Jet Airways upbeat on walking away with escrow money

Jet Airways upbeat on walking away with escrow money. Jet Airway surged 2.34%, to Rs 655.70, as the Bombay High Court ordered the release of Rs 1,500 crore deposited by Jet Airways in an escrow account, for acquiring Air Sahara. The rise was also aided by falling crude oil price.

As many as 4.62 lakh shares were traded on the BSE.

The stock witnessed a sharp setback after the merger of Air Sahara was called off. Also, rising fuel price capped the company's profitability, impacting the counter. From a recent high of Rs 960.55 on 10 May, it tumbled to Rs 475.10, on 18 July 2006. Here, it started recovering to Rs 588.60, by 21 August 2006, only to slip to Rs 536.45 by 31 August. Here, the stock rose to Rs 685.35 by 13 September, only to slip to Rs 640.70 on 21 September 2006.

Recently, Jet Airways entered into India's first interline e-ticketing agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines through global distribution systems (GDS). This facility of electronic ticketing process for hassle free traveling has also been extended with Northwest Airlines and British Airways.

Jet Airways, on 6 September 2006, launched its new international flight linking New Delhi with Singapore, making it the first Indian carrier to provide three direct services between Singapore and India, to and from Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi.

Earlier this month, Jet Airways became the first private airline to establish its own hangar in Mumbai for $ 15 million, with a capacity to undertake 'C' check and major maintenance work for Boeing 737-series aircraft and also for ATR aircraft. This hangar can accommodate two Boeing aircraft 737-series plus one ATR aircraft at a time.

Further, the airline has unveiled the Sky Screen, a new in-flight entertainment system offering on demand audio and video entertainment in both the club premiere and economy classes. Passengers on-board the company's new generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft with winglets will also have access to over 100 hours of award winning shows from Bollywood and Hollywood, eight audio channels and over 70 audio CDs, games and iXplor - an innovative moving map that gives locational insights into the flight plan.

Jet Airways has increased fuel surcharge on domestic flights by Rs 100, to Rs 750 since 5 September. This is the third successive month that the airline has hiked the fuel surcharge on domestic routes.

The increase in surcharge has been necessitated by the continuing escalation in the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), constituting 30-35% of the operating cost of domestic airlines. The average cost of ATF has shot up from about Rs 34,100 during August last year, to touch Rs 42,650 per kiloliter in June this year, peaking at Rs 44,700 in August.

Jet reported a Rs 44.98 crore net loss for Q1 June 2006, compared to a net profit of Rs 95.34 crore in Q1 June 2005. Total revenue rose 26%, to Rs 1,646.54 crore (Rs 1,310.52 crore).

Source: Capitalmarket

Rama Newsprint basks in glory of capital reduction. Paper maker Rama Newsprint and Papers jumped 20%, to Rs 16, after the stock was re-listed on BSE after a three-fourth reduction of share capital.

Rama Newsprint basks in glory of capital reduction. Paper maker Rama Newsprint and Papers jumped 20%, to Rs 16, after the stock was re-listed on BSE after a three-fourth reduction of share capital. A thin volume of 11,532 shares was traded on the BSE.

The trading in equity shares of Rama Newsprint and Papers (RNPL) was suspended from 21 July 2006, and the scrip closed at Rs 9.27 on 20 July 2006, on a volume of 2.46 lakh shares. The next day, the scrip again jumped to its maximum limit of 20%, to Rs 13.34.

At the current market price of Rs 16, RNPL trades at 2.27 times its Q1 June 2006 annualised EPS of Rs 7.03.

Post capital restructuring, the company has reduced its equity capital base by canceling Rs 7.50 from every ordinary share of Rs 10 each, fully paid-up. Simultaneously, four fully paid-up shares of Rs 2.50 each have been consolidated into an equity share of Rs 10 each.

As a result, the subscribed and paid-up equity share capital of the company of Rs 232.63 crore, consisting of 23.26 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each, to be reduced/consolidated to Rs 58.15 crore, consisting of 5.81 crore equity shares of Rs 10 fully paid up. The scheme has led to an adjustment in the debit balance in the profit and loss account, amounting to Rs 64.91 crore as on March 2005, and has created capital reserves of Rs 109.54 crore.

The capital structure will be conducive to future capital expansion and long-term strategy which, in turn, will create value for the existing shareholder.

RNPL plans to double its annual capacity to 2 lakh tonne of newsprint, by importing a second-hand machine. The company has already identified three machines in good condition, and will purchase one of them in the current fiscal. It will use wastepaper as raw material, and will import over 40% of the raw material in the future.

For the Q1 June 2006, RNPL reported turnaround results. It posted a net profit of Rs 10.22 crore (net loss of Rs 3.35 crore). Net sales during the period under consideration increased 33.20%, to Rs 89.05 crore (Rs 66.85 crore).

Source: Capitalmarket

Everest Kanto gains as PE fund buys stake at premium

Everest Kanto gains as PE fund buys stake at premium. Everest Kanto Cylinder was up 1.71%, to Rs 470.20, after the gas cylinder maker's board approved selling 1.896 million shares to a private entity, at Rs 485 a share.

The issue to Brightwell, the unit og CLSA Private Equity Management, will bring in Rs 92 crore, and account for 9.72% of the enhanced share capital.

With the current market price of Rs 470.20, the shares were sold to Brighwell for a premium of Rs 14.80.

The stock has risen sharply from a low of Rs 277.40 on 25 July, to Rs 462.30, by 21 September 2006.

At the current market price of Rs 470.20, Everest Kanto Cylinder trades at 18.07 times its Q1 June 2006 annualized EPS of Rs 26.02.

In May, the company board decided to form a wholly-owned subsidiary in China to manufacture high pressure gas cylinders, and all other allied products with an investment amounting to $ 50 million in the first phase. The company was to raise the money through FCCBs/GDRs/private placement.

In March, Everest Kanto Cylinder established a wholly-owned subsidiary in Dubai, which will be functional by August this year. The plant is located in Jebel Ali free zone and was built at a total investment of $ 8.5 million spread across 20,000 sq mt. With the new plant in place, the capacity at Dubai will be doubled from 1 lakh to 2 lakh cylinders. The company already has a plant in Dubai.

Everest Kanto is also a major exporter of CNG cylinders to Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan and neighbouring Middle East countries.

The company currently has units at Tarapur, Gandhidham, Dubai and Aurangabad, with an aggregate capacity of 7.06 lakh units per annum.

Everest Kanto Cylinders is a major player in high pressure seamless steel gas cylinder industry. High pressure gas cylinders are used in storage of medical gases, compressed natural gas (CNG) for vehicles, fire-fighting gases, industrial applications like welding, beverage industry, defense and space applications.

Everest Kanto Cylinder registered a net profit growth of 119%, to Rs 11.46 crore for Q1 June 2006, compared to Rs 5.22 crore in Q1 June 2005. Net sales during the period increased from Rs 40.26 crore to Rs 79.56 crore.

Bharti Airtel rallies on winning telecom rights in Channel Islands

Bharti Airtel rallies on winning telecom rights in Channel Islands. Cellular services provider, Bharti Airtel advanced 1.17%, to Rs 471, after it bagged a licence to provide GSM-based wireless services in Channel Islands, Europe. It also hit an all-time high of Rs 478 in early trade, while its low was Rs 461.15.

A total of 1.62 lakh shares was traded in the counter on BSE.

The counter witnessed a huge block deal of 22.30 lakh shares on BSE, executed at a premium of Rs 510 per share, in the institutional segment.

The counter witnessed a steady rally in the past few trading sessions, because of strong appetite. From Rs 405.60 on 23 August 2006, it surged to Rs 461.65, by 20 September 2006, on sustained buying.

At the current market price of Rs 471, Bharti Airtel trades at 27.39 times its Q1 June 2006 standalone annualized EPS of Rs 17.19.

This is the third international telecom venture of Bharti. In May 2006, the company was granted a license to provide telecom services, including 2G and 3G mobile services, and international long distance services, in Jersey through a subsidiary, Jersey Airtel.

Bharti is offering mobile and basic telephone services in Seychelles since 1998 under the Airtel brand, through its subsidiary Telecom Seychelles.

Currently, Bharti is the only mobile player with a presence in all 23 circles in India. As for investment plans, Bharti wants to increase coverage to all 5,200 census towns by March 2007. The capital expenditure planned for that is around $1.8 - 2 billion.

Bharti Airtel, the mobile services firm of Bharti group, has over 2.56 crore subscribers. Singapore Telecom holds 30% in the company, while UK major Vodafone has 10% stake.

For the quarter ended June, the company has added 3.49 million wireless subscribers, a 7.4% sequential and 174.6% YoY increase in net additions. Its overall wireless subscriber base stood at 23.07 million subscribers, with a market share of 20.64%. Bharti accounted for an impressive 26.2% of the overall wireless net additions in the country this quarter.

Recently, Bharti Airtel launched a fixed wireless phone (FWP) service, which offers local calls to a mobile subscriber at fixed line telephone charges of 40 paise a minute. The move is aimed at countering Reliance Communication and Tata Teleservices, whose CDMA-based fixed wireless telephones have become quite popular with nearly 1 million subscribers across the country. Bharti Airtel will use the GSM technology to offer FWP.

Bharti Airtel posted a net profit of Rs 814.38 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2006, compared to Rs 461.72 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2005. Total revenue increased to Rs 3,700.56 crore for quarter ended 30 June 2006, from Rs 2,424.11 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2005.

On a consolidated basis, the group posted a profit of Rs 831.39 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2006 compared to Rs 470.47 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2005. Total income increased to Rs 3,842.11 crore for quarter ended 30 June 2006 from Rs 2,527.39 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2005.