India's largest online travel portal, MakeMyTrip wants to bet aggressively on driving business through mobile phones and expects almost 50% business from it in next three years with plans to roll out vernacular language capability. It also wants to acquire firms with technological capability on mobile application to beef up its resources sitting on a cash pile of Rs 300 crore ($48 million), said founder and CEO Deep Kalra. Kalra said MakeMyTrip is actively scouting for acquisitions in a broad spectrum such as companies which may have niche mobile technology or talent and travel sites in geographies such as the Middle East and South-East Asia which have huge traffic of Indian travellers. MakeMyTrip has earlier acquired two firms in Thailand and one in Singapore. (The Economic Times)
After QIP, SBI may raise Rs 1000 cr: After QIP, SBI may raise Rs 1000 cr. After mopping up around Rs 8,000 crore ($1.28 billion) through equity offerings to institutional investors, State Bank of India (SBI) plans to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore ($160 million) through an employee stock purchase scheme. According to a senior executive of the bank, SBI’s board has given the nod to issue equity shares to its employees. The country’s largest lender has raised Rs 8,032 crore ($1.28 billion) from qualified institutional investors (QIPs) by issuing around 51 million equity shares at Rs 1,565 per unit (of face value Rs 10). (Business Standard)
FinMin proposes BHEL stake sale through block deal to FIs: Facing opposition from the Heavy Industries Department to disinvestment in BHEL, the Finance Ministry is considering 5 per cent stake sale in the power plant equipment maker to financial institutions through block deal route. At the current market price of Rs 172.85 apiece, the 5% stake sale would fetch about Rs 2,100 crore ($336 million) to the exchequer. The Department of Heavy Industries, which is the administrative ministry of the company, has for long opposed the proposed disinvestment in state-run Bhel, citing unfavourable market conditions. In August 2011, the Cabinet had cleared selling government's 5% stake or over 12.23 crore shares in BHEL through follow-on public offer (FPO). The government holds a 67.72% stake in the Navratna company. (Financial Express)
BSNL, MTNL to get loan for paying staff inherited from DoT: The government will give a loan to state-owned BSNL and MTNL to pay the employees they inherited from the Department of Telecom, a ministerial panel decided today. Both the telecom companies, which have been in losses, are rationalising cost and are considering other steps like locking value of their real estate for their revival. BSNL's salary burden in 2011-12 stood at Rs 13,406 crore ($2.14 billion), almost half its revenues. Most of the BSNL staff are inherited from the DoT. (The Economic Times)
Ask Financial Tech to bring down stake in 10 days, FMC tells MCX: The commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) has given 10 days to Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) for coming out with a time bound program to reduce its parent Financial Technologies’ (FT) holding in the Exchange. Last December, FMC declared Financial Technologies as not fit and proper to operate a commodity exchange as another Group company National Spot Exchange had defaulted on trade settlement worth Rs 5,600 crore ($895 million). The regulator also instructed MCX to ensure that the promoters reduce their equity holding to two per cent from 26%. (Business Line)
Axis Bank needs Rs 12,000-cr equity injection by FY18: The private sector lender Axis Bank needs a capital injection of Rs 12,000 crore ($1.9 billion) by FY2018 to conform to Basel-III norms for capital adequacy, according to India Ratings & Research. The new generation bank had raised Rs 5,540 crore ($885 million) through equity offering in January 2013. The bank moderated pace of growing loan book in last two years (FY12 and FY13). It loan portfolio rose by 16 per cent in FY13, down from 19 per cent in FY 12. This helped to consolidate credit profile, conserve capital and maintain a stable funding profile, it said. (Business Standard)
Courtesy: VCCEdge