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Ford to cut up to 12% of salaried jobs: Report

Detroit, May 28: Ford Motor Co plans to cut its US salaried work force by up to 12 percent after its turnaround plan stalled because of the downturn in the US economy, the Detroit News reported on Wednesday.

Ford warned last week it would not achieve its long-standing.

Goal of returning to profitability in 2009 because of the US economic downturn and a permanent shift in demand toward cars and crossovers and away from large trucks and SUVs.

The automaker also told employees in a memo last week that it expected to make cuts in hourly and salaried employees by Aug. 1 and would detail those steps in July.

The cuts would be involuntary and were still being worked out by Ford, the newspaper reported.

A Ford representative could not be reached immediately for comment.

Tata to sign JLR deal next week: Report

London, May 29: Diversified Indian conglomerate Tata is expected to ink the deal for the USD 2.3 billion acquisition of British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover by next week, a media report said on Thursday.

According to the Birmingham Post newspaper, Tata executives including the managing director of Tata Motors Ravi Kant are set to travel to the Midlands for a joint signing ceremony with bosses of US carmaker Ford, the current owner of JLR.

"The signing is imminent," the newspaper said in an article published in its online edition.

On Wednesday, Ravi Kant had said the company is in the process of completing the Jaguar and Land Rover deal in the current quarter.

Tata Motors, the auto arm of Tata Group had announced in March that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Ford to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover.

In the report, Birmingham Post said the signing ceremony is likely to be a low-key affair without any "razzmatazz" normally associated with such massive deals.

"There has been speculation that Tata, India's largest vehicle maker, could be worried at what response it might get to a high profile ceremony, lauding the takeover of an iconic British asset by a foreign group, at a time of global credit crunch and economic slowdown," the newspaper noted.

Tata Motors on Wednesday announced a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,167.70 crore for the year ended March 31, a marginal decline compared to the previous fiscal. It had a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,169.99 crore in 2006-07.

While announcing the results, the firm said it plans to raise up to Rs 9,770 crore through a host of fund raising initiatives, primarily to finance the buyout of Jaguar and Land Rover.

Tata Motors shares trip on rights issues plan

Mumbai, May 29: Shares in Tata Motors fell nearly 7 percent on Thursday on concerns about its proposal to raise $1.7 billion from rights issues to help fund its purchase of Ford Motor's Jaguar and Land Rover.

The top truck and bus maker in India said on Wednesday it would raise 72 billion rupees from three rights issues comprising equity shares, "A" shares with limited voting rights and convertible preference shares to help fund the acquisition.

On completion of the rights issues, Tata Motors plans to raise a further $500-$600 million from an overseas equity issue, it said.

The Ford brands purchase, which is expected to be completed by end-June, will give Tata Motors a range that includes luxury marques as well as its own Nano, possibly the world's cheapest car.

But analysts say the purchase will not contribute to Tata Motors' profits in the near term, while the rights issues will result in a dilution of earnings per share.

"While we had factored a mix of debt and equity resources, the company has announced a predominantly equity route for its immediate funding needs," said Ramnath S, auto analyst at IDFC-SSKI Securities, which is maintaining its "neutral" rating on the stock.

"We estimate this to lead to a dilution of 26 percent on the fully diluted equity capital over the next two years... we see a downside of 21 percent to our EPS estimate for FY09 and FY10."

Also, pending disclosure of detailed financials of Jaguar and Land Rover, there is an assumption of no profit contribution to Tata Motors in the near term from the purchase, he said.

Shares in Tata Motors fell as much as 6.9 percent to 591.1 rupees, its lowest level in more than four months, and were trading at 595.95 rupees at 0630 GMT.

VISA Steel reports quantum jump in profit

Kolkata, May 28: VISA Steel Limited, part of the VISA group, Wednesday reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 209.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2007-08, showing a quantum jump of 3,129 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

The PAT for 2007-08 grew by 110 percent to Rs 431.5 million on revenue of Rs 6.82 billion.

VISA Steel managing director Vishal Agarwal said: 'The growth in revenue and profits during 2007-08 have been driven by better realisations across products like pig iron, coke and ferro chrome combined with higher volume growth in the coke and ferro chrome operations.'

The company plans to set up a 1,200 MW power plant in Chhattisgarh. It has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for this project with the state government and is awaiting clearance from the environment and forests ministry.

It plans to double its ferro chrome production capacity to 1,00,000 tonnes by investing Rs 800 million.

Ambani could become chairman of RComm-MTN merged entity`

New Delhi, May 30: Anil Ambani, the head of Reliance Communications that is in merger talks with South African telecom major MTN, could end up with a 35 per cent stake and also become the chairman of the merged entity, a UK media report said.

A possible merger of Reliance Communications and MTN "could see Anil Ambani become the enlarged group's chairman and biggest shareholder with a stake of almost 35 per cent," the Financial Times said in a report.

According to the newspaper, Ambani is pushing for a controlling position in the merged entity, even as the deal would be structured as a reverse takeover by MTN.

"The merger talks are focused on the possibility of Mr Ambani swapping most or all of his 66 per cent stake in Reliance for shares in MTN. He could end up with a 34.9 per cent stake in MTN," the Financial Times said in an article published in its online edition.

Quoting people close to the situation, the report said MTN's chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko could hold the same position following a merger with Reliance, with Ambani becoming chairman.

"Alternatively, Mr Ambani could be co-chairman of the enlarged group alongside Cyril Ramaphosa, MTN's chairman," it added.

Tata Tea Q4 net profit of Rs 178.86 cr

Mumbai, May 31: India`s largest tea company, Tata Tea Ltd, has posted a profit after tax of Rs 178.86 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 whereas the same was at Rs 3.89 crore in the same period last year, helped by higher operating margin.

Total income is Rs 296 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 whereas the same was at Rs 259 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007.

During FY 08, the company has posted a profit after tax of Rs 312.86 crore, whereas the same was at Rs 306.57 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007. Total Income is Rs 1,263.29 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008 whereas the same was at Rs 1,146.11 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007.

The group has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 113 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 where as the same was at Rs 52 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007.

Total Income is Rs 1,182.70 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 whereas the same was at Rs 1,162.59 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007.

The company posted earnings of Rs 50.79 a share during the year, registering 5.17 percent decline over prior year. The consolidated income from operations for the year at Rs 4,392.31 crore is nine percent higher than the previous year, driven by improvement in branded sales across key markets and by acquisitions.

At constant exchange rates the company registered a 15 percent sales growth, Tata Tea, said Managing Director, P T Siganporia.

The company has successfully launched Goodearth Coffee brand in USA. In Canada, the company has launched Tetley brand products and leads in black tea and special tea segments, Siganporia said.

Oil price hike deferred over inflation concerns

New Delhi, May 31: A decision on raising prices of petrol, diesel and domestic LPG has been put off at least until next week after the UPA government leadership failed to give a clear signal on the issue.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi discussed the Rs 225,040 crore revenue loss oil PSUs face without raising price of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and duty cuts this fiscal on three occasions but failed to give a clear verdict.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, who had on Thursday said that Cabinet could meet on Saturday to take a view, left for Mumbai - his constituency - this morning after core group of UPA could not reach finality on the issue last night.

"Don`t expect any action this week," an oil aide said.

The hitch, some say, is inflation rate climbing up to 45 month high of 8.1 per cent. Finance Minister P Chidambaram who has been vehemently opposing parting with any revenues by way of cut in customs and excise duty, is also believed to be against any hike in fuel prices as it would add to inflation.

"It appears, treatment may be finalised after the patient is dead," said an industry official referring to precarious situation of cash-strapped fuel retailers.

BPCL and HPCL would run out of cash to even import crude oil in July while IOC can sustain imports till September.

They lose Rs 16.34 a litre on petrol, Rs 23.49 on diesel, Rs 305.90 per LPG cylinder and Rs 28.72 per litre on kerosene.

Deora had also warned that a delay in decision would lead to fuel shortages across the country.

The state-run firms have already decided not to import any fuel even though domestic production of diesel was insufficient to meet a 20-22 per cent growth in consumption. If the companies run out of cash to import crude, fuel supplies would drastically fall.

"Shortages are worse than price rise," Deora had argued at several meetings held over the past 10 days but a decision is still not in sight.

India cuts central sales tax to 2% from June 1

New Delhi, May 31: The government on Friday reduced the central sales tax (CST) rate to 2.0 percent on inter-state sale of goods from June 1, in line with the finance minister's February budget announcement.

The new rate will replace the 3.0 percent charged earlier, a finance ministry statement said.

It said the new CST on inter-state sale of goods to registered dealers would now be the lower 2.0 percent plus the rate of value-added tax or state sale taxes as applicable.

The reduction forms part of the roadmap for phasing out CST completely by March 31, 2010.

Sterlite to acquire Asarco for USD 2.6bn

Mumbai, May 31: Metal major Sterlite Industries (India) on Saturday inked a definitive agreement to acquire US-based Asarco LLC for USD 2.6 billion in cash, which would be the largest buyout abroad by an Indian company this year.

Asarco, formerly known as American Smelting & Refining Company, is the third largest copper producer in the US.

"We are delighted to have reached at agreement on this important acquisition, which is a significant milestone for our group," Sterlite's chairman Anil Agarwal said in a release.

The agreement is subject to the approval of the US bankruptcy court for the southern district of Texas, Corpus Christi division, the release said.

A Sterlite official told that it would take six to seven months to complete the acquisition.

Asarco, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005, following sued for USD one billion over environmental issues, produced 2,35,000 tons of refined copper in 2007.

However, its mines have estimated reserves of five million tons of contained copper. Asarco operates mines, mills and a smelter in Arizona. It also has a smelter and refinery in Texas.

For the year ended December 31, 2007, Asarco had reported a revenue of around USD 1.9 billion.

Sterlite has a capacity of 4,00,000 tons per annum (tpa) of copper annode and 2,40,000 tpa of copper rod in its Silvasa and Tuticorin facilities.