Ciaz zooms past City in Oct as mid-size sedan war takes new turn
NEW DELHI: The battle for the leadership position in the midsize sedan
segment has intensified with Maruti’s new launch Ciaz trumping segment
leader Honda City in its first full month of sales in October.
Sales of the Ciaz stood at 6,345 units while City that has been a
runaway success since its relaunch in January found 5,125 customers in
October.
Erstwhile market leader Hyundai Verna’s tally of around 3,000 units has put it in the third position.
Maruti said it was hopeful of keeping its leadership position and
avoid the fate that befell its earlier mid-size car SX4. Though, SX4 got
off to a great start, its sales fizzled out after three months.
“We are off to a good start.... The festive season has been good
for Ciaz. We have bookings of over 17,000 right now,” said RS Kalsi,
executive officer marketing and sales, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. “In the
first few months, the demand can be deceptive as there is always a
novelty factor with a new car. But we want to retain the segment
leadership and sales should stabilise at over 5,000 units per month.”
NAME RAHUL SINGH 2
PGDM 3 SEM
Arun Jaitley pledges ‘rational’ tax policy, changes in labour laws, fuel price deregulation and natural resources auctions
NEW DELHI: India will pursue an aggressive reforms
agenda over the next few months to help get the country back to a
high-growth trajectory and on the radar of investors, finance minister Arun Jaitley said, promising a reasonable and rational tax policy that will not be "ultra-aggressive" to help further improve sentiment.
"Government has its plate full with respect to reforms for the next few
months," Jaitley said in Delhi on Sunday. "Aggressive reforms will help
India to grow faster... Hope India will get back on the investors'
radar."
The government is looking to alter the land acquisition
law as part of reform efforts and is in the last stages of discussions
with states on changes to the constitutional amendment bill required for
the long-awaited goods and services tax to become a reality.
The government has already embarked on changes in labour policy, fuel
price deregulation and natural resources auctions among others.
Jaitley exuded optimism that the insurance bill, seeking to raise the foreign direct investment cap, will be passed in the upcoming session of Parliament.
Speaking at the India Global Forum organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the minister said the Indian economy faces challenges but expects growth to improve next year.
"Economy was and is in a challenging situation and one of the principal
challenges before us is to restore the confidence in the Indian
economy, to expand economic activity and move towards increasing the
growth rate," he said, adding that growth next year will be a "little
better". If the trend continues, India could well be restored to a
high-growth path.
Streamlining the tax regime and ending
uncertainty is a critical part of making India more attractive to
investors."We have seen the challenges before the economy. A reasonable
and rational tax policy (is needed), it can't be ultra aggressive with
tax payers," the minister said. The tax department now follows the
principle that those who have to pay tax should do so and those who
don't have to should not be harassed for non-payment, he said. He also
spoke of the rationale behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make In
India manufacturing initiative.
"We have realised that one of
the greatest challenges we have is the manufacturing sector. The economy
had touched a new low and therefore the manufacturing sector is itself
is delicately poised in India. We have to eventually try and make India a
hub of low-cost manufacturing," he added.
He also said the
government will amend the tough land acquisition law as it looks to
restore confidence in the economy. "Some changes may be necessary. We
will first try to reach a consensus and if that is not possible we will
go ahead and take the decision." The Land Acquisition Bill has been
widely criticised by industry as also state governments and central
departments for stalling project development. Jaitley said that
"obstacles" to land laws would have to be first removed in order to
implement the concept of smart cities in India. Alluding to recent
reform measures including the coal ordinance, he said the government is
giving finishing touches to a reworked mining law.
He said
there is a need to follow the e-auction route for the allocation of
natural resources to make the process transparent and eliminate
corruption.
Allaying skepticism about disinvestment remaining
on track, the finance minister said the programme will "unfold" in the
next few days. He added that the government aims to lower its equity in
public sector banks to 52%.
vijay kr yadav
pgdm 3rd sem
sou- times of india
Indian e-commerce market to reach $20 bn next year
The e-commerce market in the country is expected to grow 37 per cent
to reach $20 billion by next year on the back of growing internet
population and increased online shoppers, a report has said. "E-commerce
in India is a $11 billion market, and is estimated to reach $20 billion
by 2015, growing at a CAGR of 37 per cent over 2013-15," Motilal Oswal
Securities said in its report on e-commerce. The research firm
said their are multiple enablers for this growth which include increase
in the number of internet users and an increased proportion of online
shoppers within those users, growth in the per-shopper transaction value
and continued flow of capital by willing investors. The report said currently online travel dominates the e-commerce market but in the future, e-tailing will drive the growth. Online
travel constituted 71 per cent of the e-commerce market in India,
followed by e-tailing (16 per cent). Travel has grown at a CAGR of 32
per cent over 2009-13. "However, going forward, e-tailing will be
the biggest growth driver, with expected CAGR of over 60 per cent to $7
billion in 2016 from $1.7 billion in 2013. Within e-tailing, fashion is
likely to be the driving segment," it said. Fashion was $559
million in 2013, and estimates peg the growth in fashion e-tailing to
anywhere between $3 billion and $6 billion by 2016. The research firm said heavy discount on online sales is a direct reflection of the industry's competitive intensity. "The
amount of money raised by Flipkart, lately Snapdeal, and that committed
by Amazon is all yet to be invested, indicating that we may not be
anywhere near the end of round-the-clock discount seasons at online
stores," it added. vimal singh pgdm 2nd year
ABG Shipyard starts recasting business under CDR plan
At the behest of the shipping company’s lender consortium,
turnaround specialist Alvarez and Marsal (India) has been appointed to oversee
the implementation of the debt restructuring package, four people—three who are
part of the restructuring process and one company executive—confirmed. As part
of this, a chief restructuring officer (CRO) has also been appointed
. “When the
restructuring package was approved, banks had mandated that a restructuring
officer will be appointed who will control the company’s cash flows and
implement the package properly,” said a senior official at a public sector bank
part of the lenders’ consortium, requesting anonymity as he is not allowed to
speak to reporters.
The restructuring officer was appointed in October after an
agreement to recast nearly Rs.11,000 crore in debt was approved by the
company’s lenders. Rishi Agarwal, chairman of ABG Shipyard, declined to
comment. According to the restructuring agreement, all bank accounts of the
company have now been shifted to a single bank, as opposed to having accounts
with multiple banks earlier, so that the 22-bank consortium has complete
control over the cash flow of the company. The restructuring officer will
manage the inflow and outgo of money, and the company will be able to access
funds for any payments and other expenditure only after the CRO clears it.
The
stringent conditions being put in place as part of ABG Shipyard’s debt
restructuring package is a reflection of the increased caution being excercised
by banks while restructuring large accounts. A slump in economic growth to decadal
lows, high borrowing costs and stalled projects that crimped cash flows have
made it difficult for many corporate borrowers to repay debt over the past two
years, forcing them to enter CDR agreements with their creditors. As on 30
June, the CDR cell was overseeing the restructuring of Rs.3.5 trillion in bad
loans, according to data available on the cell’s website.
While cases approved
for CDR have surged, it is unclear how successful the restructuring process is
proving to be. On 3 September, Mint reported that at least four large CDR cases
involving a combined Rs.14,000 crore ended in failure in the first five months
of the fiscal, underscoring the difficulties of resolving debt issues in an
economy that’s only now starting to rebound after two years of sub-5% growth.
To avoid such situations, banks are now being far more vigilant in large cases
like ABG Shipyard and taking a more active role in the company’s operations
once its CDR package is approved. Like, recently, when ABG Shipyard was alloted
Rs.650 crore worth of additional loans by the banking consortium, the company
was first required to pay employee salaries which were pending for nearly seven
or eight months.
The company will also utilize these funds to complete building
11 ships which are under construction. An additional Rs.650 crore worth of
loans are yet to be cleared by the banks. “Apart from this, CRO will also take
decisions on which business segments to focus on. The company’s resources will
be directed to business activities which generate revenue, while others may be
closed,” said a second person aware of the processes being followed at ABG
Shipyard. He requested anonymity. The firm may see some layoffs in the coming
months to consolidate expenses, the person added. In normal circumstances,
banks would appoint their own representatives on the company’s board to oversee
the activities. “It is unusual for the banking industry to hire a third party
to manage a borrower’s cash flow, since these services are very expensive. But
in cases where the banks find it difficult to understand certain businesses, it
becomes essential to hire an expert,” said a second public sector banker
seeking anonymity as he is not allowed to talk to reporters. According to
Abizer Diwanji, partner and national leader (financial services) at consulting
firm EY, banks are getting tougher with the restructuring process. “Certain
large banks are leading the effort and are getting more aggressive in
restructuring and recovery procedures because the situation demands it.
However, promoters are not always open with disclosing their financials to
bankers.
Without the complete cooperation of the promoters, no measure by banks
can be completely effective. That is the requirement,” said Diwanji. ABG
Shipyard’s CDR package is one of the largest in recent times, behind Gammon
India Ltd’s Rs.13,500 crore recast. As part of the restructuring package, the
interest rate on the ship-builder’s loans was reduced by 100 basis points to
11%. The firm also received a two-year moratorium on its repayment schedule,
which ends on 30 September 2015, according to ABG Shipyard’s FY14 annual
report. The company has to then repay its loans in 32 structured, quarterly
instalments before 30 June 2024. The company also has to bring in Rs.300 crore in
equity. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. For the quarter
to June 2014, the firm reported a loss of Rs.56 crore, against a profit of Rs.4
crore reported a year ago. Total income during the three-month period was
Rs.264 crore, much lower than Rs.422 crore reported in the previous year.
Shipping firms have been struggling to remain profitable as global trade
slowed. Earlier this year, Bharati Shipyard Ltd, which received an approval
from its lenders to restructure Rs.8,000 crore debt through CDR, exited the CDR
cell on account of failure in implementation of the package. Nikhil
Gandhi-promoted Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd, too, is in
talks with its lenders for easier loan repayments.
COMMENT:-
Mumbai: Debt-laden ABG Shipyard Ltd
has started the long process of restructuring its business and reworking its
debt obligations under the terms of its approved corporate debt restructuring
(CDR) plan.
RAHUL KUMAR GUPTA
PGDM,3rd SEM
SOURCE:-MINT
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
NEWS: UK brands struggle to measure marketing’s effectiveness
Only one-in-three marketing directors
and managers are confident they can accurately measure their marketing
department's effectiveness, according to a new survey commissioned by Crescendo Consulting. The
areas of biggest concern are social, PR, advertising and direct
marketing, while digital, sales promotions and branding were of least
concern to professionals. Reasons
behind these concerns include lack of tools and techniques good enough
to measure effectiveness in today’s complex marketing environment.
Thirty-one per cent of those surveyed believe there is too much emphasis
on the technology behind today’s measurement systems with too little
focus on the results they delivery. However, 27 per cent of marketers say market research is generating the insight required to understand today’s highly complex marketing environment. The
research revealed that three-quarters of organisations evaluate
marketing activity in-house (70 per cent), while over one-quarter (27
per cent) allow agencies to evaluate their work.
Mark
Westaby, consulting director at Crescendo, said: “Frankly, we are
shocked by just how little confidence marketing managers and directors
have in the evaluation of marketing effectiveness. The reasons, however,
are clear. Agencies should never be allowed to measure their own work
and while understandable that organisations measured effectiveness
in-house during the recession it is critical that this be redressed if
marketing activities are to deliver true ROI as we emerge from it.”
sumit kumar singh
comment by-sumit
uk barnd struggle to measure marketing so every marketing instruggle
The messy claims behind 'Alex from Target'
A company that
wants to bring "fans and fandom" together claimed to be behind the
overnight viral sensation, but as more facts emerge, the shadows of
doubt have become longer and darker.
Alex from Target was apparently destined to be a star.
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
They used to send children up chimneys to clear the air during the winter.
Now they get children to tweet in order to purge our minds of the realities of existence.
Just days ago many were in thrall to the rapture known as Alex from Target. He's a hashtag. He's a Bieberesque beauty. He's the most famous Target employee in the world.
And then on Tuesday a new company called Breakr claimed that it was behind his sudden rise to fame.
Breakr,
you see, is a company that claims to connect "fans with their fandom." I
hadn't been aware that fans had felt disconnected from their fandom. So
I allowed myself to be enlightened by Dil-Domine Jacobe Leonares, Breakr's CEO.
Leonares told me that his company, which is still in beta, has been helping small content creators spread their content.
In
the case of Alex Lee (for that is Alex from Target's name), Leonares
beamed Tuesday: "Truly, we never thought it'd go this far, but it proved
that with a strong fan base -- [if you] rally the fan girls, you can
translate that following into a career."
This is all about the fan
girls, you see. They are powerful. They are strong. They spread the
word. When they took one look at Alex from Target's visage, they
targeted him for stardom. Leonares had claimed in a LinkedIn post
that he and his fan girls were allegedly able to observe the
Alex-lovers and the Alex-don't-lovers and see how it all contributed to
making Alex from Target so famous.
But over the course of Tuesday night, Leonares' claims were severely challenged. Some chose to believe him. Others did not. The truth, wouldn't you know it, seems murky.
Most significantly, Alex himself disavowed knowledge of Breakr. In a series of tweets
Tuesday night, he said: "Apparently there is a company trying to take
credit for how the pic taken of me went viral. My family and I have
never heard of this company."
By late in the evening, Leonares was already beginning to backtrack on his claims. He gave an interview to BuzzFeed in which he modified his company's role. He now says Breakr was merely part of this seminal world event. He still insisted, however, that it was Breakr that promoted the hashtag #alexfromtarget.
For
its part, Target said it wasn't part of the scheme in any way.
Spokeswoman Molly Snyder told me: "Let us be completely clear, we had
absolutely nothing to do with the creation, listing or distribution of
the photo. And we have no affiliation whatsoever with the company
that is taking credit for its results."
On Tuesday, Leonares had
confidently stated of Target: "They could have capitalized." He even
suggested that he was trying to broker a deal with Target --which,
again, denies having had any contact with him.
When 'a better choice in words' doesn't happen
Asked
again Wednesday morning whether Breakr had indeed discovered Alex from
Target, Leonares told me: "We did find him through one of our kids, but I
should have used a better choice in words."
On Tuesday, Leonares
had claimed that Alex, a denizen of the US, gave his permission to have
the image taken. He also told me that the original tweeter of the
famous image, @auscalum, actually lives in London. Yes, London, England.
She, after initially closing her Twitter account, has opened it again to retort that she does not work with Breakr.
On
Wednesday morning, Leonares told CNET this: "Abbie knows us, but we
want to correct that she was never employed by Breakr." There is a big
difference between knowing someone and working for them.
Leonares
insisted this morning: "Abbie was a follower of ours; she unfollowed two
days after getting hate; she posted the picture and we jumped on it
with the hashtag."
Also reached Wednesday morning, @auscalum
described to me her interaction with Breakr like this: "They told me to
follow them, so I did; then they [direct-messaged] me so I unfollowed
them."
What happened when Breakr DMed her? She said Breakr was "asking if they can handle my press, so I just unfollowed them."
Leonares'
reaction to her description: "She was getting a lot of hate and death
threats. We told her not to react to the negative posts."
You might wonder how Breakr intends to make money. Leonares said that they "own the users."
He
added: "We also manage our kids so any brand deal we do with them, we
take a [percentage]. Like a startup incubator but focused on social
influencers."
In this case, however, it seems that he neither
owned the appropriate kids, nor managed them. He now claims: "My
LinkedIn post was to highlight the influence our network had with the
hashtag trend."
In his LinkedIn post, Leonares had written: "If
you can earn the love and respect from a global community such as the
'Fangirl' demographic, you can rally them together to drive awareness
for any cause even if it's to take a random kid from unknown to stardom
over night."
LinkedIn is a serious place, where people,
especially CEOs, generally post serious things. The impression left by
his post was that Breakr's role was far greater than it now appears to
have been.
Yes, the company might have fanned the flames of the
hashtag #AlexfromTarget. However, given that the two main protagonists
have denied any participation with Breakr, you wonder whether the
company is merely trying to take advantage.
Leonares presents
himself as part Peter Thiel, part Simon Cowell. He claims that he is
betting on unknown stars. He told me: "We're building a content
distribution network from mobile to web to OTT devices (Apple TV, Roku, Amazon) + content creators."
In
simple terms: "Our theory is if you can build an influencer's fan base,
you can translate their following into revenue from brand deals."
Breakr's brand is currently under attack from many who believe that it has wildly overstated its role. Editors' note: This
story has been recast since its original publication to account for
updates Tuesday and Wednesday that have factored in responses from Alex,
@Ausculum and Target, and further comments from Leonares.
New Delhi/Mumbai: plan to buy Loop
TelecomBharti Airtel Ltd abandoned its Rs.700 crore for its Mumbai
operations after the country’s largest telecom operator failed to secure
regulatory approval for the acquisition, a situation that prompted most of
Loop’s mobile phone subscribers, the company’s most valuable asset, to desert
the network. “Given that we did not receive regulatory approval until the end
of October, and a lot of Loop customers ported out of the network, Airtel decided
to call-off the deal,” said Surya Mahadevan, chief operating officer of Loop
Mobile, a company controlled by the Khaitan family. Loop, which has around 1
million active subscribers, will stop operations on 29 November and has asked
its remaining subscribers to switch to a rival network. It was too late for the
company to negotiate with other operators, The transaction, however, failed to get approvals from the telecom
regulator and the telecom department. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(Trai) objected to the deal on the grounds that Loop subscribers can’t be
restricted from porting to another network, while the telecom department said a
slump sale, the nature of Bharti’s acquisition, was not part of India’s telecom
policy The deal was a bad idea from the start, say analysts. “It makes no sense
to buy subscribers in a market where MNP (mobile number portability) is an
available option. By announcing the deal, they alerted Vodafone who then went
after the subscribers aggressively using MNP,” said a Mumbai-based analyst,
requesting anonymity. “Bharti could have also done that, given the resources it
has available in that market, instead of waiting for the deal to go through and
buying subscribers. The deal was doomed to fail.” Bharti Airtel said the
agreement with Loop was subject to approvals from the telecom department which
have not been received. “In light of this update and the fact that Loop’s
mobile licence is to expire at the end of this month, we have decided to
terminate the discussions with regard to the transaction for acquiring subscribers
of Loop,” the company said in a statement to stock exchanges. Meanwhile, Loop
has requested the telecom regulator for assistance to wind up its operations.
“We are planning to generate individual porting codes to all our existing Loop
customers to facilitate their easy port out to other networks before the 29
November deadline. We have approached Trai for permission to generate these
special porting codes, and expect a reply by Friday,” Mahadevan said. “Loop
will also refund all post-paid customers’ deposits by crediting the deposit
amount in their last bill and any remaining deposit amount will be refunded to
the customers within two-three weeks.” The abortive end to the transaction also
underscores regulatory gaps in India’s telecom industry. “The failure of the
Airtel-Loop deal just reiterates what we have been saying all along about the
regulatory clarity needed for merger and acquisition guidelines to ensure that
deals like these don’t fall through and the customers are not left in limbo,”
said Rajan Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India,
the lobby group for telecom operators that use the GSM technology standard.
“From a practical perspective, the impact of the failure of this deal on the
telecom sector will be muted.” Consolidation in the telecom industry may,
however, take other forms, said Hemant Joshi, a partner at Deloitte Haskins and
Sells, Llp. “We expect consolidation in the telecom sector to continue in
various forms, be it in terms of market consolidation, legal consolidation,
network sharing, asset sharing, etc. Also, we do not think the failure of this
deal will impact foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector, as telecom is a
long-term play and FDI gets impacted by much larger factors than this usually.”
Bharti Airtel’s agreement with Loop entailed transfer of business assets and
liabilities, including Loop’s then three million subscribers, using the slump
sale mechanism, in which businesses are transferred for a lump-sum, without
values being assigned to individual assets and liabilities. The Khaitan family
is exiting the business as Loop’s right to use radio spectrum, allotted to it
in November 1994 (when the company was part of the BPL group), is set to expire
this month. Loop attempted to expand its business outside Mumbai through
telecom permits and spectrum that the company received in January 2008. These
permits were part of the 122 licences, awarded to nine companies, that were
cancelled by the 2 February 2012 Supreme Court verdict. Other infrastructure
owned by Loop, including more than 2,500 cell sites, were also part of the
transfer but would be largely redundant given Bharti Airtel’s more than 4,000
cell sites in the city. The only asset that Bharti Airtel was paying for was
Loop’s subscribers, some of the oldest and most loyal in the country and
valuable because of their high usage pattern. Bharti already provides mobile
phone services to more than 4 million subscribers in Mumbai. Loop enjoyed an
average revenue per user of Rs.225, higher than the Rs.190 for Bharti. At the
end of August, Loop was left with around 1.7 million subscribers. Bharti Airtel
had 4.6 million subscribers at the end of August in Mumbai, up from 4.4 million
in February, while Vodafone had 7.8 million in August, an increase from 7.5
million in February. Had Bharti Airtel successfully got most of Loop’s
subscribers, it would have been a close second to Vodafone in Mumbai. In
return, the deal would have enabled Loop to pay off its debt of more than
Rs.300 crore owed to financiers and around Rs.700 crore owed to the telecom
department in spectrum usage fees and licence charges. “It seems like Bharti’s
dream to be the largest network in the metropolitan city is likely to remain a
dream for some more time,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, founder and chief executive
officer of Greyhound Research, said. “Loop is going to face choppy times ahead
with heavy debts to clear with Indian banks.”
COMMENT:- Bharti Airtel had agreed to
buy Loop Mobile in February to strengthen its position in the lucrative Mumbai
circle, where smaller rival Vodafone India Ltd has the largest number of mobile
phone users.
