Publicis Groupe acquires digital marketing firm Convonix

By exchange4media News Service
Monday,Mar 11, 2013

 2 0

Publicis Groupe has announced the acquisition of Convonix, a Mumbai-based digital marketing consulting firm. Convonix will align with Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) in India. This transaction combines Convonix’s strength in search, social and analytics with Starcom’s strength in media strategy and expands Convonix’s geographical presence in India to Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, besides Mumbai. This news follows a number of recent acquisitions announced by Publicis Groupe in India.

Convonix will sit within SMG and will operate as SMG Convonix, with two market-facing brands – SMG Digital and Convonix. The three founding members of Convonix – Vishal Sampat, CEO; Sarfaraz Khimani, co-COO; and Pallav Jain, co-COO, will continue to lead the agency.

“As the first SEO organisation in India, Convonix has continued to innovate and build the very best digital capability whilst being highly respected for its ability to recruit the best talent from universities each year, and transform them into digital advertising experts through a rigorous training program,” said Laura Desmond, Global Chief Executive Officer for Starcom MediaVest Group. She added, “Combined with our existing talent in the market, this deal strengthens our offering to ensure we are the market leaders in digital.”

Founded in 2003, Convonix has evolved from being the first Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) organisation in India to becoming an integrated digital marketing solutions provider.

Year on year, Convonix has increased revenues on average 66 per cent since 2008. According to the latest ZenithOptimedia ad spend forecast, search marketing continues to expand rapidly in India and is forecast to increase 35 per cent in the region during 2013, and more than 70 per cent in the next two years.

Srikant Sastri, VivaKi Country Chair for India, who is presiding over the acquisition and transition of Convonix, shared, “After the Convonix acquisition, we are now clearly the digital marketing leaders in India, ahead of any other global network. We are positive that this acquisition will set the tone for our next phase of digital pre-eminence both in terms of expertise and revenue and we are continuing to explore other agencies that can help us capitalize on the outstanding potential of the digital marketplace in I

 

Markets flat in afternoon trades; IT, auto shares decline

Markets continued to move on a lacklustre note this afternoon. The Sensex, after touching a high of 19754 was trading at 19,687 - up just four points. Nifty was up seven points at 5,952.

In Asia, markets were steady but demand for riskier assets was curbed by a mixed bag of Chinese data which pointed to a patchy recovery in the world's second-largest economy. On the other hand, the yen's slide bolstered Japanese equities, with the Nikkei stock average closing up 0.5 percent after hitting a fresh 4-1/2-year high.

Back home, investors would be looking at a slew of macro economic data including IIP and inflation numbers, which is set to come out this week. Markets may also react to the advance tax payment for the final installment for the current fiscal.

PSU Bank stocks gained on news that the government will provide Rs 14,000 crore for capital infusion in public sector banks in FY 2014. However, BSE bankex was down 0.1% at 13,963. Auto shares declined  0.3% at 10844 on news that domestic passenger car sales declined by 25.71% to 158,513 units in February, the biggest fall in more than 12 years and the fourth consecutive monthly slide. This was due to sluggish economic growth continues to weigh on demand in the once-booming market.

BSE Realty Index continued to lead gains on hopes of revival of new home sales post the Budget proposal for additional tax deduction for new home loan borrowers up to Rs 25 lakhs. Further, hopes of a rate cut by the central bank at its policy meet next week has also boosted sentiment. The index was up 1.1% at 2,098.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch upgraded Reliance Industries Ltd to "neutral" from "underperform", citing increasing evidence of an improving refining outlook and an expected earnings growth recovery. Reliance was flat at 851.

Larsen & Toubro, which has been banned by the World Bank for six months, was trading at Rs 1499.

Sun Pharma, after touching a record high was up 2% at Rs 835. HDFC, Gail India, Tata Power were some of the other key gainers.

On the other hand, Hero MOtoCorp shed 2.5% at Rs 1700. Jindal Steel dropped as well. IT shares were weak on a rising rupee. The rupee was trading at 54.34 against the dollar today. Wipro, Infosys and TCS shed 0.8-1% each.

The market breadth in BSE remains neutral. Out of 2868 stocks traded, 1416 shares declined while 1326 shares advanced.

Paritosh Ranjan
PGDM 2sem

Kim Eng India maintains 'buy' on TCS; revises target price upwards

MUMBAI: Kim Eng India has maintained its 'buy' recommendation on IT major Tata Consultancy ServicesBSE -1.05 % (TCS) and revised its target price upwards on expectations that FY14 will be a better year than FY13 for the company's growth.

According to the report, TCS is seeing good momentum in small to mid-sized project-based deals for discretionary IT services in the US. The company's mid-large deals for traditional IT services in Europe have also picked up.


"Although growth in the telecom and hi-tech segments is expected to be muted, it would be off-set to a large extent by strong growth in BFSI, retail and energy/utilities segment. We continue to expect TCS to grow faster-than-industry and maintain our FY14F revenue target of Rs 729 billion," the report said.
At an analysts meet, the company reiterated its growth outlook for FY14 based on current interaction with its clients.

It expects FY14 growth to be driven by uptick in discretionary IT projects in the US and strong momentum in traditional IT services in Europe. It continues to gather strong momentum in new technologies like cloud, mobility, and analytics.

TCS has outperformed benchmark indices in the past three months on the back of consistent higher-than-sector growth and improving IT spending in its largest market of the US. The rupee depreciation against the dollar has also drived the stock price higher.

"We believe that there is an upside trigger to our forecast due to stronger-than-expected growth in the US market. In our view, PER of 22x FY14F (20x earlier) is reasonable. Therefore, we increase the target price to Rs 1,810 per share," the report added.

ABDUL WAHEED
PGDM 2nd SEM
IIMT COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT

Government to get around Rs 3,639 crore from CDMA spectrum auction

The government will get around Rs 3,639 crore from the 2G spectrum auction for CDMA services, which ended today with Russian conglomerate Sistema's Indian unit SSTL being the only bidder.



NEW DELHI: The government will get around Rs 3,639crore from the 2G spectrum auction for CDMA services, which ended today with Russian conglomerateSistema's Indian unit SSTL being the only bidder.

However, the government may not get any upfront payment as Rs 1,626 crore has to be adjusted against SSTL's earlier payment, sources said.

The auction, which lasted just around four hours, drew no bids for Mumbai, Maharashtra and UP East, they added.

The auction for 2G spectrum for GSM players held in November last year was spread across three days fetching the government Rs 9,407 crore.

The CDMA sale did not take place in November as there was no participant due to high cost.

Government has since then reduced the spectrum base price by 50 per cent but still no company, except SSTL, showed any interest.

In 2010, spectrum auction for 3G services ended after 34 days and 183 rounds of bidding. This was followed by 16-day long auction for wireless broadband (BWA) spectrum.

Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) had deposited Rs 613.75 crore for the auction, which made it eligible to bid for minimum quantum of 2.5 Megahertz spectrum (two blocks of 1.25 Mhz airwaves frequency) in 11 circles.

However, the company bid for only eight circles, which means it may curtail operations in three more circles.

The company has already announced discontinuation of services in 10 out of 22 telecom circles - Assam,Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa and Punjab.

Md Jeeshan Ali
PGDM 2nd

Petrol price up by Rs.1.40 a litre

IMarch 1, 2013 18:25:56 IST
Last Updated : March 1, 2013 21:45:03 IST

New Delhi : Petrol prices will go up by Rs.1.40 a litre, excluding taxes, from midnight Friday due to the depreciating rupee and a sharp increase in crude oil prices in global markets, the government-run oil marketing firms said Friday.

This is the second hike in over two weeks after the Feb 15 increase in the price of the fuel by Rs.1.50.
The country’s largest oil marketing firm, Indian Oil Corporation, said the prices have been revised upward due to the depreciation in the value of rupee and rise in international crude oil prices.
“The combined impact of these two factors has compelled the company to revise the prices. The Corporation does not have any other option but to pass on the increase in motor spirit prices to consumers as the Corporation has already suffered losses on sale of motor spirit during the year,” IOC said in a statement.
Taking into account local sales tax or value added tax (VAT), the effective hiked price for consumers will work out to Rs.70.74 in Delhi, Rs.78.34 in Kolkata, Rs.77.66 in Mumbai and Rs.73.95 in Chennai.
The latest hike comes after the finance ministry’s annual economic review tabled in parliament Wednesday highlighted how high oil and gold imports are impacting the country’s current account deficit, which has widened to 5.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal.
Over the years, India’s energy prices have become misaligned and are now much lower than global prices for many products, the review said. The extent of misalignment was substantial leading to large untargeted subsidies.
While the government had budgeted over Rs.43,000 crore towards oil subsidy for the current fiscal, it had sought parliament approval for an additional Rs.28,500 crore on the same account.
The Indian basket crude oil on budget 2013 day traded at $108.44 per barrel.
In June 2010, the government had deregulated the price of petrol and announced that oil companies were free to fix it periodically.

VIKAS KUMAR GUPTA
PGDM 2ND SEM

China shares rebound as money rates dip, property stays weak

HONG KONG: China shares rebounded from a two-month closing low on Tuesday, lifting Hong Kong markets, led by banks as concerns about policy tightening ebbed after the central bank refrained from draining funds following a sharp dip in rates in the money market.

But gains came in volumes weaker than Monday, when new curbs on the Chinese property sector had roiled markets. Strength in counters with greater earnings resilience further pointed to lingering caution.

The Hang Seng Index went into the midday trading break up 0.3 per cent at 22,597.1, set for a first gain in three days. The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong rose 0.4 per cent.

In the mainland, the CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings climbed 1.5 per cent after suffering on Monday its heaviest loss in more than two years. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.1 per cent.

"There's a defensive undertone to the rebound today," said Wang Aochao, UOB-Kay Hian's Shanghai-based head of research. "People are still selling off the property sector and have little appetite for uncertainty."

The Chinese property sector stayed on the defensive after Monday's steep losses as outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated Beijing's commitment to curbing speculative demand in the housing market at the National People's Congress.

China Vanke shed 1.7 per cent in Shenzhen, while Poly Real Estate plumbed a three-month low, diving 3 per cent to bring losses on the year to almost 19 per cent.

In Hong Kong, China Resources Land (CR Land) followed Monday's nearly 9 per cent loss with another 3.7 per cent slide. CR Land is now trading at its lowest since late November after tumbling 18 per cent from a Jan. 30 peak.

"We are at the start of a tightening cycle which will make it hard for the property sector to outperform," Matthew Sutherland, Fidelity Worldwide Investment's senior investor director for equities, said in a note after markets closed on Monday.

"Where we have holdings in the sector, these tend to be focused on quality defensive names and stocks with higher exposure to lower tier cities, where the impact may be more muted," he added.

CHINA TIGHTENING FEARS OVERDONE?

Chinese banks led benchmark indexes higher in both on- and offshore markets after China's benchmark seven-day repo rate dipped 110 basis points early on Tuesday, pointing to an improvement in money supply conditions in the mainland.

This comes as Premier Wen announced China's 2013 economic growth target at 7.5 per cent, a level similar to 2012, and consumer inflation at 3.5 per cent, compared with 2012's 4 per cent.

Mid-sized Ping An Bank surged 8 per cent to a record high in Shenzhen, while Minsheng Bank climbed 3.9 per cent in Shanghai and 1.9 per cent in Hong Kong.

In Shanghai, Industrial Bank spiked 5.3 per cent while Bank of Beijing Co Ltd jumped 2.6 per cent after they were both approved as fund managers by the China Banking Regulatory Commission late on Monday.

Chongqing Brewery jumped by the maximum 10 per cent in Shanghai after Carlsberg launched a partial take-over bid worth 2.65 billion Danish crowns ($461.49 million) for 30.31 per cent of its shares.

Want Want China rose 2.4 per cent ahead of its 2012 full year earnings. Up more than 6 per cent in 2013, it is trading at a 20 per cent premium to its 12-month forward earnings multiple, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine. 

AWANISH SINGH

PGDM-II sem

Parliament disrupted over petrol price hike

Parliament was repeatedly disrupted Monday as a vociferous opposition took up the issue of the hike in petrol prices and demanded a rollback.

The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha were first adjourned till noon and then till 2 p.m. as opposition parties shouted slogans, slamming the government and demanding that the hike be rolled back.

In the Lok Sabha, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties started shouting slogans on the issue as soon as the house met at 2 p.m.

Speaker Meira Kumar's repeated requests to allow question hour to proceed proved futile and the house was adjourned first till noon and later till 2 p.m after the opposition members gathered near her podium.

There were similar scenes in the Rajya Sabha with the entire opposition as well as the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party disrupting proceedings.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house amid commotion till noon.

As the house reassembled, the commotion continued.
"This is disrespect of parliament. When the house is in session how can a minister make such an important announcement outside parliament?" said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.

SP leader Naresh Aggarwal said the hike was not acceptable and the government timed it just a day after the budget was presented.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said the decision was not taken by the government but oil companies.
"Ever since petroleum prices have been deregulated, oil companies decide and announce oil price hike and not the ministers. This is not disrespect of parliament," he said.
The opposition continued the agitation forcing Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien to adjourn the house till 2 p.m.
Petrol prices went up by Rs.1.40 a litre, excluding taxes, from March 1.
This was the second hike in over two weeks after the Feb 15 increase in the price of the fuel by Rs.1.50 a litre.

Md Jeeshan Ali
PGDM 2nd Semester