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

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (6236)	9/2/1999 4:29:00 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Respond to of 12475

Oh, one can be sure that the US will get along quite well. When a beggar country like India says it is "confident" that it can manage on its own, here is a Bozo saying that the US, the world's only superpower, is at a disadvantage because it booted out a few Indian scientists! Well, as long as the Bozo derives his funding from the people of the US (who the heck else will be able to give him so much money anyway?) he will have to swallow whatever Congress decides. End of discussion!

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (6236)	9/2/1999 5:09:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

CompanyWatch: Arvind Mills Ltd arvindmills.com Arvind to spin off garments, telecom - Revamp to sharpen focus, lighten debt burden Our Bureau (BusinessLine) MUMBAI, Sept. 2 The board of directors of Arvind Mills Ltd today approved a plan to restructure its current business portfolio by spinning off its garments and telecom businesses into two subsidiary companies. According to the company, the plan is to invite equity participation up to 49 per cent in these subsidiaries either from private equity funds or strategic investors. "The majority control of these subsidiaries will however remain with the company," the company said. The spin-off is expected to result in a sharper focus on these businesses and improve the ability to raise capital. It would also help in achieving a better P/E rating due to segregation from Arvind's predominantly cotton textile business, a press release from the company said. The garment subsidiary will have the advantage of a strong fabric linkage with Arvind Mills. At a later date, the company plans to list these businesses on the stock exchanges through a public issue. According to the company, the infusion of cash in Arvind by divestment of partial equity in the subsidiaries will help mitigate the liquidity crunch being faced on account of a downturn in its key denim business and start-up pressures of its newly-commissioned Santej complex. The garments division of the company markets jeans, cotton trousers, formal and casual shirts, and T-shirts under brands which include Arrow, Lee, Newport, Flying Machine and Ruf & Tuf. The telecom division manufactures and markets small EPABX machines under the brand name Syntel and provides public mobile radio trunking services in certain service areas under the brand name Omnitalk. Arvind Mills said it intends to "decommoditise" its cotton textiles business by pursuing strategies of product differentiation, value-added product services and getting into apparel garment packages for global brands. A company spokesman said the garment business has an estimated valuation of Rs. 300 crores based on future growth potential, which is not reflected in Arvind's capitalisation today. The company is in talks with several potential strategic investors which are likely to pick an equity of 40-49 per cent in each of these companies. Arvind expects to generate Rs. 100-150 crores from the sale of equity in the garments subsidiary. The garment business recorded a turnover of Rs. 150 crores in 1998-99 and Rs. 50 crores in the first quarter of the current year. Crisil recently downgraded Arvind Mills. A spokesman for the company said certain domestic lenders have yet to reschedule payments although they have agreed to do so. The paperwork is these cases is pending. However, Crisil does not recognise this unless all paperwork is complete, he said. BL Research Bureau adds Arvind Mills' performance in the first quarter of the current fiscal would not have inspired its shareholders. The company turned in a net loss of Rs. 48.16 crores on a turnover of Rs. 250.34 crores. The company's performance had been weighed down heavily by the burden of interest and depreciation charges in recent times. While interest alone accounted for Rs. 42.40 crores in the quarter ending June 30, depreciation provision contributed an additional Rs. 40.39 crores as revenue charge on the operating profits of a mere Rs. 34.63 crores. On an annualised basis, these two items of expenditure would drain a sum of the order of Rs. 330 crores of the company's operating profits. The company earned an operating profit of roughly 13 paise to a rupee. In the circumstances, it would have to post an annual sales in the region of Rs. 2,500 crores in the current year _ a task that is way above anything that it has achieved in recent times _ merely to defray the revenue charge on these two counts. Incidentally, the company's sales revenue during 1998-99 was Rs. 948.13 crores, the highest ever in its history.