OTHER NEWS

Ø  Cabinet fixes Rs 14,000 crore as base price foe spectrum auctionTHE HINDU BUSINESS LINE Aug4,’12

Mobile companies disappointed, say high price will lead to increase in tariffs

Bidding Rules

·        Auction in blocks of 1.25 Mhz each

·        8 blocks in 1800 Mhz to be put on block & 3 blocks of 800 Mhz

·        Incumbent players will be allowed to buy only 2 blocks in 1800 Mhz & 1 block in 800 Mhz

·        Base price for GSM spectrum in 1800 Mhz band at Rs 14,000 cr for 5 Mhz

·        Base price for CDMA spectrum in 800 Mhz band at Rs 18,200 cr for 5 Mhz

·        No change in spectrum usage charge; slab system to continue

Ø  Ex-LG Hands Script Videocon Comeback THE ECONOMIC TIMES Aug 3,2012

Videocon, once the country’s largest consumer electronics maker, seems to be making acomeback with the help of some three dozen executives of market leader LG India

Ø  Bain Capital to pay $ 1bill for 30% stake in Genpact Bain Capital to pay $ 1bill for 30% stake in Genpact Changing hues of financial markets THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE Aug3,’12

Bain Capital has agreed to to acquire 68 mill shares from General Atlantic & oak Hill Capital with a long term commitment . Genpact began operations in 1997 In India as a service unit of General Electric ( GE), assisting its financial division. Genpact still services GE & gets a quarter of its revenue from it.

·        Bain will acquire the shares subject to a two –and- a-half year lock-in

·        Bain Capital expects to invest $ 150-250 mill every year in India, on an average Genpact

Ø  IT Companies Hunt Off Campus THE ECONOMIC TIMES Aug 3,2012

Rather than hire on-campus and wait for students to join, firms plan to recruit off-campus when there is demand. The IT firms in India which hired 1.5 lacs students from campuses last year, will be hiring much less this placement season starting in Aug-Sept.

Also off-campus hiring is gaining traction , especially among large IT firms that are cautious and are not able to take long term business decisions.

Ø  Reebok India to Get Fresh Start; Adidas to Invest Euro 70m THE ECONOMIC TIMES Aug 3,2012

German sportswear maker Adidas said it will stick to its Euro 70 mill plan to shore up Reebok India after reporting 26% slide in Reebok’s second quarter global sales primarily due to alleged irregularities in India

Ø  Hotmail is Not Being Killed Off, Just being Enhamced :Bhatia THE ECONOMIC TIMES Aug 3,2012

Ø  Hotmail Goes Into Freezer THE ECONOMIC TIMES  Aug 2,2012

With about 45 million, Gmail is clearly on the top of the heap of free email service providers but Microsoft is making another attempt with a revamped Hotmail, its flagship email services. Hotmail, founded by Sameer Bhatia & Jack Smith, and sold to Microsoft  ( developed by Bhatia & Smith in 1996 &considered to be the first free web-based email service)  in 1997, was once as common as the 2004-launched Gmail but now claims about 369 million users. Microsoft Outlook 97 was released in 1997; Microsoft paid $ 400m to Bhatia. During the current year, Microsoft launched Outlook.com to bring together the best of Outlook & Hotmail. This new email gives users to productivity apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Skype & MSN messenger, all in one window

Ø  GM Ousts Marketing Chief Over Soccer Deal THE ECONOMIC TIMES July 31,2012.

GM ousted its global marketing chief Joel Ewanick a little more than two years after he joined the company to lead an overhaul in its marketing strategy.

Ewanick failed to properly report the financial details of a sponsorship deal between GM’s mass-market Chevrolet brand and the world’s most popular soccer club, Manchester United.

Ewanick joined GM from Nissan North America, where he served briefly as VP & chief marketing officer.. Before tha he spent 3 years as VP of marketing with Hyundai Motor America.

Ø  I GATE Targets $ 900 mill Revenues from iTops  Biz THE ECONOMIC TIMES July 31,2012.

iGATE has targeted $ 900 mill revenue over the next 5 years from iTOPS ( integrated technology & operations) business that will be growth driver for the company in the coming years.

Overall, the company is looking for a revenue of $ 3 billion by 2017 ($ 1 billion at present). The company is presently recruiting 3000 persons annually in addition to its existing employee base of 27,000.

There a number of  personal care and homecare product makers that were listed during the 1980s & 90s to ride the Indian consumption story , but have faltered over the years. The list includes companies such as Pee Cee Cosma Sope ( a soap maker), Hipolin, My Fair Lady,J L Morison, Magna Industries, Paramount cosmetics and Muller & Phips. Though the names of thee companies may not be familiar to the consumers today, some of them still enjoy a strong brand recall.

These companies are nearly struggling today in comparison to their bigger peers such as HUL, ITC, Marico & Dabur.

 

	Small FMCG firms	Bigger peers
Growth in sales	Single digit	15%
Growth in profits	Negligible	15%
Market Cap ( no. of times of annual sales)	Less than 25%	More than four times

The bigger peers are , with their significantly larger budgets, able to expand aggressively including to small towns & villages where usually small, regional brands survive.