Wipro To Buy Canada’s ATCO I-TEK

Wipro said that it had entered into a two-way pact with Canada’s ATCO group, according to which it would acquire the Alberta-based company’s subsidiary ATCOI-Tek for $195 million (about Rs 1,176 crore) in cash, and also would provide total outsourcing solutions to the group for 10 years. Revenues from the deal are likely to start reflecting from July-September 2015 onwards. “This is one of the largest contracts we have won,” said Anand Padmanabhan, chief executive-energy, natural resources and utilities, at Wipro. “We have signed a set of agreements with the ATCO group, and we would be providing total outsourcing services, which will include managing the infrastructure, application maintenance, development and also asset management.” The contract is subject to customary closing conditions, Wipro said in a release.

B Ashok Takes Over As IOC Chairman

B Ashok took over as the Chairman of Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest oil firm. Prior to his appointment as Chairman IOC, Ashok was Executive Director (Retail Sales) and Executive Director in the Corporate Office at New Delhi. “Ashok has a wide experience in various roles of the Marketing Division and has also been a harbinger of the Business Development activities at its Corporate Headquarters,” the company said in a statement. A mechanical engineer from College of Engineering, Guindy, Madras University with a Post-Graduate Management degress from National Management Programme of Management Development Institute, Ashok has over 33 years of experience in the oil and gas industry.

SAIL Reaffirms Its Efforts To Achieve Excellence

Adding strength to Chairman SAIL’s vision of achieving excellence in all spheres a Workshop on Kaizen was organized at Scope on 13th July, 2014. Sensei Masaaki Imai, regarded as the father of continuous improvement lectured on the various aspects of Kaizen. Chairman, SAIL, C.S. Verma along with Secretary Steel, Mr. G. Mohan Kumar, Directors of SAIL and business excellence teams from across SAIL plants attended the conclave. Sensei, exhorted the delegates to try and squeeze the maximum out of existing resources before investing in more resources. He talked about the philosophy of minimum resources and maximum output. Kaizen is a concept that makes simple common sense improvements to critical end to end businesses for continuous improvement.

Kotak To Buy 15% Stake In MCX

Kotak Mahindra Bank has decided to buy a 15 per cent stake in Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) for Rs 459 crore from Financial Technologies India (FTIL). The deal values MCX at Rs 600 a share, a discount of nearly 24 per cent to Friday’s closing price of Rs 783.5 on the National Stock Exchange. Also, there is a steep discount to the price at which MCX issued shares to the public in March 2012 (Rs 1,032 a share). “We have agreed to take a significant minority stake in MCX. We are excited by the potential presented by the financial infrastructure space in the country and believe an investment in MCX, with its significant franchise, will create long-term value,” said Uday Kotak, executive vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank. The value of the country’s largest commodity exchange in Kotak’s purchase comes to Rs 3,060 crore; its market capitalisation by Friday’s closing price stands at Rs 3,996 crore.

HDFC Bank Q1 Net Up 21 %

HDFC Bank Ltd, India’s second-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a 21 per cent rise in quarterly profit. The Mumbai-based bank said net profit rose to Rs 2233 crore for its fiscal first quarter to end-June from Rs 1844 crore a year earlier. Weaker economic expansion has squeezed credit growth for Indian lenders, slowing their earnings growth in recent quarters. The sector is betting on a revival in economic activity after the new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May.

Vijay Kumar Awarded By ICAI

Vijay Kumar, General Manager (Finance)-ANS, Airports Authority of India has been conferred upon Award of Excellence in appreciation of his long Committed contribution in furtherance of profession of Cost and Management Accountancy by the Northern India Regional Council of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (NIRC of ICAI) in a glittering ceremony held during the Annual General Meeting of ICAI on 27th June, 2014 at Scope Complex, New Delhi.

Ultratech Q1 Net Profit Dips 6%

Ultartech Cement reported a little over six per cent dip in its consolidated net profit for the first quarter of the current fiscal at Rs 628 crore on lower prices and higher variable costs. The Aditya Birla Group flagship had clocked a net profit of 669 crore during the April-June quarter of the last fiscal, it said in a statement. “During the quarter, domestic cement sales volume improved by 14 per cent over the corresponding period in FY14. However, prices continued to remain under pressure. Variable costs increased by 3 per cent mainly on account of increase in prices of petcoke and input material,” Ultratech said.

AXIS Bank Hits Record High Ahead Of Q1 Results

Axis Bank is trading 1.4 per cent higher at Rs 2,024, also its record high on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ahead of April-June (Q1) quarter earnings. Analyst at Kotak Securities expects Axis Bank earnings growth to remain muted. Impairment levels to remain unchanged. Analyst expects revenue growth to slow down to 11% year on year (YoY), net interest income (interest income minus interest paid) growth muted at 15% yoy. Meanwhile, the bank said it has fixed July 30, 2014 as the record date for the purpose of ascertaining the eligible shareholders who would be entitled to receive 5 equity shares of nominal value of Rs 2 each in lieu of 1 equity share of nominal value of Rs 10 each of the Bank on sub-division.

NALCO, Irel Sign Mou For Titanium Slag JV

The Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), a PSU under the Department of Atomic Energy (DoAE) and National Aluminum Company (Nalco), India’s leading aluminum manufacturer, will float a joint venture (JV) for setting up of a titanium slagplant. The one-lakh tonne capacity plant, estimated to cost around Rs 400 to 500 crore, will be located within the premises of the Odisha Sands Complex (OSCOM), a unit of IREL, near Chhatrapur in Odisha’s Ganjam district. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for formation of the JV, which was signed between the two Central PSUs about three years ago, was revalidated today with the signing of fresh MoU at Mumbai. The fresh MoU was signed between R.N. Patra, CMD, IREL and Ansuman Das, CMD, Nalco in the presence of senior officers of both the companies. “The project envisages value addition of ilmenite, a mineral product of IREL, to produce titanium slag, which is an intermediate for making titanium sponge and titanium pigment,” said release issued by Nalco.