USE to Commence Trading in Currency Options from today
The United Stock Exchange of India will be commencing LIVE operations in US Dollar- Indian Rupee Currency Options from today. The call and put options will be introduced on the USD-INR spot rate with 12 ‘In The Money’, 12 ‘Out of The Money’ and 1 ‘Near The Money Option with a strike price interval of 25 paise, thereby providing a price scan range of Rs. 6.25.
These options will be available for expiry in the 3 near months and the 3 quarterly months going up to one year allowing users flexibility to take price insurance up to one year on foreign exchange. USE received approval from SEBI and RBI to launch operations in currency options and has successfully conducted mock trading session for members on this new product.
“We are very excited to bring this new product to traders, investors and hedgers across the country. We hope that corporate entities and SMEs with currency exposure utilize this powerful product for their hedging requirements.” said T.S Narayanasami, MD & CEO of United Stock Exchange.
Suzlon to enter Latin America, Africa
Wind turbine major Suzlon Energy has said it is looking to enter new regions, mainly Latin America and the African continent in the coming years. "Though our major focus will be on India only, we are planning to enter the markets of Latin America and African countries in the next few years," Suzlon Energy Director Harish Mehta said at a conference on renewable energy here.
The company, which has added over 5,000 MW of wind power capacity for around 1,500 customers in India, has operations across Asia, Australia and Europe. Mehta said Suzlon plans to focus more on technology improvement in order to make the operations more cost effective rather than on capacity expansion. On broad environmental concerns, he said there are no international standards defining the requirement of renewable energy for reducing carbon emissions.
HDFC Bank festive offer on loans
HDFC Bank has announced special rates on ‘Personal’ Loans this festive season for Government & Defence employees and salary-account holders. The discounts offered are on interest rate and processing fee. These include an up to 4% waiver on existing interest rate for Government and Defence employees and an up to 3% waiver on existing interest rate and discount on processing fee for salary-account holders. The offer is valid till November 30, 2010.
International Program on Securities Market
An International Program on Securities Market Operations with 22 nominations from countries namely Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Uganda is underway at the BSE and will conclude today. The five day comprehensive program was inaugurated by the Sheriff of Mumbai Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani. Seen in the picture: Dr. Shahani and Ambarish Datta, CEO, BSE Training Institute in the center along with participants in the program.
United Phosphorous sales up 45%
Considering the results over the last four quarters, clearly United Phosphorous is doing well as the growth has been consistent. In the September 2010 quarter, too, the trend continued with the consolidated sales growing 9.6% against the year-ago period. This was mainly due to the rupee's appreciation. The company's revenues in the two key geographies of North America and Europe, which together contributed 37% of its total sales during the September quarter, fell in comparison with year-ago period. The contribution from India grew substantially to 35% as domestic revenues showed a huge jump of 45%.
The company improved its operating margins by 150 basis points to 18.5% in the quarter as raw material and staff costs stagnated. The 47.7% growth in other income, which stood at Rs 25.9 crore, pushed up the PBDIT by 20.8%. However, a 61% Jump in interest cost and a substantial jump in the effective tax rate limited the growth in net profit to 13.3% at Rs 114.7 crore.
The company is currently carrying cash or equivalents amounting to nearly Rs 2,100 crore on a consolidated basis and is scouting for acquisition targets. Its latest acquisition was Mancozeb, the fungicide business of Dupont in June 2010. The September quarter was the first quarter of this business contributing to the company's revenues.
Going forward, the company is expecting to achieve around 8% to 10% organic growth in its top line, excluding this newly acquired Mancozeb business. If Manocozeb is also included, the growth could touch 15% for the whole FY11. Increasing volumes will mainly lead this growth.