Jet Airways reports 61 per cent fall in Q4 net
Mumbai: Jet Airways has reported a 61 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 88 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 against Rs 227 crore in the same quarter in 2006.

Prock Schauer, chief executive officer, Jet Airways said that the figure for the previous year was boosted by a one-time income of Rs270 crore from the sale and leaseback of aircraft. Net sales for the quarter rose 21.7 per cent at Rs1,978 crore (Rs 1,625 crore).

The airline's domestic operations accounted for 76 per cent of its revenues (Rs1,509 crore) in the quarter ended March 31, 2007 as opposed to 87 per cent last year (Rs1,392 crore). Jet Airways and Jet Lite currently have a 30 per cent domestic market share.

During the quarter under consideration, the airline's international operations contributed one-fourth of the total operating revenues as compared to 13 per cent a year ago.
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Saudi Telecom enters India with 25 per cent acquisition in Maxis
Mumbai: Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is entering India on the back of its proposed acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in Malaysia's largest mobile operator, Maxis Communications. With this the Saudi Arabian state-controlled company will get an 18.5 per cent indirect stake in Chennai-based Aircel, India's fifth largest GSM operator.

According to a communique issued to the Riyadh Stock Exchange, the companies - STC and Maxis — will invest around $900 million in India. This will help Aircel expand its operations in the country and become a pan-Indian telecom player.

Aircel, which has 6.40 million subscribers with a market share of around 4.97 per cent operates in nine circles including Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Orissa,West Bengal and Bihar. It has also recieved licences to operate in 14 more circles, and has been waiting for allocation of spectrum to start operations.
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Lever, Nirma 16-year-old row ends
Mumbai: Hindustan Unilever, India's largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, has reached an out of court settlement with arch rival Nirma over the latter using a trademark similar to HUL's power brand, Surf.

Nirma had said it will not use a packaging device — known as a starburst — similar to HUL's Surf, sources close to the development said.

In 1991 HUL, then Hindustan Lever, filed a case against Nirma for infringement and "passing off" of the registered trademark and copyright of Surf on its own detergent brand.

Sources said that the close resemblance to Surf's packaging caused many consumers, especially rural and illiterate customers, to confuse the two brands and as Nirma products are cheaper than HUL's fast-selling detergent Surf, the similarity in trademarks caused Nirma to eat into Surf's sales.

The Bombay High Court had granted an injunction restraining Nirma from using the Super Nirma label with the "star device/flash of star" in 1991. Subsequently, this order was stayed because both parties filed appeals.

In 2006, both parties withdrew their appeals mainly on the basis of Nirma informing the court that it was not using the impugned label/carton.

Since then, Nirma has used a sea wave logo on its Super Nirma detergent powder packets and a girl with a blue circle in the background on its packets.

When the case came up for hearing this month, the court allowed HUL to withdraw the suit with leave to file a fresh one if Nirma uses the impugned label in future for its goods.
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Groupe Danone may get out biscuits segment
Mumbai: Groupe Danone is said to be considering exiting the biscuits category in India, due to intense competition from small players leading to low margins. The company has said that it would explore all options to bring an amicable end to the dispute with its partners, the Mumbai-based Wadia group.

Apart from Europe the share of biscuits in the company's global portfolio has been falling. Europe accounts for 80 per cent of the company's biscuit sales.

Executives said that if the company exited the Indian market, Groupe Danone would sign a non-compete agreement with its Indian partner and stay out of biscuits in the country.

Danone's biscuits portfolio has not been contributing much to its global sales. In 1996, nine categories, including pastas and glass containers, contributed to the company's turnover, but biscuits contributed a mere 20 per cent.

The biscuits portfolio contributes only 15 per cent to the total sales. In 2000, biscuits contributed ¤2.3 billion to the group's global sales, while in 2006, the contribution of biscuits was ¤2.1 billion, even as the company's biscuits portfolio grew by three per cent last year.

Danone invested in Britannia Industries in 1990.
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Starbucks to enter India through FDI route
New Delhi: Global coffee giant Starbucks plans to file a revised application to the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) for an entry into the Indian market.

The said department feels that Starbucks should enter through the FDI route and the coffee chain had earlier applied for entry through the franchisee route. Under this proposal, the master franchisee was New Horizons Retail, floated by Indonesia-based NRI VP Sharma and Kishore Biyani, the CEO of the Future Group.

Looking into the share-holding pattern of New Horizons Retail in which Sharma holds 51 per cent and Biyani the remaining 49 per cent DIPP feels that the company does not conform to the FDI norms, given that the majority stake is held by an NRI.

The DIPP's annual review of the FDI policy is likely to be over by July-end.
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Apollo Hospitals Q4 net up 18 pc
Mumbai: Healthcare major Apollo Hospitals's fourth quarter net profit has increased 17.74 per cent to Rs14.6 crore for the quarter March 31, 2007 as compared to Rs12.4 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Total Income increased 21.37 per cent to Rs236.8 crore during January-March 2007 from Rs195.1 crore a year ago, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company's board of directors has recommended a final dividend of Rs2 on shares of Rs 10 each (20 per cent) in addition to an interim dividend of Rs 3 per share.

For the year ended March 31, Apollo Hospitals recorded a net profit of Rs100 crore as compared to Rs 60.2 crore in 2005-06. Total income rose to Rs899.5 crore in 2006-07 from Rs719 crore in 2005-06, it added.

Shares of Apollo Hospitals ended at Rs525.35, up 1.73 per cent on the BSE.
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