August 2009
Rabobank has difficult first half
Wednesday 26 August 2009
Rabobank, the only big Dutch bank not to have had government cash because of the financial crisis, had a difficult first half of 2009 but still managed to book net profit of €1.3bn.
Nevertheless, net profit was down 18% on the first half of 2008.
Rabobank said it expects a further levelling off of growth in its loan activities in the second half. Competition for scarce savings money is also pressuring earnings, the cooperative bank said.
‘While some economists have spotted a swallow, I, for one, do not see an economic recovery yet,’ Rabobank’s new chairman Piet Moerland said in a statement.
‘Many western countries are battling with recession, including the Netherlands, which is experiencing its most severe economic decline since World War II. This has created serious problems for customers, which in turn is reflected in Rabobank Group’s results.’
In particular, Rabobank Real Estate sold 22% fewer homes in the first half of the year, reducing profit at its property arm by 27% to €68.
International prizes for Dutch design
Thursday 20 August 2009
No less than 14 Dutch products have won international design awards so far this year, according to a compilation by news website Z24.
The winners range from a window which folds out into a balcony - voted most life-enhancing product by Wallpaper - to a solar-powered medical aid to count breathing rates and set of stamps showing solutions to environmental problems.
India expands port capacity with 43 projects
The Shipping Ministry today said it has completed 43 capacity expansion projects for major ports out of 276 such schemes under the National Maritime Development Project (NMDP).
NMDP being implemented at an estimated cost of over Rs 60,000 crore will take the combined capacity of the 12 ports to 1,016 million tonnes by 2012.
“Forty-three projects have been completed and work in another 69 are in progress out of 276 projects under the NMDP.
An expenditure of Rs 4,529.15 crore has been incurred on completion of these 43 projects,” an official statement said. read more
Recession-hit IT industry to recover by mid-2010
CHENNAI: The recession hit IT industry would show positive signs of recovery by mid-2010 and Infosys will diversify into new markets then, a top IT company official said here on Tuesday.
On economic slowdown Infosys Chief Executive and Managing Director Kris Gopalakrishnan told reporters, “It is better to wait and understand that the recovery is real and will sustain. The developed countries have higher GDPs, so they will have a significant impact on recovery.” read more
How ’sprinter’ India dodged recession
Prudent fiscal and monetary policies have helped India in dodging the recession and sustaining the economy, the research arm of the rating agency Moody’s said.
Calling India a ’sprinter’, it said the downward trend in the country’s industrial output seemed to have ended, with a pick-up likely due to new infrastructure development.
Investor confidence in India had certainly improved, as reflected in the rapid increase in net capital inflows in the stock market during recent months, Sherman Chan, Moody’s Economy.com economist, said in a note on the recovery of the Asia-Pacific region on Wednesday.
“Amid increased sightings of green shoots, the bottom of the global downturn is now in sight,” she said, adding that “China, India and Indonesia have dodged recession and maintained strong growth despite the global turmoil.”
Shell to increase low sulphur fuel capability
Shell will build a new hydrodesulphurization plant at its Pernis Refinery in the port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest refinery. The plant, expected to come on stream in the second half of 2011, will increase cleaner-burning, low-sulphur fuels production at the 400 thousand barrels per day refinery.
Much of the production from the new plant will be marketed to German households as domestic heating oil, which must comply with strict new sulphur content requirements: The new plant’s energy consumption and emissions will comply with the highest standards, anticipating more stringent European requirements. For instance, the new desulphuriser’s furnace features a specially designed multi-burner system that will reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. source www.portofrotterdam.com
Finance Minister decodes Budget’09
Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, held a post-budget meeting with select members of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) and the media to gauge industry reactions to Budget 2009 and to solicit suggestions n what should be enhanced. Read more
Economy recovering; India Inc’s business confidence improves
India Inc has regained the much-needed business confidence with majority of 300 companies stating, in an industry survey, that they see better economic outlook in the next six months. As many as 57 per cent of the companies measured on the quarterly business confidence index (BCI) of Ficci, indicated that they expect the overall economic condition to be ‘moderately to substantially’ better in the next six months.
IT industry would come out of recession blues by 2010: Kris. The recession hit IT industry would show positive signs of recovery by mid-2010 and Infosys will diversify into new markets then, a top IT company official said in Chennai.
Rabobank to set up agri biz-specific PE fund in India
Rabobank Group, along with three other international finance institutions, have decided to enter the agriculture business in India by setting up a private equity fund focused on the country’s agri-business.
The $100 million fund aims to boost the growth of India’s agri-business sector by making value-added private equity investments with focus on small and medium enterprises and companies in rural areas, the company said in a statement on Friday.
The other three agencies involved in the equity fund are International Finance Corporation, Netherlands-based Finance for Development and Germany-based bank DEG.
Rabobank, which conceptualised and sponsored the fund, will provide 25% of the committed capital.READ MORE
CDC Group PLC, the UK’s development finance institution, today committed $10 million (Rs 48 crore) to Rabo Equity Advisor’s India Agri Business Fund, CDC’s first investment under its new investment policy.
Under the new policy, which came into effect on January 1, the lending institution will focus more on investing in the world’s poorest countries. Close to 75 per cent of new investments will go to countries, such as India, with an annual gross national income per head of less than $905.
The fund will invest in mid-level companies in the agri-business sector across the entire value chain - farming, logistics, production and marketing. The fund’s first investment has been in Sri Biotech Laboratories, which produces organic agricultural products to improve and protect crop yields. The fund expects to make 10-15 investments in the range of $3 million (Rs 15 crore) to $20 million (Rs 100 crore) over a four-year period.
CDC is a UK government-owned development finance institution with net assets of £2.3 billion (around Rs 20,030 crore).
Anubha Shrivastava, managing director, Asia, CDC, said, “Although currently underdeveloped, agri-business in India has enormous potential. The India Agri Business Fund will open new opportunities for India’s food companies, which, in turn, will be a great stimulant for economic growth through new jobs, improved infrastructure and economies of scale.” READ MORE
The 2009-2010 Indian Budget
The Budget 2009 - 2010 has announced a slew of tax concession including an additional Rs 10,000 personal income tax exemption and elimination of 10 per cent surcharge. In action with the poll promises made by the Congress and reflecting the pressures of the global financial crisis, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Budget for 2009-10 that containing a series of measures. Following are the major highlights of Union Budget 2009 - 2010
Budget 2009-10:Goes down well with students, salaried, professionals…
Budget 2009 has been received enthusiastically by people across all walks of like–from housewives, students, businessmen, self-employed professionals to salaried individuals. However, as far as contended consumers go, students seem to be in a majority here with 55% giving Pranab Mukherjee’s budget thumbs up on creating happiness. read more
India budget consistent with stable outlook - Moody’s
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service said on Tuesday that India’s budget for 2009/10 is consistent with a stable outlook on its sovereign ratings, although it said the commitment to cut a debt overhang was weak. Read more
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LATEST IN INDIAN ECONOMY
Despite the economic crisis, the Indian industries are performing very well in terms of new innovation and expansion plans. Particular industries like medicine and pharmacies, automobile, cement, transportation and mobile technology are showing signs of more robust growth and bigger market reach, especially in Europe.
Proof to this performance is the result of the Servcop International Business Confidence Survey conducted recently across global business communities. India ranked third, next t China and Australia.
Meanwhile, India’s exploration and production (E&P) sector continues to attract global investors’ attention. So far oil and gas majors such as BHP Billiton, Noble, Anadarko, Samsung have expressed their desire to participate in the eighth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (Nelp-VIII) wherein the Government of India is offering the highest ever number of 70 exploration blocks covering an area of about 163,535 Sq Km.
Automobile
India’s largest tyre maker Apollo Tyres has acquired Dutch tyre maker Vredestein Banden for an undisclosed sum, gaining a foothold in the lucrative European tyre market and raising its annual turnover by a quarter. Vredestein Banden, with estimated annual revenues of 300 million euro, was a subsidiary of Russia’s largest tyre manufacturer Amtel-Vredestein, which went bankrupt last month.
Meanwhile, Tata Motoros and Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Company (RECC), are finalizing plans to launch electric vehicles in Europe and the US to take advantage of subsidies these countries are offering as part of their environmental agendas.
Tata Motors will launch the electric version of the Indica Vista in Norway this year and RECC, which has been exporting its electric cars to Europe since 2004, is in talks to set up a factory in the US. Meanwhile, Pune-based Bajaj Auto has tied up with European two-wheeler maker KTM (of which it owns 31 per cent) to launch a range of electric vehicles.
Medical and Pharmaceutical
In the middle of the on-going scare of AH1N1, the Indian medical and pharmaceutical industry is gaining advantage. Indian generics companies Cipla and Hetero Drugs, firms that manufacture Oseltamivir (Tamiflu - drug recommended by FDA for swine flu) in India expects that the demand for Oseltamivir will soar in the coming months. Indian health authorities, for instance, have already said they will double the stock pile of Tamiflu to counter any emergency that might arise
Mr. Srinivas Reddy, Director - Marketing, Hetero Drugs, said, “We have a high hand over any other generics company in India as we are the licensee of Roche. The efficacy of the drug we are supplying is clinically proved. We are maintaining a minimum quantity of Oseltamivir for emergency requirement irrespective of the orders we receive. We can supply a quantity of 40 million capsules in a span of 3-4 weeks. Also, we have a monthly capacity of 80 million capsules.”
In other news, Jubilant Biosys Ltd, the Bangalore-based subsidiary of Jubilant Organosys Ltd, has signed a research collaboration agreement with US major AstraZeneca, focusing on delivering novel drugs into the international pharmaceutical company’s pre-clinical pipeline. Under the shared risk-reward collaboration, which will initially focus on the neuroscience area, Jubilant aims to deliver a steady stream of discovery programs to AstraZeneca.
Mobile Technology
India’s ranking in the CDMA-based (code division multiple access) mobile phone subscribers list has climbed up to 2nd, next to the United States. India has outnumbered China with the country’s GSM user base which is close to 300 million. CDG executive director Perry LaForge attributed the rapid growth of CDMA users in India to a wide selection of affordable devices and technologies offering CDMA voice and data services in urban and rural areas.
This number is expected to climb even more with the recent annoucement of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA. According to them the number of mobile subscribers in India will touch 500 million by 2012, with growth in the rural markets.
In April alone, India added a total of nearly 9 million GSM subscribers, taking the total GSM subscriber base to 297 million, a growth of 3.11% over the additions made the previous month. The figures, however, do not include the GSM subscriber additions made by Reliance Telecom.
Aviation and Port
India’s civil aviation suppliers market, including components and maintenance, is seen growing annually at 16.1 per cent over the next five years to top $3.89 billion, says a new research by a global consultancy.
“Low manufacturing and labor costs are expected to boost outsourcing to India. Labour costs in India are relatively lower compared to the western countries,” says the Frost and Sullivan study, listing the reasons for the projection. “India also enjoys a geographical advantage over other countries that enables it to cater to the demands of countries in South Asia as well as the Middle East. The offsets policy of the government can help India attract significant investment.”
The goal to make India an export hub is intensified even more by the development of coal handling facilities for state-run Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) and Coastal Energy Company with a combined investment of around US $ 148 mln.
Tuticorin Port Trust chairman Mr. G.J. Rao said the NLC facility would come up at the North Cargo berth and have a capacity of 5 million tonnes a year. The port has already floated a tender for developing the facility. The proposed investment in the facility would be around US $ 80 mln, which will be made by the corporation.
