Category: Breaking Corporate India Earnings News

Crompton Greaves has concluded with an arrangement to acquire Microsol Holdings together with other companies in Microsol group. Microsol Holdings is based in Ireland with operations in UK, USA and Ireland.

Microsol Holdings is engaged in the business of providing sub-station automation for MV and HV sub-stations. Appromixate enterprise value of this acquisition is Euro 10.50-million.

This acquisition will increase Crompton Greaves’ strengths in high-end engineering and sub-station automation capabilities.

The board of Housing Development Finance Corporation has decided to issue 18-million equity shares of Rs 10 each on preferential basis at a price of Rs 1730 per share. The board also decided to increase the authorised share capital from Rs 275 crore to Rs 325 crore.

The board has also decided to grant 50,60,000 stock options in Employees Stock Option Scheme and Employee Stock Purchase Scheme.

These were decided in the board meeting held on 25 May 2007 and are subject to shareholders’ approval.

Banking stocks were under selling pressure on rumors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has already raised the cash reserve ratio thrice since December 2006, contemplating another hike, though only on incremental deposits this time.

There is a buzz in the market that the decision can come today evening. CRR is the percentage of deposits that banks are required to keep with the RBI.

Shares from the banking and financial space were down. ICICI Bank (down 1.16% to Rs 899.10), HDFC (down 0.99% to Rs 1737.50), and HDFC Bank (down 1.24% to Rs 1075.10) declined.

RBI is particularly concerned about absorbing excess liquidity since it has lowered the inflation target from 5-5.5% to 4-4.5% for 2007-08.

Smallcap World Fund Inc(SWF) has acquired an additional 2.94 lakh shares of GVK Power & Infrastructure. The shares were acquired on 18 May 2007 through open market purchase.

Following the acquisition,SWF’s stake in GVK Power has gone upto 5.41% from 4.93%.

With renewed buying in BHEL, the stock has pulled up from Rs 2429.55 on 11 May 2007, to Rs 2644

Around Rs 3200 crore of investment is planned by Bhel during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period to increase manufacturing capacity from the current 6,000 Mega Watt (MW) to 15,000 MW per annum. The state-owned company would be spending about Rs 1,200 crore to augment its capacity to 10,000 MW by the end of 2007.

Bhel would also replace ageing facilities for improving product quality, reducing cost and cycle time and enhancing productivity, besides modernising and upgrading equipment at various power plant sites for meeting enhanced erection load and shorter commissioning schedules.

Bhel has set a target of increasing revenues to $10 billion from $4 billion as part of its `Strategic Plan 2012.’ The company has identified overseas business as one of its thrust areas in the plan, which is expected to be a key driver for turnover growth.

The order book is a healthy Rs 55,000 crore.

The current price of Rs 2644 discounts its FY 2007 EPS of Rs 97.40 (based on its provisional financial performance) by a PE multiple of 27.

Ranbaxy Laboratories has received approval from Canadian authorities to sell Ran-Pravastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug, in Canada.

IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects has bagged irrigation projects worth Rs 551 crore from Andhra Pradesh Government.