Thursday 30 April 2015

Sensex reclaims 27,000-mark; metal, IT stocks down

Breadth remains negative; Metal, FMCG and IT shares are witnessing intense selling pressure.The CNX FMCG index has slipped 1 percent. The CNX IT index has shed 0.8 percent. The CNX Auto index has declined 0.5 percent. 

India & Japan sign action agenda for Investment & Trade Promotion

The interaction with Japanese Trade Minister involved not only both the countries but also had partnership and dialogue between private sector of the two countries represented by a strong delegation CEOs from both the countries, Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The Commerce Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Mr. Yoichi Miyazawa signed an action agenda for India-Japan investment and trade promotion and Asia-Pacific economic integration in the capital. Speaking on the occasion, the Japanese Trade Minister Yoichi Miyazawa said that the action agenda contains five items that are absolutely integral in furthering the trade relations between India and Japan. The Japanese Trade Minister informed that the five agenda points included in the action agenda are:

i) Development of selected townships in India as Japanese industrial townships.

ii) Promotion of investment and infrastructure development.

iii) Further development and cooperation in information technology.

iv) Enhancing cooperation in strategic sectors.

v) Asia-Pacific economic integration.

The Japanese Minister said that the investments by Japan into Indian companies will double in the next 5 years. He said that signing of this action agenda is a step further in improving the trade relationship between India and Japan as a follow-up of India’s Prime Minister  Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan last year.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister, said that signing of action agenda was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Make in India. She expressed satisfaction on the progress of trade relationships between India and Japan and said that excellent relations were building up between the two countries which would provide opportunity and potential for people in both the countries as a win-win situation. She said that the interaction with Japanese Trade Minister involved not only both the countries but also had partnership and dialogue between private sector of the two countries represented by a strong delegation CEOs from both the countries. 

BHEL commissions 500 MW Unit in Maharashtra

Work on the second 500 MW unit of Stage-III of the project is going on and the unit is expected to be commissioned in financial year 2015-16

Bhel
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has successfully commissioned the first 500 MW unit at the 2x500 MW Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) Stage-III, of Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MAHAGENCO), in Maharashtra. With this, [8 units aggregating to 2,840 MW] supplied and executed by BHEL are now in operation at Chandrapur STPP. 

Work on the second 500 MW unit of Stage-III of the project is going on and the unit is expected to be commissioned in financial year 2015-16. BHEL’s scope of work in the contract envisaged design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of Steam Turbines, Generators and Boilers, along with associated Auxiliaries and Electricals, besides state-of-the-art Controls & Instrumentation (C&I) and Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs). Significantly, BHEL has been a partner in the power development programme of the state of Maharashtra and has contributed more than 15,000 MW of generating capacity to Maharashtra, the highest in any single state. 

The successful commissioning of the unit has reinforced BHEL’s status in the execution of thermal power projects involving supply of equipment, suited to Indian coal and Indian conditions. BHEL has already established its engineering and manufacturing capability by successfully delivering higher rated units of 600 MW, 660 MW, 700 MW and 800 MW thermal sets.

MFs report net outflow of Rs. 1.09 trillion in March: SEBI

Private sector mutual funds witnessed outflow of Rs. 81,630 crore in March 2015, while public sector mutual funds saw outflow of Rs. 28,268 crore 

Mutual funds reported net outflow of Rs. 1,09,898 crore in March 2015 as compared to a net inflow of Rs. 18,365 crore in February 2015, according to the SEBI bulletin published for the month of April.

Private sector mutual funds witnessed outflow of Rs. 81,630 crore in March 2015, while public sector mutual funds saw outflow of Rs. 28,268 crore, SEBI added.

Private sector mutual funds witnessed inflow of Rs. 13,212 crore in February 2015, whereas public sector mutual funds saw inflow of Rs. 5,154 crore.

S&P BSE Sensex closed at 27,957.5 on March 31, 2015, as against 29,361.5 on February 28, 2015, registering a decrease of 1,404 points (-4.8 percent).

CNX Nifty closed at 8 ,491.0 on March 31, 2015 compared to 8,901.8 on February 28, 2015 indicating a decrease of 410.9 points (-4.6 percent). 

Market remains weak; Axis Bank bucks trend

Barring CNX Energy index and Bank Nifty, all the Sectoral indices are trading on a negative note.Axis Bank is the top gainer - up 4.3 percent at Rs. 576 on reporting strong sets of Q4 earnings. 

Bombay-Stock-Exchange-Building
The market continues to trade on a gloomy note on the back of sustained sell-off ahead of the F&O expiry.

At 11: 25 AM, the Sensex is down 234 points, while the Nifty is down 63 points at 8,177.

Barring CNX Energy and Bank Nifty, all the Sectoral indices are trading on a negative note.

Only seven out of 50-Nifty stocks are trading in green.

Axis Bank is the top gainer - up 4.3 percent at Rs. 576 on reporting strong sets of Q4 earnings. The stock alone has contributed for a gain of 46 points for the BSE Sensex and 11 points for the NSE Nifty. BPCL has surged 2.3 percent at Rs. 773. The stock alone has contributed for a gain of 46 points for the BSE Sensex and 11 points for the NSE Nifty.

Lupin has advanced 1.9 percent at Rs. 1,778. Yes Bank has added 1.3 percent at Rs. 846. Reliance Industries has spurted nearly a percent at Rs. 858.

Tech Mahindra and Asian Paints have gained 0.6 percent each at Rs. 621 and Rs. 759, respectively.

Whereas, Bharti Airtel has tumbled 3.7 percent at Rs. 373. Idea Cellular and Coal India have dropped over 3 percent each at Rs. 176 and Rs. 360, respectively.

HDFC has shed 2.8 percent at Rs. 1,168 after reporting lower-than-expected Q4 earnings.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr. Reddy's, HCL Technologies, BHEL and Hindustan Unilever have slipped over 2 percent.

MFs invest Rs. 3,940 crore in equity in March: SEBI

Mutual Funds invested Rs. 77,300 crore in debt market in March 2015 as against of Rs. 63,575 crore invested in February 2015 

Mutual Funds made net investment of Rs. 81,240 crore in the secondary market in March 2015 compared to net investment of Rs. 67,507 crore in February 2015, according to the SEBI bulletin published for the month of April.

Mutual funds invested Rs. 3,940 crore in equity in March 2015 compared to Rs. 3,932 crore in February 2015. Further, Mutual Funds invested Rs. 77,300 crore in debt market in March 2015 as against of Rs. 63,575 crore invested in February 2015.

As on March 31, 2015 there were a total of 1,884 schemes under mutual funds of which Income / Debt oriented schemes were 1,346 (71.4 percent), Growth/equity oriented schemes were 434 (23 percent), Exchange Traded Funds were 48 schemes (2.5 percent), Balanced schemes were 25 (1.3 percent) and Fund of Funds investing Overseas schemes were 31 (1.6 percent).

The number of schemes at the end of 2013-14 were 1,638 of which Income/Debt oriented schemes were 1,178 (71.9 percent), Growth/equity oriented schemes were 363(22.2 percent), Exchange Traded Funds were 40 schemes(2.4 percent), Balanced schemes were 30 (1.8 percent) and Fund of Funds investing Overseas schemes were 27(1.6 percent). 

Down, down! Metals, capital goods drag Sensex, Nifty

The broader market is under-performing the BSE benchmark index, the Midcap index is down 0.2 percent at 10,389 and the Smallcap index has moved down 0.4 percent at 10,918. 

The key benchmark BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty indices continue to trade on a feeble note, as traders square-off their positions on the last day of April series expiry.

The BSE headline index has tumbled below 27,000 for the first time since 7 January, 2015. The BSE index registered an intra-day low of 26,987 and is now down 239 points at 26,978.

The NSE Nifty also slipped below 8,200-mark and dropped to a low of 8,147. The Nifty-50 index is now quoted at 8,174 - down 66 points.

The broader market is under-performing the BSE benchmark index, the Midcap index is down 0.2 percent at 10,389 and the Smallcap index has moved down 0.4 percent at 10,918.

Among sectors, the BSE Metal and IT indices are the major losers, down 1.4 percent each at 9,815 and 10,354, respectively. The FMCG, Capital Goods, Auto and Power indices are the other notable losers.

On the other hand, the Consumer Durables index has gained nearly a percent at 10,465. The Oil & Gas and Bankex indices are marginally up.

The breadth is negative in morning deals - out of 1,911 stocks so far traded on the BSE 1,040 stocks have declined, while 812 stocks have advanced.

In the Metal space - Jindal Steel is the top loser, down over 4 percent to Rs. 139. Followed by SAIL plunged nearly 3 percent at Rs. 72.

Coal India and JSW Steel have dropped over 2 percent each at Rs. 363 and Rs. 938, respectively.

NMDC shed over 1.5 percent at Rs 126. Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel have also declined around a percent each at Rs. 205 and Rs. 366, respectively.

Hindalco, however, is up 0.2 percent at Rs. 131. 

Sector headwinds hurt Hexaware in Q4: R Srikrishna

He believes that the headwinds have not accelerated this quarter and hopes to do better in CY15 over CY14.

Hexaware Technologies
Hexaware Technologies announced its first quarter results. Hexaware Q1 net Profit stood at Rs. 83.3 Crore. For the quarter, EBIT Margin was at 16.2%, while revenue was at Rs. 713.4 Crores; up 0.2% QoQ and 21.1% YoY.

The company has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on April 29, 2015, inter alia, have declared payment of interim dividend @ Rs. 2 per share (100%) on equity shares of Rs. 2/- each.

In an interview with CNBC TV18, R Srikrishna, CEO of Hexaware Technologies, said that the company has missed the estimates due to some headwinds in the sector.

He believes that the headwinds have not accelerated this quarter and hopes to do better in CY15 over CY14.

Further, he mentioned that the staggered salary increments impacted the margins by 65-70bps. The company has expanded SG&A as they are confident about the future.

Reliance Life Insurance launches Health Total

Reliance Health Total is a non-linked, non-participating and non-variable health insurance plan 

Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC), part of Reliance Capital Ltd, launched ‘Reliance Health Total’ a comprehensive health insurance plan with unique advantages.

Reliance Health Total is a non-linked, non-participating and non-variable health insurance plan that provides a complete health cover including a fixed benefit cover for hospitalization, critical illnesses and surgeries, along with reimbursement for other health related expenses.

“Reliance Health Total provides customers with fixed benefit hospitalization and critical illness covers. The uniqueness of the plan lies in the medical reimbursement feature that allows customer to claim for OTC health-related expenses or medical bills. This plan also acts as an additional cover for hospitalization claims, over and above your existing medical plan,” said Mr. Manoranjan Sahoo, Chief Agency Officer, Reliance Life Insurance.

Reliance Health Total is a regular-pay five-year-plan and can be renewed till the age of 99 years. The plan offers two options: a customer can choose a higher Medical Reimbursement Benefit under his policy or a higher Sum Insured.

The plan covers against expenses for hospitalization, 10 Critical Illnesses, ICU treatment and Surgeries as a fixed benefit amount, over and above other medical insurance plans, irrespective of the actual billing. The customer can also settle cashless claims across an extensive network of 4000+ hospitals.

In order to enhance protection benefits for policyholders, Reliance Health Total has three optional riders – Reliance Accidental Death and Total and Permanent Disablement Rider, Reliance Major Surgical Benefit Rider and Reliance Critical Conditions Benefit Rider. These riders can be added in the base plan by paying additional premiums.

Besides these benefits, the insured is entitled for tax benefits on premium payment under section 80D.

"This plan is ideal for people who already have a health cover and want to efficiently optimize the tax benefits while providing for an added protection over and above the benefits provided by their organization." said Mr Sahoo.

Crompton Greaves to partner with ANDE to strengthen Paraguay's electricity network

CG has emerged as one of the major supplier of T&D equipment to ANDE. The stock has hit a high of Rs. 169 and a low of Rs. 167 on BSE today. 

Shares of Crompton Greaves Ltd were trading lower at Rs. 169 on BSE today.  Crompton Greaves to partner with ANDE to strengthen Paraguay's electricity network. The company has emerged as one of the major supplier of T&D equipment to ANDE.

The stock opened at Rs. 168.75 as against the previous close of Rs. 169 on BSE. It has hit a high of Rs. 169 and a low of Rs. 167 on BSE today.

Total traded quantity on the counter stood at over 0.52 lk shares on BSE.

Meanwhile, the Sensex has tumbled 253 points at 26,973. 

Supreme Infra surges after winning new order

The company has bagged the EPC work of Rs. 134.22 crore from Damodar Valley Corporation for the Construction of Bridge on River Konar

Supreme Infrastructure India is trading on firm note on the BSE in early morning deals, on the back of winning new order.

Yesterday, Supreme Infrastructure has informed BSE that it has bagged the EPC work of Rs. 134.22 crore from Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for the Construction of Bridge on River Konar along with its approach road etc. including Road over Bridge (ROB) on Gomoh-Barkakana Railways line at BTPS, DVC, Bokaro.

The stock touched a high at Rs. 222, and is now up nearly 3 percent at Rs. 218.

The counter has seen trades of around 1,606 shares as against the two-week daily average volume of 2,697 shares.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex has plunged almost 300 points at 26,935. 

HDFC Bank sells Essar Steel loans to ARC

The bank sold the loan at a 40 per cent discount to an asset reconstruction company 

HDFC Bank has sold its entire exposure of Rs. 550 crore given to Essar Steel to an asset reconstruction company, according to a media report.

However, no details have been provided about the ARC. The bank sold the loan at a 40 per cent discount. The loss of Rs. 200 crore was fully provided through HDFC Bank's floating provisions, the report added.

A consortium of 24 banks had a Rs. 30,000-crore exposure to Essar Steel. 

Axis Bank jumps on Q4 result

The bank has reported 18.4 percent jump in Q4FY15 net profit at Rs. 2,180 crore when compared with Rs. 1,842 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago 

Axis Bank
Axis Bank is trading on a buoyant note after announcing its Q4 results yesterday.

The bank has reported 18.4 percent jump in Q4FY15 net profit at Rs. 2,180 crore when compared with Rs. 1,842 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

 Total income is up 21.7 percent at Rs. 12,384 crore from Rs. 10,178 crore.

The stock is currently trading at the day's high at Rs. 570 - up 3.1 percent from the previous close. 

The counter has seen trades of around 228,000 shares as against the two-week daily average volume of around 1.01 million shares on the BSE.

Meanwhile, the Sensex has tumbled 162 points at 27,063.

Nifty slips below 8,200

The broader market started in red zone, the CNX Midcap index moved down 0.5 percent at 12,585 and the Smallcap index declined over 0.5 percent at 5,437.

National-Stock-Exchange
The market bucked the global trend and started the day on a mixed note this morning, ahead of futures & options expiry today.

The BSE Sensex opened marginally higher by 17 points at 27,226 and the NSE Nifty was down ten points at 8,275 at the opening bell.

Soon, the key benchmark indices tumbled sharply and dropped to a low of 26,983 and 8,163, respectively.

Currently, the BSE Sensex is down 239 points at 26,986 and the NSE Nifty is also down 64 points at 8,175.

The broader market, too, started in red zone, the CNX Midcap index moved down 0.5 percent at 12,585 and the Smallcap index declined over 0.5 percent at 5,437.

All sectoral indices are trading in red, the CNX Pharma and IT indices are the major loser, down almost a percent each at 11,925 and 10,986, respectively.

The Metal, PSU Bank, Auto, Finance and Infra indices are the other notable losers.

In the Nifty-50 stocks - Dr. Reddy's, HDFC and Zee Entertainment are the top losers, down 2 percent each at Rs. 3,306, Rs. 1,174 and Rs. 313, respectively.

Ambuja Cement, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Tech Mahindra and Mahindra & Mahindra are the other significant losers.

On the other hand, Axis Bank has soared 3 percent at Rs. 568, after the company today reported 18.4 percent jump in Q4 net profit at Rs 2,180 crore.

Yes Bank and BPCL have also added almost a percent each at Rs. 842 and Rs. 761, respectively. 

Govt announces MSP operations of cotton for year 2014-15

Minimum support price for cotton was fixed at Rs. 3,750 for medium staple and Rs. 4,050 for long staple for the year 2014-15. 

News, Neuigkeiten
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday gave its ex-post facto approval for engaging Maharashtra State Co-operative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation (MSCCGMFL) to undertake minimum support price (MSP) operations as a Sub-agent of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) during the cotton season 2014-15.

The CCEA further approved additional fiscal allocation under Non-Plan Grant to meet anticipated losses in disposal of cotton for reimbursing the losses to CCI and MSCCGMFL on sale of cotton procured under the MSP operations during the cotton season 2014-15.

This decision will help in price support operations of 110 lakh bales (100 lakh bales by CCI and 10 lakh bales by MSCCGMFL) during the current cotton season 2014-15 to help stabilize cotton prices and alleviate farmer distress. This operation is primarily aimed at safeguarding the interest of the farmers and avoiding any distress sale. MSP for cotton was fixed at Rs 3750/- for medium staple and Rs 4050/- for long staple for the year 2014-15.

MSCCGMFL will procure cotton from farmers in the State of Maharashtra, in addition to CCI, on the same lines as CCI is doing. In the past MSCCGMFL has procured cotton under MSP as the agent of National Agricultural Federation (NAFED) in the State of Maharashtra on the basis of agreement between NAFED and MSCCGMFL. 

Wednesday 29 April 2015

Tata Power crosses operating wind assets of 500 MW

The total capacity of the project is 54 MW and with this commissioning, Tata Power attains the landmark milestone of 511 MW through wind energy. 

Coloful hanging news labels
Tata Power announced the successful commissioning of 24 MW wind farm at Rojmal in Gujarat through its subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL). The total capacity of the project is 54 MW and with this commissioning, Tata Power attains the landmark milestone of 511 MW through wind energy. Tata Power’s total installed capacity, today, stands at 8750 MW and the clean and renewable energy capacity at 1383 MW.
The 24MW wind capacity is expected to generate approximately 52 MUs per year. Tata Power’s wind farms are located across the leading wind resource states including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Company is evaluating growth opportunities in these states, as also in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, through organic and inorganic means. The Company continues to pursue avenues to add clean and renewable energy generation capacities to increase its portfolio.

Speaking on the commissioning, Anil Sardana, MD and CEO, Tata Power, said, “We are delighted to have crossed the 500 MW milestone for our operating wind capacity with the commissioning of the 24 MW at Rojmal. This is one of the many key milestones in our endeavor to generate 20-25 percent of Tata Power’s total generation capacity from clean energy sources. The clean energy project is well in line with our core business value of sustainable growth, and will further enhance and increase our clean energy footprint. As always, we take this opportunity to extend our hearty appreciation to the Government of Gujarat and all our stakeholders for the support extended in making this project successful.”

TPREL’s Rojmal wind farm utilizes wind turbines from Inox Wind Ltd., and sells the power to Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) under the Gujarat Wind Policy of year 2013. The Company also has projects under development in Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Tata Power has six of its renewable energy projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) programme of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These projects include the 50.4 MW  Wind  project at Gadag, Karnataka, the 50.4 MW Wind project at Khandke, Maharashtra, the 50.4 MW Wind project at Samana, Gujarat, 39.2 MW Wind Project at Bhogat, Gujarat, the 25 MW Solar project at Mithapur, Gujarat and 187MW Shuakhevi Hydro project in Georgia.


TVS Motors Q4 PAT at Rs. 90.5 crore

Total Income is Rs. 24,660.70 mn for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015 where as the same was at Rs. 21,664.10 mn for the Quarter ended March 31, 2014. 

TVS-MotorsTVS Motor Company Ltd has announced the following results for the quarter & year ended March 31, 2015:

The Standalone Results are as follows :

The Unaudited Standalone results for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015

The Company posted a net profit of Rs. 905.20 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015 where as the same was at Rs. 521.20 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2014. Total Income is Rs. 24,660.70 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015 where as the same was at Rs. 21,664.10 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2014.

The Audited results for the Year ended March 31, 2015

The Company has posted a net profit of Rs. 3,478.30 million for the year ended March 31, 2015 where as the same was at Rs. 2,616.30 million for the year ended March 31, 2014. Total Income is Rs. 1,01,308.30 million for the year ended March 31, 2015 where as the same was at Rs. 79,961.50 million for the year ended March 31, 2014.

The company has declared a second interim dividend of Rs. 1.15 per share (115%) for the year ended March 31, 2015. The Dividend will be paid to the shareholders on or after May 09, 2015.

The board had earlier declared first interim dividend of Re.0.75 per share (75%) for the year 2014-15 and the same was paid on February 13, 2015.

The total dividend, including the second interim dividend for the year ended March 31, 2015, will aggregate to Rs.1.90 per share (190%) on 47,50,87,114 equity shares of Re. 1/- each. The directors do not recommend any further dividend for the year 2014-15. 

Market recoups losses, banks lead

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank are the major gainers; Sesa Sterlite remains weak ahead of results.The India VIX (Volatility) index is down 2.4 percent at 16.995. 

Stock-Market
The market have rebounded into the positive zone in early noon deals on the back of strong gains in private banking majors - Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.

The Sensex which touched a low of 27,177, has recouped most of its losses and is now down 33 points at 27,396.

The NSE Nifty too has recovered from a low of 8,219, and is now down mere seven  points at 8,279.

The India VIX (Volatility) index is down 2.4 percent at 16.995.

The CNX Midcap index has advanced 0.7 percent to 12,669, and the Smallcap index has added 1.4 percent to 5,510.

The breadth too is fairly positive - out of 1,711 stocks traded on the NSE, 934 have advanced and 506 have declined so far in trades.

Axis Bank is the major gainer in the Nifty-50. The stock is up over 3 percent at Rs. 552 ahead of its results today.

Tech Mahindra, Gail India and HCL Technologies have rallied 2.3 percent each to Rs. 623, Rs. 366 and Rs. 890, respectively.

Wipro, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma have advanced around 2 percent each to Rs. 544, Rs. 2,743, Rs. 333 and Rs. 943, respectively.

Lupin, Tata Steel and Yes Bank are the other prominent gainers.

On the other hand, Sesa Sterlite has plunged 4 percent to Rs. 204. The company is also scheduled to announce its earnings today.

Idea has reversed its early morning gains, and is now down 3 percent at Rs. 186.

ITC and Cairn India have dropped 2 percent each at Rs. 331 and Rs. 209, respectively.

Tata Motors, HDFC, Hindalco, Asian Paints and Kotak Bank are the other notable losers.

Ambuja Cements Q1 net falls 39% to Rs. 317.7cr; operating margin at 20.7%

Total Income has decreased from Rs. 27,811.90 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 to Rs. 25,581.40 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. 

Ambuja Cement
Ambuja Cements Ltd has announced the following results for the quarter ended March 31, 2015

The Unaudited results for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015

The Company has posted a net profit of Rs. 3,176.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 as compared to Rs. 5,200.10 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.

Total Income has decreased from Rs. 27,811.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 to Rs. 25,581.40 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. 

Alembic, Torrent soar on new drug approval

Both the stocks have soared over 10 percent after US FDA approved first generic versions of Abilify.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals
Alembic Pharma and Torrent Pharma are trading on a firm note following the early morning rally after the US FDA approved some of its new drugs.

According to a release issued on the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) website, the US FDA has approved the first generic versions of Abilify (aripiprazole). Generic aripiprazole is an atypical antipsychotic drug approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Hetero Labs, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Torrent Pharmaceuticals have received FDA approval to market generic aripiprazole in multiple strengths and dosage forms, the release added.

Alembic Pharma soared over 10 percent to touch a high at Rs. 496, and is now up 6.6 percent at Rs. 480. The counter has seen trades of around 73,000 shares as against the two-week daily average volume of around 48,000 shares on the BSE.

Torrent Pharma zoomed nearly 11 percent to a high of Rs. 1,323, and is now up 3.1 percent at Rs. 1,230. Around 26,000 shares have changed hands at the counter so far on the BSE, almost 3-times higher when compared with its two-week daily average volume of around 9,000-odd shares.

Meanwhile, the Sensex has recouped some of the losses and is now down 146 points at 27,251.

Financial lessons to learn from Nepal Earthquake

Geologists have already warned about more such earthquakes and have identified nearly 38 Indian cities in high-risk seismic zones.

There are lessons to be learned from 7.8 magnitude earthquake that jolted Nepal and several parts of India. The earthquake is nature's reminder about how vulnerable we are to the natural calamities. Yet the message often gets lost after a while once the media turns to a new story and rescue operations are over. But, the pain and problems of people in earthquake-hit regions continue for years as they struggle to overcome the loss of the lives of their loved ones and their homes.

Geologists have already warned about more such earthquakes and have identified nearly 38 Indian cities in high-risk seismic zones. The situation has again highlighted the need of insurance in each one of our lives, which is often neglected by people. Having appropriate insurance in place can redeem one from certain problems to a larger extent.

Life Insurance
Some see life insurance as an unnecessary cost, but its significance becomes meaningful when people are hit by natural calamities. Breaking down the calculation, if a Rs. 50 lakh term life cover costs Rs. 8,000-Rs. 10,000 then it takes between Rs. 20-30 a day for a person to get himself insured against unfortunate events. The cost is justifiable for a family, which is dependent on a single earning member.

Home Insurance
Another trashed idea is that of buying a home insurance. People buy homes worth lakhs from their hard earned earnings but do not factor in the need to preserve their most valued possession from natural calamities. Only 1% of the homeowners have appropriate home insurance in place, as per the recent data. It is surprising that people fail to pay Rs. 6-12 a day towards insuring their home, which is exposed to several dangerous possibilities. It takes anywhere between Rs. 2,000-4,200 a year to insure a 35-70 lakh worth property, which is reasonable enough to encourage people buy home insurance. 

Icertis raises $6 million in Series A led by its partners

The new funding will enable the company to rapidly scale sales and marketing and further build out its award winning contract lifecycle management product. 

Icertis, the leader in enterprise contract lifecycle management software in the Microsoft Cloud, announced today the close of a $6.0MN Series A round led by Greycroft Partners and Fidelity Growth Partners India. The new funding will enable the company to rapidly scale sales and marketing and further build out its award winning contract lifecycle management product. A born in the Microsoft cloud software startup, Icertis raised a seed round in 2012, and has seen multifold year-over-year customer and revenue growth for the last two years.


The Icertis Contract Management (ICM) product brings comprehensive capabilities to manage sell-side, buy-side, and corporate contracts on one platform. ICM is delivered on the cloud and is extraordinarily easy to use, highly configurable, quick to deploy, and can be readily integrated with other systems through open interfaces. ICM can revitalize an enterprise’s contracting operations to not only improve governance and visibility, but also significantly boost the ability to realize hidden commercial value in contracts.

“Today’s hypercompetitive global business requires the contracting process to be easy and agile on one hand, and compliant and controlled on the other” says Samir Bodas, Co-Founder and CEO of Icertis. “ICM ensures CxOs are able to manage contracting risk and have full end to end visibility of all contracts, while at the same time enable employees to contract with customers, partners and vendors in a self-service mode, within guard rails, and engage the right specialist resources, like legal and finance, only to manage exceptions and critical issues” Icertis Contract Management can increase contracting throughput by more than 50% in both order-to-cash and procure-to-pay business processes. Its rich analytics and reporting features help managers stay on top of contractual risk, quantify contractual performance, and increase negotiation intelligence.

“Though the company is young, Icertis has an impressive list of customers including Microsoft, Roche, Hyundai HATA, Chemonics, and SunEdison. We were also impressed by the quality of their product, the stellar team, and their ability to execute,” said Mark Terbeek, Partner at Greycroft Partners. “Contract Lifecycle Management is a multi-billion dollar category, and Icertis is in pole position to lead in this space.”

“With Microsoft Azure, Icertis has built a cost-effective, robust enterprise-class service that can be delivered from anywhere in the world and not need to worry about large infrastructure costs or maintenance.” said Takeshi Numoto, CVP for Cloud + Enterprise Marketing at Microsoft. “We’re excited to have Icertis as a Microsoft Cloud ISV partner to the benefit of our customers, and use Icertis to manage our NDAs and other contracts at Microsoft.”

Gartner recently named Icertis as a Cool Vendor in the report “Cool Vendors in Procurement and Sourcing Technology, 2015”, Deborah R Wilson, Magnus Bergfors, published 13 April 2015. According to Gartner, “Ease of use and intuitive navigation are no longer “unattainable” in more complex enterprise applications, such as contract life cycle management.”

Kalpataru Power surges 4% after winning new orders

Kalpataru Power said that it has secured new orders worth around Rs. 756 crore. 

Kalpataru Power Transmission
Kalpataru Power Transmission (KPTL) is trading on a strong note in early morning deals on the BSE, on the back of winning new orders.

According to a release issued by the company to the BSE, Kalpataru Power a leading global EPC player in the power & infrastructure contracting sector yesterday said that it has secured new orders worth around Rs. 756 crore.

The stock has rallied to a high at Rs. 240, and is now up over 3.5 percent at Rs. 237.

The counter has seen trades of around 17,000 shares as against the daily average volume of 180,000 shares in the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex is only down 12 points at 27,408

Geometric targets to achieve double-digit EBITDA by FY16: Manu Parpia

For the coming quarters the company aims to focus on improving the EBITDA margins. 

Geometric
On Monday, Geometric announced its Q4 results. The company’s consolidated revenues rose 0.9% to Rs. 11,053.01 mn from Rs. 10,954.52 mn last year. The Profit after Tax for the year stood at Rs. 551.63 mn as against Rs. 462.43 mn for FY14. For the quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4 FY15) the company recorded operating revenues of Rs. 2,679.00 mn, as against revenues of Rs.2,888.89 mn in the previous quarter, and Rs. 2,733.62 mn in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue of Geometric (excluding its joint venture company, 3DPLM) was at Rs. 1,965.63 mn, as against Rs. 2,154.22 mn in Q3FY14 and Rs. 2,001.03 mn in Q4FY13.

In an interview with CNBC TV18, Manu Parpia, MD & CEO, Geometric said that one of the reason for decline in profitability was weakening of euro and anticipates that the euro will be weaker in the coming quarters but that will not affect the profits. He also mentioned that USD 1.5 million reversal of revenue, which is around Rs. 9 crore and contributed to the bottomline, led to further decrease in profitability.

For the coming quarters the company aims to focus on improving the EBITDA margins. Talking about steps taken to improve margins, he said, "One part is to grow revenues the other part is to look at cost and so, we are really looking at being more efficient, improve our utilisation. So these are all pretty standard metrics that we need to drive and ensure we adhere to".

In USD terms, the company declared operating revenues of USD 42.92 Mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 compared to revenues of USD 46.60 Mn in the last quarter, and USD 44.29 Mn in Q4FY14. Geometric standalone there was a small growth but on a consolidated basis there was a decline because of there 3D PLM subsidiary in dollar terms. While in rupee terms has shown a growth and in dollar terms it hasn't.

The company's target is to achieve double digit EBITDA by the end of the year on a quarter basis. Further, they have no plans on revenue de-growth. The company expects a decent deal pipeline. However, Parpia chose not to comment on the rumors regarding plans to stay put or looking for buyers.

Stock Price:

The stock of the company closed at Rs. 128.85. The stock closed down 10.05% from its previous close which was at Rs. 143.25. It hit a high at Rs. 135.45 and low at Rs. 122.75. The total traded quantity was 4.16 lakh and two week average quantity is 2.14 lakh.

Back in the red! Sensex, Nifty slip

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.13% at 10,382, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.38% at 10,882.

Bombay-Stock-Exchange-Building
After gaining in yesterday's trade, the market today has started the day on a tentative note, as the investor's are cautious ahead of futures & option expiry for the month of April tomorrow.

The BSE Sensex opened almost unchanged at 27,395 and the NSE Nifty was down ten points at 8,274 at the opening bell.

At 9:26 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 27,350 down 47 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,264 down 22 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.13% at 10,382, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.38% at 10,882.

Some buying activity is seen in healthcare, consumer durables and realty sectors, while IT, capital goods, oil& gas, fmcg and banking sector are showing weakness on BSE.

Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy's Lab, NTPC, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are among the gainers, whereas Bharti Airtel, Sesa Sterlite, ITC, TCS, Tata Motors and State Bank of India are losing sheen on BSE.

Sector rotations could take place as investors look to nibble into mostly large caps which have shed weight in recent times. Though many mid-caps have been pounded, it’s best to exercise caution on many of those counters for now. Sun Pharma could see some upmove after it got US FDA nod for painkiller Oxymorphone Hydrochloride. Telecom counters may ring differently with Bharti falling short of expectations while Idea managed a decent show in their quarterly numbers.

Biocon, HDFC, Axis Bank, Ambjuja Cements, TVS Motors and Hexaware Technologies are among the stocks which will be in focus today on account of their results. Ahead of the F&O expiry further short-covering could be witnessed in select counters today.

On Wall Street the Dow and S&P clocked gains while Nasdaq dipped marginally. Meanwhile, China's central bank has clarified that it is not planning to buy up local-government bonds as reported in a section of the press.

Reliance Power on Tuesday said its wholly owned subsidiary, Jharkhand Integrated Power Ltd (JIPL), has exited the 3,960 MW Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project blaming non-availability of land and issues related to forest clearances for cancelling the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed with 18 power companies across 10 States.

Bharat Forge and Punj Lloyd have emerged as the only contenders for a Rs 16,800-crore mega contract to replace the ageing anti-aircraft guns of the Indian Army, says a report.

Even as the government back-tracked from its resolve to take up the GST bill for consideration today, and rescheduled it to next week, senior Congress leaders have decided to hold fresh rounds of strategy meeting on their stand after it sensed that two government friendly non-NDA parties — AIADMK and BJD — were playing hardball with the government on the crucial legislation, a report stated.

In Nifty-50 stocks - Sesa Sterlite has dropped over 2 percent at Rs. 207. ITC and Bharti Airtel have shed over 1.5 percent each at Rs. 332 and Rs. 394, respectively.

TCS, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies and Asian Paints are the other prominent losers.

On the other hand, Idea Cellular, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and Lupin are the major gainers, up over a percent each at Rs. 194, Rs. 936, Rs. 376 and Rs 1,742, respectively.