Dalal Street

Finally, the Manmohan Singh Government has taken a strong decision to hike the Fuel Prices, especially Diesel where State Oil Marketing Companies had been losing heavily. Effective Midnight, the following measures come into force,

• Hikes diesel price by Rs.5/litre
• LPG subsidy limited to 6 cylinder per family per year which means 7th cylinder you buy for a family will come at Rs.750/cylinder versus the rate of Rs.399/cylinder
• Some reduction in excise duty
• Branded/Power diesel will be sold at market rates

That’s the difference the (more…)

Infosys is acquiring acquire Lodestone for an EV of US$350mn in cash, payable in two tranches – USD 250Mn upfront and the rest after 3 years, subject to certain conditions. Lodestone is a Swiss SAP consulting firm with US$ 217mn revenues in 2011 with 83% coming from Europe (50% in Switzerland, 23% in Germany).

Lodestone advises clients on strategy and process optimization and provides business transformation solutions enabled by SAP. Lodestone has more than 200 clients across industries with a vertical mix of 28% revenues from life sciences, 17% from (more…)

The latest ECB decision on buying bonds cannot change the fundamentals of global economies overnight. Markets could benefit in the near term if we get a rally globally, however, we are skeptical on the sustainability of any sharp rally especially if we get a rise in global commodity prices. In fact, we are worried it could hurt India’s already fragile economy.

With the Government unable to move an inch due to political compulsions, India will likely overshoot the Budget target of 5.1%. With the Government struggling to hike diesel prices, an increase in oil prices globally could (more…)