ANGEL STOCK MARKET

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Aurobindo Pharma gets USFDA approval for Famciclovir Tablets

Aurobindo Pharma’s tentatively approved ANDA for Famciclovir tablets 125mg, 250mg and 500mg has received the final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA).

Famciclovir tablets 125mg, 250mg and 500mg is the generic version of Novartis Pharamaceuticals Corp’s Famvir tablets 125mg, 250mg and 500mg and is indicated for the treatment of recurrent mucocutaneous herpes simplex infections in HIV-infected patients and suppression of recurrent genital herpes in immunocompetent patients.

The products have a market size of approximately $175 million for the twelve months ending September 2010 according to IMS and are ready for commercial launch. Aurobindo now has a total of 132 ANDA approvals (100 final approvals and 32 tentative approvals) from USFDA.

Last month, Aurobindo Pharma has received tentative approval from the USFDA to manufacture and market Venlafaxine Hydrochloride extended-release capsules 37.5mg, 75mg and 150mg.

NMDC expects to renew a five-year iron ore contract with Japan by the end of March

India's top iron ore miner - NMDC - is planning to renew soon a five-year iron ore contract with Japanese customers which expire by the end of March. The company currently supplies to a consortium of Japanese steels companies called Japan Steel Mills and to POSCO in South Korea.

Surprisingly, Japan despite facing power shortages from the earthquake and tsunami that crippled production at several steel mills and other industrial units, did not asked for supplies to be halted from the company.

The company is confident of bagging the order since they feel that the Japanese customers would try to maintain the continuity notwithstanding the fact that the physical lifting will be affected by their economic condition.

NMDC's contract with Japan Steel Mills was on an annual basis for the first four years. The buyers had then agreed to switch to a quarterly price mechanism in line with other firms such as BHP Billiton for the 2010/11 fiscal year.

However, the company’s contract with South Korean importers is also up for review. The company current price agreement for the January-March period with Japanese steelmakers and South Korea's POSCO has been fixed at about $140 per tonne for iron ore fines and about $158 for lump variety on free on board (FOB) basis.

revises the ratings assigned to Simplex Projects’ bank facilities

Credit rating agency CARE, has revised the ratings assigned to Simplex Projects’ long-term bank facilities from ‘CARE A-‘to ‘CARE A’. The amount is also enhanced from Rs 1,151.00 crore to Rs 2,130.00 crore. It has reaffirmed the ‘PR1’ ratings assigned for short-term bank facilities of the company. The amount is been enhanced from Rs 35.00 crore to Rs 300.00 crore.
The agency has also revised the long/short- term bank facilities from ‘CARE A-/PR1’ to ‘CARE A/PR1’ for Rs 145.00 crore. Further, the agency has reaffirmed the ‘PR1’ rating assigned for the company’s Short Term Debt (including CP) for Rs 70.00 crore.
The revision in the long term rating takes into account the healthy order book position, high growth in revenue, profit level and cash accruals in FY10 as well as comfortable debt-equity ratio and interest coverage ratio and improved average collection period during the aforesaid period.

Dhunseri Petrochem & Tea starts production from its Haldia Plant

Dhunseri Petrochem & Tea has commenced production from its Haldia Plant which was shut down after a fire broke out in raw material store of the plant. The production from the plant has started at the rate of 420 TPD and full capacity is expected to be achieved shortly.

Further, the company’s Haldia Unit-2 project implementation is going on as per schedule and is expected to achieve mechanical completion by March 2012. Meanwhile, implementation of IT SEZ project first phase of 365000 sq ft is in full progress and is expected to be completed by June 2012. Second phase implementation is scheduled to start within 3 months from now.

Dhunseri Petrochem & Tea reported a net profit of Rs 24.99 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 down by 4.67% as compared to Rs 26.21 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

Viceroy Hotels gets approval for assignment deeds for hiving-off its 'Bangalore Project Division'

Viceroy Hotels’ board of directors have approved the execution of assignment deeds between the company, Viceroy Bangalore Hotels (VBHPL) and the owners of the land on which the Bangalore Project is implemented for assignment of the lease pursuant to hiving-off the 'Bangalore Project Division' to VBHPL.
The company’s board of directors also took in consideration the revised terms of the proposed investment by JP Morgan India Property Mauritius Company II in VBHPL and approved the draft Supplemental Agreement to be executed with VBHPL and JP Morgan India Property Mauritius Company II inter alia, thereby amending the terms of the Share Subscription Agreement and the Shareholders' Agreement dated April 13, 2010.
According to revised terms of such proposed investment VBHPL will cease to be a subsidiary of the company. Further, the investment under the Supplemental Agreement is proposed to be made immediately pursuant to the transfer of the Bangalore Project division to VBHPL.
The board approved to hive-off the said division at a consideration of Rs 205 crore and also approved to make investment in the equity share capital of the said WOS.

Glenmark Pharma’s US arm gets USFDA approval for Norethindrone and Ethinyl Estradiol

Glenmark Generics’ (GGL) United States (US) subsidiary -- Glenmark Generics Inc., (GGI) -- has been granted final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Norethindrone and Ethinyl Estradiol, USP 0.4 mg/0.035 mg tablets, their generic version of Ovcon 35 tablets by Warner Chilcott, Inc. The product will be marketed under the trade name Briellyn and distribution is expected to start immediately.

Briellyn provides a continuous 28 day regimen for oral contraception derived from 21 tablets composed of Norethindrone and Ethinyl Estradiol to be followed by 7 inert tablets and is indicated for the prevention of pregnancy. Glenmark remains the only Indian company to be granted ANDA approval for an oral contraceptive product and today’s approval marks their fourth female hormonal product authorized for distribution by the USFDA.

The company received approval in April 2010 for Heather tablets, their generic version of Watson’s Nor-QD tablets as well as approvals in July 2010 for Norethindrone 0.35mg tablets, their generic version of Micronor tablets by Ortho McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Norethindrone Acetate 5 mg tablets. Total market sales of Glenmark’s current hormonal product line are approximately $141 million for the 12 month period ending December 2010.

The company’s current portfolio consists of 69 generic products authorized for distribution in the U.S. market and approximately 40 ANDA’s filed with the US FDA pending approval. In addition to these internal filings, GGI continues to identify and explore external development partnerships to supplement and accelerate the growth of the existing pipeline and portfolio.

Glenmark Generics (GGL) is a subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and aims to be a global integrated Generic and API leader. GGL has an established presence in North America, EU and Argentina and maintains marketing front-ends in these countries.

India Infoline gets SEBI approval for IIFL Mutual Fund

India Infoline (IIFL) has received SEBI’s final approval for IIFL Mutual Fund sponsored by the company. This enables commencement of mutual fund business and launching of mutual fund schemes in due course.
IIFL is engaged in business of equities broking, wealth advisory services and portfolio management services. The company was incorporated in October 1995 as Probity Research and Services and later in April 2000 the name was changed to India Infoline.com. In March 2001 the company again changed its name to India Infoline. The company is part of India Infoline Group. It has pan- India presence through its distribution network of 607 branches, 151 franchisees located in 346 cities.

M&M to establish tractor manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh

Auto-maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is planning to establish its tractor manufacturing unit at its existing facility at Zaheerabad in Andhra Pradesh to give boost to industrialization in the backward Telangana region. In this regard, the company will invest Rs 300 crore on the tractor manufacturing facility over the next three years and provide direct employment to about 2,000 people and indirect employment to another 5,000 persons.
This will be the company’s first facility in South India which intended to manufacture 90,000 tractor units per year and also 3 and 4-wheeler commercial vehicles.
At present, the company has its automobile plant spread over 343.36 acres of land at Zaheerabad, 136-km from Hyderabad, where its products like UV (Maxx), 3-wheelers (Champion Alfa), Light Commercial Vehicles and buses are manufactured. It now has employee strength of 641 and a vehicle assembly capacity of 218 vehicles per day.
M&M reported a surge of 77.59% in net profit from ordinary activities after tax of Rs 734.68 crore for the quarter ended December 2010 compared to Rs 413.70 crore in the same quarter last year.

BILT Paper planning raise $330 million from a London listing

BILT Paper Plc - unit of Ballarpur Industries is planning to raise at least $330 million from a London listing next month to fund its expansion and to pay its debt. The paper production capacity of BILT Paper has increased by nearly 90 percent over the last two years and it plans to grow it by another 50 percent by the end of 2014.

Ballarpur owns a 79.5 percent stake in the firm, part of the Mumbai-based Avantha group, with the rest held by private equity investors JP Morgan Mauritius and Lathe investment.

The company would be raising $330 million from the sale of new shares while the private equity investors may also sell some secondary shares in the offering, is also expecting to be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE 250 index.

The listing is expected to be completed in mid-April with a price range due during the week of April 4. Citigroup and JP Morgan are joint global co-ordinators and joint book runners of the initial public offering.

Recently, Ballarpur Industries has acquired entire paid up capital of Premier Tissues India (PTIL), a company engaged in business of manufacturing and trading of tissue paper and related products under the Brand names “Premier” and “Royal”.

Jain Irrigation in green on its bank facilities getting ratings upgrade by CRISIL

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 264.57 on 09-Aug-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 155.15 on 01-Feb-2011.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 187.00 and Rs. 178.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 6987.15 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 30.76% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 57.82% and 10.78% respectively.
Credit rating agency, CRISIL has upgraded its ratings on the bank loan facilities of Jain Irrigation Systems to ‘A-/Stable/P2+’ from ‘BBB+/Stable/P2’. The upgrade reflects rating agency’s belief that the company’s business risk profile will benefit on the back of healthy growth in revenues and continued strong profitability. The rating agency also believes that the company will fund its ongoing capital expenditure towards capacity augmentation with prudent proportion of debt and accruals, thereby improving its financial risk profile.
The ratings continue to reflect the company’s diversified revenue profile and strong market position and benefits. The company is expected to derive the healthy growth prospects from the micro irrigation system (MIS) segment in India over the medium term. These rating strengths are partially offset by Jain Irrigation’s large working capital requirements and the high dependence of the company’s MIS division on government policies.
Jain Irrigation is a diversified company with a market capitalization of Rs 7,500 crore approx. Jain’s product portfolio includes Irrigation Products, Piping Products, Plastic Sheets, Dehydrated Foods, Fruit Puree and Juice concentrates.

Jindal Saw gains on talks to acquire a logistic firm

indal Saw is currently trading at Rs. 184.50, up by 1.50 points or 0.82% from its previous closing of Rs. 183.00 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 184.70 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 185.30 and Rs. 184.50 respectively. So far 5,171 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 234.40 on 25-Oct-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 170.00 on 26-Nov-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 194.35 and Rs. 181.05 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 5054.96 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 46.00% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 33.84% and 20.16% respectively.

Jindal Saw is in talks to acquire a logistic firm that operates container trains and owns terminals for about Rs 100-150 crore. The deal is likely to be closed in three months, officials stated.

The company is planning to acquire a firm in such a space which has terminals at critical locations. At that level, it would probably become India's only multi-modal logistics company which has its own terminals, its own rail operations and ships.

The company has consistently created value by creating low-cost capacities in capital-intensive industries in businesses largely overlooked by other corporate. Jindal SAW had recently launched its Jindal ITF (infrastructure, transportation, fabrication) subsidiary.

Golden Tobacco to ink pact with Sheth Developers and Suraksha Realty

Golden Tobacco has received its members’ approval to enter into an agreement with Sheth Developers and Suraksha Realty or their affiliates/nominees for the joint development and or sale or otherwise disposal of plots of land owned by the company admeasuring about 31128.48 square meter situated at S V Road, Vile Parle (West) in Mumbai.
The company is engaged in manufacturing of cigarettes and tobacco related products. Its first manufacturing zone is a primary manufacturing division which is a tobacco processing plant located at Vadodara. This unit caters to the needs of the factory, as well as the requirements of Mumbai unit.

AI Champdany Industries suspends work at its Rishra unit

AI Champdany Industries has declared suspension of work at one of its 100% EOU - Wellington Jute Mill unit located at Rishra from March 21, 2011. The company has declared suspension for eradication of all wasteful practice, indiscipline, frequent concerted stoppages of work on one pretext or other, state of lawlessness throughout the mill and to comply with manning pattern followed in the industry by the workers of the unit.

In January this year an incident of fire occurred on the night of January 21, 2011 in the same unit. The fire came under control in the early hours of January 22, 2011. The fire caused damage to the mill's finishing department. The work has been resumed on January 24, 2011 after suspension of work on 22nd & 23rd January 2011.

AI Champdany Industries has gradually moved from manufacture of traditional Jute products like Hessian, Sacking etc. towards more value-added non-traditional Jute Products like Jute Yarn, Blended yarn made of Jute blended with other natural and man-made fibres like Cotton, Ramie, Viscose, Poly Propelene, Flax, Wool etc. Special Food Grade Jute Bags, Jute blended carpets, Fabrics for soft luggages / shoe uppers / wearing apparels for export markets.

CARE upgrades the ratings assigned to D. B. Corp

Credit rating agency CARE has upgraded the Long Term Loans (including Working Capital Limits) of D. B. Corp from ‘CARE AA (Double A)’ to ‘CARE AA+ (Double A plus)’.
Recently, DB Corp’s subsidiary company - DB Power is planning to raise Rs 2,625 crore to part-finance its mega power project in Chhattisgarh.
DB Corp is the only media conglomerate that enjoys a leadership position in multiple states, in multiple languages and is a dominant player in its all major markets. The company’s other business interests also span the radio segment through the brand - MY FM - radio station with presence in 7 states and 17 cities and a strong online presence in internet portals.

Domestic markets likely to consolidate after a big rally

The Indian markets went for a rally in previous session with a broad based buying after round of sluggishness. Today the start is likely to be flat-to-cautious as the global cues are not very supportive. Sugar stocks that have rallied in last session may move up further as government allowed sugar exports to the tune of 5 lakh tonnes. The move comes after a delay of about 3 months after the Food Minister announced exports of 5 lakh tonnes of sugar in December last year. But, the issue was referred to EgoM in the wake of surging inflation. There will be lots of scrip specific actions keeping the market buzzing however the continued rise in crude prices is likely to put further pressure on the PSU oil marketing companies.

Meanwhile, the government cleared the Bureau of Indian Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2011 paving the way for introduction of mandatory hallmarking of more products including gold. At present, about 77 items including cement, mineral water and milk products are certified with mandatory hallmarking under the BIS Act to conform to the quality level of goods and services to consumers.

The US markets closed marginally lower on Tuesday, though there was no economic report to influence the trade but the continuous rise in crude prices led the momentum go slow. The weakening of housing markets weighed on the sentiment. Most of the Asian markets have made a soft start and the Japanese markets are once again reeling deep in red, it has been reported by the nuclear safety agency that workers at Japan nuclear plant are unable to continue work at reactor no.2 due to high radiation levels.

Back home, after remaining most part of the session around the crucial support levels of 5,400 and 18,000, the domestic benchmarks have snapped the day with about a percent gain but off the day’s high level. The local markets were outclassed by the markets across the globe by a large extent on Monday, however, the frontline indices smartly bounced back in day’s trade as many investors, smarting from huge losses, took up reverse positions, vowing to avenge the next day. Sanguine local and global cues too buttressed the chances of a rebound for the domestic indices which were reeling under the pressure of spiraling crude oil prices for three consecutive days. The consolidation in crude prices was seen as an opportunity by the local investors who resorted to broad based buying as they closely watched the developments in Parliament where the Indian finance Minister tabled GST and Banking Laws Bill. On the sectoral front, the high beta Realty index amassed 2.19% as strong position build up in stocks like DLF and Mahindra Lifespace which rose 3.17% and 3.66% respectively pulled the index to the top of the table. The other counter which saw huge buying interests was rate sensitive Auto which surged 1.53% on the back of jump in bellwether stocks like Maruti Suzuki up 3.58% and Apollo Tyres up 4.09% in the session. Meanwhile, shares of Healthcare companies like Opto Circuits and Fortis Healthcare jumped 3.46% and 2.23% respectively after Pranab Mukherjee rolled back the proposed 5% service tax on healthcare announced during the federal budget for 2011-12. While sugar stocks also surged on the buzz that Government will be allowing 200,000 tonne of sugar exports under unrestricted sales or the open general license (OGL). The benchmarks got a gap-up start and the indices gradually gained traction and conquered the crucial support levels of 5,400 and 18,000 and gyrated around those levels for most part of the trade. Some bouts of profit booking were witnessed in late trade when the frontline indices touched intra-day highs which dragged the bourses below crucial supports. However, some short covering in dying minutes helped the indices to snap the three day losing streak with gains of almost a percent. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 149.25 points or 0.84% to settle at 17,988.30 while the S&P CNX Nifty climbed by 49.10 points or 0.92% to end at 5,413.85.

US markets closed marginally lower on Tuesday to snap the three days winning streak, though there was not much on economy front, the earthquake-tsunami disaster in Japan and the crisis at the country's nuclear plants that followed sent stocks lower. Energy stocks rose higher for the second day as Crude oil prices, a major source of concern, rose $2 per barrel. Oil briefly topped $105 on concerns that conflicts in the Middle East could pinch oil supplies as demand begins to rise.

According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's monthly home-price index US home prices fell for a third straight month in January, adding to evidence that the housing market is weakening even though the economy is improving. Home prices fell 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis in January compared with December.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 17.90 points to close at 12,018.63. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell by 4.61 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,293.77, while the Nasdaq composite index closed lower by 8.22 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,683.87.

Crude prices rose to their highest level on Tuesday since Japan's devastating earthquake struck 11 days ago, as fighting in Libya and tensions in the Middle East renewed and Allied air strikes against targets in Libya stoked more concerns about supply disruptions. raders will receive an update on US oil and fuel supplies from the Department of Energy on Wednesday, oil inventories are expected to rise.

However, American Petroleum Institute reported a 970,000 barrel build in domestic crude stocks last week, far less than the expected. The API data showed a 7.9 million barrel drawdown in gasoline stockpiles and Distillate stocks fell 612,000 barrels.

Benchmark crude for April delivery settled up $1.67, or 1.6%, at $104 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With the expiration of the April contract, the more heavily traded May contract rose $1.88, or 1.8%, to settle at $104.97 a barrel. In London, Brent crude for May settled up 74 cents, or 0.6%, at $115.70 a barrel on the ICE.

Maruti, Hero Honda, M&M and Vascon Engineers may hog the limelight today

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India will consider taking different measures after April to protect its margins due to fluctuation of Japanese Yen, post the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Honda and the Hero group have ended their joint venture. However, they have signed an agreement under which Honda will give technology for new and upgraded bikes to Hero in return for royalty till June 2014.

In a major fillip to industrialisation in the backward Telangana region, Mahindra and Mahindra will set up its tractor manufacturing unit at its existing facility at Zaheerabad in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh.

Cairn Energy Plc raised expectations of Indian approval for the long-delayed sale of a stake in its Indian business to Vedanta Resources, as the UK oil explorer posted a return to profit in 2010.

The Aditya Birla Group's plans to re-enter the power sector have had a setback, as its move to buy into a Chhattisgarh-based power unit has fallen apart. AB Group is very close to purchasing Sona Power, which had plans of putting up a 660-Mw power project in Chhattisgarh.

India's top iron ore miner NMDC expects to renew soon a five-year iron ore contract with Japanese customers which expires at the end of March. The state-owned miner plans to build steel plants in India, has moved closer in its bid to acquire a coal mine in the US.

A fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at India's Reliance Industries' old plant could start product output from today.

The need for raw material integration for its European operations is keeping Tata Steel officials busy. The company has initiated talks with the government of British Columbia, a Canadian province, to acquire coking coal mines.

Monnet Ispat & Energy, flagship Company of the Monnet Group, has bought a 65-million tonne coal mine in Indonesia for $24 million (Rs 290 crore). And, it is in talks to buy another coal mine, besides looking to set up power plants, in that country.

A consortium of Lanco Infratech and US-based Massey Energy Company, emerged as the lowest bidder for a power project by Maha Tamil Colleries.

Kotak Realty Fund, the property investment arm of India's Kotak Mahindra Bank, plans to raise as much as $500 million by the second quarter of this year, in a bet on the long term case for property in Asia's third-largest economy.

BILT, the country’s largest producer of writing and printing paper, plans to raise $330 million from London Stock Exchange, through a book building process and making offer to select institutional investors.

China's Yanzhou Coal Mining Co and India's Aditya Birla Group are among parties preparing to submit second-round bids for Australian coal miner Whitehaven Coal, which is seeking offers of more than $3.5 billion.

Chennai-based information management solutions provider Saksoft has signed an agreement with US-based analytics and decision management technology firm Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), to market the latter's solutions in India.

Indian drugmaker Elder Pharmaceuticals plans to raise 1.05 billion rupees through 7-year bonds at 11.25 percent.

Arvind International’s board has approved the right issue price at Rs 13.50 per equity shares. The approval was granted at its meeting held on March 22, 2011.

Vascon Engineers has secured two contracts worth aggregating Rs 241 crore.The company bagged first order worth Rs 131 crore for construction of miscellaneous building for ESIC at MGM in Mumbai. However, the second order worth Rs 110 crore is for carrying out civil work for residential project in Chennai.

Jindal Saw is in talks to acquire a logistic firm that operates container trains and owns terminals for about Rs 100-150 crore. The deal is likely to be closed in three months, officials stated.

Reliance Communications, India’s largest integrated telecom operator announced the launch of free website package for all its Netconnect users.

Zylog Systems' board of directors, have given their approval for the expansion plans of the WiFi business of the wholly owned subsidiary - Zylog Systems (India).

Acropetal Technologies has entered into definitive agreements to acquire 100% equity in Line Beyond Inc and 70% of the equity in Optech Consulting Inc for a consideration of $ 4.90 million each.

Bafna Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement with NR Jet, an affiliate of Johnson & Johnson, for the acquisition of the TradeMark --RARICAP-- and the transaction is expected to be closed by the first week of April 2011.

US markets close marginally down after a volatile trade

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 17.90 points or 0.15 percent to close at 12,018.63. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell by 4.61 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,293.77, while the Nasdaq composite index closed lower by 8.22 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,683.87.

Indian ADRs made a mixed closing on Tuesday, Infosys was down by 0.68%, ICICI Bank was down by 0.01% and Tata Motors was down by 0.17%.

On the other hand HDFC Bank was up by 0.02% and MTNL too was down by 0.02%.