale Price Index-based inflation rose 11.07 per cent during the week ended October 11, below the previous week's annual rise of 11.44 per cent, on account of an across-the-board dip in inflation levels, Government data showed on Thursday. Inflation in the same period in the previous year at 3.07 per cent, however, was significantly lower. The official Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for `All Commodities' for the latest reported week declined by 0.3 per cent to 238.8 points from 239.6 points for the previous week. Textiles sector to take major hit' The Union Textiles Minister, Mr Shankersinh Vaghela, on Sunday said the unfolding global economic downturn is likely to impact the Indian textile exports in a "big way" whose quantum is yet to be estimated. "We are still analysing the situation and its likely impact," he told at a news conference here. In 2007-08, the Indian textile and clothing exports had increased 12.10 per cent in dollar terms, to reach $21.46 billion. This was estimated to increase by a further 15 per cent this fiscal till a few weeks ago.

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TH E IBS TI ME S Rupee dip to have mixed impact on gas cos Rupee depreciation has left a mixed impact on the gas industry. While producers of dollar denominated non-APM gas witness an unexpected increase in their revenues, city gas distribution (CGD) companies procuring LNG or non-APM gas for price-sensitive retail sales will incur substantial exchange losses. Transmission agencies are largely neutral to forex movement. Rupee depreciated by eight per cent from Rs 42.92 to Rs 46.45 a dollar during the July-September quarter. 3 PSUs to form joint venture for export of nuclear reactors Three public sector companies have decided to set up a joint venture for the export of nuclear power reactors. India has 13 reactors of this class currently in operation, and is perhaps the only country to have an actively working technology, design and infrastructure for the manufacture of commercially proven reactors of this size. With India now free to engage in nuclear energy commerce, the Nuclear Power Corporation is joining hands with BHEL and NTPC to set up a company by the end of this year Compiled by -Rohit Sinha

News at a glance—Industry/Govt/Economy Revenue, fiscal deficits may exceed budget estimates: Government The Government has admitted that the final figures of fiscal deficit and revenue deficit for the current fiscal might exceed the budget estimates, following the perceived slowdown in the global economy and its possible impact on India. This has been reflected in the fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) related quarterly review statement tabled by the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, in Parliament on Friday. The statement pertained to the first quarter of the current financial year. Even as the FRBM statement has recognised that the deficit targets are likely to be exceeded, it has said that the process of fiscal consolidation, which is a necessary pre-requisite for sustained growth, continues to be in focus, notwithstanding the slowdown in the economy due to global uncertainty and pressure of increase in crude prices. RBI opens liquidity tap again The RBI announced on Saturday a further 50 basis points cut in repo rate to 7.5 per cent with effect from November 3. The cash reserve ratio (CRR), the portion of deposits banks have to keep with RBI, is reduced by 100 basis points from 6.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent of net demand and time liabilities. This will be effected in two stages, first by 50 basis points retrospectively from the fortnight beginning October 25, and then by a further 50 basis points with effect from November 8. The measure is expected to release around Rs 40,000 crore into the banking system. Also, the SLR (the portion of deposits banks have to invest in government securities) is reduced by one percentage point to 24 per cent. A host of other measures, were also announced unlocking more than Rs 1,80,000 crore in additional funds for banks. In cutting the key rate for the second time in less than a fortnight, RBI joins other apex banks across the world taking similar measurers to ease the liquidity crunch in their respective economies and improve the availability of credit BPCL posts Rs 2,625 cr loss in Sept quarter Public Sector oil refining and marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has reported a whopping loss of Rs 2,625 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2008. The company had made a profit of Rs 1,038.16 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year. The losses were said to be on account of high crude prices and large under-recovery on sale of petrol, diesel and other products. The company had also suffered an exchange rate loss of Rs 714 crore during the quarter. Net sales for the quarter were up by 50 per cent to Rs 37,850 crore from Rs 25,170 crore in the year ago quarter Basic customs duty on jet fuel goes; IOC cuts price The basic customs duty of five per cent on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has been completely removed. The sale price of ATF has also been reduced by 15-17 per cent across the four metros. This will help bring down costs of domestic airlines. In the near term, it will reduce their losses. In the medium term it may lead to fare reductions. This is primarily because fuel constitutes 45-50 per cent of the operating cost of most domestic airlines. On Friday, Indian Oil announced that ATF will cost Rs 47.01 a litre in Delhi, down from Rs 56.44 a litre the previous month. Similarly, domestic airlines refueling in Chennai will now pay Rs 51.89 a litre as against Rs 62.05 the previous month. But, despite the Government announcements, the industry held out no promises of cutting fares or reducing surcharges immediately. This is because despite the drop in fuel prices, the cost equation remains largely the same as earlier. Oil prices are down but dollar-linked costs have shot through the roof. The depreciation of the rupee by 20 per cent has neutralized many benefits that airlines may have reaped.

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TH E IBS TI ME S Tata Steel hikes salaries at Jamshedpur At a time when steel companies globally are cutting production and actively considering reducing total employee strength, Tata Steel has revised upward the salaries payable to its employees while also doubling the minimum wage structure for employees at its Jamshedpur unit. The move comes a month after the steelmaker signed a bonus agreement with its Jamshedpur employees where the annual bonus amounted to 20% of the wages paid in 2007-2008. Tata Steel said that the revised wage agreement, signed with Tata Workers' Union, was for employees of the Jamshedpur unit including the tubes division, and that the period of operation for the revised wage agreement would be for 10 years till 2017. Tata Steel's agreement would cover workmen and supervisors who were earlier covered by a previous settlement in December 2001, when the Indian steel industry was also going through downturn after a blanket ban imposed by US, then the world's largest steel consumer. BOI hikes deposit rates on certain tenures State-run Bank of India (BoI) has hiked its interest rates on certain maturity deposits by 0.25-0.5 per cent from November 1. Deposits having a tenure of one year to 399 days will now attract an interest rate of 10 per cent as against 9.75 per cent earlier. Similarly, deposits in 400 days and 401 days to less than 2 years tenures will carry 10.5 per cent (10 per cent) and 10 per cent (9.75 per cent) respectively, the bank said. Interest rate on floating rate deposit scheme will be 0.25 per cent over the over the term deposit rates applicable for the relevant tenures of deposits for maturities of three years and above, the bank said. . GM India sales up 5.31 pc in October Car maker General Motors India on Saturday reported a 5.31 per cent rise in its domestic sales at 6,465 units in October, against 6,139 units in the same month a year ago. The sales comprised 855 units of multi-utility vehicle Chevrolet Tavera, 934 units of sedan and hatchback Chevrolet Aveo and Aveo U-VA, 153 units of the luxury sedan Chevrolet Optra, 4,390 units of its small car Chevrolet Spark and 133 units of Chevrolet Captiva.Sustaining the marginal growth in the depressing market is the result of the growing popularity of Chevrolet brand and the success of its new introductions like the Spark, U-VA and Captiva Tata Motors may build buses in South Africa Tata Motors is investigating the possibility of manufacturing buses at a plant near Pretoria with kits brought in from its Indian operations. The three new models of the vehicles were unveiled and will be available to the local market early next year. The buses made in its joint venture with Marco Polo were being brought into South Africa, but with the huge upsurge expected for bus demand ahead of the FIFA 2010 World Cup to be hosted here, the possibility of local assembly was being considered. Future Group gets going with Blue Foods buyout Future Group and its private equity arm Indivision India Partners have picked up a controlling 50% plus equity stake in the multicuisine lifestyle restaurants chain, Blue Foods through a structured transaction deal. The new promoters have merged Pan Foods Solutions — a JV between Pantaloon Retail and Blue Foods — with Blue Foods. The deal was concluded a week ago. Indivision is an arm of Future Capital Holdings (FCH). Blue Foods's flagship brands include Copper Chimney, Bombay Blue, Noodle Bar, Gelato Italiano, Spaghetti Kitchen, Cream Centre and a franchisee agreement with the California-based coffee chain. Compiled by - Abir Zara Khan & Uzma Rizvi

Market watch SENSEX 9788.06

743.55 NIFTY 2885.60

188.55

World Market Stock Exchange

Value

Stock Exchange

Value

Nasdaq (Oct 30)

1698.52

Dow Jones (Oct 30)

9180.69

Nikkei 225 (Oct 31)

8576.98

Jakarta Composite (Oct 31)

1256.70

Straits Times (Oct 31)

1794.20

Shanghai Composite (Oct 31)

1728.79

Taiwan Index (Oct 31)

4870.66

FTSE (Oct 31)

4264.95

KOSPI (Oct 31)

1113.06

CAC(Oct 31)

3380.30

Thailand SET

416.53

DAX(Oct 31)

4946.68 77.38

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TH E IBS TI ME S Company Profile– ACC Ltd.

(NSE listed company) ACC (Associated Cement Company Limited) is India's foremost manufacturer of cement and concrete. ACC's operations are spread throughout the country with 14 modern cement factories, more than 30 Ready mix concrete plants, 20 sales offices, and several zonal offices. It has a workforce of about 10,000 persons and a countrywide distribution network of over 9,000 dealers ACC was formed in 1936 when ten existing cement companies came together under one umbrella in a historic merger – the country‘s first notable merger at a time when the term mergers and acquisitions was not even coined. These companies belonged to four prominent business groups – Tatas, Khataus, Killick Nixon and F E Dinshaw groups. Products include: Cement, Blended cement, Bulk cement, Ready mix cement, Consultancy services, Quality (Research and development), Customer services ACC’s Vision declares the company‘s commitment to sustainable development. The Vision statement narrates these areas as: Delivering enduring value to investors and other stakeholders Welfare of community around us Developmental work in the areas of health, hygiene, education and infrastructure Being a socially responsible organization fulfilling its obligation to the community, society and nation

Company Information:

Consolidated Results for January to December 2007 Yearly

Yearly

Growth

Jan-Dec 2007

Jan-Dec 2006

%

Sales Volume

Million Tonnes

19.97

18.83

6.1

Sales Turnover

Rs.Crore

7067.43

5851.24

20.8

Profit Before Tax

Rs.Crore

1925.43

1633.46

17.9

Net Profit after Tax

Rs.Crore

1427.34

1239.60

15.1

Sale of Cement reached an all-time high of 19.97 million tonnes during the year 2007, representing an increase of 6.1%, as compared to the previous financial year. Total group turnover for the year was Rs. 7067.43 crore, up 20.8% over the group turnover in the previous year. Compiled by -Nidhi Gupta Web Address: http://www.acclimited.com

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Editorial Team Editors : Abir Zara Khan, Deepika Pandey, Gautam Lunawat, Ishita Singh, Kavitha Koteeswaran, Nidhi Gupta, Rohit Sinha, Sanjana Bhuwalka, Uzma Rizvi, Varun Bhagath Mentors : Puneet Thakur , Vishal Pasari Disclaimer: This newsletter is just a compilation of news from various sources. Thus, readers are expected to cross-check the facts before relying upon them. Though much care has been taken to present the facts without error, still if errors creep in, necessary feed backs will be always welcomed. Editors will not be responsible for any undertakings. The newsletter is not meant for sale and hence, no part of the newsletter should be used without the prior permission of the editorial team.

Sources: The Economics Times, The Hindu BusinessLine, Times of India, Business Standard, Financial Express, Financial Times, Business Week, Business World, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Moneycontrol.com, Vccircle.com, yahoofinance.com,

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http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/theibstimes Or

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