CHANDIGARH : Canara bank will open 100 branches in the country and five overseas during the current fiscal and is targeting to grow by 20 per cent in 2008-09.

"We will open 100 new branches this year including 28 branches in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, during this year," Canara bank Chairman and Managing Director A C Mahajan said here on Saturday.

The bank has 2,694 branches in the country at present. The bank, which is in China and London, has also decided to open one office each in Bahrain, Muscat, Oman, Qatar and Johannesburg during this fiscal.

On being asked about the growth, Canara bank has set a target to achieve a business of Rs 3,10,000 crore by 2008-09 against the total business of Rs 2,61,000 crore in 2007-08, with a growth rate of 20 per cent. "We are expecting growth from power and infrastructure sectors," he said.

Mahajan was here to attend a loan distribution function for economically weaker section. He said the bank has mobilised 1.2 mn 'No Frill Accounts' till June 2008

Source: Economic Times...

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro on Friday said it would issue one bonus share for every one equity share held by the existing shareholders.

The shareholders took a decision to this effect at the 63rd annual general meeting, L&T said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The stakeholders gave their final permission for bonus issue in the proportion of one equity share for every one equity share held by the existing shareholders, it said.

The company has also declared the dividend at Rs 15 per share, having a face value Rs 2 each, L&T added.

The company has fixed October 3 as record date for issuing of bonus shares, it said.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 2589.85, up 3.53 per cent from the previous close on the BSE.

Source: Economic times...

GMR Infrastructure
Research: Macquarie Securities
Rating: Outperform
CMP: Rs 103

Strong top line growth but with pressure on margins in 1Q FY09 results. GMR reported a very strong 86% YoY growth in revenues in 1Q FY09 driven by the first-time inclusion of revenues from Hyderabad (Rs817m) and Sabiha Gokcen airport (Rs 620m). However, EBITDA margins remained under pressure both in the airports and power segments.

In addition, EBITDA margins declined by 210bps YoY. We remain positive on GMR's long-term prospects. In our view, response to land development auction in Delhi would be critical for valuations. We maintain our Outperform rating on the stock with a 12-month target price of Rs182.
Source: Economic Tmes...

Infosys Technologies, India's second largest software services company, has acquired the UK-based SAP consulting outfit, Axon Group plc for a consideration of £407.1mn ($753.1 mn, Rs 3,310cr). The transaction is expected to close by November 2008.

Axon has around 2,000 employees and for the year ended December 31, 2007, reported revenues of £204.5mn (US $378.3mn, Rs1,660cr) and net profits of £20.2mn ($37.4mn, Rs 160cr). This is by far the largest-ever acquisition made by the company and reflects its strategic intent to grow and develop stronger competencies in its consulting business. While the deal is margin-dilutive in the short-term, it is likely to become EPS-accretive by FY2010. At the CMP, the stock is trading at a P/E of 14.4x FY2010E EPS. We maintain a buy on the stock, with a target price of Rs 2,124.

Source:Economic Times...

In the backdrop of US presidential nominee Barack Obama's comment on offshoring, India's second largest software exporter Infosys Technologies today said that it hopes the new government in America would formulate a policy that would ensure continuance of outsourcing.

"Outsourcing has made the American industry much more competitive. I hope Barack Obama will come out with a policy by which outsourcing will continue," Infosys HR Director TV Mohandas Pai told PTI, while reacting to Obama's comments on outsourcing.

India's software exports, led by companies like Infosys, TCS and Wipro draw over 70 per cent of revenue from the US market.

"Obama has only reiterated his position on outsourcing, which he has been saying all along," Pai said.
Source Indiatimes...

With bulging cash coffers and inorganic growth aspirations, Infosys Technologies has for long been scouting for suitable acquisitions. It seems to have finally found an ideal candidate in the Axon Group.

Axon has been a consulting and solutions implementation partner of SAP for the past 14 years. Implementation of SAP, Microsoft or Oracle software packages, is usually an enterprise-wide exercise for most clients. These services also command higher billing rates compared to application development and maintenance services. Axon’s strength in consulting and solutions implementation is evident from the fact that the company derives 19 and 69 per cent revenues respectively from these two services.

Strengthening its package implementation (enterprise solutions) and consulting services practice, penetration into a client segment where Infosys does not have a big presence (for instance, government clients) and expanding its EMEA (Europe and Middle-East Area) footprint may be key payoffs for Infosys from this proposed acquisition. The acquisition may also add to Infosys’ strengths in providing enterprise solutions to the BFSI and manufacturing segments. It may, however, be a few years before Axon may add significantly to Infosys’ EPS.

Reasonable valuation?

At £407 million (Rs 3,258 crore), the buyout consideration is approximately twice Axon’s 2007 revenues. Its current market capitalisation is £391.6 million (Rs 3,135 crore). The company has grown its revenues at a compounded annual rate of 53 per cent over the past three years. The valuation may, therefore, not be too expensive. With nearly $2 billion (over Rs 8000 crore)cash in its kitty, funding this acquisition may not be a problem for Infosys.
Lower margin profile

This could have set the tone for the creation of a high-margin business for Infosys. But the (net profit) margin profiles for the two companies are quite different; Axon’s 10 per cent being much lower than Infosys’ 27 per cent levels due to the former’s different cost structure and higher tax rates. A wage cost structure that is 48 per cent of revenues and a tax incidence of 31.5 per cent means that Axon has much lower margins compared to Indian players. Only 350 of its 2,000-odd employees are working offshore (low-cost destinations), that too on application management services. Infosys derived $993 or 24 per cent of its 2007-08 revenues from consulting and package implementation services. Within this, 33 per cent was from SAP package implementation and related services.
Newer verticals

Over the next few years, Infosys could look at creating a larger offshore component and leverage its global delivery model in the enterprise solutions services line to include Axon’s clients, thus optimising costs. Axon’s clients comprise those in segments such as government and oil and gas, areas where Infosys is yet to make significant headway. These offerings may turn out to be complementary. The other benefits that Axon bring are strong business process consulting expertise — an area that is not yet a key strength of Indian players — and a substantial presence in the Europe and the fast growing West Asian region (61 per cent of revenues for Axon).

With enterprises in the Americas and Europe looking to expand in the Asia-Pacific region and West Asia, replication of business processes becomes critical. That could well provide considerable business opportunities for Infosys, with added enterprise solutions expertise to tap. Other opportunities for Infosys include the possibility of up-selling and cross-selling services to Axon’s clients.

In its own business, Infosys has embarked on a series of initiatives for achieving non-linear growth.
Growth initiatives

Its latest version of Finacle tries to offer the entire gamut of banking services and includes features such as Islamic Banking and Wealth Management.

With the investment phase nearly over for this product, this may pave the way for multiple revenue streams in the form of licensing, implementation (with minimum customisation) and maintenance revenues.

Finacle also has substantial domestic presence. Delivering services through a different platform such as Software as a Service (SaaS) is also an initiative.

Together, these initiatives might see a growth in revenues without a proportional growth in manpower recruited, thus enabling margin expansion over a two-three year period.

The acquisition is not a done deal yet. Axon may have counter offers from other suitors that may better Infosys’ offer, hurting the acquisition or escalating the price.

A prolonged slowdown in the US and Europe would mean lowering or postponing spends on enterprise solutions implementation.

The sunset clause on STPI in 2010, may increase tax incidence for Infosys.

However, apart from changing its service mix in favour of high-margin services and initiatives on achieving non-headcount-linked growth, Infosys has headroom to steer key operating metrics and manage margins.

This makes Infosys one of the best placed Tier-1 IT services player in countering the current challenging macro environment and achieving growth. In this light, investors with a two-year horizon can consider buying the stock.

At Rs 1,740, the stock trades at 17 times its likely 2008-09 earnings.

Source:Businessline...

DJ surged by 100 points to 11602 ponis
U.S. gross domestic product grew by 3.3% in the second quarter - much more than previously stated. Economists say the economic stimulus package contributed to the rise.

The number of out-of-work Americans who signed up for jobless benefits fell for the third week in a row, matching economists' expectations.

The Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial filings for state jobless benefits decreased by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 425,000 in the week ended Aug. 23.

But the OIL is moving up towards $119

The inflation number is 12.40% in India
below the expectations of the market.

It may have a postive effect tomarrow...

CRUDE oil is moved down to 114.75 Now ( down 3.40 $)and DOW rallied 172 Now..so I think we are going to have a positive effect tomorrow Regards Aru...

Dear it will come down to 109 first and then 132. As per technicals:- Positive Candidate -Short term, Aug 12, 2008 Analysis Explanation 3I INFOTECH has broken through the floor of a rising trend channel. This indicates a slower rising rate at first, or the start of a more horizontal development. The stock is between the support at 109 and the resistance at 115. A definitive break through of one of these levels predicts the new direction. Positive volume balance, i.e. high volume in days of rising prices and low volume in days of falling prices, strengthens the stock in the short term. The stock is overall assessed as technically positive for the short term. chani ...

Yeah.....U are absolutely right......We are normally reluctant to accept any change for that matter..... Instead of accepting our own mistake due to our ego we blame the persons who are instrumental to make us accepting these kind of innovative things......Thanks&Regards...