BlackBerry closes chapter on workforce reduction

BlackBerry Ltd has concluded a protracted and painful restructuring process and is back on a growth footing, according to an internal memo to all its employees viewed by Reuters. 

"We have completed the restructuring notification process, and the workforce reduction that began three years ago is now behind us," said the memo from BlackBerry's Chief Executive John Chen that was sent out on Friday. 

BlackBerry has shrunk its workforce by roughly 60 per cent over the last three years as it attempts to reinvent itself. The company that dominated the smartphone market in its infancy has seen its sales dramatically eroded over the last four years by Apple's iPhone and a slew of rival devices powered by Google Inc's Android operating system. 

BMW Q2 profit jumps 26 percent boosted by record car sales

 German luxury car maker BMW AG (BMWG.DE) said its second-quarter operating profit rose 26 percent, above forecasts, as new offroad models and strong China sales boosted earnings.

Sales of BMW branded cars rose 8.3 percent to 458,000 cars, a record high, thanks to a jump in sales in China and Europe and the rollout of new models such as the 4-series coupe and the 2-series compact.

Earnings before interest and tax of 2.6 billion euros ($3.5 billion) topped a forecast of 2.23 billion in a Reuters poll of analysts helped by new models, the company said.

"This is a major beat and we remain convinced that the street is underestimating BMW's medium and long-term earnings power," ISI Group said in a note on Tuesday.

BMW's automotive EBIT margin, the best gauge to compare profitability with peers, was 11.7 percent, higher than the 7.9 percent achieved by rival Mercedes-Benz Cars and above its own target range of between 8 percent and 10 percent.

BMW also targets a rise in pre-tax profits of up to 10 percent for 2014, the company reiterated.

Last year, BMW led with 1.65 million BMW branded cars sold worldwide, topping Audi at 1.57 million and Daimler in third with 1.47 million Mercedes-Benz-branded cars sold.

Toyota says April-June net profit up by 4.6% to $5.7 billion

Japanese auto giant Toyota said Tuesday its net profit in the three months through June rose 4.6 per cent to $5.7 billion, largely thanks to cost-cutting and a weak yen. 

The world's biggest automaker said it earned 587.8 billion yen ($5.7 billion) in the quarter, up from 562.2 billion yen a year earlier, as sales rose 2.2 per cent to 6.39 trillion yen. 

The firm said it sold 2.24 million vehicles globally in the quarter, slightly up from a year earlier. 

It kept its annual earnings forecast unchanged, projecting a net profit of 1.78 trillion yen on sales of 25.7 trillion yen for the fiscal year through March 2015. 

The Japanese auto industry has benefited from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to kickstart the long-lumbering economy, with huge monetary easing measures from the premier's hand-picked team at the Bank of Japan helping push down the currency. 

The weaker yen boosts Japanese manufacturers' bottom lines by making them more competitive overseas and inflating repatriated overseas profits. 

Auto stocks edge higher as RBI keeps policy rates unchanged

Seven auto stocks rose by 0.29% to 11.46% at 13:19 IST on BSE in volatile trade after the Reserve Bank of India kept key rates unchanged in its third bi-monthly monetary policy review today, 5 August 2014.

Interest rate sensitive auto stocks rose in volatile trade. TVS Motor Company (up 2.32%),Eicher Motors (up 0.44%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.29%), Tata Motors (up 0.67%), Force Motors (up 11.46%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.09%) edged higher. Purchases of automobiles, including that of cars, utility vehicles and commercial vehicles are substantially driven by financing..

Hero MotoCorp shed 1.29% ahead of its Q1 results today, 5 August 2014.

Bajaj Auto gained 2.1%. A foreign brokerage reportedly upgraded the stock to overweight from equalweight. It said all the bad news appears to be priced in the stock and demand for two-wheelers in India will accelerate to 12 and 12.3% for FY 2015 and FY 2016 as macro factors improve along with new launches.

The BSE Auto index was up 1.03% at 15,719.05 and was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on BSE. It outperformed the Sensex, which was down 0.3% at 25,645.34.

The BSE Auto index had underperformed the market over the past one month till 4 August 2014, falling 3.34% compared with 0.92% fall in the Sensex. The index, however, outperformed the market in past one quarter, surging 16.95% as against Sensex's 14.82% rise.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its third bi-monthly monetary policy review today, 5 August 2014, kept policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 8%. It also kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) and reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) of scheduled commercial banks by 50 basis points from 22.5% to 22% of their NDTL with effect from the fortnight beginning 9 August 2014. The RBI also cut the ceiling on debt that must be held-to-maturity (HTM) by half a percentage point to 24%.

ITC hikes price of select cigarette brands

The company's rival Godfrey Phillips, however, declined to comment on price hike on its products.

Diversified conglomerate  ITC  has raised the prices of select cigarette brands like Classic and Gold Flake Kings by up to Rs 10/pack in the wake of hike in excise duty on cigarettes in the Budget. "Prices of select ITC Cigarette brands have been increased and new stocks are expected to hit the market shortly," an ITC Ltd spokesperson told PTI. Prices of Classic and Gold Flake Kings have been revised from Rs 85 to Rs 95 for packs of 10, the spokesperson added. Further, prices of Bristol Filter have been increased from Rs 45 to Rs 47, Capstan Filter from Rs 39 to Rs 47, Flake Filter from Rs 39 to Rs 48 and Flake Excel Filter from Rs 39 to Rs 45. However, prices of brands like Navy Cut at Rs 69, Gold Flake Filter at Rs 59, Gold Flake Premium Filter at Rs 58 , and Scissors Filter and Flake Premium Filter at Rs 50 remain unchanged, the spokesperson said. The company's rival Godfrey Phillips, however, declined to comment on price hike on its products. In the Budget for 2014-15, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced an increase in excise duty on cigarettes in the range of 11 percent to 72 percent. ITC has interests in various verticals including FMCG, hotels, paperboards and packaging, tobacco products and information technology.

Andhra Bank plans Rs. 1,000-cr infrastructure bond issue

The bank is currently talking to investors for an infrastructure bond issue aggregating Rs. 1,000 crore

Andhra Bank is planning to issue infrastructure bonds for both institutional and retail investors, according to a media report. The bank is currently talking to investors for an infrastructure bond issue aggregatingRs. 1,000 crore. The bonds will be of 7-10-year duration and the coupon rate being quoted is around 9.30%, the report added. The subscription for infrastructure bonds for institutional investors usually closes in a day. But for retail investors, the subscription period has to be kept open for a longer period. Andhra Bank, in the current financial year, opened seven of its nine new zonal offices outside AP and Telangana.

RBI keeps key rates unchanged, cuts SLR by 50 bps

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its third bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2014-15 kept the repo rate unchanged at 8%. The reverse repo rate was kept unchanged at 7% and Cash Reserve Ratio ( CRR) was maintained at 4%. 

The SLR was cut by 50 bps to 22%. Inflation has eased but the RBI has factored the likely risks to inflation going forward. 

Prices of some of the food articles like tomato, onion, potatoes are still quite above normal. With monsoon being below normal, there is a fear that price situation, especially food inflation, may further deteriorate in the coming days. Monsoon deficiency stood at 23 per cent in at the end of July. 

In the last policy review in June, RBI chose not to tinker with the policy rate. It was the second consecutive time that RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan kept interest rates unchanged. The repo rate, at which the RBI lends to banks, was retained at 8 per cent and the cash reserve ratio (CRR) was kept unchanged at 4 per cent. 

The statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), the mandatory amount of bonds lenders must park at the RBI, was cut by 0.5 per cent to 22.5 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) with effect from June 14. 

Rupee up 2 paise against US dollar in trade

The rupee gained two paise to 60.91 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today on increased selling of the American currency by exporters ahead of RBI's policy meet. 

Yesterday, the rupee recovered from four-month low by rising 25 paise in its biggest gain in three weeks to end at 60.93 against the Greenback as shares soared ahead of the RBI's bi-monthly policy meet and exporters offloaded dollars. 

 

Gold holds below $1,300 as strong dollar, fund outflow weigh

Gold held steady below $1,300 an ounce on Tuesday, although a strong dollar and the first outflow in more than a week from the world's top bullion fund weighed on sentiment. 

Gold has recently been hurt by U.S. economic data as a strong recovery could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, diminishing the appeal of non-interest bearing assets such as bullion. 

Spot gold was little changed at $1,288.84 an ounce by 0337 GMT, after slipping 0.4 percent in the previous session. U.S. gold was up $1 at $1,289.90. 

The dollar was pressured by a fall in U.S. bond yields on Tuesday but it held near a 10-1/2 month peak, making dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of others currencies. 

Gold failed to receive strong safe-haven bids as Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement agreed on Monday to an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire to end four weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip. 

The physical markets have also failed to provide strong support as buying interest has been sluggish globally. 

Marico hits 52-week high on expansion plans

Marico Ltd rallied as much as 14.7 per cent in trade on Tuesday to hit its fresh 52-week high of Rs 294.45, after the FMCG firm said that it is aiming to double its sales in the next four years with emerging markets of Asia and Africa expected to be lead the growth, with focus on key categories including hair, food and wellness. 

The company, which reported net sales of Rs 4,676.18 crore in the previous fiscal, in an investors' update outlined its medium term strategic approach stating its business ambition is to  double topline in 4 years.

The company at present has operations in Bangladesh, Egypt, the Middle East, South Africa, Malaysia and Vietnam and is also looking at expanding its global operations further. 

Oil prices up on reviving Middle East supply fears

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery rose 14 cents to USD 98.43, while Brent crude for September gained 19 cents to USD 105.60 in mid-morning trade.

Oil prices rose in Asia today on reviving fears of supply disruptions in the Middle East. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery rose 14 cents to USD 98.43, while Brent crude for September gained 19 cents to USD 105.60 in mid-morning trade. "We haven't seen signs so far that the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East could cause disruptions, but those concerns are still there at the back of investors' minds," Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, told AFP.