Jain Irrigation - Gets Mango Pulp Order

Jain Irrigation Secures Rs 84 Crore Mango Pulp Order

Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd has announced that the Company has bagged the largest order for Rs 84 crores from Hindustan Coca Cola Company for supply of mango pulp. Compared to the order of Rs 33 crores last year, this is a quantum jump. Coke bottles Mango drink in India under the most popular brand name of Maaza.

The Mango pulp business is expected to exceed a turnover of Rs 160 crores this year based on additional export orders in hand. Entire order will be processed in the current mango season. The Fruit & Vegetable Processing Division is expected to register more than 50% growth in the current financial year.

The Company has five plants for fruits & vegetables in the vegetable processing in India and one in USA. The Company is expecting to process in excess of 75000 MTs of mangoes in the current season registering 60% growth in amount of quantity processed. The Company is a major supplier to many MNCs and to global leading beverage & food brands. The Company has emerged as the largest processor of fruits & vegetables from India.

The Company will continue to invest to expand product range and to strengthen backward linkage with farmers so as to become major supplier of frozen, aseptic and dehydrated fruit & vegetable products.

India is the largest producer of mangoes in the world with a share of more than 55% of the world production. India is also the producer of the most delicious mangoes such as Alphonso, Kesar, Dasheri, Totapuri, Chusa, etc. There is Large potential for fresh mangoes as welt as processed mango juice as consumers are preferring healthy drinks over other types of drinks. Fruit juice and fruit drink market in India is growing above 30% every year.

The Company is a diversified company with more than 5,000 employees worldwide and market capitalization in excess of INR 3.00 bn and a product portfolio encompassing Irrigation Products, Piping Products, Plastic Sheets, Dehydrated Foods, Fruit Puree, Pulp & Juices in India and other world markets. The Company has been named as one of the eight Indian Companies expected to emerge as challengers to the World Leading Companies by Standard & Poor's recently in May 2007.

Source : Bombay Stock Exchange

Sangam India - Ties Up With Riopele Texteis SA, Portugal

Sangam India Ties Up With Riopele Texteis SA, Portugal For Supply Agreement

Sangam India Ltd on June 21, 2007 has announced that it has entered into a strategic supply agreement with Riopele Texteis S.A. Portugal-based Riopele, with an annual turnover of Euro 64 million, is one of the largest manufacturer of high value added polyester-viscose bi-stretch yarns and fabrics Company. It has composite production facility and is a leading supplier to various leading retail chain in Europe and USA.

Under the agreement, Riopele Texteis will outsource high value added polyester viscose bi-stretch lycra fabrics from the Company. In turn, the Company will outsource technical expertise and designing pattern from Riopele Textels S.A. Initially, the agreement will be for period of one year and subsequently renewed mutually based on performance.

Explaining the rationale behind the tie-up, Mr. R P Soni, Chairman of the Company said, "This is the first step towards our vision to expand in the global markets with high value added product such as poly-viscose bi-stretch fabrics segment."

Mr. Soni also added, "This tie-up with help us to get the technical know-how and latest trend in designing from the Riopele and in turn give us an opportunity to supply high value added. Going forward, we are targeting around 10-15% revenue of is fabrics division revenue through this tie-up."

Source : Bombay Stock Exchange

SREI Infra - Net Jumps 98%

SREI Net Up 98% As Core Sector Booms

SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd has posted a 98 per cent growth in net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 at Rs 31.5 crore as compared to Rs 15.9 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Hemant Kanoria, vice-chairman and managing director, SREI said higher business growth led to larger disbursements. "We are now in a position to increase our presence in the infrastructure sector exponentially through our recent association with BNP Paribas Leasing Group, the worldwide leasing financing arm of BNP Paribas," Kanoria said.

With the new venture the company will be able to increase assets under management to Rs 15000 crore, Kanoria said. The new venture will formed in another 90 to 120 days time. The association with BNP Paribas will help SREI Infrastructure to bid for more road, power and port projects.

The company is also thinking of increasing its portfolio into the medical equipment arena, where BNP has years of expertise. The total income for the quarter grew by 62 per cent to Rs 124.71 crore as against Rs 77.15 crore in the same period last year. For the financial year ended March 31, 2007, the company reported 64 per cent growth in the net profit at Rs 79.2 crore as compared to Rs 48.4 crore in the corresponding period previous year.

The total income grew by 76 per cent to Rs 400 crore for FY 2007 from Rs 227.2 crore for the year ended March 2006. Assets under management went up to Rs 5083 crore, crossing the one billion dollar mark, from the level of Rs 3393 crore achieved in the earlier year.

Net worth grew by 19 per cent to Rs 471 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007 from Rs 405 crore in the previous year.

Source : Business Standard

Simplex Infra - Order Book Set To Swell

Simplex Infra Expecting Huge Order

According to sources, Simplex Infrastructure may be gearing up to bag another Rs 1000 crore from West Asia. The order may be for a housing project. Simplex Infra will execute the order in two to three years.

Simplex Infra management had tendered for few other orders, but refused to divulge details. The company's current order book is at about Rs 7,000 crore.

Simplex Infra had recently bagged a Rs 1,000 crore order from two overseas companies. But they are eyeing a fresh order of the same size in the Middle East. Sources say they are in the final stages of negotiation.

This order will contibute to about 12-15% of their current order book size of Rs 7,000 crore. Housing projects contibute around 28-29% of Simplex Infra's revenues. Operating profit margins are expected to be better than normal, around 12-13%. And it is expected to be a paid contract and not BOT.

If this order is executed, the revenues coming from the Middle East will go up from 30% to 35%. The rationale behind this could be that, the company is slowy trying to reduce revenues that come in from the government side from 60% to 50%. This could also be a precursor to more projects from the Middle East.

If this order comes through, the total kitty of Simplex Infra will go to Rs 8,000 crore.

Disclaimer: This is source-based information and has not been provided to the stock-exchanges.

Source : Moneycontrol.com

International Combustion - Dark Horse

International Combustion Became Debt Free, Margins Improved

The revenues of International Combustion India Ltd (ICIL) grew by 15.6% year on year (yoy) to Rs24.1 crore in Q4FY2007. The revenues of the heavy engineering division (HED) grew by 24.8% yoy to Rs18.4 crore while that of the geared motor and geared box division (GMGBD) declined by 5.1% yoy to Rs5.9 crore. However, on a sequential basis the GMGBD's top line grew by 61.2%.

The operating profit margin (OPM) of the company improved by 280 basis points yoy to 20.3% in Q4FY2007, in line with our estimates. The margin expansion was driven by a lower raw material cost as the raw material cost as a percentage of sales ratio declined to 51% from 56.3% yoy. Consequently, the operating profit grew by 34.6% to Rs4.9 crore.

The margin of the HED improved by a whopping 1,340 basis points yoy to 32.6% while that of the GMGBD declined by 1,800 basis points to 14.7%. The GMGBD's margin declined largely because the company started manufacturing the B2000 series of geared motors and gear boxes in this year. It has made huge investments in the B2000 series project the results of which will get reflected in its FY2008 numbers.
The interest cost declined by 7.7% yoy to Rs0.1 crore as the company repaid its entire debt and became a debt-free company in this year. Consequently, the net profit grew by a strong 47.4% yoy to Rs2.8 crore.

The outstanding order book stood at Rs56 crore out of which the HED's order book stood at Rs48 crore with the GMGBD accounting for the balance Rs8 crore.

ICIL is currently trading at a price/earnings ratio (PER) of 6.8x its FY2008E earnings and 4.2x its FY2008E enterprise value (EV)/earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBIDTA). Considering the strong order backlog and the expansion plans of its key user industries such as steel, sugar and cement, it remains a good buy.

Punj Lloyd - Slowly Becoming A Behemoth

Punj Lloyd To Build Nuclear Plants With GE & Westinghouse

Punj Lloyd Limited (PLL), a global EPC services provider in energy and infrastructure domains, has recorded consolidated income of Rs 5206 crore and consolidated net profit of Rs 196.03 crore for the financial year 2006-07. This is against consolidated income of Rs 1716.60 crore and net profit of Rs 54 crore for FY 2005-06.

Punj Lloyd acquired 100% stake of Sembawang Engineers & Constructors during the year, which contributed Rs 2155.20 crore to revenues, Rs 42.40 crore to EBITDA and Rs 28.6 crore to net profit.

On a consolidated basis, EBIDTA (Earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortisation) for the fiscal was Rs 489.70 crore as against Rs 222.90 crore in the previous fiscal. The EBITDA margin in FY07 was 8.71 %.

The basic and diluted EPS for FY07 stood at Rs 7.44 and Rs 6.91 respectively for Rs 2 paid up share. The board of directors have recommended a dividend of 15% for FY07, subject to the approval of shareholders.

For the fourth quarter ended March 2007, the consolidated revenues stood at Rs 1719.91 crore, while consolidated net profit stood at Rs 88.49 crore.

The order backlog (unexecuted value of orders as on date) as of March 31, 2007 stood at Rs 15,943.90 crore, of which Punj Lloyd (excluding Sembawang) contributed Rs 11,039.40 crore and Sembawang contributed Rs 4904.50 crore.

Punj Lloyd Chairman, Atul Punj commented, “the group has made rapid progress up in the value chain, with average ticket size of the order increasing manifold. This enables us to manage large projects without commensurate increase in resources, enabling higher margins in the process. Our order book now has an increased component of engineering and procurement services, as against largely construction contracts at the beginning of the year. The petrochemical and pipelines domains have a larger share in the order book as compared to civil construction projects. Large number of oil & gas discoveries in India is expected to give a boost to the orderflow. Our experience in setting up first world scale bio-ethanol plant in UK will also help us capitalize tremendous opportunities.”

Order book update

Punj Lloyd Group has an order backlog of Rs 15,943.90 crore. This is the unexecuted value of orders on the corresponding date plus new orders received till date.

Punj Lloyd on a stand-alone basis has recorded robust growth in its order book during the year. It is significant to note that after the acquisition, Sembawang and Simon Carves have also started contributing to group’s order book. The order backlog for Punj Lloyd (excluding Sembawang) stood at Rs 11,039.40 crore. The new order bookings in FY07 for Punj Lloyd including Sembawang stood at Rs 10,210.60 crore.

In terms of geographical contribution, the company’s current order backlog comprises of 40% of the orders from South Asia, 23% from Middle East, 4% from Asia Pacific and 2% from Caspian region and 31% from rest of the world.

From the application perspective, of the Company’s total backlog on 31 March 2007, 31% represents pipelines; 4% represents tankages, 17% represents infrastructure and 17% represents process plants and Sembawang contribution 31%. The composition of these contracts is reflective of Punj Lloyd’s endeavour to focus not solely on backlog additions but to create a high quality and diversified backlog of projects.

Punj Lloyd expects a robust order book and an increase in revenue contribution from overseas in the current fiscal. PLL has undertaken challenging projects in different fields across the globe. The company has managed to receive repeat orders from the refineries, power and energy sectors. It has proved to be a leading project executor to public sector undertakings as well as private sector companies. Some of the big customers in the domestic and international markets include NTPC, GAIL, Jindal Power, NHAI, BPCL, ONGC, RIL Bechtel, British Petroleum, Shell, Qatar Petroleum andKuwait National Petroleum Company.

In FY07, PLL acquired Singapore-based Sembawang Engineers & Constructors (earlier known as SembCorp Engineers& Constructors) and its UK-based subsidiary, Simon Carves. This acquisition would enable the company to acquire pre-qualification in new verticals of infrastructure sector like airports, jetties, MRT/LRT (Mass Rapid Transit system/Light Rail Transit system), tunneling and sewerage and EPC capabilities in petrochemical domain. The acquisition would also cement company’s presence in South East asia and Middle east and give access to new countries like UK, China, Iran etc. Acquisition of Sembawang has started resulting in new order flow from specialized fields. Simon Carves has been engaged by Ensus group to design and construct world’s largest wheat based bio-ethanol production facility in UK.

To Build Nuclear Plants

Further, Punj Lloyd is in talks with General Electric and Westinghouse Electric to jointly build nuclear power plants in the country, chairman Atul Punj said.

“We are in talks with manufacturers like GE, Westinghouse to partner with them on construction of nuclear plants,” he told Reuters on Friday on sidelines of a news conference. “The areas where we do not have significant qualifications are nuclear plants,” he said.

Since a civilian nuclear cooperation deal was signed by India and the United States in 2005, several US nuclear technology firms have expressed interest in partnering Indian companies to set up nuclear power plants. “This is just a step ahead in the company’s value chain, and given its execution skills, it does not surprise me,” said Jonas Bhutta, an analyst with HDFC Securities Ltd.

GE India’s outgoing head, Scott Bayman, joined Punj Lloyd’s board as an independent director from Friday, the company said.

Punj said the company, which earns more than 50% of its revenues from outside the country, was aggressively looking for opportunities in the infrastructure and power sectors. “Whether it is gas, thermal, nuclear or hydel (hydroelectric) we are looking at all the different segments in the power space,” he said.

Punj Lloyd would raise Rs 500 crore in the year to March 31, 2008, to help meet its order backlog, and had marked another Rs 500 crore for capital expenditure.

Shares in the company ended up 2.2% at Rs 220.95, not far off a record hit of Rs 224.88 hit last December, Punj said the company had formed a joint venture with a private firm to offer drilling rigs to the Indian exploration industry, aiming to meet some of the global shortage of rigs.

“Starting with onshore (rigs), we expect to migrate to offshore at a later date,” he said, adding the company’s initial investment would be Rs 40 crore.

The joint venture would compete with offshore services players such as Aban Offshore and Shiv-Vani Oil & Gas Exploration Ltd, Punj said.

SREI Infra - French Connection

BNP Paribas Buys 50% In SREI Arm For Rs 775 Cr

BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, will acquire 50% stake in the equipment financing business along with insurance broking (which is being spun off into a separate company) of Kolkata-based SREI Infrastructure Finance for Rs 775 crore.

The deal, the first of its kind in the country’s booming infrastructure sector, will help SREI to unlock shareholder value, Hemant Kanoria, vice chairman and managing director, SREI said. “The market capitalization of the company is around Rs 600 crore. The deal values the equipment financing business of the company at Rs 1,500 crore, two-and-a-half times of its total market capitalisation,” he said.

SREI is into project financing in addition to equipment financing, the main money spinner. It has Rs 5,000 crore of assets under its management.

Both the companies today signed an agreement to this effect at a press conference in the city. Kotak Investment Banking advised SREI on the transaction while Ambit Corporate Finance was BNP Paribas’ advisor.

BNP Paribas Lease will be the investment vehicle for the foreign bank into the company in which SREI will also chip in Rs 25 crore. SREI will get Rs 375 crore for transferring the infrastructure equipment and insurance broking businesses into a separate company.

The stock market gave a thumps-up to the deal. Share prices of SREI today rose 19.97%, the maximum permissible limit in a day, to close at Rs 71.80 on a strong Mumbai market.

SREI director Sunil Kanoria said the capital infusion would help the company to grow its project financing business as well.

The infrastructure equipment finance market stands at around Rs 14,000 crore. It is estimated to grow at a compounded annual rate of 40% to over Rs 31,000 crore in three years as the country needs to improve its inadequate roads, ports and electricity generation.

India plans to spend more than $320 billion in the next five years to build roads, ports and other infrastructure as it aims for an annual growth of 10 percent by 2012 from 9.4 percent in the year ended March 31.

Source : Business Standard

3i Infotech - Wins Best Software Award

3i Infotech, a global provider of IT solutions and India’s fourth largest software product company*, today announced that the company’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Fraud Detection software – AMLOCK™ - has been adjudged the ‘Best Software Product of 2006-2007’ by the Hyderabad Software Exporters Association (HYSEA).

The prestigious HYSEA award recognizes 3i Infotech’s innovation in product development and the growth of the company’s presence in the space of Anti Money Laundering (AML) software. The awards are audited by Ernst & Young.

Commenting on the win, Mr. Sheikh, Head – Capital Market, 3i Infotech said, “Post 9/11, global compliance standards have become increasingly important for financial institutions in order to check money laundering and run transparent businesses. Add to this RBI’s directive to Indian banks and the need for technology has become a global one. Hence, next generation solutions like AMLOCK would continue to play a pivotal role in checking and curbing money laundering practices. We are grateful to HYSEA for recognizing our efforts in this direction and will continue our endeavour to delivering best in breed technology products.”

Mr Sheikh added, “3i Infotech is a leader in Anti Money Laundering with AMLOCK being used to monitor a very significant proportion of the banking transactions in India. 3i Infotech has over 40 AMLOCK customers across the world and is connected to more than 10 global core banking systems.”

Patel Engineering - Bags Order From NHAI

Patel Engineering's Order Book Stood At Rs. 5000.00 Crore

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has awarded an annuity based build operate-transfer (BOT) project worth Rs518 crore to Patel Engineering Ltd.

The is to be located on NH-7 in Andhra Pradesh under North-South Corridor (NHDP Phase II). Patel Engineering and KNR Constructions will jointly execute the project. The semi-annual annuity project will generate total revenue of Rs1,597.32 crore.

The NHAI project work includes design, construction, development, finance, operation and maintenance of Islam Nagar to Kadtal stretch of the Nagpur-Hyderabad section on NH-7 in Andhra Pradesh under North-South Corridor (NHDP Phase II. The work also includes approximately 32km four-laning of the bypass out of 48km.

Avccording to Rupen Patel, managing director, Patel Engineering, "We would focus on selective road development projects following government's new initiative to encourage private sector participation in the road sector development through BOT (Built Operate and Transfer) annuity projects."

Recognising the present deficiencies in the road network, the government has assigned a high priority to the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP). According to NHAI data, a total of 23,546km of roads would be constructed in the next two year. Further, to encourage participation of the private sector, the department of road transport and highways has laid down comprehensive policy guidelines for private sector participation in the highway sector to encourage private sector participation. It has been decided that all the sub-projects in NHDP Phase-III to Phase-VII would be taken up on the basis of PPP on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) mode.

As on March 31, 2007, the Company's order book position stood at around Rs 5,000 crore. Around 55 per cent of the orders are from multipurpose water supply and power projects, 25 per cent from irrigation and 20 per cent in transportation and other sectors.