AstraZeneca Pharma up 20% ahead of board meet for delisting

Shares of  AstraZeneca Pharma are locked at 20 percent upper circuit on Monday after the board members said it would consider parent's delisting offer on March 5. 
"The board of directors of the company has, on March 01, received a letter from promoter AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals AB (AZP AB) Sweden, proposing to make a voluntary delisting offer to the public shareholders of the company. The offer is with a view to delist the equity shares of the company from BSE, National Stock Exchange of India and Bangalore Stock Exchange," the company said in its filing. 
AZP AB holds 1,87,50,000 equity shares representing 75 percent of the total paid-up share capital of AstraZeneca Pharma.
 After this letter, a meeting of the board of the company has been scheduled on March 05, 2014 to consider the delisting proposal and matters incidental hereto. 
AZP AB in its letter said, "We have requested the board of the company to convene a meeting of the board to consider and approve the delisting proposal, and take requisite steps to obtain the prior approval of the shareholders to the delisting proposal by a special resolution passed through postal ballot as per the delisting regulations." 
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca Pharma had reported a profit of Rs 1.52 crore during October-December quarter as against loss of Rs 17.7 crore in a year-ago period. Net sales from operations during the same period increased to Rs 118.9 crore from Rs 105 crore.
 At 09:30 hours IST, the stock was trading at Rs 1,110.90, a 52-week high. There were pending buy orders of 25,637 shares, with no sellers available. It rallied nearly 47 percent in last one month.

M&M group Q3 profit declines marginally to Rs 1,230 cr

Mahindra & Mahindra group reported a marginal decline of 1.93% in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,230 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31, 2013-14.

 

The group had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,254.30 crore for the October-December quarter of the last financial year.M&M's consolidated gross revenue during Q3, 2013-14 grew 8.5% to Rs 20,679.9 crore as against Rs 19,066.8 crore of the same period of last fiscal.

 

The group has gained Rs 256.5 crore on completion of the first part of the transaction in the auto component business with Spanish form CIE Automotives SA, M&M said in a filing to the BSE.

 

Revenue from the automotive segment in Q3 grew to Rs 11,984.43 crore. It was Rs 11,124.70 crore in the same quarter of 2012-13.

Revenue from the farm equipment sector was Rs 4,668.14 crore, as against Rs 3,876.61 crore in Q3 of the last fiscal.

 

Its earning from financial services during the quarter increased to Rs 1,366.14 crore. It was Rs 1,066.51 crore in the same quarter of last fiscal.

 

IT services revenue also increased to Rs 78.42 crore in Q3 of 2013-14 as against Rs 67.48 crore in the year-ago period.

 

Earning from hospitality sector and infrastructure also increased to Rs 199.56 crore and Rs 145.50 crore. It was Rs 184.83 crore and Rs 129.95 crore in the previous fiscal.

 

M&M scrip closed at Rs 962.40, up 2%, on the BSE.

Lupin trades in green on the BSE

Lupin is currently trading at Rs. 978.50, up by 18.05 points or 1.88% from its previous closing of Rs. 960.45 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 956.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 979.80 and Rs. 950.70 respectively. So far 61686 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 979.80 on 28-Feb-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 569.00 on 01-Mar-2013.The current market cap of the company is Rs. 43826.73 crore.The promoters holding in the company stood at 46.76% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 43.22% and 10.02% respectively.

Pharma Major Lupin has received final approval for its Rifabutin Capsules USP, 150 mg from the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to market a generic version of Pharmacia & Upjohn Company's Mycobutin Capsules 150 mg. Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LPI), the company's US subsidiary would commence marketing the product shortly.

Lupin's Rifabutin Capsules, 150 mg are generic equivalent of Pharmacia & Upjohn Company's Mycobutin Capsules 150 mg. Lupin's Rifabutin Capsules USP, 150 mg is indicated for the prevention of disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease in patients with advanced HIV infection.Mycobutin Capsules had annual U.S sales of $18.6 million in 2013 (IMS MAT Dec, 2013).

Lupin is an innovation led transnational pharmaceutical company producing and developing a wide range of branded and generic formulations and APIs globally.

Q3 FY14 GDP seen flat at 4.8%; services may rise: Poll

The gross domestic product (GDP) for Q3 FY14 is expected to be flat on a quarterly basis. It is estimated to be around 4.8 percent, which compares to 4.5 percent on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis and 4.8 percent on a sequential basis. The revised GDP data on a Y-o-Y basis is also expected to be announced. Moreover, the FY13 GDP was revised lower to 4.5 percent versus 5 percent, but the quarterly breakup wasn’t given, so there could be a different figure which could come out. 
 Sectrolly, agriculture is expected to be anywhere between 5.3 percent and 7 percent, compared to 1 percent Y-o-Y and 4.6 percent sequentially. The industry performance is expected to be absolutely flat versus a 3.3 percent sequentially. Within the industry, one must watch out for numbers from manufacturing, construction and mining. 
However, on the services side there is expectation of an uptick to around 6 percent, which compares to 6 percent on a Y-o-Y and 6 percent on a sequentially basis as well. According to Central Statistics Office (CSO) the estimate for trade, hotel and transport services are estimated to fall to a low of 3.5 percent for FY14. 
A lot of economists do not even have an estimate for Q3FY14 GDP because it is assumed as redundant data. However, the CSO estimate is around 4.9 percent.

Tata Power plans Rs 2,000 cr rights issue

Tata Power Company Ltd has proposed to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore through a rights issue.

However, the issue timing, price etc are yet to be decided.

In a communication to the stock exchanges, the company said that its board of directors on February 27 approved raising of up to Rs 2,000 crore by way of a rights issue subject to all approvals.

It said a Committee of the Board would decide on issues like rights ratio, issue price and size and timing of the issue etc.

Shares of Tata Power (FV Re 1) were up by 50 paise to Rs 79.95 on the BSE in early trade.

Dr Reddy's at new high, launches headache drug Sumatriptan

Shares of  Dr Reddy’s Labs hit a record high at Rs 2823, up around 2 percent in early trade on Wednesday. Investors are excited about the company as it launched Sumatriptan injection USP in the US market. 

“It is a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Imitrex Statdose Pen (sumatriptan succinate) and was launched in the US market on February 25 following approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA),” it said in a statement. 
Sumatriptan is used to treat symptoms of migraine headaches (severe, throbbing headaches that sometimes are accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to sound and light). The injection is an autoinjector system for subcutaneous use. 

Macquarie estimates USD 1.1 billion of sales from the US in FY15. It has upgraded the drug major's target price to Rs 3,325, driven by much higher US sales. The brokerage has also hiked its FY15e earnings per share (EPS) increased to Rs 160 versus Rs 156.

 At 09:52 hrs, the stock was quoting at Rs 2,803.00, up Rs 29.10, or 1.05 percent on the BSE.

National Stock Exchange launches Volatility Index futures

To help investors hedge near-term volatility risks in their equity portfolio, the National Stock Exchange today launched its futures contracts on India VIX (volatility index) called 'NVIX'.

India VIX is a volatility index based on the index options prices of Nifty.

"Volatility is a different risk class. It has a tremendous potential as every one has to deal with volatility. Anyone who has a portfolio, one who needs to hedge the portfolio for volatility...It could be for institutional or high networth individuals (HNI). It is a broad base usage of this product," NSE MD & CEO Chitra Ramkrishna said after the launch.

Uncertainty is for everyone. This product will help in hedging uncertainty. We expect very good broad-based participation in this product, Ramkrishna added.

NSE is aiming to tap into domestic institutional investor demand for equity futures and options.

The NSE, which constructed India VIX, started disseminating India VIX index in 2009.

India VIX indicates the investor's perception of the market's volatility in the near term. The index depicts expected market volatility over the next 30 calendar days.

A high India VIX value would suggest that the market expects significant increase in volatility, while a low value indicates the reverse. India VIX and Nifty have a negative correlation.

Bonds gain as crude oil prices ease

The benchmark 10-year bond yield 2 basis points lower at 8.85 per cent. Gains in Treasury prices and lower crude oil prices helping bonds, dealers said. 

US Treasuries' prices rose on Tuesday as traders focused on weakening US consumer confidence and ignored stronger-than-expected data showing that US home prices last year climbed the most since 2005. 

Oil fell on Tuesday, pressured by further signs of a Chinese economic slowdown and data that showed a build in US crude stockpiles for the second straight week. 

SEBI proposes new norms for listed companies divesting stake in units

In order to strengthen corporate governance and curb misdoings at the management level, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposed new norms that will make mandatory for listed companies to seek approval of shareholders to divest shares in subsidiaries that bring in more than one-fifth of annual consolidated income. At present, divestment in major subsidiaries does not require the approval of shareholders. The market regulator is of the view that company’s special resolution should be moved to get shareholders' nod and its new set of corporate governance norms for listed companies would come into effect from October. SEBI has proposed that all listed companies should have a policy to determine material subsidiaries and they should be disclosed to the stock exchanges. The market regulator would also proposed that a subsidiary shall be considered ‘material’ if the investment of the company in the unit exceeds 20 percent of its consolidated net worth as per the audited balance sheet of the previous financial year. Furthermore, the classification would also be applicable if the subsidiary generated 20 percent of the consolidated income of the company during the previous financial year. SEBI also sought suggestions on the matter from various stakeholders and market advisory committees. SEBI was suggested that major subsidiaries should be defined and should include Indian, foreign and step-down units. Besides, it was also suggested that certain minimum amount of information about proposed disinvestment in subsidiaries such as financial details for the past three years should be disclosed in the notice for the meeting to seek shareholder approval for the resolution.

Sanofi India Q4 net surges two-fold at Rs 93 cr

Drug firm  Sanofi India  posted over two-fold increase in its net profit at Rs 92.7 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013 on account of robust sales in export markets. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 44.8 crore during the same period of previous fiscal, Sanofi India said in a filing to the BSE. Net sales of the company rose to Rs 481.1 crore for the fourth quarter, as compared to Rs 400.7 crore during the same period of previous fiscal. The company follows a January-December financial year. For the year ended December 31, 2013, the company posted a net profit of Rs 265.2 crore, compared to Rs 176.7 crore in 2012. "Significantly better export performance during the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013 has resulted in improvement in profitability of the company," the company said. The company's board has recommended final dividend of Rs 35 per equity share of Rs 10 for the year ended December 31, 2013.