Asian Hotels may be split into three independent business units
Mumbai: The board of directors of Asian Hotels, which owns the Hyatt Regency properties in Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata, is proposing restructuring the company into three independent undertakings. The restructuring has become necessary as the three promoter groups have, since starting the hotel project, acquired "independent" interests in the hospitality industry.

After the restructuring, one unit will own the Delhi property, while the second one will control the Kolkata property together with the investments and development options in Bhubaneswar, appropriate cash liquidity, besides Regency Convention Centre and Hotels Ltd.
The third unit will own the Mumbai unit together with investments and developments options in Bangalore.

The draft scheme being put up to the shareholders for their approval envisages the following: appropriation of a portion of general reserves to increase the paid-up capital by Rs11.40 crore; post enhanced paid-up capital, shareholders to get one share in each of the three undertakings to be formed as part of the restructuring; Yans Enterprises, a promoter, to subscribe to fully convertible preference shares of the total value of Rs311 crore on a preferential basis; and an independent private equity investor to subscribe to similar instruments to the tune of Rs30 crore.

The board is also proposing that the shareholders approve the issue of redeemable non-convertible preference shares to one of the promoters and IDFC to the tune of Rs90 crore each. These shares will be redeemed in three annual instalments at a premium of Rs16.90 crore.
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Bertling Logistics sets up India arm
Mumbai: Bertling Logistics, a global project forwarding company, has announced the launch of its operations in India, with the chief focus being on project management and logistics.

The Indian arm will also offer services like general freight forwarding, air freight, air charters, heavy haulage and customs clearance with the head office being in Mumbai that will also be the headquarters for its South Asian operations.
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EIH Q4 net at Rs59 cr
Kolkata: EIH has reported a net profit of Rs59.31 crore (Rs37.33 crore) in the fourth quarter to March 31, 2006-07. The net profit for the entire 2006-07 was Rs200.45 crore (Rs188.81 crore). The consolidated net profit stood at Rs200.51 (Rs195.24 crore).

The company's board on Friday proposed a final dividend of Rs1.40 (or 70 per cent) on the enhanced paid-up capital of Rs78.59 crore taking the total to 105 per cent on the previous share capital (before split and bonus). In 2005-06, it had delivered a dividend of 100 per cent. The company's revenue was up 24 per cent to Rs997 crore from Rs803 crore.
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GM to hike plant capacity at Gujarat Halol plant
Ahmedabad: General Motors may expand the capacity of its Halol plant from the current 85,000 to about one lakh cars in a couple of years.

GM India's new manufacturing plant at Talegaon, Pune, will also be commissioned next year and will have an installed capacity of 1.40 lakh cars per annum.

The capacity of the Halol plant near Vadodara was increased recently from 60,000 to 85,000 cars per annum. The company has invested Rs1,400 crore in its Halol plant so far.
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Asian Paints to sell stake in Australian unit
Mumbai: The country's largest paint manufacturer, Asian Paints has decided to divest its stake in its Australian operations. The company's operations in Queensland are small and not expected to make any significant impact in the company's performance.

The company has entered into a share purchase agreement to offload its stake in Asian Paints (Queensland) Ltd, held by its wholly owned subsidiary, Asian Paints (International), Mauritius. The offer is subject to due diligence and other requisite approvals.

Compared with Asian Paint's revenues of Rs3,700 crore in the last financial year, the Australian unit fetched only Rs15 crore.

However, the international strategy will remain to operate in that country to serve existing markets in the region, added company executives.

Despite competition, Asian Paints leads in 10 countries - Bahrain, Barbados, Fiji, Jamaica, Nepal, Samoa Islands, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago and Vanuatu.
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Vodafone to invest $2 bn in India this year
Mumbai: Vodafone plans to invest two billion dollars in India this year for expanding its business. In a clear shift in strategy of becoming a mass telecom player in the country, Hutchison-Essar is looking at adding over 1.5 million subscribers a month this financial year, which would mean an addition of 18 million customers in the year. That would translate in a 65 per cent growth in company's subscriber numbers by the end of twelve months.

The company has recently constituted a new Board to administer India's third-largest mobile firm Hutch-Essar. The constitution of the Board marks the beginning of integration of Vodafone and its Indian partner Essar, which is hoped to be completed by September this year. The new Board has 12 members -- four from Essar and eight from Vodafone, including two independent directors. The company has not decided to defer changing the brand name of its services. Vodafone is also keen on creating a platform for infrastructure sharing.
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Shipping Corp Q4 net down 19 per cent
Mumbai: Shipping Corporation of India (SCIL) has registered a a 19 per cent drop in net profit at Rs284.65 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 when compared with Rs350.13 crore in Q4FY06.

According to an official release issued by the company to the Bombay Stock Exchange today, total income during this period also dropped 7 per cent to Rs1080.56 crore for Q4FY07 from Rs1159.77 crore for Q4FY06.

SCIL's net profit for FY07 declined 3 per cent to Rs1014.58 crore from Rs1042.20 crore in FY06. However, total income increased 12 per cent to Rs4210.36 crore from Rs3762.33 crore in FY06.
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Dr Reddy's begin operations in Nigeria
Hyderabad: Pharmaceutical major Dr Reddy's Laboratories is partnering with Phillips Pharmaceuticals, is expanding its presence in Africa with the opening of its 40th overseas office in Lagos, Nigeria. The distributor-based model will serve the $280-million Nigerian pharmaceutical market.

The company would initially target therapeutic areas like gastroenterology, diabetes and cancer. "The first phase of the launch will see major brands like Omez, Reclide, Diavista, Ostetron and Docetere 20mg (from among the range of oncology drugs) being introduced in the Nigerian market," a company statement said.
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