Thursday, January 1, 2009

Reliance group, Tatas increase profit margins in H1 ’08-09

NEW DELHI: It pays to be big. When Corporate India is rueing over faltering bottomline, the big brothers have succeeded in bucking the trend. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group, the biggest in terms of sales or the Tatas, the second biggest, both have increased their margins in the first half of the current year over the same period last year when most of the smaller groups have witnessed a decline in their margins.

The aggregate net profit of Mukesh Ambani group has increased 10.2% in the first half of 2008-09 while that of 27 companies of Tata Group has risen 10.4%. The growth rate of profit of both of them has decelerated compared to the same period of 2007-08 — net profit of Reliance and the Tatas had increased 32% and 24.5%, respectively, in the first six months of 2007-08 over the same period of 2006-07 — but what is important is that amidst faltering bottomline they have managed to increase their profit.

Much of the rise in Tata Group’s profit in the current year owes its origin to the good performance of its flagship company Tata Steel which has witnessed a sharp 35.8% rise in net margins in the first half following sharp rise in turnover — net sales increased 45% during this period. The net profit of Tata Motors, however, has declined during this period as tight demand conditions resulted in a fall in unit price realisation.

Net profit of Tata Motors has declined a huge 32.3% in the first half of the current year against a 24% rise in the same period last year. Of the 27 group companies , 16 have increased their net profit in the current year. Titan Industries and Tata Coffee have more than doubled their net profit during this period.

The deceleration in profit growth of Reliance in the current year at the other end, has largely been due to sharp rise in expenditure . The net sales of Reliance Industries (RIL) have grown by a huge 40.3% in the first half of the current year, but its total expenses have grown 47.2% during the same period following higher crude prices.

The raw materials cost of RIL, which accounts for more than 90% of its total expenses , have increased 67% during this period. The company has, however, still managed to increase its net profit by over 10%.

But if the Tatas or Mukesh Ambani group have managed to increase their bottomlines despite disproportionate rise in expenses , the Aditya Birla Group has witnessed a marginal decline in net profit in the current year. The aggregate net profit of nine Aditya Birla group companies has declined 0.8% in the first half of the current year against a massive 35.7% rise in the same period last year. The aggregate total expenses of these companies have grown 20.8% against 16.5% rise in net sales.

The group has witnessed a reversal despite good performance of its flagship company, Hindalco Industries. The net profit of Hindalco has increased 14.1% in the first half of the current year. Aditya Birla Nuvo too has recorded a more than 20% rise in net profit during this period. But poor performance of the cement companies, UltraTech Cement, Grasim Industries and Shree Digvijay Cement has affected the groups’s performance. The net profit of all these three companies has declined in the current year.

Many of the smaller business groups have done worse. RPG Enterprises, BK Birla, Videocon, Kirloskar, Dalmia, Thapar and Godrej have witnessed a decline in their net profits in the first half of 2008-09 over the corresponding period of last year. In fact, of the 42 business groups included in the study, as many as 23 have witnessed a fall in net profit in the current year while four others have incurred a net loss during the period.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Reliance_group_Tatas_increase_profit_margins_in_H1_08-09/articleshow/3924791.cms

ICICI Bank finally cuts home loan rates

MUMBAI: ICICI Bank has finally brought down its interest rates on home loans both for existing as well as new customers by 0.5%.

In a statement issued here the bank said that it has effected a reduction of 0.50% in its Floating Reference Rate (FRR) for home loans with effect from December 31, 2008. The revised FRR will be 13.75% p.a. as against 14.25% p.a. at present. All existing home and auto loan customers on floating interest raes will benefit from this reduction.

Existing home loan customers are likely to get almost immediate benefit as the interest rates for most customers are reset on the 1st day of every quarter. The bank has also announced a reduction of 0.50% in its Benchmark Advance Rate (I-BAR). The revised I-BAR will be 16.75% p.a. as against 17.25% p.a. at present.

The cut in rates is not likely to impact the bank's interest rate margins as the bank has also announced a reduction in interest rates for various tenors of retail Fixed Deposits by 0.50% to 0.75%.

Last week, State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, said it would slash its lending rate by 75 basis points from January 1.

The Reserve Bank of India has cut its main short-term lending rate by 250 basis points to 6.5 percent since October as the economy showed signs of slowing more than many had expected

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3922405.cms

Sensex firm as inflation eases; Hindalco lead

MUMBAI: Equities continued to gain momentum on Thursday led by metals, banking and real estate stocks. According to reports, the government may announce its second stimulus package as early as Saturday.

Meanwhile, inflation for week ended December 20 has come in line with market expectations. It dipped to 6.38 per cent against previous week of 6.61 per cent.

“Nifty continues to see strong hurdle around levels of 3000 with support far lower at 2820 levels. Any move above 3000 levels will see indices moving closer towards levels of 3040~3060 range. Short-term hurdle for Nifty on daily chart is pegged around levels of 3040, which coincides with 50 day EMA. Any sustained close above this level may bring in fresh up move once again towards acid-test range of 3150~3200 levels for Nifty. Traders are advised to follow strict stop loss on all their trades,” said Reliance Money report.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 2988.65, up 29.50 points or 1 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 2997.25 and a low of 2963.30.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 9771.80, up 124.49 points or 1.29 per cent. The index touched a high of 9777.35 and a low of 9711.64.

“Nifty has a support at 2930 followed by 2901. The resistance levels to watch would be 2995 followed by 3031. The support levels for the Sensex are at 9548 followed by 9449. The resistance levels to watch would be 9786 followed by 9925,” said Anand Rathi report.

BSE Midcap Index was at 1.87 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index was at 2.08 per cent.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Metal Index was up 3.76 per cent, BSE Bankex gained 1.96 per cent and BSE Realty Index moved up 1.75 per cent.

Sterlite Industries (4.33%), Hindalco Industries (4.16%), Tata Steel (3.44%), Satyam Computers (3%) and ICICI Bank (2.73%) were the top Sensex gainers.

Ranbaxy Laboratories (-1.76%), Hindustan Unilever (-0.20%), ITC (-0.17%), Bharti Airtel (-0.16%) and NTPC (-0.11%) were the major Sensex losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1517 advances and 509 declines.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Stocks/Market_News/Sensex_firm_as_inflation_eases_Hindalco_lead/articleshow/3921747.cms