Business News

The CEO of a leading online bus reservations company arrived late for our early morning meeting. I was upset for having been made to wait for what was our weekly meeting. He apologised profusely upon arrival and I could see that he was upset. He looked tired as well. I asked him if all was well. His story took my breath away.

ACC Ltd, India's largest cement producer, on Thursday announced that the company has reported a fall of 26.92% in its net profit to Rs 255.08 crore for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008 as against Rs 349.02 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

ASUS, the Chinese manufacturer of desktops, laptops, and handsets, which launched its second version of the Eee PC on Thursday, expects to sell about 30,000 units per month here in three months' time, although it has been able to sell only 10,000 units of the product since its launch a few months back in India.

On the back of adding a massive 75.09 lakh subscribers in the first quarter, which is the company's largest ever net addition in a single quarter, Bharti Airtel Ltd, the country's largest mobile operator, on Thursday posted a 34% jump in its net profit for the quarter ended June, 2008, at Rs 2,025 crore as against Rs 1,511.60 crore in the same period of last fiscal.

Bankers have hailed the Cabinet decision to approve the proposed merger of State Bank of India with one of its associates, State Bank of Saurashtra.

Paying heed to industry's concern over government regulation in the rating business, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has favoured self-regulation, but with a role for government to play.

Blame it on the choppy economic waters. While the real estate market continues to slide, some top builders expect a substantial dip in their sales this year, and others are already planning to cut down on some of their ambitious plans for new projects.

Turmeric futures prices may continue to remain weak in the next few days on increased inflows and reduced offtake supported by reports of some rains in Andhra Pradesh, major turmeric producer in the country.

Soft drinks major PepsiCo is aggressively working towards manufacturing its breakfast cereals brand Quaker Oats in India and is hopeful to actualise its plans within two years.

Crisil, which has recorded a PAT of Rs 35.55 crore, up by 120.6% in Q1 2009, declared an interim dividend of 100%.

After tasting success with its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv' helicopters, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is poised to make further inroads into the Latin American market with its light helicopter Cheetah.

Indian shares are likely to fall for a second day on Friday after a rise in oil prices and renewed worries about the US economy triggered a sell-off in overseas markets, but should still post a strong weekly gain.

Marathon trade talks limped into another day on Friday but with little progress so far on the tortuous negotiations ministers said it would soon be time to decide whether a deal was at all possible.

Oil was little changed above $125 a barrel on Friday after short-covering a day ago helped stem a nearly two-week dive, but analysts said lingering demand worries made further gains ahead of the weekend unlikely.

Department of telecom has waived the license fee on rural landlines to promote use of telephone in rural areas, where the usage of telecom services remain low, a move which will make the Government lose about Rs 200 crore revenue per year.

Driven by robust subscriber growth, Bharti Airtel, country's leading mobile operator, on Thursday posted a 34 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 2,025 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2008. Bharti Airtel, in which Singapore-based SingTel owns 30 per cent share, said its revenue as per US accounting rules, rose by 44 per cent to Rs 8,483.30 crore for the latest quarter from Rs 5,904.

As women struggle to crack corporate America's so-called glass ceiling, they may find more success in breaking the job barrier from the top down, a study said on Wednesday.

Driven by robust subscribers growth, telecom major Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported a 34 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 2,025 crore in the first quarter ended on June 30, against Rs 1,511.60 crore in the year-ago period.

Targeting youth, world's largest manufacturer of two-wheelers Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Ltd on Thursday launched its latest offering 125 CC 'CBF Stunner' in Bhopal.

Snapping its five-day rally, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday shed over 165 points on profit selling at metal, capital goods and IT counters.