News Capsules

• After infusing Rs 3,860 crore into DLF Assets Ltd (DAL) by selling a 9.9 per cent stake in realty major DLF to institutional investors, promoters K P Singh and family plan to list the real estate investment trust in the next 18 to 24 months.
• Mahindra & Mahindra is set to challenge domination of Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors (both with a market share of over 90 per cent) by offering trucks with capacities ranging from 16 tonnes to 44 tonnes by the end of this year. These large CVs will be manufactured by its joint venture company, Mahindra Navistar Automotive Ltd (MNAL), which was set up in 2005. Mahindra holds 51 in the JV. Navistar International Corporation is one of North America’s largest CV makers.
• With full-service carriers (FSCs) Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines shifting over 78 daily flights onto their low-cost platforms this week, low-cost carriers (LCCs) say they will see fares going down by at least 10 per cent on specific routes.
• Kishore Biyani-promoted Pantaloon Retail’s same-store sales in April grew the most in six months because of strong consumer demand. Same-store sales in the value retailing segment grew 7.02 per cent, the most since Novemeber, to Rs 308.19 crore. Sales in the lifestyle segment grew 6.03 per cent to Rs 119.53 crore. Sales in the home retailing segment fell 28.21 per cent to Rs 34.57 crore. Total sales for April rose 20.03 per cent to Rs 595.81 crore.
• Drug major Lupin will soon increase its stake in Generic Health Pty Ltd, a major generics drug supplier in Australia, to over 50 per cent in order to corner a major share of the growing Australian market.
• Real estate major DLF has finally exited the troubled Rs 33,000 crore public-private partnership (PPP) township project at Dankuni in Hooghly district of West Bengal.
• UltraTech Cement, the second-largest manufacturer after Holcim’s ACC in terms of sales and capacity, does not intend to rein in expansion plans even though the domestic market is likely to see overcapacity in the next few quarters.
• BPCL Kochi Refinery is all set to receive the mega main reactor for its new vacuum gas oil hydro desulphurisation unit. The new unit is coming up as part of the capacity expansion and modernisation project that is slated for completion in December 2009.