Monday, October 20, 2008

European telco set to buy 43% in Unitech's arm

Realty firm's telecom unit could seal $1.4-bn deal by weekend.
A leading European telecom giant is set to acquire a little over 43 per cent stake in Unitech's telecom venture for $1.4 billion. According to highly-placed sources close to the deal, the legal documentation is likely to be completed shortly and an announcement to this effect is expected by the weekend, or early next week.
Unitech was in talks with three major telecommunication giants, including Italy's Telecom Italia and Norway-based Telenor. Telecom Italia, it is learnt, is no longer in the race due to differences over valuation and the management structure of the company.
Besides the Continent, the European company is a strong player in some of the emerging markets in Asia. With its entry into India, the company will be one of the leading foreign players in South-East Aisa.
Sources said the European company would eventually increase its holding to a majority level at a fair market price. According to the initial understanding, both the partners will have an equal representation on the board with an independent chief executive officer.
"The chief financial officer will be appointed by the foreign partner, while the executive chairman will be nominated by Unitech," sources said. UBS Investment Bank is advising Unitech.
A high-level management of the European company is expected to visit the country early this week to conclude the deal and make a formal announcement, sources said.
Sources said investment by the foreign company would peg the equity value of the telecom joint venture at $3.2 billion, equivalent to Rs 15,840 crore, as against Unitech's market capitalisation of Rs 12,900 crore last Friday.
Unitech's holding in the joint venture would be valued at around Rs 9,000 crore. Under the deal, Unitech, which has advanced a debt of Rs 2,000 crore in the telecom venture, would convert the debt into equity shares worth Rs 450 crore, while retaining the balance of Rs 1,550 crore as debt. The debt would be returned by the joint venture to Unitech over the next few quarters, sources added.
The current paid-up capital of the joint venture is Rs 138 crore, which is owned by Unitech. Post-transaction, the JV's paid-up capital would be close to Rs 750 crore and its networth would be of Rs 7,500 crore, they said.
The proceeds from a private placement of the joint venture would be used for laying down the network, rolling out operations as well as bidding for the 3G spectrum.
Business Standard October 20, 2008

Infosys Technologies Order

Infy pips TCS to bag $15-m US bank order

INFOSYS Technologies has bagged an order from the Union Bank of California, US, for its core banking solution (CBS) Finacle, beating its rival Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). According to sources, Infosys and TCS were the only two shortlisted vendors for this project. What is surprising is that only these two India-based vendors were invited for the project when there are established banking products companies in the US such as Temenos, Fiserve, Metavante among others. When contacted, a spokesperson for Finacle said, "We are not able to comment on this matter." However, sources said that it was a close contest between these IT services majors who have a strong focus on providing software solutions for the financial services market. TCS' banking solution portfolio is called BaNCS. Though, there is no exact estimates on the value of this deal, it most likely could be in the range of $10-15 million. Based on assets, Union Bank of California is among the 25 largest banks in the United States. The bank has 330 branch offices in California, Washington and Oregon, two international offices and facilities in other states. The commercial bank is headquartered in San Francisco having more than 10,000 employees. It registered a revenue of $2.6 billion for 2007 and is majority owned by The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Industry observers believe that this is a significant order not just for Infosys but also the Indian banking solutions companies as it gives a strong foothold in the US financial market. India is already home to some of the leading banking products companies like Oracle Financial Services (the erstwhile iflex), Finacle of Infosys, BaNCS of TCS, Nucleus Software, 3I Infotech and Infrasoft. These India-headquartered banking solutions companies were largely focused on the India, APAC, Africa, Middle East and European markets.
PP Thimmaya BANGALORE

Stock Idea: Peninsula Land

Peninsula Land has posted flat results for quarter ending September 08, with PBT placed at Rs.60.82 crores for the quarter against Rs.60.28 crores of the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Even total income for the quarter, though marginally down, could be termed as flat, which is at Rs.110.54 crores for the quarter against Rs.117.37 crore of Q2 FY 08.

The company is developing two major projects in Mumbai viz. Ashoka Towers at Parel and Ashoka Garden at Sewree. The first project is owned by the company, which has been more than 50% complete with over 95% project having been sold by the company. So, inspite of a sharp rise in realty prices in Parel, the company has not gained much as entire project has been sold, below Rs.10,000 per sq. feet against Rs.20,000 per sq. feet ruling now, which at one time had crossed Rs.26,000 per sq. ft. However, with progress in the project, the company is booking part of its revenue and profits. Also, this project has started giving transfer fees to the company, as buyers of flats in the project have started re-selling flats.

In case of Ashoka Garden project at Sewree, the company is entitled to receive 22% of sale proceeds, as its share of profit, as it is being developed for Swan Mill. Another property of Swan Mills at Kurla, in which the company is entitled for same 22% revenue sharing, is almost complete.

So not much improvement in the business activities of the company are visible or expected and hence the same kind of results are expected for the next two quarters as well.

PAT for the quarter rose to Rs.54.60 crores (Rs.33.69 crores) due to lower tax burden of Rs.2.78 crores (Rs.22.94 crores), which has resulted in higher EPS of Rs.2.08 against Rs.1.58 of Q2 FY 08.

FY 09 is likely to have an EPS of Rs.7 and share is presently ruling at Rs.25. Present market capitalisation of Rs.700 crores factors in the expected profit from the undergoing projects.

Due to steep corrections having seen in other realty stocks, this has also corrected but further downside looks minimal.
Source: sptulsian.com

Intraday Trading Calls for 20th October

Indian Stock Market may open Positive. A strong rally expected today with good positive closing.
Today's Intraday Trading Calls / Stock Tips (Keep Appropriate Stop Loss for each trade):
BANK OF BARODA (304)
Buy Above 307.60 Target 313.25, 320.00
Sell Below 301.20 Target 296.30, 288.00
ROLTA INDIA (170)
Buy Above 171.55 Target 176.40, 182.00
Sell Below 168.20 Target 164.45, 160.00
INDIABULL REALEST (100)
Buy Above 101.95 Target 108.60, 115.00
Sell Below 98.40 Target 94.05, 90.00
MPHASIS BFL (174)
Buy Above 176.50 Target 181.40, 188.00
Sell Below 172.40 Target 168.15, 163.00
HPCL (235)
Buy Above 237.80 Target 243.25, 250.00
Sell Below 232.40 Target 227.10, 220.00
CHENNAI PETRO (155)
Buy Above 156.75 Target 161.15, 168.00
Sell Below 153.5 Target 150.10, 146.00

GOOD LUCK

Disclaimer

The information in this publication is provided by http://www.moneybazzar.blogspot.com/ is intended for use for Readers & Traders . Every effort is made to provide accurate information, but http://www.moneybazzar.blogspot.com/ cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information or of the market analysis. This is a newsletter and is for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation or offer to buy or sell futures. There is a high risk of loss in trading futures. You should not trade with money that you cannot afford to lose. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this newsletter. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results.



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