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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4700)	6/22/1999 10:57:00 PM
From: Lola	Respond to of 12475

that's one naughty priest! <ggg>

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4700)	6/23/1999 8:43:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 12475

MTNL Sees Profit Rising to 15 Bln Rupees in FY2000 (Update1) nic.in Bloomberg News June 23, 1999, 5:13 a.m. PT (Adds details, analyst comments, and closes stock price.) New Delhi, June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd., or MTNL, India's biggest phone company, expects profit to rise 13.9 percent to 15 billion rupees ($347.2 million) in the year ending March 2000, as people talk more on telephones. State-controlled MTNL also got the government's nod to cut tariffs in response to the competition so as to help it retain big customers. ''It can't be on a proactive basis, but if my competition is going to cut tariffs, then I have the freedom,'' to lower tariffs for volume buyers, said S. Rajagopalan, chairman and managing director, MTNL, in an interview. MTNL will also list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in four months to broaden shareholding in the company and curb ''volatility in the shares,'' he added. These steps will help MTNL to face competition from private companies and meet its target of doubling its sales to 100 billion rupees in the next 10 years, the company said. Last year, Hughes Ispat Ltd. started fixed-line phone services in the city of Mumbai. ''The (company's) profit expectation is too optimistic,''said Subrata Ray, an analyst at DBS-Capital Trust Securities India Ltd. in New Delhi. With the recent cuts in phone tariffs by the regulator, not much increase in monthly rentals and increased competition from private companies, the outlook doesn't seem encouraging, he added. Ray expects MTNL's profit to rise at the most to 14.5 billion rupees. The phone company said it expects sales to rise 6.7 percent to 56 billion rupees in the year ending March 2000. Apart from keeping the option to reduce its tariffs to retain big customers, the MTNL intends to enhance customer service and train employees to handle customers better. ''We'll provide highly reliable services, that will match our private competitors,'' said Rajagopalan. Cellular Phone Services MTNL, which provides fixed-line phone services in two of the country's biggest cities of Mumbai and Delhi, is also keen to start cellular services. The company hopes to get a favorable court verdict in about 21 days that'll pave the way for it to offer cellular phone services in these two cities. MTNL got a license from the government in October 1997 to provide cellular phone services in Mumbai and Delhi. Private cellular phone operators, though, challenged the decision in court saying that the government had said that each region would have only two cellular phone providers. The delay in commencing the cellular services has come ''as a blessing (as) costs (of setting up the network) have since come down. I will be able to provide more affordable service,'' said Rajagopalan. If the court verdict goes in favor of MTNL, then the company can offer cellular phone services from March 2000. The phone company is targeting 200,000 users in the first year of operations, and will invest $30 million to set up the infrastructure. The funds will be raised through a mix of internal resources, loans from overseas and sale of bonds in the domestic market. MTNL is also likely to provide the cellular phone service at rates cheaper than that offered by other operators. ''I will like to make money by volumes,'' Rajagopalan said. Internet Services The state-controlled company also proposed to offer phones to it Internet service users without charging them an initial registration fees of 3000 rupees ($70.09) from July, said Rajagopalan. This will help boost its fixed-line phone usage. MTNL would levy usage charges on such phones. The move is expected to encourage customers to own two fixed- phone lines that can separately be used for data and voice transmissions. MTNL, in which the government owns a 56.4 percent stake, will gain more revenue from the additional use of phone lines. MTNL shares fell 11.80 rupees to 189.20 on the Stock Exchange, Mumbai at close.