Birla Sun Life MF eyes Rs 6,000 cr equity assets next fiscal

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund aims to garner around Rs 6,000 crore of equity assets in the next financial year, an increase of 40 per cent from the current level, to raise the overall pie of this segment.

With Rs 90,000 crore of average assets under management (AUM), Birla Sun Life is the fourth largest fund house with an equity asset of over Rs 12,000 crore as of now. This makes it the seventh largest MF in terms of equity base.“We have seen net inflows of around Rs 600 crore in equities from April till date...we want to cross $1 billion-mark (Rs 6,000 crore) under this asset base by next fiscal,” Birla Sun Life MF Chief Executive A Balasubramanian told PTI.

Referring to the steps taken up by Birla Sun Life to expand asset base, Balasubramanian said: “We are stepping up our efforts with more distribution engagement...our focus is also to increase penetration in B-15 markets.”He said the private MF house is looking at increasing the equity investor base by turning inactive folios into active ones. The fund house is also opening zero account folios of investors who can invest in MF schemes in future.

RBI to hold rates tomorrow; see GDP sub-5% in Q4FY14: HSBC

All eyes are once again on Reserve Bank’s Raghuram Rajan as he gets ready to announce year end policy on Tuesday. Leif Eskesen, Chief Economist-India & Asean, HSBC expects the RBI to maintain status quo tomorrow. However, he does not think the central bank’s tightening cycle has ended.

 He says HSBC's PMI indicator has firmed to some extent and inflation is moving in the right direction - headline inflation has come down though a significant part of it is food inflation and core inflation continues to remain relatively stable, which is a problem. But disinflationary tendencies that RBI was looking at in its forward guidance as a precondition for remaining on hold last time, seems to have been fulfilled, hence maybe RBI will maintain status quo, he explains.

He says RBI’s monetary policy needs to be tighter going ahead than it is now if it wants inflation to be 6 percent or lower from 2016 onwards. He expects consumer price index or CPI to be below 8 percent by 2014-end. He expects to see some easing in core inflation, but not much. Eskesen further expects gross domestic product or GDP to be sub-5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Current account deficit may be contained at $33 b this fiscal

The current account deficit (CAD) for 2013-14 is likely to be contained at around $33 billion, much lower than the initial projection of $70 billion and around $88 billion of 2012-13.

One of the two primary components of the balance of payments, CAD is the sum of the balance of trade (net revenue on exports minus payments for imports), factor income (earnings on foreign investments minus payments made to foreign investors) and cash transfers.

“The year could end with CAD of 1.8 per cent of GDP,” Saumitra Chaudhuri, Planning Commission Member, told Business Line. The deficit is down mainly due to significantly lower gold import and recovery in exports. This new estimate has also come amidst the rupee strengthening and breaching the 60/$ mark, and the RBI adding dollars to the forex reserves. Now, it is expected that lower CAD will further boost the rupee.

The latest estimate is better than the $40 billion Finance Minister P Chidambaram had projected in a statement on March 7. It is also close to Nomura’s projection of $34.7 billion. It may be noted that CAD in first nine months (April-December) of current fiscal stood at $31.2 billion.

PE funds to buy 49% stake in PNB Housing Finance

Private equity (PE) funds General Atlantic Partners and Apax Partners are planning to buy 49% stake owned by Destimoney in Punjab National Bank's (PNB’s) housing finance company PNB Housing Finance.  New Silk Route (NSR), which owns majority stake in Destimoney, has appointed Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for the PNB stake.

Housing companies are generally valued at 1.2 times of their net worth. PNB Housing Finance has a net worth of Rs 620 crore until fiscal March 31, 2013. This benchmark will offer PNB Housing Finance a valuation of roughly Rs 744 crore. Punjab National Bank has reported 42.14% fall in its net profit at Rs 755.41 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 1305.62 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank has increased by 3.68% at Rs 11922.30 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 11499.27 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

RBI extends Basel III deadline to March 2019

Giving some respite to the Indian banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended deadline for banks to implement global capital norms, Basel III, by a year to March 2019 amid concerns over the asset quality and profitability of the banks.

The RBI notified that prevailing slowdown in Indian industries has been putting pressure on the asset quality and thus impacting performance/profitability of the banks. Therefore, RBI decided to extend time for banks to raise capital within the internationally agreed timeline for full implementation of the Basel III capital regulations. Indian banks will now align full implementation of Basel III norms closer to the internationally agreed date of 1 January 2019.

The central bank has also revised certain aspects of guidelines like Minimum Common Equity Tier 1, Capital conservation buffer (CCB) and loss absorption features of non-equity capital instruments. However, the central bank issued more strict norms for Indian banks as compared to Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). Under Basel III, total capital (Tier 1 and Tier 2) of a bank in India must be at least 9 per cent of risk weighted assets (RWAs) while, the BCBS requirement is minimum 8 per cent of RWAs.The RBI suggested Indian banks that capital requirements are substantially lower during the initial years as compared to later years for full implementation of Basel III Guidelines and therefore banks should consider this aspect carefully while undertaking their capital planning exercise. Referring to the dividend distribution, the RBI recommended that the dividend on common shares and perpetual non-cumulative preference shares (PNCPS) will be paid out of current year's profit only. If the coupon payment on perpetual debt instrument (PDI) would lead to result in losses in the current year, then declaration should be precluded to that extent. Coupons on perpetual debt instruments should not be paid out of retained earnings or reserves.

Lupin enters Mexico through an acquisition

Lupin Ltd has acquired Mexico’s speciality pharmaceutical company Laboratorios Grin, for an undisclosed sum. The move marks Lupin’s entry into the Mexican and larger Latin American market.

Mexico is one of the fast-growing pharmaceutical markets, valued at over $13.5 billion and growing at 9-10 per cent annually.Incorporated in 1955, Grin makes and sells branded ophthalmic products, and recorded revenues of approximately $28 million in 2013. The company has over 275 employees.

Vinita Gupta, Lupin’s Chief Executive Officer, said the acquisition is a reflection of Lupin’s commitment to expand into the Latin American market and build its global specialty business. “We see a lot of synergies in this acquisition and plan to bring our ophthalmic pipeline to build the Grin business as well as leverage their commercial presence to enter other promising therapy segments,” she said in a company statement.

Investment limit in CPI-linked bonds hiked to Rs10 lakh for individuals

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has doubled the maximum limit for investment in inflation-indexed bonds to Rs10 lakh per annum for individuals. Further, the investment limit for institutions like Hindu undivided family (HUF), Charitable Trusts, Education Endowments and similar institutions that are not profit-seeking in nature has been increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh per annum.  The subscription for the inflation indexed national savings securities-cumulative will remain open till March 31.

The central bank has introduced Inflation Indexed bonds in December 2013 for retail investors with a view to provide a positive rate of return on their investment. Interest rate on these bonds is linked to Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Inflation-indexed bond is similar to any other government security. While, interest rate payable on these bonds comprise two parts  include 1.5% fixed rate per annum and an inflation rate based on the final combined CPI compounded in the principal on a half-yearly basis and paid at the time of maturity. Final combined CPI with a lag of three months is used to calculate incremental inflation rate.

Shriram City's Rs 200-crore NCD to open on April 16

Shriram City union Finance's Rs 200 crore non-convertible debentures (NCDs) will open for subscription on April 16. The company is aiming to garner Rs 100 crore through NCDs with an option to retain over subscription to the extent of another Rs 100 crore, aggregating to a total of Rs 200 crore.

NCDs are loan-linked securities issued by a company and cannot be converted into stocks and usually carry a higher interest rate than a convertible debenture. The issue would open on April 16 and close on May 16, as per draft prospectus filed with Sebi. The funds raised through the issue are to be used for financing and lending activities, to repay existing loans and meet business operations, including for capital expenditure and working capital requirements.

"Public issue by Shriram City of secured redeemable NCDs of face value of Rs 1,000 each, aggregating up to Rs 100 crore, with an option to retain over subscription up to Rs 100 crore for issuance of additional NCDs aggregating to a total of up to Rs 200 crore," the company said.

Corporate Affairs Ministry notifies 183 more sections in new company law

Corporate India will have to brace up for a comprehensively new company law regime from April 1 with the Corporate Affairs Ministry notifying most of the provisions under this new legislation enacted last year.On Wednesday, the Ministry notified 183 sections of this law including those concerning auditor rotation, one-person company and mandatory secretarial audit.This is in addition to the nearly 98 sections that were notified in the first phase. With the latest move, the company law will be substantially operalitionalised from April 1.The rules for the provisions are expected in the next few days.

The areas which are yet to be notified are compromise and arrangement, oppression and mismanagement, winding up, sick companies, special courts, national company law tribunal, national financial reporting authority and investor education and protection fund.With the latest changes, the responsibilities of Boards, committees and those of directors, including independent directors has significantly been enhanced, said Sai Venkateshwaran, Partner and Head, Accounting Advisory Services, KPMG in India.

Auditors’ reporting responsibilities have also been significantly enhanced together with more stringent penalties and independence requirements, he added.Companies will have to ensure compliance from April 1 as there is no specific transition period for most of the provisions, said Lalit Kumar, Partner, J Sagar Associates, a law firm.The exception will only be for the transition period provided in the company law itself (for example one year in the case of Board composition), he pointed out.Dolphy D’ Souza, senior partner, S.R.Batliboi & Co, said it’s absolutely clear that corporate boards will now have to gear up for the new regime from April 1.

L&T inches up as its arm bags orders worth Rs 1981 crore in March

L&T is currently trading at Rs. 1276.40, up by 1.20 points or 0.09% from its previous closing of Rs. 1275.20 on the BSE.

The Buildings a Factories Business of L&T Construction, subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has bagged new housing orders worth Rs 1981 crore in March 2014. A major residential order has been bagged in Bangalore from one of south India’s leading property developers which is also the company’s biggest residential order in this financial year. The scope of work involves civil, structural, MEP and finishing for 24 towers and 271 villas. The towers will comprise of two basements plus ground floor with levels varying from 18 floors to 29 floors and the project is scheduled to be completed in 42 months.

Another order has been received from an esteemed customer for construction of residential township in Gujarat. The project involves turnkey construction of 134 housing units. The construction includes civil, structural, MEP, finishes and other associated works.The Buildings a Factories Business caters to design a build construction of residential buildings including high rise towers, airports, information technology and institutional space, holistic health care centres, hotels, malls, cement plants, other factories and other commercial structures in domestic and international market.

Moody's put India at less vulnerable place on lowering CAD

Credit rating agency Moody's has came up with a report that is likely to soothe the nerves of outgoing government and give some respite to the coming government. In its latest report the ratings agency has said that the sharp fall in India's current account deficit (CAD), will limit its vulnerability to global financial market volatility, though persistently high inflation remains a major risk.

India's CAD, the broad measure of gap between dollar outflows and inflows, dropped sharply to $4.2 billion or 0.9% of GDP during the passing quarter (October-December 2013) from $31.9 billion or 6.5% of GDP in the same quarter last year, the lowest level in eight years. The decline was due to rising exports and measures to rein in huge gold imports. Now the country is looking on course to contain the deficit within $45 billion in 2013-14, down from $88 billion last year.

Moody’s Investors Service further stated that a reduction in India's current account deficit will limit its susceptibility to swings in global financial markets. The agency which rates India's sovereign debt at “Baa3” with a stable outlook, however warned that the country's high inflation rate still poses risk.

ONGC soars on plan to invest Rs 2476 crore in Vasai East field development

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will take up additional development of its Vasai East Field in Arabian Sea at a total estimated capital cost of Rs 2476.82 crore. The project, scheduled to be completed by December 2018, will result in incremental Oil production of 1.83 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) and incremental Gas production of 1.971 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) by 2030.The company has received its board approval on March 24, 2014. This project will improve the Recovery factor of Vasai East field with infill wells towards north & south side of the field with two well platforms VSEB and VSEC and utilizing existing surface facilities at process platform of BPA and BCPA-2 with minor modifications.

Meanwhile, the ONGC Board, in the same meeting also approved a second interim dividend of Rs 4.25 per equity share, i.e. 85% on the equity share of Rs 5 each for the financial year 2013-14. This is in addition to an interim dividend of hundred percent (i.e. Rs. 5 per equity share of Rs 5 each) on 8,555,490,120 shares declared and paid in December, 2013. The total payout on account of this 2nd Interim Dividend would be Rs 3636.08 crore.

ONGC is currently trading at Rs. 325.10, up by 5.00 points or 1.56% from its previous closing of Rs. 320.10 on the BSE.

Educomp up 8% on getting approval for corporate debt recast

Shares of  Educomp Solutions rallied as much as 7.7 percent intraday on Wednesday on getting approval for its corporate debt recast package from CDR panel.

 "The request for restructuring debts outstanding on reference date (July 08, 2013) comprising working capital debt of Rs 399.04 crore and long term debt of Rs 83.05 crore with CDR lenders has been approved by CDR Empowered Group vide letter of approval dated March 19, 2014," the company said in its filing.

 The company further said the restructuring package agreed with CDR lenders (led by State Bank of Patiala) envisages extended repayment tenure of 10 years including moratorium period of 2.5 years from cut off date (April 01, 2013) and funding of interest for a period of 2 years from cut off date. The education solutions provider had approaced CDR cell for restructuring of its debts on June 27, 2013. Then the CDR cell had admitted the flash report of company in its meeting held on July 25, 2013. At 10:45 hours IST, the stock rose 4.68 percent to Rs 24.60 amid large volumes on the BSE.

Oberoi Realty, the new owner of Tata Steel Borivali Land

Tata Steel Board today declared M/s Oberoi Realty Limited  as the highest bidder of the auction on the basis of their final bid of Rs 1155 crores, after several rounds of bidding. As per the laid down process, the sale will be concluded after all requisite permissions are obtained, said the announcement on the stock exchange. 

In which case, Oberoi Realty is now required to pay 10% of bid value as earnest money deposit (EMD) within 2 days of signing the letter of intent (LoI). The balance due is to be paid by April-end 2014. Sources say, the LoI is likely to be signed on 29th April 2014. If the developer fails to obtain the requisite NOCs within three months, the MOUs would automatically be cancelled.

 Oberoi Realty is understood to have outbid other big industry guns like Lodha Group, Kalpataru, Peninsula Land, Indiabulls & Tata Housing Development Ltd that were in the fray. The issues revolving around the acquisition of the non objection certificate (NOC) from the labour authorities and collector's permission for the sale of Sanad property forming part of the entire Tata Steel property is keeping Tata Housing in the race, according to sources.

SEBI allows 100 alternative funds to operate in India

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed 100 entities to set up Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in less than two years. AIFs are basically funds established in India for the purpose of pooling in capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per pre-decided policy.

The 100 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) have been registered with SEBI since July 2012. Out of which, around 11 entities got market regulator's approval during current year to operate in the country, while 67 AIFs got approval in 2013 and the remaining 22 in 2012. SEBI had notified guidelines for this new class of market intermediaries in May 2012 and these guidelines apply to all AIFs, including those operating as private equity funds, real estate funds and hedge funds, among others.

As per market regulator, AIFs can operate broadly in three categories. The Category-I AIFs include Social Venture Funds, Infrastructure Funds, Venture Capital Funds and SME Funds which can get incentives from the government, SEBI or other regulators. The Category-III AIFs includes hedge funds which can trade with a view for making short-term returns. The Category-II AIFs are private equity funds, debt funds or fund of funds and can invest anywhere in any combination but are prohibited from raising debt, except for meeting their day-to-day operational requirements.In August 2013, SEBI notified that promoters of listed companies can offload 10 percent of their equity to AIFs registered with it so as to meet the norm of having a minimum of 25 percent public holding.

Jaiprakash Associates to sell 74% stake in cement manufacturing unit in Bokaro to Dalmia Cement

Jaiprakash Associates has inked an agreement to sell its 74 per cent stake in a cement manufacturing unit in Bokaro to Dalmia Cement (Bharat) for around Rs 1,150 crore. It will help the company to cut the Rs 60,000 crore debts on its books. The company is planning to trim the debt by Rs 15,000 crore by March end.

Jaypee Group is the country’s third largest cement maker. Swiss major Holcim owns majority stake in both ACC and Ambuja Cement with a combined capacity of around 52 mtpa in India.

Indian rupee surges to seven and half months high

Indian rupee continuing its jubilation made another strong start, surging to its seven and half months high on Tuesday morning. The domestic currency has gained momentum tracking broad global losses in the dollar and as foreign investors continued to buy into the Indian equities. Though, the local share markets have today made a somber start on weak global cues, the rupee strengthened with dollar selling by exporters. In global markets, euro held gains versus most of its major counterparts before European Central Bank President Mario Draghi speaks today.

The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 60.50, stronger by 28 paise from its previous close of 60.78 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 60.60 and 60.50 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 60.70 and for Euro stood at 83.80 on March 24, 2014. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.26, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 100.1053. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai. 

Date	1US$	1GBP
March 24, 2014	60.70	100.1053
March 21, 2014	61.04	100.8061

(RBI-Reference rate)

See better sales in Mar; will launch Ciaz in Q2FY15

After the success of Celerio,  Maruti is ready with yet another launch, the mid-sized Sedan Ciaz. The company will be launching it in Q2FY15. Celerio has done phenomenally well even during the slowdown. The car has 30,000 bookings. And with March being a traditionally a good month, the company expects to better its February sales numbers.

Mayank Pareek, managing executive officer-marketing & sales, Maruti Suzuki says that the launch of Ciaz doesn’t mean that the customers are phasing out the SX4 sedan but is instead a move to strengthen the company’s portfolio. On the success of the Celerio, Pareek says, “These automatic variants have taken the market by storm. So we are now working on increasing our capacity for Celerio production.” Pareek adds that capacity isn’t as much an issue as the supply to the vendor and the company is now actively working towards improving the same. “I am expecting much stronger sales in March as this is the time when we see new customers in the form of corporates, government, companies’ B2B businesses,” adds Pareek optimistically.

P-Notes investment increases to 3-month high at Rs 1.73 lakh crore in February 2014

Foreign investments into Indian markets through Participatory Notes (P-Notes), surged  to its highest level in three months at around Rs 1.73 lakh crore in February, as compared to Rs 1.63 lakh crore in the previous month.

Investments into Indian markets (equity, debt and derivatives) via P-Notes have been rising over the past few months mainly on hopes of a stable government after general election starting next month. Further, the macro-economic factors like moderation in India’s current account deficit as well as easing inflation can also be attributed for increase in foreign investments in the country.Investment through P-Notes have been accounting for around 15-20 percent of the total FII holdings in India since 2009. Earlier, in 2008, P-Notes used to account for more than 50 percent of the total FII investments but their share has fallen after SEBI tightened the disclosure norms and other regulations for P-Notes investments.

During February 2014, FIIs, the key drivers of Indian markets, have pumped in around Rs 1,400 crore in the Indian equity market and Rs 11,337 crore in the debt market. Increasing foreign investment in the country has also brought stability in the rupee value against the dollar.

BHEL hits Rs 3,000-crore order jackpot

Power equipment PSU Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has secured an order valued at Rs 3,000 crore for the supply of 2x800 MW steam generators (boilers) with supercritical parameters for a power project in Odisha.

The order was given by NTPC Ltd for its power project coming up at Darlipali in Odisha, BHEL said in a communication to the stock exchanges.The company said that that the latest order has put the total orders that BHEL had received for supercritical boilers of 660 MW, 700 MW and 800 MW ratings to 32 sets, establishing its premier position in supercritical technology.

The contract involves design, engineering, supply and commissioning of the steam generators and associated auxiliaries. The key equipment would be produced at BHEL’s Tiruchi, Ranipet, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Bangalore plants and its Power Sector - Southern Region would be responsible for civil works and erection / commissioning of the plant.BHEL said that with a view to meeting the demand growth it has hiked its manufacturing capacity to 20,000 MW per year.

The shares of BHEL (face valure Rs 2) were trading at Rs 188, a gain of Rs 1.05, on the BSE.

Rupee surges to 60.65 against dollar

The Indian rupee surged to 60.65 against the American currency on stronger capital flows into the domestic equity markets and tracking gains in Asian currencies.

The domestic unit gained 45 paise on Friday, posting its biggest daily gain in two weeks, to close at 60.92 against the dollar.

At 12.18 pm, the unit was trading at 60.71 per dollar.

It opened flat against its Friday’s close of 60.92 amid stronger capital flows and dollar gaining strength in the overseas market.A higher opening in the domestic equity market and strengthening of the euro against the dollar overseas supported the rupee, dealers said.Rupee sentiments are boosted as foreign investors continue to invest dollars in the emerging markets, especially India.Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained over 1.5 per cent.

Call rates, bond yields fall

The inter-bank call money rate, interest rate at which banks borrow money from each other to overcome short-term liquidity mismatches, was trading weaker at 8.80 per cent from a close of 9.0 per cent on Friday.

The 8.83 per cent 10-year benchmark bond, maturing in 2023, rose to Rs 100.33 from Friday’s close of Rs 100.20, while the yield softened to 8.77 per cent from 8.79 per cent.

RIL changes contracts, gas price to rise 10% over new rate of $ 8.3

Reliance industries has made drastic changes in gas supply contracts that will jack up its KG-D6 gas price by 10 per cent over and above the new rate of USD 8.3 coming into effect from next month. 

RIL has circulated to urea manufacturing fertiliser units a new Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) for supply of natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields from April 1 upon expiry of current 5-year supply contract at month end. The heat produced from natural gas is measured in calorific value. The heat rate is measured in gross (GCV) or net (NCV) basis. One GCV equals to 0.9 NCV and so on a like to like basis billing urea plants the new price of USD 8.3 per mmBtu on GCV would mean an actual rate of USD 9.13 on NCV basis. 

As per preliminary calculations made by the oil ministry, the new rate in April will be USD 8.3 per mmBtu. But the ministry is unhappy with the rate and has asked for reworking of some of the numbers.

Gas accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the production cost of urea. An increase of USD 1 per mmBtu in gas price translates into an enhanced cost of production of about Rs 1,369 per ton. For 18 million tons of urea produced from gas, USD 1 per mmBtu price increase translates into an increase in cost of almost Rs 2,465.1 crore.A USD 4 per mmBtu increase in rate would mean Rs 9860.4 crore increase in cost of production and using GCV method would mean a further Rs 2,046 crore increase in cost.

Next government to implement GST: Ahluwalia

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia stressing on the need to bring in Goods and Services Tax (GST), has exuded confidence that whoever  forms the next government would be in a position to implement key reforms, including the GST.

GST, the proposed new indirect tax regime and one of the biggest taxation reforms in India will replace existing state and federal levies such as excise duty, service tax and value-added tax (VAT) and will integrate State economies and boost overall growth. Under GST, the taxation burden will be divided equitably between manufacturing and services, through a lower tax rate by increasing the tax base and minimizing exemptions.

The GST rollout has missed several deadlines on account of differences over the contentious issues of central sales tax compensation and the design of the GST structure between the states and the Centre. Initially it was scheduled to be launched in April 2010, but since then there was no political consensus.Recently, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had said that his party was in favour of bringing in the GST but claimed it was the Central government that had not done the preparation required for its implementation.

Axis Bank stake sale tomorrow, price band at Rs 1290-1357

Government will sell less than half of its stake held through SUUTI in Axis Bank tomorrow through a block deal for upto Rs 5,700 crore.

Specified Undertaking of UTI (SUUTI), formed in 2003 is an offshoot of erstwhile UTI, holds 20.72 per cent in Axis Bank.

The government is selling 4.2 crore shares or about nine per cent of its holding in a block deal tomorrow in the price band of Rs 1,290—1,357 per share, sources said.Merchant bankers have initiated the process for stake sale, they added.

Shares of the lender closed 2.1 per cent down at Rs 1,356.85 apiece on the BSE today.

Block deal is a trade with a minimum quantity of 5 lakh shares or minimum value of Rs 5 crore executed through a single transaction on this separate window of the stock exchange.

SUUTI in January had appointed three merchant bankers - J P Morgan, Citigroup Global Markets and JM Financial - for sale of its stake in Axis Bank.

Sources said there will be a six month lock—in period following the share sale.

Govt likely to achieve revised disinvestment target of Rs 16,000 crore with CPSE-ETF

With strong investor response to the current CPSE-Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), the government is likely to achieve the revised disinvestment target of Rs 16,000 crore for the current fiscal. Buoyed by strong demand from retail and institutional investors, CPSE- ETF, involving the equity shares of ten PSUs, has garnered cumulative bids of over Rs 2,400 crore at the end of third day on March 20. The government aims to garner Rs 3,000 crore from this ETF with the closure of the new fund offer by March 21.

The CPSE-ETF, which will get listed on the stock exchanges on April 11 and can be traded like any stock, consists of a basket of 10 blue-chip public sector enterprises, including Coal India, ONGC, Oil India and IOCL and among other. CPSE-Exchange Traded Fund, which opened for anchor investors. State Bank of India and insurance companies, have already put in Rs 835 crore into this ETF.

The Government had originally planned to raise Rs 30,000 crore through disinvestments during current fiscal, but after stake sale plan with regard to some of the PSUs did not go as planned, it pruned the target to Rs 16,000 crore. Now the government is tapping the ETF route for achieving disinvestment target. The government has so far undertaken two follow-on public offers (FPOs), six offers for sale (OFS) and one buy-back offer besides the present ETF to achieve the disinvestment targets during the current year.

RBI working on new regulatory structure to strengthen country’s financial sector

In a move to strengthen the country’s financial sector, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan asserted that there was considerable introspection going on within the central bank for formatting a new regulatory structure as a number of RBI’s internal committees are assessing the various concerns like need of seamless regulations and the level of regulatory arbitrage required while regulating institutions with similar functions.

Concerned over rising NPAs level of banks in India, the Governor highlighted the need for banks to improve their 'credit risk management' skills as well as power over the borrowers. The apex bank is also working on new bankruptcy law and distress resolution mechanisms, which would help to address the issue. He further highlighted that banks should work hard to bring inflation down along with inflation premium and the credit risk premium.

Expressing the need to improve human resources, RBI chief stated that the central bank is planning to introduce more training institutes for banks’ employees and set tests for banks’ top officials, and accord a 'fit and proper’ criteria for directors that would include grasp over the basics of the business, annual reports, balance sheets and risk management.

IDBI Bank raises $ 300 million through offshore bonds

State-owned IDBI Bank on Wednesday has raised Rs 1,828 crore or US $ 300 million through offshore bonds offering 5.05% coupon over five years. The bank will use the proceeds at their Dubai branch only. 

"Our issue was oversubscribed by seven times," said N S Venkatesh, head - treasury at IDBI Bank. "We collected about 2.02 billion as against the stipulated size. We have refunded the oversubscription. There is a huge appetite for Indian securities." 

As per initial guidance IDBI Regulation S bonds were initially proposed to be priced at 370 basis points over the five year US Treasury rate. But, the final price was derived at 350 over US Treasury, which is at 1.55%. This was due to higher subscription demand. The lender needs not to take any hedging as it is a natural hedge as funds will not be brought back to India.Investors from Asia, Europe and Middle East have invested in the IDBI Bank bonds. The bank has planned to raise about US$ 5 billion under the medium term notes or MTN of which it has already exhausted US$ 3.2 billion. 

US Regulation S is a securities offering, both public and private, which is made by an issuer outside of the United States. 

RBI allows more banks to import gold under 80/20 scheme

Easing some restrictions on inward shipments of gold, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed more banks, including Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, to import gold under the 80/20 scheme. Till now, only six banks and three financial institutions were allowed by the central bank to import gold under the 80/20 scheme.

Gold is the second largest import item for India after crude oil and is mainly utilised to meet the demand of jewellery industry. The government had taken various measures like high customs duty of 10% and 80/20 rule to curb gold shipments to check country’s widening current account deficit (CAD). Under the 80/20 scheme, which was introduced in August last year, nominated agencies could import gold on condition that 20 percent of the shipment would be exported and the remainder would be kept for domestic use.

Meanwhile, the government’s measures to contain gold imports have started yielding results as imports of gold and silver declined by 70% to $1.6 billion during first eleven months of current fiscal from a year earlier. India’s gold import is likely to come down to around 550 tonnes in FY13 from 845 tonnes in FY13 due to these restrictions. Contracting India’s gold imports also helped to contain the current account deficit (CAD) to $31.1 billion (2.3% of GDP) during the April-December FY14 period as compared to $69.8 billion (5.2% of GDP) reported in the same period of previous fiscal year. The CAD is expected to narrow to around $50 billion during the current financial year.

SKS Microfinance strengthens on completing Rs 26.73 crore securitization

SKS Microfinance on March 19 completed the tenth securitisation transaction of Rs 26.73 crore during the current financial year. With this, the total sum of securitisations completed for FY14 (year-to-date) is Rs 1,377.94 crore, the company said in its filing.The entire pool qualifies for priority sector treatment as per RBI's priority sector lending guidelines.

The pool is rated A1+ (SO) by a leading rating agency signifying a very strong degree of safety regarding timely payment of financial obligations. Such instruments carry the lowest credit risk.

Deposits continue to outpace credit growth; up 15.55%: RBI

Bank deposits continued to outpace credit growth, clipping at 15.55 percent year-on-year to Rs 7,692,309 crore as on March 7, according to RBI. Deposits of commercial banks stood at Rs 6,657,109 crore during the same period last year, according to RBI fortnightly data released today.

Meanwhile, credit grew at 14.65 percent year-on-year to Rs 5,937,249 crore as on March 7, as against Rs 5,178,577 crore in the same period last year. The RBI's estimate of the credit growth for the current fiscal is 15 percent, while for deposits it is 14 percent. During the period, the time deposit grew 15.70 percent at Rs 6,989,150 crore as against Rs 6,040,646 crore in the same period last year. Demand deposit rose 14.06 percent to Rs 7,03,162 crore from Rs 6,16,463 crore in the year ago period. During the fortnight ending February 21, deposits grew at healthy 16 per cent year-on-year to Rs 7,605,171 crore as against Rs 6,565,137 crore during the same period last year, according to the data. In previous fortnight, bank credit grew at 14 percent year-on-year to Rs 5,861,736 crore as on February 21, as against Rs 5,127,264 crore in the same period last year.

Sebi to seek extra funds for investor programmes

To bolster awareness among investors and ring-fence them from possible frauds, capital markets regulator Sebi plans to seek additional funds from the government for strengthening its IPEF (Investor Protection and Education Fund) programmes.

With expenses towards various investor protection and education initiatives estimated to be nearly Rs 55 crore for next fiscal, Sebi may seek board’s approval for additional funding for IPEF, a senior official said. Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF), set up by Sebi, had a corpus of Rs 35 crore at the end of January 2014.

The Sebi board is also expected to consider a significant revision in fee charges from various entities so as to meet expenses for its regulatory and investor-centric activities.Meanwhile, Sebi wants to recover legal expenses incurred in such litigations from penalties imposed by it on defaulters before crediting the same to the government's coffers.

Further, Sebi is also considering to charge ‘processing fees’ for various service requests from companies, stock exchanges and market intermediaries, as many of such services are being provided for free despite significant costs incurred by the regulator in such matters, sources said.Fees are proposed to be levied on all service requests, barring investor complaints, while existing fees can be hiked for services like informal guidance and consent settlement. These are based on recommendations made by a Committee on Rationalisation of Financial Resources.

Polaris Financial Technology gets in-principle nod to demerge its Products Business

Polaris Financial Technology’s board of directors at its meeting held on March 18, 2014 has given in-principle approval for demerging the Products Business Undertaking of the Company into a separate Listed Company.

The scheme/structure is subject to the approval by the various regulatory authorities like Stock Exchanges, SEBI, Madras High Court, Registrar of Companies, Shareholders and Creditors.

Polaris is a full-spectrum Financial Technology major, using technology as an enabler to drive unprecedented operational productivity in Retail, Corporate and Investment Banking. Polaris services over 200 banks across the world, including 9 of the top 10 banks, with a comprehensive suite of products, services and consulting offerings.

Oceanaa Biotek Industries hits capital markets to raise Rs 2.10 crore

Oceanaa Biotek Industries (OBIL) has hit the capital markets, through BSE SME Platform, with an initial public offering IPO of 21,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each aggregating upto Rs 2.10 crore. The issue opens for subscription on March 18, 2014 at a fixed price band of Rs 10 per share, while it will close for subscription on March 20, 2014.

OBIL is a specialized food testing laboratory and engaged in the business of food analysis. They are setting up a specialized food analysis laboratory to perform consumer food testing for food producers worldwide. The company is an independent entity of the Oceanaa group

TCS follows Infosys; lowers Q4 margins, revenue estimates

Tech giant  Tata Consultancy Services has followed  Infosys to sound an alert over its up coming fourth quarter earnings. TCS expects revenues and margins to be lower than third quarter. The company believes that Indian situation remains volatile. 

TCS held its mid quarter analyst meet today. The meet assumes importance after Infosys negatively surprised the street with its outlook for Q4 as well as the first half of the next fiscal year. TCS, however, continues to sound extremely positive. They said Q4 growth will be less than Q3. However, Q4 is a seasonally weak quarter and was largely on expected lines for analysts. 

With respect to FY15, they continue to sound extremely bullish. They said that there has been no ramp downs or cancellations. There has been no change in the retail vertical fundamentals. Infosys had highlighted that they have seen some pressure in retail hi-tech but that is not corroborated by TCS. They continue to maintain that FY15 is going to be stronger than FY14 and Europe is going to outperform, while the growth for US as well as UK will be inline. They have also assumed that India growth will continue to remain sluggish and discretionary spend will be better.

Natco Pharma gets USFDA nod for Oseltamivir Phosphate capsules

Natco Pharma Ltd has received tentative approval for Oseltamivir Phosphate capsules from the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA).

The Hyderabad-based company has tied up with Alvogen for marketing the product.

"Natco may have first to file approval status for the abbreviated new drug application (ANDA), contingent upon the successful litigation outcome of original drug patent," the company said in a release.

Tamiflu (Roche’s trade name for Oseltamivir Phosphate) had US sales of approximately $495 million for the 12 months ending September 2013, according to IMS Health.

EIL board approves dividend of Rs 3.50/share

State-owned Engineers India Ltd today said its board has approved payment of an interim dividend of Rs 3.50 per share to its shareholders.

The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on March 15 “declared an interim dividend of Rs 3.50 per share (on the face value of Rs 5 each) of the company for the financial year 2013-2014,” the company said in a filing to stock exchanges.

The interim dividend for 2013-14 on the equity shares of the company shall be payable on and from March 24, 2014.

“The dividend warrants would be posted on or after March 24 and within 30 days from the date of declaration of dividend as provided in the Companies Act,” it added.

Maruti at record high post board meet; Brokerages positive

It is celebration time with  Maruti Suzuki  stock as the board reviews Gujarat project. Shares of the auto manufacture touched record high at Rs 1899.90, up 9 percent intraday on Monday. The company, which was under heavy scrutiny over its Gujarat plant, has also agreed to seek minority shareholders' nod once contract is finalised. The company announced capex for FY15 at  Rs 4,000 crore.

“The entire capex for Gujarat sub would be funded by depreciation and equity brought in by Suzuki Motor Corporation,” it said in a statement.  However, it did not make any change in its plans to hand over the Gujarat plant to parent Suzuki. Parent company Suzuki holds the majority 56 percent stake in Maruti while the rest is held by the Indian public, institutional investors as well as LIC (7 percent).

Meanwhile, in an interview with CNBC-Tv18, Maruti chairman RC Bhargava defended the earlier decision of the company. “We did not anticipate so much skepticism to the deal,” he said. “The concept of the deal does not change. It is still designed to create a win-win for Maruti and strengthen the company and benefit its shareholders. But since a lot of people had expressed doubts over some of the aspects of the deal not being explicitly clear. We have cleared them now,” he said.

AstraZeneca Pharma gains 8% as board approves delisting

Shares of  AstraZeneca Pharma gained as much as 7.68 percent in early trade Tuesday as the board of directors has finally approved delisting proposal. "The delisting proposal received from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals AB, Sweden, the promoter of the company, vide their letter dated March 01, 2014, was considered and approved by the board of the company at its meeting held on March 15, 2014," the company said in its filing.

Earlier on March 5, the board members had deferred this proposal because after discussion, the board had decided to seek additional information from the promoter.Promoter AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals AB Sweden holds 75 percent stake in the company as of December 2013. It had reduced its stake in Indian subsidiary by 15 percent from 90 percent to comply with minimum public shareholding norms in May 2013. 

At 09:39 hours IST, the stock rose 3.89 percent to Rs 1,205 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

FIIs invest Rs 5,000 cr in Indian equities in two weeks

Foreign investors poured in over Rs 5,000 crore in the Indian stock market in a fortnight, mainly on hopes of a strong mandate for the Government to be elected in polls starting next month.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were gross buyers of shares worth Rs 42,035 crore and sellers of stocks to the tune of Rs 36,967 crore till March 14, resulting in a net inflow of Rs 5,068 crore ($828 million), according to data with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

FIIs also infused Rs 14,140 crore ($2.3 billion) in the debt market during the period.

According to market analysts, a sharp drop in the current account deficit and easing inflation, which bolstered expectations that the economy will see a turnaround soon, as well as hopes for a strong mandate for the next Government prompted overseas investors to pump in money in equities.Finance Minister P Chidambaram, earlier this month, said the fiscal and current account deficits are under control and the economy is more stable than it was 18 months ago.

Foreign investors have sidelined their concerns of further tapering by the US Federal Reserve.

FIIs, the major drivers of the Indian stock market, have helped push the benchmark BSE Sensex almost 690 points, or 3.26 per cent so far this month.

Overseas investors have purchased a net Rs 7,186 crore of stocks so far in 2014. They invested a net Rs 1,404 crore in equities in February and Rs 714 crore in stocks in January.As of March 14, there were 1,719 registered FIIs in the country and 6,318 sub-accounts.

RBI: Earnings on foreign currency assets at 1.45%

The RBI holds 557.8 tonnes of gold, of which 265.5 tonnes is held abroad in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements.

This forms about 7.9 per cent of the total foreign exchange reserves in dollar terms as on September 27, 2013, according to the half-yearly report on the management of forex reserves put out by the Reserve Bank of India. Foreign exchange reserves were at $277 billion as of end-September 2013. They were at $294 billion at the end of February 2014.

The report also said as at end-September 2013, of the total foreign currency assets of $248.8 billion, $155.7 billion was invested in securities, $86.6 billion was deposited with other central banks, BIS and the IMF and the remaining $6.6 billion comprised deposits with foreign commercial banks and funds placed with external asset managers.

The rate of earnings on foreign currency assets was at 1.45 per cent during the July 2012-June 2013 period, little changed from the performance in the previous year. (RBI follows the July-June year for its accounts).

Government to buy back bonds worth Rs 15,000 crore

To ensure adequate liquidity in the banking system at a time when the quarterly advance tax outgo is coinciding with an Rs 30,000-crore term repo maturity, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday evening announced that government would be buying back Rs 15,000 crore worth of bonds maturing between May and February 2015 by utilizing "its surplus cash balances" with RBI.

The buyback, which would take place on March 18, would purely be ad hoc in nature. It shall not be an open market operation, which the central bank conducts to manage liquidity in the system, nor a "debt switch" either, in which the government had earlier proposed to buy bonds maturing in the short-term and replace it with longer period debt. Once bought back, these bonds will cease to exist unlike bonds bought by the RBI under open market operations.

The bonds that the government will buyback are 6.07%, 2014 bond, 10%, 2014 bond, 7.32%, 2014 bond, 10.50%, 2014 bond, 7.56%, 2014 paper, 11.83%, 2014 bond and 10.47%, 2015.

This in addition with its planned Rs 50,000-crore infusion through a term repo auction, will infuse a total of about Rs 65,000 crore into the system in aggregate. Consequentially, this will leave about net Rs 35,000 crore funds in the system given the Rs 30,000-crore term repo maturity, which would able to to take care of the advance tax outgo.

MphasiS Q1 net declines 2% to Rs 180.6 crore

MphasiS HP-owned IT services firm today reported a 2 percent fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 180.6 crore for the first quarter ended January 31, 2014. The Bangalore-based firm had posted a net profit of Rs 184.4 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a BSE filing.

Consolidated revenues for the November-January quarter of FY2013-14 rose 24.4 percent to Rs 1,564 crore against Rs 1,257 crore for the same quarter a year ago. The firm follows November-October as the fiscal year.

In the August-October quarter of 2013 fiscal, MphasiS had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 190.2 crore and revenues of Rs 1,594 crore. Commenting on the performance, MphasiS CEO Ganesh Ayyar said: "We are building an innovation-led, high value, specialised and customer focussed organisation. We firmly believe IT services in its current state would cease to exist in times to come.The firm's cash and cash equivalents rose by Rs 159 crore in the reported quarter to Rs 2,647 crore.

Retail inflation eases at 25 month low of 8.10% in February

In a good news ahead of the upcoming RBI policy on April 1, annual rate of inflation, based on the consumer prices index (CPI) for month of February, 2014 eased more than expected to a 25-months low of 8.10%, as against 8.79% in January, aided by moderation in food prices.

According to the data, all India General (all groups) CPI numbers of February 2014 for Rural, Urban and Combined stood at 139.0, 135.3 and 137.4 respectively. The corresponding provisional inflation rates for rural and urban areas for February 2014 stood at 8.51% and 7.55%, While, inflation rates (final) for rural and urban areas for January 2014 stood at 9.35% and 8.09% respectively.

Additionally, core consumer price index was estimated to have risen around 7.9 per cent in February from a year earlier, easing from an 8.1 per cent advance in January. This is a positive since core inflation for the past few months has been stuck at around 8 per cent, a level Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) chief Raghuram Rajan deems uncomfortably high.

However, retail inflation could pick momentum in coming months as recent trend of a decline in food prices could be temporary as hail and heavy rains in the past two weeks have damaged crops, which is likely to keep core retail inflation elevated. RBI so far has raised interest rates three times since September, even though economic growth is languishing at around a decade-low of 4.5 per cent.

L&T‘s arm bags international order worth Rs 3655 crore from ASHGHAL

The Transportation Infrastructure Business of L&T Construction has secured a major prestigious international order worth Rs 3655 crore (2,187 billion Qatari riyal) from ASHGHAL (Public Works Authority), State of Qatar for design and construction of Al Wakrah Bypass Road (P015). The scope of work involves construction of 11 Km road consisting of 10 lanes and four future lane sections with additional collectors/distributor roads, frontage roads and ramps. The freeway will provide access to the existing and planned developments via five major interchanges comprising of 20 bridges, 13 bicycle overpasses, 8 vehicular underpasses, 3 pedestrian bridges and 736 m long and 32 m wide vehicular tunnel works.State of the art road furniture and other related utility works for potable water, treated sewer effluent, drainage, electrical, intelligent transportation system, irrigation and landscaping are also part of the scope. The project is scheduled to be completed in 32 months.

IPO-less listing of tiny cos not against retail interest, says SEBI chief

Listing of shares by start-ups and small and medium enterprises without initial public offering is not aimed to drive away retail investors.

Entities failing to raise needed capital after exhausting all available fund raising options alone shall list on this special platform, said UK Sinha, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

“Safeguarding interests of genuine investors will remain paramount while promoting alternative fund raising mechanisms for the industry,” Sinha said.

Listing of shares on exchanges without an IPO aids price discovery and liquidity and grants private equity and venture capital easier exit options.It also provides better visibility, wider investor base and greater fund raising capabilities to aspirant SMEs/start-ups.Investors do not need to pay capital gains tax on the transaction either. Such short-term gains on a non-market platform attract up to 20 per cent.Sinha said that initiatives aimed at facilitating SME listing can be traced back to the 1990s.

SEBI: Appoint directors to fulfil anti-money laundering obligations

SEBI-regulated intermediaries (brokers, mutual funds, custodians, depository participants and portfolio managers) will now have to appoint a designated director responsible for ensuring compliance with Anti-Money Laundering / Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Obligations.

The designated director would be the managing director or a whole-time director in case of companies, managing partner in case of partnership firms, proprietor for proprietorship firms and a managing trustee in trusts.This would be in addition to the existing requirement of a principal officer, said a SEBI circular on Wednesday.The Director-Financial Intelligence Unit India can take appropriate action, including levying monetary penalty on the designated director for failure to comply with the obligations.

Intermediaries have been asked to provide details of the designated director, to the Office of the Director, FIU-India.Intermediaries have to carry out risk assessment to identify, assess and take measures to mitigate money laundering and terrorist financing risks with respect to their clients, countries or geographical areas, nature and volume of transactions and payment methods.

The risk assessment would be carried out according to specific information circulated by the Government of India and SEBI from time to time.Intermediaries relying on third party due diligence to ascertain proof of identity, proof of residence of the client and the beneficial owner (in case the client is acting on behalf of the beneficial owner) have to ensure that the third party is a regulated entity.

Further, SEBI clarified that ultimate responsibility of due diligence rested with the intermediary.Intermediaries now have to keep records of identity and transactions of clients for five years instead of the earlier requirement of 10 years.

L&T Finance, Just Dial rally 5% on inclusion in F&O segment

Shares of  L&T Finance Holdings and  Just Dial rallied more than 5 percent in early trade on Wednesday on inclusion in futures and options segment of the National Stock Exchange. 

"The futures and options contracts on L&T Finance and Just Dial would be available for trading w.e.f. Thursday, March 13, 2014. The market lot of these securities shall be informed on March 12 through a separate circular," the NSE said in its release. 

At 09:32 hours IST, non-banking finance company L&T Finance Holdings was up 4.13 percent at Rs 84.50 while local search services provider Just Dial rose 5.32 percent to Rs 1,700. 

L&T Finance has been in focus as analysts believe it is the strong contender for getting banking licenses that are likely to be issued in current calendar year, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

Sun Pharma up 3%, arm gets USFDA nod for schizophrenia drug

Investors are lapping up shares of  Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Wednesday as its subsidiary Caraco has received approval from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Risperidone oral tablets. The stock rallied as much as 3.4 percent intraday. 

At 10:29 hours IST, the stock rose 3.14 percent to Rs 598.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It rallied more than 40 percent in last one year. 

Risperidone oral tablet is used for the treatment of schizophrenia (a mental disorder). Meanwhile, the healthcare major on Monday had voluntarily recalled 2,528 bottles of its generic version of diabetes drug Glumetza from US-based Santarus Inc after it received a customer complaint.

Engineers India shares surge over 6% as board to mull interim dividend

Shares of Engineers India Ltd today soared over 6 per cent after the company scheduled a meeting of the Board of Directors on March 15, 2014, to consider declaration of interim dividend for the financial year ending March 31.

EIL's shares ended the day 6.36 per cent higher at Rs 177.35 on the BSE after earlier hitting an intra-day high of Rs 179.40, exhibiting a gain of 7.58 per cent. On the NSE, the stock surged 6.37 per cent to close at Rs 177.90.

In a post market announcement to the BSE yesterday, the company said, "The Board of Directors will meet on March 15, 2014, inter alia, to consider declaration of interim dividend on the equity shares for the financial year 2013-14."

In a separate announcement, Engineers India said the record date for interim dividend 2013-14 would be March 21, 2014, if Board declares the interim dividend.