L&T Infra eyes 50% growth this fiscal

L&T Infrastructure Finance Co Ltd is eyeing a disbursal growth of 50 percent during the current financial year, a company official said.
   
Last fiscal, the company disbursed Rs 4,500 crore, chief executive of L&T Infra Suneet K Maheshwari said.
   
Maheshwari said the company Is not looking at any acquisition in specialised NBFC space since organic growth is stupendous.
   
"We do not need inorganic growth since organically we are growing by 50 percent," he told reporters here today.
   
Asked when L&T would enter the banking sector, he said the exact model to be followed for this purpose would become clear in a year or so.
   
Regarding fund raising, Maheshwari said external commercial borrowings (ECBs) is a viable option. "Fund raising will not be a problem", he said.

German carmaker Audi to enter used car business in India

After posting a growth of 66 per cent in the last six months, German luxury carmaker Audi is planning to enter the used car business by 2011 and is looking at adding more models to its portfolio.
The company sold 1,876 cars from January-August, 2010 against 1,128 units sold in the same period of the previous year. It expects to sell 2,700 units by the end of this year.
"Having successfully surpassed last year's annual sales performance, we are confident that this consistent growth, which Audi India has been witnessing through 2010 will help us achieve our goals for the year," Michael Perschke, head, Audi India, said.
The company will ramp up its output by 50 per cent in India to about 3,000 units next year.
Audi also said it will bring more models to the Indian market.
This includes the launch of luxury sedan A7, a new variant of A6, import a completely new version of A8 and a 4.2 litre TDI version of Q7.
The company currently assembles luxury sedans A4, A6 and sports utility vehicle Q5 at its Aurangabad facility

Audi India sales up 46% in August

New Delhi: Luxury car-maker Audi India on Friday reported a 46.20 percent jump in sales to 250 units in August, 2010.
   

The company had sold 171 units in the corresponding month last year, Audi India said in a statement.
   
During the January-August period, the company's sales soared by 66.31 percent to 1,876 units from 1,128 units in the year-ago period, it added.
   
The company had sold 1,658 units in the entire 2009.
   
"Having successfully surpassed last year's annual sales performance, we are confident that this consistent growth, which Audi India has been witnessing through 2010 will help us achieve our goals for the year," Audi India Head Michael Perschke said.
   
The company has set a target to sell 2,700 units in 2010.

HP wins 3PAR for $2.4 billion, Dell bows out

Hewlett-Packard won the bidding war to buy data storage company 3PAR Inc for $2.4 billion, after rival Dell Inc bowed out from a drawn-out bidding war on Thursday. HP raised its offer by $3 to $33 per share, beating Dell's latest $32-a-share offer and ending an exchange of bids that escalated to levels that many analysts said was too high. 

The deal values 3PAR at over eight times sales, and many analysts have said that was too high for a company that has barely ever made a profit since it was founded in 1999. Multiples above five are considered lofty in technology deals.

Hero Honda sets up SPV to buy Honda stake: Sources

Munjals—owners of two-wheeler maker Hero Honda have set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in order to acquire Japan's Honda Motor’s 26% stake, reports CNBC-TV18’s Kritika Saxena quoting sources.
Munjals would control the SPV with 51% stake while the balance will be with investors including private equities, who would get effective stake of 12%.
It is being learnt that Hero and private equity firm KKR are in talk to buy over 6% of the effective stake with the latter negotiating for a larger share.
While the Munjals prefer to limit investors in SPV to maximum two, it is being learnt that Blackstone, Carlyle, Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and other PE players are all in talks. However investors remain apprehensive at the current valuations. “The current price is not discounting life after Honda exit. PEs see Rs 1,300-1,500 a share as a fair value post exit.”
Though the timeline for the transaction remains indefinite, sources say the exit is imminent. Both Honda and the Munjals denied the exit.
Defending the 48% market share Hero Honda enjoys in the two-wheeler segment would be a key concern post Honda’s exit. Also, lack of captive research and development is a big disadvantage for the company according to sources. However the company may save 2.5-3% of revenue as royalty to Honda.

US unemployment rate rises to 9.6% in August‎

The US unemployment rate has risen in August for the first time in four months as weak hiring by private employers wasn't enough to keep pace with a large increase in the number of people looking for work.

The Labor Department says companies added a net total 67,000 new jobs last month, down from July's upwardly revised total of 107,000. Wall Street analysts expected a smaller gain, according to Thomson Reuters.

Overall, the economy lost 54,000 jobs as 114,000 temporary census positions came to an end. State and local governments shed 10,000 positions. The jobless rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in July.

More than a half-million Americans resumed their job searches in August, which drove up the jobless rate.

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/us-unemployment-rate-rises-to-9-6-in-august-95287?cp

India's forex reserves swell by USD 293-million to 282.84 bn

After having declined for two consecutive weeks, country's foreign exchange reserves grew by $293-million to $282.84-billion from the week before's $282.55-billion.
Foreign currency assets, a major component of the country's foreign exchange reserves, grew $279-million to $256.65-billion for the week ended August 27 as against the previous week's $256.37-billion, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its weekly data released today.
Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies, such as the euro, sterling and yen, held in the reserves, the apex bank said.
Country's foreign exchange reserves had tanked by over $4.7-billon in the fortnight before due to import payments and changes in values of many currencies.
For the week ended August 27, gold reserves remained unchanged at $19.278-billion while country's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) moved up marginally to $4.981-billion, up $10-million.
India's reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also went up marginally by $4-million to $1.935-billion, the RBI data said.