News Capsules

Anil Ambani group company Reliance Power announced that it has tied up Rs 14,500 crore debt for its 3,960 MW Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project. Power Finance Corporation, the nodal agency for implementation of UMPPs, has sanctioned Rs 1,770 crore for the project.

The country’s largest two-wheeler company, Hero Honda, earned a net profit of Rs 402.2 crore for the quarter ending March 31, nearly 35 percent more than the Rs 298.7 crore for the same quarter last year. Total sales for the quarter were Rs 3,411.8 crore, a 22.34 per cent rise from the Rs 2,788.65 crore earned for the same period last year.

Two of the country’s largest private sector banks — ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank —reduced their rates, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised the Street with a 25 basis points cut in the repo and reverse repo rates.

Wipro Ltd., has acquired the enterprise mobile TV unit owned by Finland-based leading mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia, for an undisclosed sum.

Suzlon Energy has posted a net loss of Rs 52.3 crore for the nine-month period ending December 31, 2008, against a net profit of Rs 565.28 crore in the year-ago period.

UltraTech Cement, part of the Aditya Birla group, has posted a decline of 3.17 per cent in its consolidated net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2009 (FY09) to Rs 978.06 crore as compared with Rs 1,010.05 crore in the previous financial year. The net sales rose to Rs 6,563.64 crore from Rs 5,623.38 crore last year, up 16.72 per cent.

Rolta India said its consolidated net profit grew two-fold to Rs 133.14 crore in the third quarter ended March 31, over the corresponding period a year ago. The company had a consolidated net profit of Rs 65.72 crore in the March quarter of last financial year.

Matrix Laboratories Limited announced that it has been selected by the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) under its UNITAID-funded projects as the primary supplier of five antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs used in the secondline HIV/AIDS treatment regiments.

Biofuels technology company Praj Industries Ltd posted a severe dip of 53.10 per cent in net profit to Rs 27.52 crore during the January-March 2009 quarter of the recently-concluded financial year, against a profit of Rs 58.68 crore reported over the same period a year ago.