Thursday, October 22, 2009

INDIA INC’S PAT TO GROW AT 23% THIS FISCAL

India Inc is likely to witness a 22.8% growth in its profit after tax (PAT) in the current fiscal, an economic think-tank has said in its report. “Corporate sales growth will average at a meagre 4.1% in 2009-10. At the same time, the PAT will rise by a robust 22.8%,” the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its latest report.

The manufacturing sector (excluding petroleum sector) would report a 24.3% growth in PAT mainly because of low prices of raw material and soft interest rates, CMIE said, adding that the PAT of the financial and non-financial services would rise by 32.2% and 20.4%, respectively.

The Financial Express
INDIA INC ON A FUND RAISING SPREE, RAISES $9 BN

India Inc is on a fund raising spree, garnering $9 billion (Rs 32,400 crore at the current exchange rates) through sale of shares and convertible bonds to institutional buyers since April as companies, locked out from capital markets for almost a year due to the liquidity crisis, rush to finance growth plans.

The Economic Times
PM ECONOMIC PANEL SEES 2009-10 GDP GROWTH AT 6.5%

India’s accommodative monetary policy may continue until the end of March, with the need for tightening once inflation picks up, a government panel that advises the prime minister said on Wednesday. Former central bank governor C. Rangarajan, who heads the panel, said growth in the fiscal year that ends in March 2011 would accelerate to 7 to 8% after growing by about 6.5% in 2009/10, with inflation at around 6 percent by the end of March 2010.

MINT/Reuters
CROSS BORDER DEALS: NOW IS AS GOOD A TIME AS EVER

One of the most intriguing ironies of the business world is the fact that when economies are booming and asset prices skyrocket, we see companies making audacious bids to buy other companies. On the other hand, when the economy takes a tumble and asset prices are at historic lows, we see CEOs become inward-looking and go into defensive mode, even though they might be in a relatively good position.

Bleak economic scenarios like the present time should be used by strong companies to bolster their standing in their respective industries and to orchestrate "game-changing" initiatives, prime among which is mergers & acquisitions. It's a buyers' market and companies acting now are likely to emerge as winners when the upswing comes. Now is as good a time as ever for dealmaking.

Bangkok Post
INDIA'S HNI CLUB TO SWELL 3 TIMES IN 10 YEARS

India and China are together projected to treble the number of high net worth individuals (HNIs) from 4.48 lakh in 2008 in the next one decade, as per a report collated by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Capgemini, which pegged the number of Indian HNIs at 84,000 for the past year. After seeing a 22.7% growth in the population of HNI in 2007 to 1.23 lakh - the highest percentage jump in the world - India saw a 31.6% drop in the number of HNIs past year. India happened to witness the second-biggest drop in the population of the rich, as defined by the survey, behind Hong Kong, which recorded a 60% drop in HNIs in 2008.

The survey defined HNIs as those with investable assets of at least $1 million (Rs 5 crore), excluding their primary residence and consumables. With the Indian economy showing clear signs of revival and the stock market bouncing back, the number of HNIs in the country is expected to bounce back soon.

The Economic Times

Monday, October 05, 2009

WHY BHARTI-MTN BROKE UP?

A mega transnational deal and over USD 20 billion transaction, a new south-south alliance, the creation of the world’s third largest telecom firm, two public attempts, unprecedented government lobbying, a combined 12 months of negotiations, thousands of hours in legal fees and yet this deal came unstuck.

Bundeep Singh Rangar, Chairman of IndusView; Lauri-Lynn Pursall, Partner of Mayer Brown; and Vivek Gupta, Partner at BMR Advisors discuss what went wrong in the Bharti-MTN deal

CNBC-TV18