Industrial growth slows down to 5.4% in June

Industrial growth slows down to 5.4% in June
Investors book profit ahead of P-notes meet
Market tanks on false alarm over IIP

A slowdown in the manufacturing sector pulled down India's industrial growth in June to 5.4 per cent from 8.9 per cent a year ago, but consumer sector nursed its way back to health growing 10 per cent. Growth in manufacturing sector, which accounts for over two-third of the Index of Industrial Production, fell drastically to 5.9 per cent from 9.7 per cent a year ago. Manufacturing exhibited a similar trend in the first quarter as well, growing by a poor 5.6 per cent compared with 11.1 per cent last year.

The only silver lining was that consumer durables growth gathered momentum in June registering a growth of 3.5 per cent against a negative growth of 3.6 per cent last year, pushing up the overall consumer sector growth to 10 per cent. Electricity sector growth fell to 2.6 per cent against 6.8 per cent a year ago, while mining sector bounced back to post 2.9 per cent growth compared with 1.5 per cent.

Industrial growth almost halved to 5.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2008-09 from 10.3 per cent a year ago. Even though industrial growth slowed down in June year-on- year, the pace was much less in the earlier two months of this fiscal compared to a year ago. According to revised figures, IIP grew by 4.19 per cent in May against 10.6 per cent a year ago and 6.2 per cent in April against 11.3 per cent in the first month of 2007-08.

For the quarter under review, electricity growth slowed down to two per cent against 8.3 per cent, but mining growth was up by 4.7 per cent against 2.7 per cent. Consumer goods sector, which bore the brunt of rising interest rates, showed revival with durables segment coming out from negative growth in June and also the first quarter. In the first quarter, consumer durables grew by 3.8 per cent against -0.7 per cent.

Consumer non-durables segment growth was up by a whopping 12.2 per cent in June against 6.3 per cent a year ago. However, for the first quarter, the growth in consumer non-durables was 10.1 per cent against 12.4 per cent because of less growth in April and May. Overall consumer goods sector grew by 8.5 per cent in the first quarter from nine per cent a year ago.

However capital goods production, which is crucial for future industrial production, grew by just 5.6 per cent in June against 23.1 per cent a year ago. Intermediate goods growth was 2.9 per cent in June against 8.6 per cent and basic goods 2.9 per cent from 9.2 per cent. In terms of industries, ten out of 17 industry groups have shown positive growth in June. The industry group Beverages, Tobacco and Related Products have shown the highest growth of 22.3 per cent, followed by 12.6 per cent in Transport Equipment and Parts and 11.5 per cent in Basic Chemicals and Chemical Products.

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Mkts fall 291 pts

Investors overlooked June IIP data and declining crude oil prices to book profit on Tuesday, bringing an end to five-day rally. They were also cautious ahead of SEBI meet on participatory notes Wednesday, marketmen said. India's industrial output grew by 5.4 per cent in June compared with a growth of 8.9 per cent a year ago. However, the growth was in line with market expectation of 5 per cent. Manufacturing sector, which accounts for over two-third of the Index of Industrial Production, grew by 5.9 per cent against 9.7 per cent a year ago.

“IIP numbers for June were in line with expectations. The growth has definitely slowed compared to last year. Though this moderation raises some concerns on the overall growth, we do not see the situation worsening. The moderation in IIP is due to previous tightening by RBI. Inflation being the key priority, both RBI and the finance ministry have traded growth for containing inflation,” said Krupesh Thakkar of India Capital Markets.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 15,212.13, down 291.79 points or 1.88 per cent. The index touched a high of 15579.78 and low of 15124.91 during the day. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 4555.50, down 1.40 per cent or 65 points. It touched an intra-day high of 4649.85 and low of 4525.75.

“Rally in the market for the last three weeks has been sentiment based, which took benchmarks up by 24 per cent. We are still in a bear market and it was right time to book profits. IIP figures have disappointed to some extent,” said Vinod Nair, deputy head of research at Religare Securities.

Source: ET

Sensex up 336 pts, Nifty up 90 pts at 4620

Closing Bell: Benchmarks close over 2% up

Fresh bout of buying towards close of trade Monday helped benchmark indices close over 2 per cent higher. Banks, real estate were gained while IT stocks ended in the red.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 15,497.05, up 329.23 points or 2.17 per cent. It touched a high of 15,520.71 and low of 15,367.97. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 4620.15, up 90.65 points or 2 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 4625.20 and low of 4529.35 in the day.

BSE Midcap index ended 1.58 per cent up at 5980.22 and BSE Smallcap Index closed 1.22 per cent up at 7,269.65.

BSE Realty Index closed 5.31 per cent up at 5,801.34 and BSE Bankex ended 3.76 per cent higher at 7,673.25. BSE IT Index ended flat-to-negative at 3,882.07. Biggest Sensex gainers were Jaiprakash Associates (8.17%), Reliance Infrastructure (7.76%), Maruti Suzuki (5.16%), ICICI Bank (4.93%), State Bank of India (4.92%) and ONGC (4.31%). Losers comprised Sterlite Industries (-2.24%), Tata Consultancy Services (-1.06%), Tata Steel (-0.98%) and Infosys Technologies (-0.58%). Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1723 advances and 985 declines. In Europe, FTSE was up 0.70 per cent, DAX gained 0.33 per cent and CAC 40 was up 0.46 per cent.
(above figures are provisional)
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Sensex ends up 336pts; realty, banking stocks shine

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 262 points at 15,430 on the back of positive cues from the global markets. The index, thereafter, displayed firm trend throughout the day on the back of smart gains in banking, realty and oil & gas stocks.

The index touched a high of 15,521, and finally settled with a gain of 336 points at 15,504.
The BSE Realty index surged 5.3% to 5,799. The Bankex advanced over 4% to 7,702, and the Oil & Gas index surged 3% to 10,437.

The market breadth was fairly bullish - out of 2,776 stocks traded, 1,736 moved up, 971 declined and the rest were unchanged today.The NSE Nifty moved up 91 points to end at 4,620.

INDEX MOVERS

Jaiprakash Associates soared 7.7% to Rs 198. Reliance Infrastructure surged 6.7% to Rs 1,102. DLF added 3.5% to Rs 568.
ICICI Bank rallied 5.7% to Rs 771. SBI moved up 4.7% to Rs 1,593. HDFC and HDFC Bank added 2.2% each to Rs 2,570 and Rs 1,309, respectively.
Maruti surged over 5% to Rs 716. ONGC and Reliance Communications gained 3.7% each at Rs 1,103 and Rs 454, respectively. Reliance advanced 3.3% to Rs 2,326. Mahindra & Mahindra added 2.8% to Rs 590, and BHEL was up 2.5% at Rs 1,827.

...AND THE SHAKERS
Sterlite slipped over 2% to Rs 625. TCS and Tata Steel were down 1% each at Rs 834 and Rs 645, respectively.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS
Reliance Communications topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 239.50 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 232.50 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs 220.70 crore), debutant Vishal Info (Rs 216.25 crore) and Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 181.20 crore).Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 1.73 crore shares followed by Vishal Info (1.17 crore), Kashyap Technologies (1.05 crore), IFCI (99 lakh) and Cals (73 lakh).

Source:ET, BS

India's Abinav wins Gold.... India's First Individual Gold in Olympic History

Abhinav Bindra makes history
India wins Gold

Abhinav Bindra [Images] won India's first ever individual Olympic gold medal on Monday with a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the men's 10 metres air rifle event.

Congratulate Abhinav Bindra!

Bindra was fourth after qualifying but had a brilliant final round and even hit a near perfect 10.8 on his last visit to pull in front of Henri Hakkinen of Finland, who dropped to bronze with a poor final shot of 9.7.

How Abhinav clinched gold

That allowed China's Zhu Qinan, the defending Olympic champion and heavy favourite, to pass him on his final shot and win the silver medal.

"It's just great," Bindra said just before climbing on to the podium.

Zhu suffered a late lapse in concentration in the qualification earlier on Monday morning when he had to rush his final shots to make the time limit, thus dropping to second place behind Hakkinen ahead of the final.

He was close to tears and said: "I was under tremendous pressure and at times I felt really agitated. But I tried my best."

India's last Olympic gold medal was from hockey (8th gold) at the 1980 Moscow [Images] Olympics [Images]. Bindra's feat betters the silver medal effort of double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore [Images] at the Athens Games in 2004.

Randhir Singh, Indian Olympic Association secretary-general and former shooter who was present at the range, was stricken with nerves as the competition reached its climax.
"I haven't prayed so much in my life. With the second last shot they tied together and then he (Bindra) shot a 10.8. It couldn't have got better," he said.

Bindra won the 2006 World championships and finished seventh in Athens four years ago.
Earlier, Gagan Narang failed to make the final cut in the same event as he finished ninth with a score of 595/600. He shot a series of 97,100,100,100,98,100, while Bindra, a Khel Ratna winner, finished the qualifying event joint-fourth with Romania's George Alin Moldoveanu. The duo had a score of 596/600.

The bespectacled shooter scoring sequence was 100, 99, 100, 98, 100 and 99.
Finland's Henri Hakkinen qualified first for the event with a score of 598/600 after shooting a series of 100, 100, 99, 100, 100 and 99.

China's Qinan Zhu was a point adrift of Hakkinen with a series of 100, 100, 100, 100, 99 and 98.
---------------------------------------------
Abhinav Bindra: Grit and determination personified
Olympics: Abhinav Bindra wins men's 10m air rifle gold
Congratulate Abhinav Bindra / Greet Abhinav
India must give Abhinav respect GOLD-en words / Images
Goldfinger Bindra makes history
Not bothered about history: Bindra
• Victory of nation: Abhinav’s parents
• President, PM congratulate Bindra
• 'Abhinav has made India proud'
• Happiest moment of my life: Milkha• India's Olympic medal winners


Source:ET, Rediff

IPO analysis: Austral coke, Resurgere Mines Minerals

Mining for more?

COMPANY : AUSTRAL COKE & PROJ ISSUE
SIZE : Rs 119.1-142 .3 CRORE PRICE BAND : Rs 164-196
DATE : AUGUST 7-13 , ’08 RATING: ***

Austral Coke looks attractive at the current offer price. Investors are advised to subscribe to this issue Austral Coke & Projects, a metallurgical coke manufacturer and provider of construction equipment on lease, has come out with a public issue of 7.26 million equity shares and another 1.09 million shares will be available under a greenshoe option. It plans to use the funds mainly to set up a metallurgical coke plant of 1.5 lakh tonne capacity and an 8-mw captive power plant. Post-issue , the promoters’ holding in the company will decline from 87.41 per cent to 63.18 per cent.

BUSINESS:

Austral manufactures coke and refractory, and provides construction equipment on lease to medium/large construction companies. Around 55 per cent of the company’s topline comes from the coke division and 25 per cent from equipment. But the coke business accounts for 80 per cent of its operating profit, compared to 15 per cent contributed by equipment. Austral has a current met coke capacity of 3.75 lakh tones, which will rise to 5.25 lakh tonnes by the end of FY09. Its captive power plant will also come up at the same time. The company’s customer base is welldiversified and is thus, insulated from any slowdown in a particular industry. Its customers include Jindal Saw, Essar Steel, DCW and Nirma. The company plans to get away from its leasing business and focus on acquiring coking coal mines and manufacturing coke. It also plans to start mining from its mine in Mozambique.

FINANCIALS :

Austral’s revenue from manufacturing has almost quadrupled in the past three years. Its focus on coke manufacturing and use of advanced technology (stamp charging) has improved its operating margin by five times in the past three years to 35 per cent. In fact, this is higher than 27 per cent for its closest competitor, Gujarat NRE Coke (GNCL). Though the company has made many investments in recent years, the average RoCE for the past three years works out to a modest 17 per cent. Traditionally, Austral’s debt-equity ratio (DER) has remained slightly below 1, while the interest coverage ratio is well above 5. Post-issue , the company’s DER will further fall to around 0.5.

GROWTH POTENTIAL :
Huge demand for coke from steelmakers has pushed up price to $700-800 a tonne. Given huge expansion plans by steel companies, demand is set to stay robust, as there’s not enough supply of this commodity globally.

VALUATIONS :
The company’s closest listed peer is GNCL, which was originally promoted by the current promoters of Austral. By end-FY 09, Austral will have a met coke manufacturing capacity equal to 42 per cent of that of GNCL. The latter has an m-cap of Rs 3,500 crore. So, Austral should have a market value of around Rs 1,500 crore . Though both companies have mining assets abroad, in case of Austral, mining from these assets has not yet started. Even after discounting this value by 50 per cent, the fair value per equity share of Austral is almost double that of the offer price. At the upper price band, Austral’s trailing P/E is close to 15.4, which is at par with its peers. We have assumed full exercise of the greenshoe option and its diluting effect on shares for these estimates . Considering its attractive valuations , investors can subscribe to this issue.

RISKS:
Austral sells in the spot market; hence, it is subject to spot price fluctuations. Further, any downturn in the commodity cycle will hit the company’s profitability.
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COMPANY :
RESURGERE MINES & MINERALS
ISSUE SIZE : Rs 117-121 CRORE PRICE BAND : Rs 263-272
DATE : AUGUST 11-13 , ’08 RATING : ** 1/2

Negative cash flow from operations is a major concern for Resurgere Mines. Only investors with high risk appetite should consider the IPO Resurgere Mines & Minerals, an iron-ore miner , has come out with a public issue of 4.45 million shares, which includes 0.25 million shares reserved for its employees. The company plans to use the IPO proceeds to purchase mining equipment to set up extraction and crushing facilities at mines. It will also invest in six railway rakes to set up transportation logistics facilities for captive purposes. Post-issue , the promoters’ holding will decline to 56.12 per cent from 66.5 per cent.

BUSINESS:
The company produces iron ore of different sizes and trades iron ore fines. Currently, it operates in three mines - two in Orissa and one in Jharkhand. But it carries out mining activities in the area of third parties, who have the original mining lease. Resurgere has also got a bauxite mining lease through one of its wholly owned subsidiaries. The total amount of iron ore and bauxite reserves in the current mining area of these mines is estimated at 74.82 and 4.92 million tonnes (mt), respectively.

FINANCIALS:
Resurgere’s revenue from mining and trading activities has more than quadrupled in the past three years, while operating profit has risen by more than seven times. The company’s operating margin (currently 26.7 per cent) has remained volatile due to the variation in trading amounts. Once export of iron-ore fines commences , margins are set to improve further. One major concern for the company is the negative operating cash flow in the past five years. The company has tried to maintain a low debt-equity ratio (currently 0.24). With the IPO, this ratio will fall further.

VALUATIONS:
The company’s enterprise value (EV) is close to Rs 820 crore at the upper price band. A discounted cash flow approach reveals that even at 30 per cent of capital cost and 20% growth rate, it will take only 5-6 years to recover the EV from operating cash flow . Further, an estimated inventory of iron-ore fines worth Rs 34 crore is lying idle, which can be used once the company obtains railway rakes from next year. The bauxite mine, with estimated reserves of 4.9 mt in 43 acres out of a total 661 acres will add further value. All these facts indicate reasonably good valuations at current offer price. But the main concern lies in the company’s ability to convert its revenue into cash flow, since it has failed to generate cash from operations in each of the past five years. We believe the issue is risky and only investors with above-average risk appetite should subscribe to it.

RISKS: Any downturn in the commodity cycle will majorly impact the company’s profitability.

Source:ET

Investor's Guide (ET Mutual Fund Tracker), Deadpresident reports

Investor's Guide (ET Mutual Fund Tracker)

Here's How We Keep Score11 Aug, 2008, 0538 hrs IST
The ET Quarterly MF Tracker lists MF schemes on the basis of their risk-adjusted performance, based on a detailed number-crunching exercise.

The Best Place To Be In 11 Aug, 2008, 0529 hrs IST, Gaurav Pai
Around this time last year, mutual fund (MF) houses were busy launching equity schemes like there was no tomorrow.

The New Turks 11 Aug, 2008, 0515 hrs IST, Bakul Chugan & Preeti Kulkarni
The June ’08 quarter has seen quite a few upsets in top rankings.The new leaders do not boast of outstanding performances on an individual basis.

(Common) Sense And Simplicity 11 Aug, 2008, 0500 hrs IST, Preeti Kulkarni
Follow these simple strategies by renowned investment gurus to reap the rewards of your equity investments.

Challenges and Opportunities before MF industry 11 Aug, 2008, 0457 hrs IST
The domestic mutual fund industry has undergone significant transformation in past few years. Two experts share their views on the possible avenues for the industry in near future, so as to sustain its momentum and make inroads into consumers' lives.

Nifty's future direction 11 Aug, 2008, 0454 hrs IST, Shakti Shankar Patra
This is a clear sign that market participants are now unsure about the Nifty’s future direction. As a result, the focus has shifted to individual stocks.

Mining for more? 11 Aug, 2008, 0359 hrs IST, Santanu Mishra
Two mining firms as investment options.

Yeh Dil Maange More 11 Aug, 2008, 0358 hrs IST
The domestic mutual fund industry has undergone significant transformation in past few years. Two experts shared their views over the key challenges and triggers for the industry to sustain this growth.

The domestic MF industry 11 Aug, 2008, 0353 hrs IST, Gaurav Pai and Bakul Chugan
It’s been a momentous journey, which started 15 years ago with the privatisation of the Indian mutual fund industry. But this is just the beginning... things are only set to get better from here on
The best Mutual Funds 11 Aug, 2008, 0348 hrs IST, preeti kulkarni and bakul chugan
It’s almost impossible to predict the course of the market. So, long-term investment in a well-managed fund with a good track record is the ideal tool to wade through murky waters.
Pages:

The Busy Bees11 Aug, 2008, 0347 hrs IST, Gaurav Pai
SEBI and Amfi had their hands full in the June quarter. We give you a ringside view of all the action on the policy front…
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Deadpresident blog

India's first bio-fuel pump to start soon
Biocon - Annual Report - 2007-2008
Indian Hotels - Annual Report - 2007-2008

UTV Software - 2007/2008 - Annual Report
IPCA Labs
Hindustan Unilever

India Strategy, Reliance Industries, Reliance Petr...
Market Outlook - Aug 10 2008
Crude Oil

Commodities - Aug 9 2008
ENIL
Parsvnath Developers

Austral Coke & Projects - IPO
Olym-Picks
DOW Jones India Titans List

Most Popular Pages - Aug 10 2008
HT Media
Weekly Watch - Aug 10 2008

Weekly Stock Picks - Aug 8 2008
Industrial production data may set direction
Sensex garners 511 points as oil slumps


Source: ET,deadpresident blog

India's first bio-diesel pump to start in September

India's first bio-diesel pump to start in September

In winter 2005, Chief Minister Narendra Modi was at the Gujarat Agriculture University campus in Navsari, riding a tractor with a difference - it ran on bio-diesel. Come September, that bio-diesel will be available at a pump for the first time in India. The bio-diesel production, from Jatropha plants, is the brainchild of 40-year-old Dharmendra Parekh, chairman and managing director of Aditya Aromedic and Bio-Energy. Since April, the firm has been producing bio-diesel from the jatropha plant. Registered in 2005 and set up with a capital outlay of Rs 5 crore, the company produces 17,000 litres of bio-diesel per day at its 140,000-sq ft plant located in Tarsadi village on the Navsari-Bardoli highway in Navsari district. The bio-diesel is sold at Rs 38.90 per litre while the price of regular diesel is Rs 39.20 per litre and that of premium diesel Rs 40.40.

The firm has been pre-selling its entire output every day since April. "We don't have to do any marketing. On the contrary I take a deposit of Rs 5,00,000 from all my customers and everyone irrespective of the quantity purchased has to pay the full amount in advance. And the delivery is done only after 20 days," says Parekh. "I have at least five customers waiting in the queue, each of whom has a daily requirement of over 500 tonnes of bio-diesel." Right now, the fuel is supplied from two depots - one at Navsari and other at Mehsana in north Gujarat. The clientele is spread over Ahmedabad, Nadiad, Vadodara and north Gujarat, Mumbai and Delhi. Importantly, diesel vehicles do not need to modify their engines to use bio-diesel. "I have been using my own bio-diesel in my Tata Indica diesel car for the past nine months and it runs very smoothly and also gives me a mileage of 21 to 22 km on the highway," says Parekh, a graduate in computer science and master in bio-informatics. "There is no problem at all even if you keep on changing the fuel from regular diesel to bio-diesel." Parekh also claims that his bio-diesel was much better in quality than most of the premium diesel brands being hawked by the oil majors.

The hardy jatropha plant is resistant to drought and pests. It produces seeds containing up to 40 percent oil. When the seeds are crushed and processed, the resulting oil can be used in a standard diesel engine, while the residue can also be processed into biomass to generate electricity. To ensure a steady supply of jatropha, Parekh has entered into a contract with 1,500 farmers of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. These farmers plant jatropha in the periphery of their fields so that the normal food chain is not disturbed. Over 300 hectares of land have been brought under jatropha cultivation. "In a jatropha plantation you get your break-even within three years and the plant makes money for you for the next 40 years," says Parekh. He has prepared a plantation manual for jatropha farmers. The most important aspect of jatropha is that it can grow on soil otherwise considered a wasteland. Parekh has a huge first-mover advantage in this field. But it's not a smooth ride all the way. "It is a very hard and complicated thing, especially the procurement of raw materials," he says. "You have to plan out each and everything in such a manner that the fuel you produce becomes commercially viable." The company has staff strength of 200. Crude, glycerine and de-oiled cakes are the by-products. The company is now preparing a blueprint to extract biogas from the de-oiled cakes, leaving manure as the last residue. The company plans to use this biogas for power generation.

--------------------------------
Metros, SUVs may have to shell out more for fuel
'Biofuel can ensure India's energy security'


Source: ET

Mgmt Guru C.K.Prahalad's Dream for India 2022, India's most investor friendly companies

Imagine 14 years into the future. The year is 2022. Independent India turns 75. At least 30 Indian companies are on the Fortune 100 list; India accounts for 10 per cent of global trade; it has a base of 200 million college graduates; and is a chief source of all global innovations. In an exclusive article written specially for Business Today, C. K. Prahalad, who is one of the world’s best-known and most respected management thinkers, lists six possibilities and goes on to show how India could, indeed, achieve them.

Cover Story
Prahalad’s plan

An India that's home to 30 of Fortune 100 companies, the world’s largest pool of technically-trained manpower, and Nobel Prize winners in arts, science and literature? That’s management guru C.K. Prahalad’s dream for India@75, and he’s got a plan how to get there. A Business Today exclusive.
------------------------------------
How to build 30 of the Fortune 100 companies out of India
How to create a trained workforce of 700 million people
How to get a 10% share of global trade

As the celebrations of India @60 wind down and as the national attention is consumed with problems of the moment—price of energy, inflation, debt relief to farmers, political realignment in the states—it is hard to focus attention on the future of India. The urgent is likely to drive out the important. Moreover, it is easy to get carried away by growth statistics of the past five years and feel “we have arrived”.

C.K. Prahalad Leadership, however, is about the future, about hope and change. Leaders must elevate the national debate and focus on the potential of India. A shared view of India@75, for example, can provide a framework for building a multi-stakeholder consensus and making choices that are directionally consistent with that goal. Unless we are clear about the potential, it is very difficult to undertake an arduous journey.

I believe that India has the potential to actively participate in shaping the emerging world order. This demands that India must acquire enough economic strength, technological vitality and moral leadership to do so. Just economic strength and technological maturity is not enough. We know that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had economic and technological muscle. They failed. Morality is an integral part of leadership. We should emphasise all three dimensions, in equal measure, in India’s march to Her destiny.

For more : Prahalad’s plan
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India's most investor friendly companies

Until early this year, it didn’t take much to make you happy if you were an equity investor. India seemed like the flavour of the decade, India Inc.’s flagbearers were snapping up big rivals elsewhere in the world, and Sensex at 25,000 was where we were all headed (gosh, all that seems so awfully long ago now). Cut to today, investors are licking their burnt fingers and swearing never to touch equity again. Not surprising at all. In a stock market that has plunged from 21,000-something to less than 15,000 now, there’s hardly anyone—small or big investor—who hasn’t lost money.

Click here to enlarge

But it’s equally true that equity provides the best returns over the long term. So, if you are in for the long haul, who should you be investing with? Which are the companies that treat their shareholders like kings? Which companies announce their results on time, hold their annual general meetings every year and, most importantly, have a history of paying dividends consistently? As you can probably imagine, there aren’t too many of them. What makes it harder still for companies is our methodology, which makes them jump through some tough hoops (see How We Did It on page 154). For example, to make the cut, a company must have had extraordinary appreciation in its stock price for three years in a row, among others.

The list on the left, then, represents companies that have delivered on our methodology’s demands. You’ll find the Top 10 featured on the pages that follow. As you can tell, these aren’t (minus a handful) the biggest companies in corporate India, but they are—well, in some sense—like Gautam Gambhir: they won’t give you sixes every over, but they score steadily over the long haul. So, if you are betting on stocks for the long term, this is a good list to start with.

More @ India's most investor friendly companies

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Source: Business Today

Numbers of Note: BT

Numbers of note

$9 trillion (Rs 387 lakh crore): Oil revenues Gulf countries will earn by 2020 if the prices remain at $100 per barrel

4.8 million: Vehicles Toyota Motor Company sold worldwide during the first half of this year. General Motors said it sold 4.5 million vehicles in the same period. Toyota came a narrow second to GM in the race to be the largest auto company in the world in 2007

$2 billion (Rs 8,600 crore): Direct revenues likely to be generated by the Beijing Olympics for the host city from sponsorships, licensing, advertisements, ticket sales and broadcasting rights, according to the Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association

€630 million (Rs 4,300 crore): Price at which Unilever sold its Bertolli olive oil business to Spain’s Grupo SOS. Bertolli is one of the best-selling brands of olive oils in the world. People are consuming more olive oil because of health benefits, such as lower cholesterol

325.78 million: Number of telephone connections in India at the end of June 2008, of which the total wireless subscriber (GSM, CDMA & WLL) base stood at 286.86 million

$7.3 billion (Rs 31,390 crore): The projected increase in spending on security biometrics worldwide by 2013, up from around $3 billion (Rs 12,900 crore) in 2008

73,050 million units: Power deficit faced by India between April 2007 and March 2008, led largely by states like Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh

$90 billion (Rs 3,87,000 crore): The estimated cost of the first phase of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project

$30.6 billion: Is the notional value of the portfolio of risky mortgage debt that Merrill Lynch sold recently for a sum of $6.7 billion to Lone Star Funds

Rs 8,000 crore: Size of the biscuit market in the country
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Other BT articles

Editorial
Dreams for India
The potential to become a far more powerful and prosperous nation existed back then, and it exists now. What it requires, as management guru C.K. Prahalad writes so eloquently in our cover story, is not analysis but imagination.

Deal Watch
Wilbur L. Ross outbid Kingfisher Airlines to acquire SpiceJet
Every month, we bring you a listing of the biggest deals struck by Indian companies in India and abroad. Our partner: global professional services firm Ernst & Young. Here are the deals that were struck in July 2008.

Leadership Spotlight
Risk taker
Cricket has always been his passion. Though N. Srinivasan has been involved with the sport for many years in various administrative capacities, he had kept it away from his business. But this year, he decided to bid for, and bagged, the Indian Premier League’s Chennai franchise for $91 million (Rs 391 crore).

Jobs
Goodbye, appeasement
Rahul Sachitanand
As the reality of a slowdown bites the hitherto fast-growing IT industry, employees and employers need to realign their goals.
It pays to have a career in taxation

Trends
Monsoon worries
Rishi Joshi
Inflation is a bugbear that continues to give mandarins in the economic ministries sleepless nights. The latest figures show it at 11.98 per cent for the week ended July 19. Sub-normal rainfall in large parts of India can push inflation to 14 per cent.
Instant tip / BPOs are getting commoditised: Dougherty
Olympics? What’s that? / Time for fiscal worries
Dip,dip,dip / Doha Round: Dialogue of the deaf
Mumbai expensive? You must be joking / Loan defaults to rise
Geeks get reality ‘cheque’ / Air turbulence continues
At last, some good news on crude prices / Beautiful women decoded
Economy watch / The BT 50 index
Talebearer / Black, white and grey /
To be precise Noted
Just wondering ... / Power, too, now goes green

Money
The mortgage crush
K.R. Balasubramanyam
When interest rates were low, many homeowners overborrowed. But, they are now finding it difficult to cope with the increased monthly instalments. How to survive the interest rate hikes.
A few good stocks
The flexible fund manager
“Follow an asset allocation strategy”
Seniors first
MF Scoreboard

Policy Watch
Renewed thrust on divestment
The government is gearing up to radically alter its approach to disinvestment. With the Left out of the equation, moves are afoot to offload equity in some big PSUs. OIL (Oil India) and hydro-power generator NHPC are on top of the list.

Columns
My lunch with Warren Buffett
Mohnish Pabrai and his friend Guy Spier paid $650,100 to dine with the world’s best-known investor. This is what they took out from their three-hour lunch. A Business Today exclusive.

Features
Did they miss a trick or two?
Rachna Monga
Not since the technology crash of 2000 have an equity fund manager's investment strategy been tested—and the perils of running a concentrated portfolio exposed.
Shadow of a bull / Radioactive opportunity
Meet India’s biotech giant / The great Indian oil rush
Indian companies are waking up to corporate frauds
The last mile chase / The FCCB quandary

Current
On rough terrain
Suman Layak
Even as the world waits expectantly for the Nano, farmers who sold their land for the project now want it back. Will the world’s cheapest car be late coming?
The herald speaks / Eye of the Asian Tiger
Is the red for real? / Spectrum dole-out
Footloose fortune hunter / Bimmer is beaming
Something’s rotten in realty / A good deal for everyone
Still hot on start-ups / How green is My IT?
Same goal, different paths / Playing catch-up
Not Reddy, yet / Too much of a good thing
Beijing and beyond / Mutual benefit



Source: http://businesstoday.digitaltoday.in

Stock,Market Analysis from BusinessLine

Stock,Market Analysis from BusinessLine

STOCKS: Ipca Labs: Buy
Strong performance in branded finished dosages, growth momentum in exports and a strong position in anti-malarial drugs makes Ipca Labs, a medium sized pharma company with Rs 1,100 crore revenues, a good investment option. ...

STOCKS: Parsvnath Developers: Sell
The recent hikes in interest rates and the continuing scenario of unaffordable housing may prove to be an intimidating combination for the real-estate sector and realty developers. While rising cost of home loans can affect demand, higher ...

STOCKS: Praj Industries: Hold
Shareholders with a long-term perspective can continue to hold the stock of Praj Industries, a leading engineering solutions provider to ethanol plants worldwide. The company, whose growth prospects are largely intertwined with the increasing ...

STOCKS: 3i Infotech: Hold
Lowered IT spends by clients on the back of credit crisis-related write-downs and slowing economic growth in the US have created a turbulent environment for Indian software developers. In this context, a very select band of IT companies may be ...

IPOS: Austral Coke: AvoidInvestors can avoid investment in the initial public offering (IPO) of Austral Coke and Projects Ltd., considering the high execution risks and cyclical nature of the business, though prospects for volume growth are bright. ...

INSIGHT: FII activity in 2008 — Still some glimmer of hope

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: Index OutlookVolatility was conspicuous by its absence in the equity markets last week. Trading was almost dull without the wild gyrations. Investors were treading water, buying selectively in beaten down sectors. The sea of red migrated from the trading ...

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: Query Corner: What the charts sayI am holding shares of Idea Cellular purchased at Rs 128. Should I hold these shares at current prices or sell? ...

PETROLEUM: If crude falls further, equities may follow suitStocks, bonds, gold and every other financial asset have been dancing to global gyrations in crude oil prices. In 2008, Indian stocks have moved exactly in the opposite direction to crude prices. The BSE Sensex dropped to its low of 12576 points ...

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS:
Reliance Infra (August 10, 2008)
Unitech (August 10, 2008)
Infosys (August 10, 2008)
Tata Steel (August 10, 2008)
SBI (August 10, 2008)
Reliance (August 10, 2008)
Nifty may cool off after a strong opening (August 10, 2008)

DERIVATIVES MARKETS: Covered calls – here is how to use it

STOCK MARKETS: Baskets of X
E-mail your response before Tuesday to:
STOCK MARKETS: Bull's Eye
E-mail your response by Tuesday to


Source: BusinessLine