COVER
STORY
Indian
Steel Industry: On a Hot Roll - - Amit Singh Sisodiya, Feroz Zaheer
The
Indian steel industry is on a hot roll, thanks to the revival
in the global demand, propelled by China and a significant
pick-up in the economic activity in the country. The strong
performances by the domestic steel manufacturers on the back
of cost-cutting measures and a formidable steel cycle, the
domestic steel industry is set for big growth.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
COVER
STORY
Indian
Steel Industry: Key Challenges - - Deven R Choksey
Consolidation
within the industry is the need of the hour as it might generate
benefits of economies of scale and improve labor productivity.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT
Power
Trading: Bourse Effect - - D Satish, B V Subramaniam
Setting
up a power exchange may augur well both for the power producers
and power consumers.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CORPORATE
FINANCE
Expensing
Stock Options: An `Expensive' Option? - - N Janardhan Rao, Neeraja Akunuri
If
the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has its way,
companies will soon have to deduct the value of employee stock
options from their profits.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Credit
Derivatives: Risky Mutations - - Amit Singh Sisodiya, Shashidhar Mishra
Behind
the euphoria surrounding credit derivatives, is there another
LTCM in the offing?
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Equator
Principles: Environment-friendly Banking - - D Satish, Sharath Jutur
While
the number of financial institutions adopting Equator Principles
(EP) is gradually increasing, much needs to be done to ensure
that the banks, which have adopted these principles (equator
banks) effectively implement these principles and to encourage
other banks to adopt these principles.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Bancassurance:
Rest Assured - - D G Prasuna, Nidhi Joshi
Of
the various insurance distribution channels, Bancassurance
has helped insurance companies immensely to expand their customer
base.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Rating
Agencies: Rein in, Sec - - Ch Rajeshwer, Sharath Jutur
Criticism
against the rating agencies has been building ever since the
Asian currency crisis. It's time SEC reins.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Reforming
Chinese Banks: Hobson's Choice - - N Janardhan Rao, Ravi Babu Adusumilli
China
has started reforming state-owned banks by reducing the accumulating
Non Performing Assets (NPAs). A vast pool of reserves is being
utilized to clean up bad debts in the wake of the entry of
foreign banks into the country.
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INTERVIEW
The widening of foreign ownership in Chinese banks to 20% signals the authorities' willingness to cooperate more closely with foreign institutions in the development of the banking sector. - - Maria L Lanzeni and Syetarn Hansakul
China's banking sector, due to the legacy of a centrally-planned economy, still exhibits a strong state influence in the allocation of credit, although there have been efforts to move towards a more commercially-driven model. The inefficiency of the past allocation of resources led to a high level of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), which weakened the financial soundness of the Chinese banking sector compared to its Asian counterparts. While recognizing the present weakness of the Chinese banking system, we acknowledge that the changes being implemented are likely to make the banking sector stronger and better able to support the future economic demand.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Citibank:
Did Citi Sleep? - - N Janardhan Rao, Shishir Kumar
Citigroup
has been facing several litigations for its accounting improprieties.
This has caused severe damage to its reputation globally.
To enhance its sagging image and strengthen its bottom line,
Citibank under the leadership of Chuck Prince, has advocated
new sets of cultural value and ethics to create greater transparency
in corporate governance.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac: Pledging Trouble? - - D G Prasuna, Nidhi Joshi
Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, which support around 60% of the mortgages
in the US, are facing allegations of wrong accounting practices
and preparing misleading statements. Regulators face an unenviable
task of setting things right.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CORPORATE
Samsung's
Slowdown Woes: Yun's Next Challenge - - N Janardhan Rao, Shishir Kumar
Samsung
Electronics, which is mostly dependent on the semiconductor
industry, is on the verge of facing another cyclical downturn.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CORPORATE
Airbus:
Betting on `the Big' - - D G Prasuna, Priyanka Sugandhi
Airbus
has successfully retained its dominant position in the commercial
aircrafts industry. It built the world's largest aircraft
as it had planned to. How did it manage to do so and what
are its future plans?
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CORPORATE
Sprint
and Nextel: The Merger Call - - Amit Singh Sisodiya, Aala Santhosh Reddy
The
merger gives the combined firm the financial muscle and technological
advantage to survive and sustain in a fragmented US wireless
market.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CORPORATE
TNT
India: An Express Player - - D G Prasuna, Nidhi Joshi
TNT
India has established itself firmly in the Indian courier
industry in a very short span of time. An unrelenting focus
on the customer backed by customized products led to their
success.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FOLLOW
UP
Google's
IPO: A Dutch Victory - - Amit Singh Sisodiya, Aala Santhosh Reddy
Google's
highly successful IPO, using the Dutch auction model, bodes
well for other IPO aspirants. However, it could also mean
reduced opportunities for investment banks.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
INDUSTRY
Mobile
Manufacturing: An Industry in the Making
- - D G Prasuna, Priyanka Sugandhi
After
connecting people it's time for mobile manufacturers to come
up with smarter moves, i.e., start manufacturing mobile handsets
in India.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
INDUSTRY
The
Indian Film Industry: Bollywood Inc., Take One - - D G Prasuna, Priyanka Sugandhi
The
Indian film industry has been undergoing a metamorphosis through
increasing corporatization, professionalism, and transparency
in business dealings.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
ROUND
TABLE
Indian
Telecom: The Emerging Destination - - N Janardhan Rao
The
government's endorsement of increasing the FDI cap to 74%
in the capital-intensive telecom sector is an indication of
its interest to pave the way for a variety of services in
telecom space. However, the earlier sectoral cap of 49% was
considered as a major deterrent for foreign investors to hold
a majority stake. The flow of FDI is primarily responsible
for fund infusion and diversification of product and services.
In
the telecom sector, infrastructure cost such as high license
fees and the high cost of capital in building networks are
a major hindrance. These hindrances are major concerns for
the investors to develop their infrastructure. But its absolute
size, growth rate, future potential have always lured foreign
investors. Its high growth coupled with large potential and
favorable regulatory environment are attracting the global
telecom majors to grab a share of the telecom pie in India.
The telecom majors are looking for options such as mergers,
acquisitions, greenfield projects, or participate in telecom
IPOs to take hold of profits in the growing sector. Experts
feel that the preferred route of entry in this sector will
be through acquisitions.
The
growth in the telecom industry is dependent on the capacity
of the operators to raise the funds required for network expansion.
The increasing infrastructure cost and falling price to generate
volumes by scale of economies as well as catering to the need
of price sensitive customers will remain a challenge for telecom
companies. However, the GOI has set new telecom targets of
250 million lines for the industry as part of vision 2007.
To
share the views on the Indian telecom industry, The Analyst
invited Arpita Pal Agrawal, Infocomm Advisory Services, PwC,
India; Rajnish Rastogi, Head, Research, Cris Infac; Pragya
Joshi, Markets, Ernst & Young (India); Balaganesh Natarajan,
Industry Analyst, Telecom Practice _ Asia Pacific, Frost &
Sullivan; Anil Nayar, President Mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures
and Sabyasachi Patra, Consultant, Telecom & Broadband Council,
Confederation of Indian Industry.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
On
Steel Industry - - Amit Singh Sisodiya, Feroz Zaheer
Indian
Steel Industry has been in the limelight in recent times.
Last year, especially, proved to be one of the best years
for the industry as it churned out excellent performances,
on the back of rising steel prices, restructuring and revival
in global demand. However, the question doing the rounds now
is: Will the industry be able to sustain this growth, going
ahead? To debate on this issue, The Analyst invited three
eminent experts, B Muthuraman, MD, Tata Steel, Vikram Amin,
Director, Marketing, Essar Steel and Bratin Biswas, Market
Analyst.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
BOOK
REVIEW
The
Secret History of the South Sea Bubble - - Malcolm Balen
In
the book The Secret History of South Sea Bubble, author Malcolm
Balen narrates the making of South Sea Bubble and its burst.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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