BHEL Q2: Analysts expect margins to remain under pressure

State-run power equipment manufacturer BHEL  is set to announce its results for the quarter ended September 2012 today. Analysts on an average expect subdued revenues by the company due to sluggish order inflows.

Even margins are expected to remain under pressure due to increased pricing pressure and negative operating leverage, say analysts.

Profit after tax is likely to go up by 2.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,446 crore in the three months ended September 2012 and net sales are seen going up by 11.2 percent to Rs 11,448 crore from Rs 10,299 crore during the same period.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is expected to go up by 12.7 percent YoY to Rs 1,930 crore in the second quarter.

Analysts feel the operating profit margin will rise by 20 basis points to 16.9 percent versus 16.6 percent YoY.

German company close to buy Orient Refractories; stk up 6%

German company RH1 is close to buying Orient Refractories  for Rs 550 crore, reports The Economic Times.

At 09:22 hrs Orient Refractories was quoting at Rs 38.60, up Rs 2.30, or 6.34%. It has touched a 52-week high of Rs 41.50. 
 
It was trading with volumes of 8,650 shares. In the previous trading session, the share closed down 1.36% or Rs 0.50 at Rs 36.30.

The latest book value of the company is Rs 6.25 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was 6.18. The dividend yield of the company was 2.59%.

Kejriwal set for another revelation today; target-Gadkari?

The man who took on Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, activist Arvind Kejriwal, is set to take centrestage again on Wednesday. Kejriwal had threatened to release proof of corruption by BJP President Nitin Gadkari. It now remains to be seen whether Gadkari will be his next target or it will be the NCP.

Kejriwal had also alleged that the Congress and the BJP were hand in glove with each other. "Why has the BJP not taken up the Salman Khurshid issue? Because both are hand in glove, they know we are going to expose Mr Gadkari now," Kejriwal had said.

Aiding Kejriwal in that promised expose, would be accompanied by Mumbai-based activist Anjali Damania, who first set the cat among the pigeons in September 2012, when she claimed that Gadkari and NCP chief Sharad Pawar were hand in glove with each other. "When I approached Mr Gadkari to raise the irrigation scam issue, he told me he could not help me because he and Pawar grant favours to each other," Damaniya had claimed.

CNN-IBN had earlier reported how the irrigation scam could potentially embarrass the BJP President. Documents accessed by CNN-IBN showed how close Gadkari aide and now party MP Ajay Sancheti had circumvented rules to get contracts from the Vidharbha Irrigation Development Corporation.

While corporation rules stated that no single firm can hold more than three contracts simultaneously, the Sancheti group bagged contracts FIRs in the name of Shaktikumar M Sancheti Ltd, then in the name of SMS infrastructure which was the same company with a new name, and also in joint ventures.
In the lower Penganga irrigation project that was controversially revived by Ajit Pawar just days ahead of the 2009 Assembly polls, Ajay Sancheti cornered more than one-third of the contracts. Gadkari wrote to the then water resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal pushing for release of funds for the irrigation project, declared seriously flawed by the central water commission.

But Nitin Gadkari had remained defiant. In an interview to CNN-IBN, he even said that he will leave politics if anything against him was proved. On Wednesday, Arvind Kejriwal, who has so far gone public with charges against Vadra and Khurshid, is threatening to provide proof of alleged corruption that could embarrass the BJP chief.

M & M launches Rexton at Rs 17.67 lakh

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra today said it has launched a premium SUV 'Rexton' from the SsangYong stable.The first launch from its Korean arm is produced at the Chakan plant with some localisation, the company said.

In November 2010, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) had signed a definitive agreement with Ssangyong Motor Company to acquire 70 per cent stake in the ailing South Korean automaker at a total cost of USD 463 million (about Rs 2,105 crore).

"A manual model of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) is priced at Rs 17.67 lakh ex-Mumbai and the automatic version at Rs 19.67 lakh," M&M president, automotive and farm equipment, Pawan Goenka said at the launch.

The car is the first high-end SUV from the Mumbai-based auto firm. The company said it has invested over Rs 63 crore at its Chakan plant for this model.

Delhi government to give 3 extra subsidised cooking gas cylinders

New Delhi: The Delhi government will give three subsidised cooking gas cylinder to the poor under its scheme to remove all kerosene stoves in the state. These will be in addition to the six subsidised cylinder limit announced by the central government on Friday.

The state government has undertaken a plan to remove all kerosene stoves used for cooking purposes. As part of this, it gives one cylinder and a stove free to families that use kerosene stoves. Now this scheme will extend to three subsidised LPG cylinders per family.

This will mean that each family will now get nine subsidised cylinders a year, beating the central government's cap of six. All cylinders above this cap will have to be bought at the market price, which is about Rs. 700. A subsidised cylinder costs Rs. 400.

The central government on Friday announced the limit in a bid to reduce its subsidy bill. But there are reports that this limit might be relaxed to overcome political opposition, specially from UPA ally Mamata Bannerjee.