Business

Sydney, July 29: Australian budget airline Virgin Blue Wednesday said it had raised 133 million dollars (110 million US) in a share offer to institutional investors aimed at countering expected record losses.

Virgin said it had completed an institutional placement of 105.2 million shares worth 21 million dollars and an entitlement offer of 560.4 million shares worth 112.1 million.

Another 491.5 million new shares will go on offer to the public in the retail component of the entitlement offer, which will raise an estimated 98.3 million dollars, the company said.

Mumbai, July 29: A key index of the Indian equities markets opened slightly lower Wednesday, and slid further into the red about five minutes into trade.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 15,293.19 points, as against Tuesday’s close at 15,331.94 points, and then moved further down to 15,253.1 points.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also ruling in the red at 4,531.9 points, a loss of 0.71 percent.

New Delhi, July 29: It seems to be end of good times for Kingfisher Airlines as the airliner has sent a mail to its employees warning them of salary delays, media reports claimed Wednesday.

The airline, smarting under a loss of nearly Rs 8000 crore, has already trimmed its fleet to 69 from the earlier 89. In a statement underlining the difficulties of survival in the industry, Kingfisher top management also hinted that the future of the airline is uncertain.

Washington, July 29: Yahoo! and Microsoft are close to forging a partnership on Internet search, and an agreement could be reached as early as Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The deal, which would unite the companies against Web search market leader Google, involves Yahoo! agreeing to use Microsoft’s new Bing search engine on its own sites, the newspaper said.

New Delhi, July 29: Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) Chairman Anil Ambani has gone public with the allegation that the Petroleum Ministry is favouring his elder brother Mukesh in the battle for gas from the Krishna Godavari Basin.

At the Annual General Meeting of RNRL, Anil Ambani made scathing attack on Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani.

New York, July 28: Bank of America Corp, the largest US bank, plans to shrink its network of 6,100 branches by 10 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

CEO Kenneth Lewis announced the news to investors last week at a meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the company is based, the report said. The cuts follow two decades of expansion.

“We don’t have a final plan for the ultimate number of branches,” James Mahoney, head of corporate communications for the company,” said.

“Our vision is the network will be managed downward over time.”

–IANS

Chennai, July 28: The six-day workers’ strike at the Hyundai Motor plant near here came to an end Tuesday following an agreement between employees and the company management.

The agreement has been signed in the presence of Labour Minister T.M. Anbarasan at the state secretariat, a company official said.

‘The agreement between the union representatives and the management was signed this evening. We have agreed to bring back here the nine transferred workers,’ Rajiv Mitra, head of corporate communications, told IANS.

Mumbai, July 28: Infosys Technologies Ltd, India’s No. 2 software services exporter, said on Tuesday it had been selected by SABMiller to improve the in-store marketing campaigns of the world’s second-biggest brewer.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

—-Agencies

Mumbai, July 28: International Business Machines Corp plans to buy technology services company SPSS Inc for about $1.2 billion in cash, the companies said on Tuesday.

SPSS shareholders will receive $50 a share, a 42 percent premium to Monday’s closing price of $35.09 on Nasdaq.

Chicago-based SPSS provides predictive analytics software and services. Predictive analytics are used by companies to forecast future trends and spot shifts in consumer patterns, helping them control costs and use resources more wisely.

Mumbai, July 28: Banks, FMCG firms, refiners and IT companies pulled the benchmark Sensex down by another 43.10 points despite firm Asian cues amid sustained capital inflows and the announcement of monetary policy by the apex bank.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer moved in a range of 15,463.46 and 15,240.53 before ending the day at 15,331.94, a fall of 0.28 per cent over its previous close.

Chennai, July 28: That any subject-matter expert can become a ‘requirements engineer’ is the first of the three misconceptions dealt with in ‘Software & Systems Requirements Engineering.

Requirement engineers need strong communication and knowledge of engineering skills, the ability to organise and manage a dataset of requirements, high-quality written and visual presentation skills, and the ability to extract and model business processes using both techniques, say the authors, Brian Berenbach, Daniel J. Paulish, Juergen Kazmeier and Arnold Rudorfer.

New Delhi, July 28: Within 10 months of starting production of its KB-series engines, the country”s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki has rolled out over one lakh of these units that power the two small cars, A-Star and Ritz. Riding on the success of this new fuel-efficient technology, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has planned to incorporate KB-series engines in other existing as well as new models.

Mumbai, July 28: Net profits of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) giant Hindustan Unilever dipped 2.68 percent to Rs.5,431.9 crore in the first quarter this fiscal from Rs.5,581.8 crore in the same period a year ago.

The total income of the company increased 7.5 percent to Rs.44,758.8 crore in the first quarter of current fiscal from Rs.41,628.4 crore in the year-ago period.

While sale of FMCG products in the period under review grew by nearly 13 percent, that of health and personal care goods increased almost 12 percent.

New Delhi, July 28: Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Power on Tuesday said it has raised over Rs 20,000 crore for funding its three projects of total capacity of 5,000 MW.

“Reliance Power has raised over Rs 20,000 crore to fund three projects aggregating 5,000 MW,” a company statement said.

This includes Rs 15,000 crore for the 4,000 MW Sasan thermal power project in Madhya Pradesh.

The company also plans to commission power projects worth 600 MW capacity during the current financial year.

Mumbai, July 28: Shares in Tata Motors were up more than 10 percent on Tuesday afternoon as investors who had sold the stock expecting a fall in profit had to buy it back after the company report a 58 percent rise in June quarter profit.

At 1.55 p.m. (0825 GMT), the shares were up 10.5 percent at 414.25 rupees, their highest in 10 months, while the main index was up 0.58 percent.

—–Agencies

Mumbai, July 28: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday left its key policy rates unchanged, in the quarterly review of its credit policy, and said there are progressive signs of economic recovery. It however warned that the overall scenario continued to be uncertain with fiscal consolidation posing a challenge.

RBI The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), the repo rate, as well as the reverse repo rate all stay at their current levels – 5 percent, 4.75 percent, and 3.25 percent respectively.

Hyderabad, July 28: For the first time, a state government has decided to get into the oil and gas exploration business. The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to bid for exploration of natural gas in India’s largest- ever auction of oil and natural gas blocks, under the eighth edition of the New Exploration Licensing Policy NELP- VIII), which would be re- launched on August 8.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has directed the officials concerned to work out the modalities for bidding, which would close by mid- October.

Shimla, July 28: An apple a day may not keep the doctor away. Desperate farmers in Himachal Pradesh are resorting to ripening the juicy fruit with an overdose of chemicals that could harm the human body.

‘Most farmers in apple-growing states are under pressure from middlemen to ensure regular supply of apple much before its due time as early arrival is highly remunerative. For this, they start ripening the fruit well in advance by using certain chemicals,’ S.P. Bhardwaj, joint director at the Solan-based Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, told.

New Delhi, July 28: Prices of potatoes, tomatoes and pulses in the national capital have risen to such an extent that some harried families even find meat a cheaper option.

Not just exotic broccoli and mushrooms but the relatively affordable tomatoes, onions and potatoes — basic ingredients in most Indian meals — are moving away from the common man’s reach as prices continue to soar because of erratic and low rainfall in major pulse- and vegetable-producing states.

Mumbai, July 28: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by 80 points in the early trade on Tuesday on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds, boosted by encouraging quarter earnings by some blue-chip companies.

The 30-share index, which closed almost flat on Monday after highly volatile session, moved up by 79.32 points to 15,454.36 in early trade.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 23.50 points, or 0.50 per cent, at 4,595.80.

Mumbai, July 28: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by 80 points in the early trade today on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds, boosted by encouraging quarter earnings by some blue-chip companies, ahead of RBI’s quarterly credit policy to be announced today.

The 30-share index, which closed almost flat yesterday after highly volatile session, moved up by 79.32 points to 15,454.36 in early trade.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 23.50 points, or 0.50 per cent, at 4,595.80.

Mumbai, July 27: With ample liquidity in the system, India is set to grow at a rate of 6.5%, the RBI said on Monday. It also indicated that the key rates may remain unchanged in its monetary policy review.

The RBI on Monday said it has ensured ample liquidity in the system through a series of rate cuts in the last 10 months, hinting that it may keep policy rates unchanged in its quarterly credit policy review on Tuesday.

New Delhi, July 27: Government on Monday said it was mulling to give preferential shares for employees of BSNL as and when the consensus is reached on the Initial Public Offer from the state-run telecom operator.

“I assure you it is not a question of disninvestment or privatisation. If it is possible, we can go in for 10-20 percent IPO”, Telecom Minister A Raja said in the Rajya Sabha.

He said discussions are on with trade unions on the issue but no decision on IPO has yet been taken.

“Preferential shares can be given to workers”, Raja said.

Mumbai, July 27: Tata Motors Ltd, India’s largest vehicle maker, reported a 58 percent rise in net profit, defying forecasts for a halving of profit as asset sales and lower costs for inputs such as steel countered weaker sales.

Tata Motors, which owns the luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands and recently launched the Nano, the world’s cheapest car, reported a net profit of 5.14 billion rupees ($107 million) in the quarter to June, from 3.26 billion rupees a year earlier.

A Reuters poll of 14 brokerages had forecast net profit to fall 53.6 percent to 1.5 billion rupees.

Mumbai, July 27: Key indices ended choppy session on a flat note Monday while broader markets witnessed sustained buying activity. Traders ignored positive global cues and booked profits at higher levels. Dismal numbers from Reliance Industries also capped the gains.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex ended at 15375.97, down 2.99 points or 0.02 per cent. The index touched an intra-day low of 15228.46 and high of 15463.09.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty closed at 4570.45, up 1.90 points or 0.04 per cent. The broader index hit a high of 4596.75 and low of 4528.50.