Sensex Declines; Mumbai Land Auction

Chandrasekhar Atreya
30 Jul, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai fluctuated and closed lower. Textile ministry begins land auction to raise $1.1 billion. UltraTech plans Capex of Rs 12,000 crore in the next five years. Ashok Leyland plans to pick 26% stake in U.K.-based Optare.

[R]5:00 PM Mumbai – Stocks in Mumbai fluctuated and closed lower. Textile ministry begins land auction to raise $1.1 billion. UltraTech plans Capex of Rs 12,000 crore in the next five years. Ashok Leyland plans to pick 26% stake in U.K.-based Optare.[/R]

The Sensex index in India decreased 123.71 or 0.69% to 17,868.29 and CNX Nifty index fell 28.85 or 0.53% to 5,380.05. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 13 rose and 17 fell. The Senses Index fell 1.5% in the week, trimming its monthly advance to 1%.

On BSE trading, 1,484 stocks advanced, 1,351 declined and 116 were unchanged. Realty and IT stocks fell. Cigarette maker and hotel group ITC scaled all-time high ahead of record date for a 1-to-1 bonus issue.

Rupee edged lower 7 paisa to Rs 46.60 against one dollar.

UltraTech Cement, a part of Aditya Birla group, on Thursday announced capital expense proposal of Rs 12,000 crore to be spent over the next five years.

Addressing shareholders at the company’s tenth annual general meeting, Chairman Kumaramangalam Birla said the funds would be used in increasing the grinding capacity in Gujarat and setting up additional grinding facility across locations, setting up clinkerisation plants through brownfield expansion at Chattisgarh and Karnataka.

The Indian government on Thursday signed contracts with companies for the seven blocks awarded under the fourth round of Coal Bed Methane Policy IV, having a resource potential of 330 million cubic meters of gas which are expected to attract $150 million investment.

Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran on Thursday launched the e-auction plan of state-owned National Textile Corp to raise Rs 5,000 crore in the current year through the sale of surplus land in Mumbai and other cities.

The block of land that came under the hammer on Thursday was 2.39 acres of Podar Mills in Mumbai at a reserve price of Rs 250 crore. The next auction would be held between August 4 and 6 for 8.37 acres of land belonging to Bharat Textile Mills also in Mumbai. The reserve price for this land is fixed at Rs 750 crore.

Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of the Hinduja Group agreed to acquire 26% equity stake in the U.K.-based bus maker Optare Plc. This follows an agreement signed between the two for an investment of $7.5 million and a long-term strategic cooperation.

Hindustan Construction Ltd is planning to raise as much as Rs 2,000 crore by selling shares of its unit Lavasa Group. Lavasa will sell a 10% stake in an initial offering and will file sale documents with the regulator soon, said Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman of Hindustan Construction in Mumbai today.

Oil & Natural Gas Corp reported a drop in profit for the quarter ended June 30, said its profits may rise from the next quarter after the government more than doubled the price of natural gas and decontrolled gasoline prices.

Speaking to reporters in a press conference in New Delhi yesterday, Chairman and Managing Director R.S. Sharma said the company may add as much as Rs 900 crore to its profit and Rs 1,600 crore to its sales next quarter onwards because of higher gas prices.

NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power producer, is planning import of 14.5 million tons of coal for the year ending March 2012, a company official said. NTPC is importing the fuel directly instead of through state-owned trading companies like the MMTC Ltd and the State Trading Corp of India.

“It will be the biggest import ever,” said Suhas Datta Additional General Manager in charge of purchase.

SKS Microfinance Ltd, the Indian lender backed by George Soros, has received bids for all the stock available in its IPO. The bids totaled 14.4 billion against the 13.8 million shares on offer, according to details on the National Stock Exchange Web site today.

Gainers & Losers

Adhunik Metaliks Limited rose 0.7% to Rs 114.00 after SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund said it is buying a 12% stake in the company''s power unit, Adhunik Power and Natural Resources for Rs 125 crore.

Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited fell 0.5% to Rs 771.00 after the conglomerate reported first quarter net profit of Rs 149 crore compared to net loss of Rs 35.29 crore a year ago.

Arvind Limited gained 3.3% to Rs 35.10 after the manufacture of denim fabrics reported first quarter net profit surged 107.5% to Rs 19.03 crore.

Bank of Maharashtra advanced 2.1% to Rs 65.70 after the bank reported first quarter net profit rose 16.3% to Rs 118.43 crore.

Central Bank of India climbed 7.6% to Rs 163.05 after the lender reported first quarter net profit rose 26.2% to Rs 336.81 crore.

Elecon Engineering Company Limited gained 5.0% to Rs 90.95 after the company reported first quarter net profit rose 56.5% to Rs 13.31 crore.

Hero Honda Motors Limited decreased 2.9% to Rs 1,816.00 after the manufacture of motorcycles reported first quarter net profit declined 1.6% to Rs 491.69 crore.

Hitachi Home & Life Solutions (India) Limited dropped 1.7% to Rs 310.00 after the company reported first quarter net profit declined 22.2% to Rs 14.52 crore.

Hindustan Construction Company Limited gained 5.5% to Rs 136.00 after the firm said its board approved a 1-for-1 bonus issue and also approved its Lavasa Corp IPO of Rs 2,000 crore rupees.

INOX Leisure Limited surged 15.3% to Rs 83.00 after the company said Reliance MediaWorks clarified on Friday it was not in talks to buy a controlling stake in the cinema chain operator.

The Indian Hotels Company Limited fell 1.8% to Rs 98.95 after the company reported first quarter net profit fell 79.7% to Rs 3.33 crore.

Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited rose 1.0% to Rs 1,007.05 after the board of directors of the company approved a 5-for-1 stock-split.

KEC International Limited rose 1.3% to Rs 523.00 after the company engaged in the engineering, procurement and construction business said it is bidding for US-based SAE Towers.

Lanco Infratech Limited added 3.1% to Rs 66.60 after the company secured a contract from Maharashtra State Power Generation Co Ltd for three new units of 660 MW each being set up for Mahagenco''s Koradi Thermal power Plant near Nagpur.

Lloyds Metals & Engineers Limited fell 3.7% to Rs 64.50 after the company reported first quarter net loss of Rs 8.30 crore compared to net loss of Rs 1.28 crore a year ago.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited fell 0.4% to Rs 1,237.20 after the oil explorer reported first quarter net profit declined 24.4% to Rs 3,661.14 crore.

Parenteral Drugs (India) Limited added 3.0% to Rs 256.50 after the company reported first quarter net profit increased 65.43% to Rs 10.72 crore.

Siemens Limited decreased 2.7% to Rs 701.00 after the company reported third quarter net profit fell 53.7% to Rs 156.12 crore.

The Shipping Corporation of India Limited rose 0.4% to Rs 161.75 after the company reported first quarter net profit surged 59.6% to Rs 191.49 crore.