Hospitality major Leela Group will soon open a Rs.100 crore state-of-the-art IT campus in the Technopark here, a top group official said.
"The building is almost ready and we will open the campus very soon," V.J. Jayakumar, chief of Leela Group's operations in Kerala, told the media.
The 15-storey building will have 500,000 square feet built-up space and an additional 100,000 square feet for car parking.
"Already we have finalised talks with two IT companies, which will take space here. The total investment for the project is above Rs.100 crore," said Jayakumar, who was also the former chief executive of the Technopark.
Leela, which has top-end resorts in several cities in the country, has stepped into the business of IT infrastructure as part of its diversification strategy.
"In Mumbai and Bangalore we have been in the business of IT infrastructure. In Kerala, we have planned to invest Rs.260 crore in the sector and the first and second phases of our project at the Infopark campus in Kochi are complete," said Jayakumar.
"We have finished 90 percent work of the third phase and the next phase work has already started. In all, there will be more than 1 million square feet space in Kochi," he added.
The IT infrastructure division of the Leela Group comes under the Leela Lace Holdings and two of its subsidiaries - Leela Soft and Ocean Soft - manage the Infopark and the Technopark units.
Currently, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are the leading IT hubs in Kerala.
Around 50 companies that employ more than 10,000 people operate in and around the Infopark campus in Kochi, while 160 companies with a total employee strength of 25,000 work in the Technopark.
As part of the state government's IT policy, IT parks will be set up in all 14 districts of Kerala.
Works have already begun for the district IT parks at Kollam, Trissur and Alappuzha.
According to the latest figures provided by the state-run Software Technology Parks India (STPI), software exports from Kerala has grown 43.41 percent to Rs.2,300 crore till February-end of last fiscal.
In 2007-08, the total software exports from Kerala stood at Rs.1,750 crore.
Agencies
Friday, May 15, 2009
Will Aegis Buy Australia's UCMS Group?
Essar Group's back office arm Aegis Ltd has agreed to buy Australian business process outsourcing firm UCMS Group Ltd in a cash deal worth about A$54 million, the firms said in a statement on Friday.
Aegis, through affiliate firm Aegis BPO Services Australia Pty Ltd, will pay UCMS stockholders A$0.98 per share, a 133 percent premium over Thursday's closing price of A$0.42 per share, they added in the joint statement.
"Australia and New Zealand logically become a part of our growth strategy and offer an opportunity for Aegis to expand its footprint in this geography," said Aparup Sengupta, global chief executive officer and managing director of Aegis. The transaction is expected to close in in the third quarter and is subject to approvals from shareholders and the Supreme Court of Victoria and other customary closing conditions, they added.
With this acquisition, Aegis will have operations in India, Philippines, the United States, Costa Rica, Kenya and Australia. Last year, Aegis acquired outsourcing firm PeopleSupport Inc.
Agencies
Aegis, through affiliate firm Aegis BPO Services Australia Pty Ltd, will pay UCMS stockholders A$0.98 per share, a 133 percent premium over Thursday's closing price of A$0.42 per share, they added in the joint statement.
"Australia and New Zealand logically become a part of our growth strategy and offer an opportunity for Aegis to expand its footprint in this geography," said Aparup Sengupta, global chief executive officer and managing director of Aegis. The transaction is expected to close in in the third quarter and is subject to approvals from shareholders and the Supreme Court of Victoria and other customary closing conditions, they added.
With this acquisition, Aegis will have operations in India, Philippines, the United States, Costa Rica, Kenya and Australia. Last year, Aegis acquired outsourcing firm PeopleSupport Inc.
Agencies
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Will FII investment touch $2 billion-mark in 2009?
Investment by Foreign Institutional Investors in Indian equities has touched the two billion dollar-mark (nearly Rs 10,000 crore) so far this year, which includes a record single day net purchase of Rs 4,085 crore.
According to the latest available data on SEBI website, FIIs made net purchases worth $2 two billion or about Rs 9,973 crore so far in 2009, with the stock market seeing major investments in the past two weeks.
"FIIs have been in the buying mode for the last couple of months and after their initial sell-off in early 2009, have turned net buyers of Indian equities year-to-date. Positive trend is likely to continue well into FY'10," Angel Broking Head of Research Hitesh Agrawal said.
Yesterday, FIIs put in as much as Rs 4,085 crore ($838 million) in a single day with an over Rs 2,000 crore investment in shares of realty firms DLF alone.
Since the beginning of the new fiscal year, FIIs have started putting money in domestic stocks, including blue-chips like Housing Development Finance Corporation, private sector lender HDFC Bank and realty major DLF.
In May alone, FIIs made gross purchases of equities worth Rs 27,872 crore and sold shares of Rs 18,255 crore, resulting in a net investment of Rs 9,616 crore ($1.93 billion), as per the data available with SEBI.
Three foreign fund houses, Deutsche Securities Mauritius, Euro Pacific Growth Fund and Copthall Mauritius had purchased a total 9.15 crore shares representing 5.39 per cent in DLF for Rs 2,106.1 crore in open market transactions yesterday.
"We believe the positive trend will continue well into FY 2010. Notably, after having reduced their stake in many blue-chip companies in FY 2009 on account of the global liquidity shortage and economic slowdown concerns, FIIs are now coming back into market," Agrawal added.
The previous week also recorded the biggest weekly infusion by FIIs in the current calendar year. With a bulk investment of Rs 1,491 crore in a single day, FIIs remained net buyers in equities in the remaining days.
FIIs have turned net buyers from last week of April, after pulling out a hefty Rs 52,987 crore from Indian stock markets in 2008, which saw Sensex plunging 51 per cent.
Earlier, two Foreign fund houses Capital Group and Sansar Capital Mauritius bought HDFC shares worth Rs 316 crore, while Deutsche Securities bought Rs 422 crore shares of HDFC Bank.
Agrawal said if no further bad news comes, the world wide the markets would revive by 2010 if FII buying spree continues.
"Pre-empting this, FIIs will look at increasing their stakes in firms that are best placed to ride the recovery and large-cap stocks are preferred ones to begin with," he added.
Agencies
According to the latest available data on SEBI website, FIIs made net purchases worth $2 two billion or about Rs 9,973 crore so far in 2009, with the stock market seeing major investments in the past two weeks.
"FIIs have been in the buying mode for the last couple of months and after their initial sell-off in early 2009, have turned net buyers of Indian equities year-to-date. Positive trend is likely to continue well into FY'10," Angel Broking Head of Research Hitesh Agrawal said.
Yesterday, FIIs put in as much as Rs 4,085 crore ($838 million) in a single day with an over Rs 2,000 crore investment in shares of realty firms DLF alone.
Since the beginning of the new fiscal year, FIIs have started putting money in domestic stocks, including blue-chips like Housing Development Finance Corporation, private sector lender HDFC Bank and realty major DLF.
In May alone, FIIs made gross purchases of equities worth Rs 27,872 crore and sold shares of Rs 18,255 crore, resulting in a net investment of Rs 9,616 crore ($1.93 billion), as per the data available with SEBI.
Three foreign fund houses, Deutsche Securities Mauritius, Euro Pacific Growth Fund and Copthall Mauritius had purchased a total 9.15 crore shares representing 5.39 per cent in DLF for Rs 2,106.1 crore in open market transactions yesterday.
"We believe the positive trend will continue well into FY 2010. Notably, after having reduced their stake in many blue-chip companies in FY 2009 on account of the global liquidity shortage and economic slowdown concerns, FIIs are now coming back into market," Agrawal added.
The previous week also recorded the biggest weekly infusion by FIIs in the current calendar year. With a bulk investment of Rs 1,491 crore in a single day, FIIs remained net buyers in equities in the remaining days.
FIIs have turned net buyers from last week of April, after pulling out a hefty Rs 52,987 crore from Indian stock markets in 2008, which saw Sensex plunging 51 per cent.
Earlier, two Foreign fund houses Capital Group and Sansar Capital Mauritius bought HDFC shares worth Rs 316 crore, while Deutsche Securities bought Rs 422 crore shares of HDFC Bank.
Agrawal said if no further bad news comes, the world wide the markets would revive by 2010 if FII buying spree continues.
"Pre-empting this, FIIs will look at increasing their stakes in firms that are best placed to ride the recovery and large-cap stocks are preferred ones to begin with," he added.
Agencies
Will BT cuts 15,000 more jobs in 2009?
Britain's BT Group cut its dividend and said a further 15,000 jobs would go after a 1.58 billion pound ($2.4 billion) write down and restructuring at its Global Services unit drove it to a fourth quarter loss.
The group, which had for years looked for growth at its Global Services unit which supplies the IT needs of multinational companies, also said it would almost double its pension contributions to 525 million pounds ($794.1 million) a year.
BT, which has twice previously in the past year warned about profits at the Global Services unit, said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and contract and financial review charges were 1.35 billion pounds, down 14 percent.
Profit before tax on an adjusted basis was down 40 percent and on a reported basis showed a 1.28 billion pound loss.
To help meet its increased pension obligations, BT cut its final dividend to 1.1 pence to give a full year dividend of 6.5 pence, which was down 59 percent on last year.
The pension contributions will almost double from the previous 280 million pound annual payment to 525 million pounds a year for the next three financial years.
BT has been engaged in a three-yearly pension review to establish the size of its deficit and what it should contribute to the scheme on an annual basis, based on its asset values and liabilities.
The last review in 2006 put BT's deficit at 3.4 billion pounds and set annual contributions on a 10-year recovery plan at 280 million pounds.
BT said on Thursday the contributions would rise to 525 million pounds but did not reveal the new deficit from the three-year review.
A leading pensions expert said on Wednesday that BT's pension deficit now stood at 11 billion pounds
BT said its triennial pension funding valuation was at an advanced state of completion. It did give its pension position at March 31 on an IAS 19 accounting basis as a deficit of 2.9 billion pounds net of tax, compared with a surplus of 2 billion pounds last year.
"Three out of four of BT's lines of business have performed well in spite of fierce competition and the global economic downturn," Chief Executive Ian Livingston said.
"However this achievement has been overshadowed by the unacceptable performance of BT Global Services and the resulting charges we have taken."
Agencies
The group, which had for years looked for growth at its Global Services unit which supplies the IT needs of multinational companies, also said it would almost double its pension contributions to 525 million pounds ($794.1 million) a year.
BT, which has twice previously in the past year warned about profits at the Global Services unit, said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and contract and financial review charges were 1.35 billion pounds, down 14 percent.
Profit before tax on an adjusted basis was down 40 percent and on a reported basis showed a 1.28 billion pound loss.
To help meet its increased pension obligations, BT cut its final dividend to 1.1 pence to give a full year dividend of 6.5 pence, which was down 59 percent on last year.
The pension contributions will almost double from the previous 280 million pound annual payment to 525 million pounds a year for the next three financial years.
BT has been engaged in a three-yearly pension review to establish the size of its deficit and what it should contribute to the scheme on an annual basis, based on its asset values and liabilities.
The last review in 2006 put BT's deficit at 3.4 billion pounds and set annual contributions on a 10-year recovery plan at 280 million pounds.
BT said on Thursday the contributions would rise to 525 million pounds but did not reveal the new deficit from the three-year review.
A leading pensions expert said on Wednesday that BT's pension deficit now stood at 11 billion pounds
BT said its triennial pension funding valuation was at an advanced state of completion. It did give its pension position at March 31 on an IAS 19 accounting basis as a deficit of 2.9 billion pounds net of tax, compared with a surplus of 2 billion pounds last year.
"Three out of four of BT's lines of business have performed well in spite of fierce competition and the global economic downturn," Chief Executive Ian Livingston said.
"However this achievement has been overshadowed by the unacceptable performance of BT Global Services and the resulting charges we have taken."
Agencies
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Does SAP sees signs of recovery from recession?
SAP Co-Chief Executive Leo Apotheker said the next few months may bring "glimmers of hope" for the global economy.
Apotheker also said he believes the business software maker should stay independent, following fresh speculation in European markets that Microsoft Corp could bid for the German company. The talk was sparked by Microsoft's plans to sell a multibillion-dollar debt issue.
"We're probably starting to see a stabilization of the situation," Apotheker said at a news conference in New York. "We'll probably start to see some glimmers of hope in the second half of the year for the global economy." Global markets will likely see a fuller recovery in 2010, he added.
The S&P 500 and Dow industrials pared losses after his comments. Apotheker, who will become the sole CEO of SAP when Henning Kagermann's retires later in May, declined to comment on the Microsoft speculation, but said he believed it is in SAP's interest to remain independent.
"Our customers believe an independent SAP is the best value they can get," he said. Rumors periodically surface that either IBM or Microsoft might acquire SAP, which sells business management applications to large businesses that neither of those technology giants have in their portfolios.
Apotheker criticized rival Oracle Corp's decision to purchase hardware maker Sun Microsystems Inc, saying that businesses do not want to buy from vertically integrated technology companies that sell software alongside the computers that run it.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you," he said in response to a question on how Oracle's $7.4 billion purchase of Sun might reshape the industry. "It won't affect the industry much."
But Apotheker said SAP will do a few acquisitions "as we go along." SAP announced on Monday that it bought privately held Clear Standards, a small maker of software that helps businesses manage greenhouse gas emissions. Apotheker did not discuss financial terms of the acquisition.
Sterling, Virginia-based Clear Standards sells software that helps companies measure and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global climate change and are increasingly coming under regulatory scrutiny.
Apotheker also said that previously announced job cuts are progressing as planned at SAP. The company is not planning any more job cuts, he added.
Agencies
Apotheker also said he believes the business software maker should stay independent, following fresh speculation in European markets that Microsoft Corp could bid for the German company. The talk was sparked by Microsoft's plans to sell a multibillion-dollar debt issue.
"We're probably starting to see a stabilization of the situation," Apotheker said at a news conference in New York. "We'll probably start to see some glimmers of hope in the second half of the year for the global economy." Global markets will likely see a fuller recovery in 2010, he added.
The S&P 500 and Dow industrials pared losses after his comments. Apotheker, who will become the sole CEO of SAP when Henning Kagermann's retires later in May, declined to comment on the Microsoft speculation, but said he believed it is in SAP's interest to remain independent.
"Our customers believe an independent SAP is the best value they can get," he said. Rumors periodically surface that either IBM or Microsoft might acquire SAP, which sells business management applications to large businesses that neither of those technology giants have in their portfolios.
Apotheker criticized rival Oracle Corp's decision to purchase hardware maker Sun Microsystems Inc, saying that businesses do not want to buy from vertically integrated technology companies that sell software alongside the computers that run it.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you," he said in response to a question on how Oracle's $7.4 billion purchase of Sun might reshape the industry. "It won't affect the industry much."
But Apotheker said SAP will do a few acquisitions "as we go along." SAP announced on Monday that it bought privately held Clear Standards, a small maker of software that helps businesses manage greenhouse gas emissions. Apotheker did not discuss financial terms of the acquisition.
Sterling, Virginia-based Clear Standards sells software that helps companies measure and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global climate change and are increasingly coming under regulatory scrutiny.
Apotheker also said that previously announced job cuts are progressing as planned at SAP. The company is not planning any more job cuts, he added.
Agencies
Will Capgemini layoff 100 in Chennai?
Consulting and outsourcing firm Capgemini has laid off nearly 100 employees at its Chennai centre.
The pink slips were issued for employees mostly in the middle management positions. This comes on the back of reports that said Capgemini sacked 600 employees in Hyderabad and Pune. The company has nearly 20,000 people working in India.
An employee said the layoff across centers was because of the overall economic slowdown, which was impacting the company’s project flow and clients.
“While some clients have ramped down on the size of contracts, other projects, like the Lehman Brothers account closed after the company’s collapse. Apart from the middle management, some employees on probation were also asked to leave,” said the employee at one of the company’s locations, who did not wish to be named.
When contacted, Capgemini India’s chief people officer Cyprian D’Souza said through an email, “India is central to our global delivery model and we are in the process of mapping our existing skills with the business in hand and the business outlook. The economic condition is tough and no company is immune to its effects.”
D’Souza added that the industry was seeing an overhaul within all the affected verticals. “The process though tough, has to be undertaken to align our business with global economic realities, optimise operational efficiency, ensure financial health and enable future growth.”
For the first quarter of 2009, Capgemini group posted consolidated revenues of Euro 2,205 million, up 0.9 per cent compared with the year-ago period.
Agencies
The pink slips were issued for employees mostly in the middle management positions. This comes on the back of reports that said Capgemini sacked 600 employees in Hyderabad and Pune. The company has nearly 20,000 people working in India.
An employee said the layoff across centers was because of the overall economic slowdown, which was impacting the company’s project flow and clients.
“While some clients have ramped down on the size of contracts, other projects, like the Lehman Brothers account closed after the company’s collapse. Apart from the middle management, some employees on probation were also asked to leave,” said the employee at one of the company’s locations, who did not wish to be named.
When contacted, Capgemini India’s chief people officer Cyprian D’Souza said through an email, “India is central to our global delivery model and we are in the process of mapping our existing skills with the business in hand and the business outlook. The economic condition is tough and no company is immune to its effects.”
D’Souza added that the industry was seeing an overhaul within all the affected verticals. “The process though tough, has to be undertaken to align our business with global economic realities, optimise operational efficiency, ensure financial health and enable future growth.”
For the first quarter of 2009, Capgemini group posted consolidated revenues of Euro 2,205 million, up 0.9 per cent compared with the year-ago period.
Agencies
Cars that sense danger to pedestrians to roll out soon
BMW is refining a car-to-car communication system that offers more pedestrian protection by "sensing" situations and persons that cannot normally be seen by motorists, according to the car maker.
In a typical situation a child could suddenly jump onto the road from between two parked vehicles. In such a case the moving vehicle would communicate with an electronic transponder carried by the child or cyclist for protection.
The project is part of the AMULETT research project aimed at preventing accidents with sensoring and tracking technology. On board car systems are networked with those of other vehicles or transponders carried by persons. These can be installed in school bags, mobile phones or in a walking stick.
Should the system determine an impending collision or danger situation, the driver is warned with a signal on the head-up display. If he or she does not respond the system automatically triggers a braking procedure.
According to German government accident statistics 48 percent of child accident victims between the age of six and 14 ran onto the road without observing the traffic. Other research has shown that in 40 percent of fatal pedestrian accidents, the driver could not react in time.
Agencies
In a typical situation a child could suddenly jump onto the road from between two parked vehicles. In such a case the moving vehicle would communicate with an electronic transponder carried by the child or cyclist for protection.
The project is part of the AMULETT research project aimed at preventing accidents with sensoring and tracking technology. On board car systems are networked with those of other vehicles or transponders carried by persons. These can be installed in school bags, mobile phones or in a walking stick.
Should the system determine an impending collision or danger situation, the driver is warned with a signal on the head-up display. If he or she does not respond the system automatically triggers a braking procedure.
According to German government accident statistics 48 percent of child accident victims between the age of six and 14 ran onto the road without observing the traffic. Other research has shown that in 40 percent of fatal pedestrian accidents, the driver could not react in time.
Agencies
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