Business People

Sanjeev Chachondia has been appointed as operating partner at NSR. Mr Chachondia’s career spans over 23 years in the telecom industry. Prior to this, he was the CEO of Loop Mobile India Limited (formerly known as BPL Mobile Communications Ltd).

Amit Dey, who was the chief executive officer at Axis Ad Print Media has taken over as CEO at Buongiorno Digital Innovation India Ltd., a joint venture between Mitsui and Buongiorno that provides mobile entertainment, information, messaging and marketing services in India and the APAC region.

Arun Duggal has been appointed as chairman of Shriram Capital Ltd. and Mr G.S. Sundararajan has been inducted as the managing director.

J.V. Ramamurthy has taken over as president and chief operating officer’ at HCL Infosystems Ltd. He was earlier the COO since 2005. Mr Ramamurthy brings over 30 years of diverse industry experience and has been instrumental in HCL’s transformation into a leading System Integration organisation of the country.

Media Watch

HANMER MS&L has been appointed as public relation consultants of Coromandel International Limited. Hanmer MS&L bagged the account in a multi-agency pitch.

TBWA INDIA has bagged the contract to handle creative duties for Wigan and Leigh College India (WLCI). Philip Abraham, vice-president, marketing of WLCI, has confirmed the development and said that the business is pegged at Rs 10-12 crore.

CITIZEN DENTSU, Dentsu India’s specialised division for social communications has won the Delhi Civility campaign following a multi-agency pitch process that began in July 2009.

Brokers bytes

Company: Infosys Technologies
Broking House: Karvy Stock Broking
Current Price: Rs 2,526.50

With economic recession impacting its clients, Infosys is increasing its focus on non-linear growth and new engagement models as compared with the past. New engagement models include platform-based off-erings, reusable tools, Software-as-a-Service-based offerings, (SaaS), ‘pay per transaction’ and cloud computing. It has increased its investments in R&D and expects to push up income from non-linear growth initiatives to 33 per cent of its revenues. The broking house says the outlook is positive for the company. It expects Infosys to post a nine per cent CAGR in top-line and downgrades the stock to market performer.

Company: Godawari Power and Ispat
Broking House: Angel Broking
Current Price: Rs 182.15

Chhattisgarh-based iron and steel major Godawari Power & Ispat will reap benefits of captive iron ore from fiscal 2011. It expects to mine 2.5 lakh tonnes and six lakh tonnes from Ari Dongri mines in FY2010E and FY2011E respectively. With this, the company can save Rs 2,500 a tonne in FY2011E. GPIL is setting up a 0.6 mtpa pelletisation plant and a 20MW power plant in Raipur, which are expected to begin commercial production in Q4 FY10. It expects to begin production of iron ore from its Boria Tibbu mines in Q1 FY11. The stock is trading at 2.3x FY2011E and the broking house upgrades the stock to a buy.

Company: DLF
Broking House: Edelweiss Research
Current Price: Rs 358.15

DLF is going to integrate DLF Assets into DLF by merging the holding arm of DAL (Caraf Builders and Constructions) into DLF Cyber City Developers, a 100 per cent subsidiary of DLF. Caraf owns a total of 9.65 million sq ft of leased assets across Gurgaon, Kol-kata, Chennai and Hyderabad, and has a net debt of Rs 4,140 crore and net current assets of Rs 720 crore. Post the merger, DLF’s debt would shoot up by Rs 3,100 crore, to Rs 17,200 crore. A successful listing by DAL is critical for DLF to repay investors. The current sharp decline offers an opportunity for investors to enter DLF. Post correction, the broking house believes the stock presents attractive entry opportunities and reiterates its buy rating.

Commodity watch

Aluminium
Rs 103.70/kg

Copper
Rs 324.15/kg

Lead
Rs 108.45/kg

Nickel
Rs 798.70/kg

PLATINUM
Rs 2,153/gm

Steel (flat)
Rs 30,390/tonne

Zinc
Rs 112.30/kg

crude oil
Rs 3,437/bbl

Rubber (Kochi)
Rs 14,010/100 kg

JUTE (Kolkata)
Rs 2,685/100 kg

Spot prices (MCX at Mumbai as on Dec. 18) are disseminated for
information only and shall not be considered as
guidance in any case.

Readers are recommended to consult their financial advisers before making any investment. This newspaper is not liable for investment decisions made on the basis of recommendations in these columns.