SBI Drops To 2-Year Low On Moody’s Downgrade
State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday fell to the lowest in more than two years on the BSE after ratings firm Moody’s downgraded the bank’s financial strength by one notch to ‘D+’ on account of the lender’s low Tier-I capital ratio and deteriorating asset quality.
The stock, which had a weak start, settled 4.08 per cent lower at Rs 1,786.70 on the BSE, its lowest close since September 4, 2009. During the day, the stock dropped to its two-year low level of Rs 1,751.35, down 5.98 per cent from its previous close. Similar was the trend at the National Stock Exchange where the stock tanked 3.63 per cent to close at Rs 1,794.05. “SBI’s downgrade impacted the investors’ sentiment as the market declined after the news. Also, the downgrade had a wide impact on the financial stocks,” Motilal Oswal Securities Associate VP Analyst Technical Equities Parag Doctor said.
Moody’s today downgraded its rating of SBI financial strength by one notch to ‘D+’ on account of the lender’s low Tier-I capital ratio and deteriorating asset quality.
India Gets First Right To Buy Stake In Potash Maker Belaruskali
India will have the first right to buy stake in Belarus government-owned Belaruskali, one of the world’s biggest producers and suppliers of potash. To ensure assured supply of potash, The Indian government had recently sent a team to initiate talks with the Belarus government for stake purchase in Belaruskali.
India is entirely dependent on imports meet its potash demand of six million tonnes per annum. The Centre aims to pick up some stake in Belaruskali as and when the Belarus government decides to offload its holding in the company. “Belarus has given the ‘right of first refusal’ (ROFR) to India if it plans to dilute its stake in the Belaruskali,” a senior Fertiliser Ministry official said.
ROFR is the right of a person or company to purchase something before the offer is made to others. Belaruskali is a 100 per cent owned by the Belarus government which is mulling to sell a stake in the company to plug its current account deficit.
According to sources, either Indian government itself could acquire the stake or make a joint bid with a consortium of private fertiliser companies. They also mentioned that even if the Belarus government decides to sell the stake, it may not exceed 20 per cent. The Belarus government has not yet done the valuation of the company.
India has started exploring options to buy fertiliser assets abroad in the wake of instability in global prices and shortage of fertilisers on the domestic front.
RInfra Commissions Parali-Solapur Transmission Line Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Infrastructure on Tuesday said it has commissioned another transmission line between Parali and Solapur in Maharashtra. The 150 kilometre-long 400 kv double circuit transmission line is part of the Western Regional System Strengthening (WRSS) project, which entailed an investment of about Rs 1,400 crore.
Reliance Pips HDFC MF To Become Most Profitable
Fund House Reliance Mutual Fund has overtaken HDFC mutual fund to become the country’s most profitable fund house, as per their profit figures for the latest financial year. For the financial year 2011, profit after tax of Reliance MF stood at Rs 261 crore, while that of HDFC MF was Rs 242 crore. On year-on-year basis, Reliance Asset Management company’s PAT rose by as much as 34 per cent in the Fiscal 2011, whereas HDFC MF’s profit increased by 16.34 per cent, according to the Association of Mutual Funds in India’s data.
Ranbaxy To Sell Daiichi Sankyo’s Products In Italy
Drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories and its parent firm Daiichi Sankyo today said they have entered into a partnership to distribute the Japanese firm’s products in Italy. “Ranbaxy Italia SpA and Daiichi Sankyo, Italia SpA today announced a partnership to leverage Ranbaxy’s distribution strengths and extensive relationships with pharmacists across Italy, for the distribution of Daiichi Sankyo products,” Ranbaxy said.
Sistema Rolls Out Two Smartphones Priced Below Rs 5K
Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL), that operates under the MTS brand in India, has launched two Android-based smartphones — MTS Livewire and MTS MTAG 3.1 — priced below Rs 5,000. These smartphones run on Android platform and come bundled with free talk time, messages and data usage, SSTL said in a statement. “The latest in our range of smartphones are MTS Livewire and MTS MTag 3.1. Powered by Android exude a fine mix of style and technology bundled with free calls, data usage and SMSs,” MTS India Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Leonid Musatov said.
Business Desk with inputs from PTI