Tata Power bags two contracts from OPG Group
Tata Power Company, the largest integrated power utility company of the country, has announced that it has bagged two contracts from Chennai-based OPG Group on June 20.
The first contract has been bagged from OPG Power Generation, under which Tata Power will provide operations and maintenance services to the power generation company, for its 1×80 MW coal based power plant located at Gummidipoondi which is about 50 Kms from Chennai city. The contract is for an initial period of two years and can be extended with mutual consent. The plant is expected to be commissioned by September-October, 2009.
The second contract has been bagged from OPG Power Gujarat, under which the company will provide project management services for the former’s upcoming 2×150 MW coal based thermal power plant. This plant will be located at Bhadreswar, in the Kutch district of Gujarat and is likely to be commissioned by September 2011.
Recently, Tata Power had announced that it is going to build a 525 MW combined heat and power plant for Corus’ IJmuiden facility located in Netherlands.
Customer Vs Operator for Mobile Number Portability
The Telecom Regulator – TRAI has issued guidelines on protecting consumers interests and operators rights and entire set of regulations for smooth enabling and functioning of Mobile Number Portability in India.
It would have been nice had they adopted an approach where the consumer directly approached the MNP Agency rather than operator as the Donor Operator will have vested interest in not letting the customer go. Meanwhile, the service is slated to open for Metro City Wireless Subscribers and Circle A Cellular users from Sept-Oct-2009.
Reliance Retail eyes to acquire Henkel’s two soap brands
Reliance Retail (RRL), part of Reliance Industries (RIL), has set its eyes on two of Henkel India’s soap brands. Aramusk is male deodorant soap whereas Moloy is sandalwood soap; both brands are estimated to be worth Rs 10 crore. These brands have been unable generate significant revenues nationalwide but these brands are majorly demand in eastern part of India.
After acquiring the brands, operations such as manufacturing and distribution are planned to be handled by third parties and RRL will control the brand and technology behind it. Chennai-based Henkel acquired these brands in 1999, which previously were owned by Shaw Wallace India.
Besides Reliance, the other players in race to acquire these brands are Emami Group and Jyothy Laboratories. Mape Advisory Services is the investment banker for this acquisition. Henkel operates brands namely Henko and Mr White (both laundry care brands), Pril dishwasher, Margo soap and Fa deodorants.
Emaar Properties Merger – The Unanswered Questions
The announcement does not come as a surprise to us given the troubled state of the Dubai real estate market and there was always a possibility of Emaar being involved in consolidation of the market by virtue of its size and position.
Emaar’s press release states that the three private entities which are being proposed to merge with Emaar have a combined book
value of assets of c.AED126 bn and a total external debt of c.AED3.4 bn. Additionally, Emaar’s book value of assets as of 1Q09 was AED68 bn and had a total debt obligation of AED10 bn. As per the press release, the combined entity would have an indebtedness of AED13.4 bn and total assets of AED194 bn. There have been no further details provided on this proposed merger.
MTNL, BSNL International Roaming agreement with Conexus
State owned telecom service providers — Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) — have entered into an agreement with Conexus Mobile in order to provide a flat international data roaming plan for their customers.
As a part of the agreement, subscribers of MTNL and BSNL will be offered unlimited data roaming service by paying a lower fixed amount per day while roaming in a member country.
Presently Conexus Mobile has alliances with 10 member-operators from 12 countries, which includes Hong Kong-based Hutchisson, Japan’s NTT DOCOMO, Sinagopre’s StarHub and Indonesia’s Indosat.
Indians get the Right to See their Credit Report from CIBIL
In a landmark notification issued by the RBI, the consumers in India finally get the right to see what is their inside their credit report. Indian Credit Cards and Loans Tracking Agency – Cardbhai has published the RBI notification. The notification said,
any person, who applies for grant or sanction of credit facility, from any credit institution, may request such institution to furnish him a copy of the credit information obtained by such institution from the credit information company
Entire notification is available here.
Renewal premium collection from ULIPs stands at Rs 46,239 crore for FY’09
Renewal collection from unit-linked insurance policies (ULIPs) stands stood at Rs 46,239 crore in FY 2008-09, almost double from the previous year’s collection that stood at Rs 22,380 crore. On the other hand, the total premium collection of entire insurance industry for FY 2008-09 stood at Rs 2.20 lakh crore.
In FY 2008-09, the total asset managed by the life insurance industry stood at Rs 9.31 lakh crore, out of which Rs 7 lakh crore were invested in traditional space and Rs 2 lakh crore in ULIPs. On the other hand, new business premium income plunged by 7% on yearly basis.
A ULIP scheme is an investment plan with a risk covers attached to it.
ICICI Pru Life launches ICICI Pru ClaimCare
Private sector life insurance company, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, has launched ICICI Pru ClaimCare to enhance its claim settlement experience. This new initiative will negate third party administrator and settle health claims directly. This is first life insurance company in India to come out with initiative to handle health claims directly.
When a health claim arises, policyholders can directly contact the company from anywhere and anytime through its toll free number, mobile or SMS service. Further, the customer can also get new claims templates, process and the detailed list of network hospitals from the company’s website iciciprulife.com.
Presently, ICICI Prudential has a network of 2,500 hospitals under its ‘ICICI Pru ClaimCare’ initiative that offers cashless service to policy holders across 488 locations.
Nomura Downgrades Bharti Airtel
Japanese Financial Giant Nomura downgraded Bharti Airtel citing concerns about 3G auction price hikes, and the impact of the MTN deal on earnings. Large operators will likely bid to overcome capacity constraints in key metros, and to avoid giving competitors any spectrum advantage. Returns will likely be adversely affected.
Apart from 3G, number portability could also be implemented soon, which may shift market shares. While Bharti has avoided responding
to competition by either offering free minutes or a subsidised pricing, a reaction aimed at preserving its market share cannot be ruled out, in our view, especially if its key competitors pick up the intensity.
At FY10F P/E 15.4x and 9.8x EV/EBITDA, the valuation isn’t compelling, in Nomura’s view. It has set a target price of Rs 750, 10% downside from current levels.
Glenmark Pharma’s subsidiary receives USFDA approval for Alclometasone
Pharmaceutical major Glenmark Pharmaceuticals’ subsidiary Glenmark Generics (GGL) has received ANDA approval from United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Alclometasone Dipropionate Cream, 0.05% and will start marketing and distribution of same in US market very soon.
Alclometasone Dipropionate is a low to medium potency corticosteroid indicated for relief of the inflammatory and pruritic manifestations of corticosteroid responsive dermatoses. The product is targeted for niche category in dermatology segment, which has limited competition.
Presently GGL is authorized to market 11 topical semi-solids in United States. It continues to explore external development partnerships to supplement and accelerate the growth of the existing pipeline and portfolio.