RIL Bonus: What investors can do

Reliance Industries (RIL) shares are seen rising 3% in early trade on Thursday, following the announcement of a 1:1 bonus share

But many brokers are advising their clients to cash in on big upmoves, if any, as the stock is likely to perform in line with the market in the near term. RIL shares closed at Rs 2,099 on Wednesday, down 1.6% over the previous close.

“The stock may see some resistance around Rs 2,300 and above, as investors are likely to book profits,” says Gurudatta Dhanokar technical analyst & derivatives strategist, Almondz Global Securities. “The immediate short-term support levels stand at Rs 2,050 and Rs 2,000,” he said. Mr Dhanokar advises traders to go long on the October futures in case the stock price falls below Rs 2,080 in the next few days.

Over the past one month, RIL shares have risen nearly 5%, in line with the benchmark 30-share Sensex. The stock has the highest weightage — at close to 23% — in both the Sensex and the 50-share Nifty.

“There are no positive surprises expected on the earnings front. So probably, the generous bonus issue could be a way to assuage investors,” said an official at an institutional brokerage who did not wish to be named.

Courtesy:economicstimes.com

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Ambani vs Ambani: Mukesh to meet Sonia Gandhi today

Reliance Industries' owner and the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani is going to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday evening. He is also meeting the Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and the Cabinet Secretary.

The meetings assume signifinance because they comes against the backdrop of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh calling for Prime Ministerial intervention on the corporate battle between the Ambani brothers.

Amar Singh is close to Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani. He has also demanded a windfall tax on exports of petroleum companies, which is said to be directly targeted at the elder Ambani brother.

Singh's clout has grown ever since the Samajwadi Party joined hands with the UPA on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Speaking to CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Amar Singh called Mukesh Ambani approach to the MTN deal as "disgusting" and claimed the fight between the two brothers was detrimental to the interests of the country.

"It is a personal matter and it cannot be sorted by someone like me. You need a man of Manmohan Singh's stature at least to intervene because I agree with you that nation's economy will get hurt," Amar Singh had said.

"Anil and Mukesh don't represent only their respective corporate groups. They represent major economic hub of this country and their fight will be definitely detrimental to the interest of shareholders and in some way to the economy of the nation. The way Mukesh is opposing this MTN deal is very disgusting because it is good for the country. At times the reaction of Anil's camp may also be detrimental. So in the circumstances somebody as senior as the Prime Minister must intervene," he had added.

Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani command 30 per cent of the nations wealth between themselves, but now the fierce rivalry between the brothers in the corporate world is threatening to spill over into the political realm.

In the last 10 days, as he stitched together an alliance with the ruling UPA, Amar Singh has sent out atleast five letters on various policy issues that concern the Ambani brothers.

CNN-IBN is in possession of these letters. In a letter dated July 2, Amar Singh raises questions on the specturm allocation issue - a contentious issue that directly concerns Anil Ambani-owned Reliance communications.

In another letter, dated July 4, he raises questions on why the Government is not imposing a windfall tax on petroleum companies, an issue that direcrly affects RIL boss Mukesh Ambani.


Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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Ambani brothers at war again

NEW DELHI: There are early signs of a bloody revival of war between the Ambani brothers, with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications’ merger talks with South Africa-based telecom giant MTN the fodder for a fresh fight.

Late on Friday evening, news trickled out that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which had reluctantly parted with its telecom business when the brothers split, had written to the MTN board informing them about a clause in the family settlement which reserves first right of refusal for Mukesh Ambani or his companies.

RCOM retaliated almost immediately with a scathing statement, saying, ‘‘Last night, in a mala fide effort to disrupt talks, RIL, part of the Mukesh Ambani Group, has sent a communication to MTN Group, making a false claim of an alleged right of first refusal to buy controlling stake in RCOM. Not surprisingly, RIL has sent the letter to RCOM only today, that is after a gap of 24 hours.’’

RCOM goes on to say, ‘‘RIL’s claim is legally and factually untenable, baseless and misconceived...It is born out of mounting despair and frustration at Reliance ADA Group’s continuing successes...RIL is seeking to disrupt the creation of one of the world’s most valuable telecoms combinations, which will make over a billion Indians proud of our great country.’’

‘‘RIL’s actions are clearly anti-consumer, anti-investor and anti-globalization, and against the vision...of Dhirubhai Ambani. RCOM dismisses RIL’s claims with the contempt it deserves.’’

An RCOM spokesman said RIL’s claim was based on an agreement of January 12, 2006, which was unilaterally signed by RIL’s officials on behalf of both RIL and RCOM when RCOM was under RIL’s control, under a procedure which the Bombay high court later held to be ‘‘unfair and unjust’’.

An RIL spokesperson said RIL had in ‘‘good faith’’ notified both ADAG and MTN of the stipulations contained in the agreement, ‘‘the validity of which has so far not been questioned by ADAG.’’

Couretsy:timesofindia.com
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Reliance Power falls at debut

India's biggest-ever initial public offering (IPO) of Rs 11,700 crore ($3 billion) fell more than 13 per cent after debuting at its IPO price Rs 450 on Monday.

The much-hyped Reliance Power IPO had a disappointing listing at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). At 1005 hrs IST, the shares were down 5.2 per cent at Rs 426.50, while the benchmark BSE index was down 1.3 per cent.

At BSE, the stock opened at Rs 547.80, a premium of about 21 per cent before slipping to Rs 430 levels.

At National Stock Exchange, the stock was listed at Rs 530, representing a premium of Rs 80 or about 18 per cent over its issue price of Rs 450.

The stock was trading 3 per cent below its issue price at Rs 435 on the NSE at 0956 hours. The stock is a part of NSE F&O, the lot size is of 450 shares and options strike priced between Rs 10-1350.

At BSE, the biggest IPO in Indian markets was traded heavily from the word go and it witnessed a lot of price fluctuation, trading consistently below the issue price, It went below Rs 400 at one point to hit a low of Rs 398 before coming back to Rs 400-410 levels.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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Reliance likely to post $1 billion Q3 profit

As India’s most valuable firm Reliance Industries (RIL) gets ready to announce its third quarter results on Thursday, analysts with leading Indian and international broking houses are keeping their fingers crossed.

The petrochemical giant has, of late, developed a habit of surprising the analysts and also beating street expectations. The trend is likely to continue this time too. RIL is expected to post an over 25% increase in net profit, which is expected to touch Rs 4,000 crore ($1 billion), on a turnover of Rs 33,234 crore, according to ETIG estimates.

If we were to add the Rs 4,023 crore RIL gained from the sale of a 4% stake in Reliance Petroleum during the quarter, the PAT will zoom past Rs 8,000 crore (about $2 billion). The net profit is based on the assumption that RIL will post robust gross refining margins (GRMs) of over $15 per barrel during the December 2007 quarter. The rise in petrochemical prices and a modest increase in volumes will help the company post a substantial gain in turnover.

The improved performance will make RIL the second Indian corporate, after ONGC, and the first private sector company to cross the $1 billion mark in quarterly net profit. ONGC had posted a net profit of Rs 5,097.5 crore during the second quarter of 2007-08, the highest in Indian corporate history.

The October-December quarter witnessed strong growth in international refining margins, as prices of petro-products like petrol, diesel and naphtha rose faster than crude.
The benchmark Singapore refining margins almost doubled during the quarter to around $8 per barrel compared with the corresponding quarter in 2006-07. Meanwhile, GRMs in the US weakened during the period. The US is a key market for RIL, which is able to supply low-sulphur fuel. During the same period, GRMs in Europe and Asia improved.

RIL’s profits are likely to be high, despite an expected weakening of petrochemicals margins. Globally, the petrochemicals business has witnessed pressure on margins, as feedstock prices soared faster compared with the downstream petrochemicals and polymers. However, RIL will not face significant adverse impact, since some of its petrochemical units use natural gas as feedstock.

The erstwhile IPCL’s Gandhar and Nagothane petrochemical complexes and RIL’s Hazira petrochemicals complex are based on natural gas. Refining and petrochemicals contribute 98% of the company’s total revenues.

During the quarter, RIL’s Jamnagar refinery is likely to post around 5% fall in the volume of crude processed. This fall in production is likely to have a marginal negative impact on profits when compared with the corresponding previous quarter. The rupee’s appreciation, over the
last one year, could also have a marginally negative effect on its financial performance.

Courtesy:economictimes.com
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Reliance to invest $2.28 bn in oilfield development

Reliance Industries, the nation's most valued company in terms of market capitalisation, will invest 2.284 billion dollars to produce crude oil from its eastern offshore KG-D6 block from March 2009.

RIL was previously targeting oil production in February/ March this year but has changed the schedule to keep the third quarter of 2008 deadline for first gas from the predominantly gas rich block, industry sources said.

The oil discovery is estimated to hold 68 million barrels of reserves and initial targeted production will be in the range of 30,000 to 35,000 barrels per day and planned plateau rate of 40,000 barrel per day.

Third party has independently vetted the reserves and there is a further upside potential based on quine marine survey carried out during 2007.

Reliance is separately investing 5.2 billion dollars in developing Dhirubhai-1 and 3, the first two of the 15 gas discoveries in the 7,645-square-kilometre KG-D6 block. Initial output is likely to be 40 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd), which will be raised to 60 mmscmd in 2009-10.

Gas production from the block will peak to 80 mmscmd in 2011-12 and remain at that level till 2016-17, after which it will fall to 60 mmscmd in 2017-18 and to 40 mmscmd in 2018-19.
Sources said the capital expenditure for the oil find includes 733 million dollars for acquisition of a Floating Production and Storage Unit (FPSU).

Courtesy:hindustantimes.com
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Reliance Power moves SC against PIL in Gujarat HC

Reliance Power on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the hearing of a PIL in Gujarat High Court pertaining to stay of its forthcoming IPO.

Appearing before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, senior advocate Harish Salve pleaded for an urgent hearing on this matter as the Gujarat High Court was to take up the matter on Wednesday.

"The PIL by Grahak Mandal in Gujarat High Court is motivated and it is just a blackmail strategy on its part as we are coming with our IPO on January 15," Salve said while pleading for stay on the High Court proceedings.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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RCom slaps legal notice on DoT

Unhappy over Communication Ministry's decision to allot addition spectrum based on regulator TRAI's formula, CDMA mobile operator Reliance Communications on Thursday served a legal notice to the government to freeze allocation of airwaves to existing players.

The notice came in the wake of government accepting TRAI's recommendations to award spectrum to mobile operators and deciding to file an affidavit in the Delhi High Court.

RCom also said the government should enforce Telecom Engineering Center's proposed subscriber base for allocation of spectrum, which was earlier accepted by DoT 'in-principle'.

TEC norms were much more stringent than those proposed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. TEC had raised subscriber base by up to 15 times while TRAI had suggested up to six times increase in the users base.

The notice has been filed to ensure that excess spectrum held by GSM operators is being returned, RCom said in a statement. It said GSM operators should immediately return over 50 MHz of spectrum being hoarded by them free of cost and beyond their entitlement of 6.2 MHz.

RCom had yesterday said the government's decision to accept TRAI's norms for allotment of additional spectrum tantamount to succumbing to the pressure tactics of GSM lobby.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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Reliance Retail eyes $ 5 to 5.5 bln turnover by 2011

Reliance Retail Limited is eyeing a turnover of around $ 5 to 5.5 billion in home durables, including consumer electronics, telecom and home IT across all its formats by 2011, its top official said on Monday.

"We are hoping to touch a turnover of around $ 5-5.5 billion in home durables across all our formats by 2011," Ajai Baijal, President & Chief Executive-Reliance Industries (CDIT business told PTI on the sidelines of the launch of its Reliance Digital store here.

The current domestic market size of home durables which includes consumer electronics, telecom and home IT is Rs 70,000 crore and "this is growing at 20 per cent per annum", he said.
Baijal said the firm was looking at 150 Reliance Digital mega stores across the country including 10 in Karnataka by 2011.

Out of these 150 mega stores, 20-25 per cent will be in metros, he said.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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Reliance plans $24 b investment in petrochemical projects

Reliance Industries plans to spend $24 billion over the next ten years in setting up petrochemicals projects in the Middle East, company Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani is reported to have said.

"We plan to set up a number of petrochemical plants in the next decade, with each costing $4-6 billion,'' the Dubai-based Gulf News quoted Ambani as saying.
Mr Ambani had yesterday told a conference here that building $5-billion petrochemicals plants in the Middle East will be the best way for Reliance, to meet India's quadrupling demand of chemicals in the next 10 years.

Reliance wants to tap the growing demand for chemicals in Asia, especially in China and India.


Courtesy:thehindu.com
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Iraq threatens to bar RIL

Iraq on Thursday threatened to blacklist Reliance Industries (RIL) from future oil contracts after the company struck a deal with the Kurdish regional government for two blocks without Baghdad's approval.

"Our position is very clear. Any company that signs contracts with the Kurdish regional government without approval of the central government, they will compromise chances of getting future opportunities in Iraq," its Oil Minister Hussain Al-Shahristani said.
Hussain, who is here to attend the OPEC ministerial meeting ahead of the summit level talks among member countries, said that Baghdad had "conveyed this to all the companies that have recently signed production sharing contracts... That has also been conveyed to Reliance Industries."

Reliance Industries (RIL) had last week signed the contract for the blocks Rovi and Sarta in northern Iraq with the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). The blocks, measuring 517 and 607 sq km respectively, have almost 80 per cent oil bearing structure.


Courtesy:timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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RIL Ltd won a deepwater oiland gas block in Oman

Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries Ltd has won a deepwater oil and gas block in Oman, a company source said.
Reliance Exploration and Production DMCC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, has signed contract for Block 41.
The block lies adjacent to Block 18 in Gulf of Oman, which the Government of Sultanate of Oman awarded to RIL in 2005. Block 18 is situated in the offshore Gulf of Oman between Block 41 and the border with the Fujuriah offshore block. The two blocks comprises approximately 21,000 sq km of area each.
Reliance last week executed two production sharing contracts covering petroleum exploration activities in the Rovi and Sarta blocks in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
The company has been actively pursuing petroleum exploration activities in the Middle East, particularly in Oman and Yemen, besides India, Asia Pacific Region and South America.

Courtesy:timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Reliance Communication with Microsoft is launching IPTV in India

It is being considered as a breakthrough step by Reliance Communication. The company along with software giant Microsoft is launching IPTV or Internet Protocol TV in India.Reliance Communication will invest $500 million in this venture. The technology will be first launched in Mumbai and then Delhi in 2008.

IPTV is a technology that makes TV interactive and enabled the user to connect their Internet to TV. Thus you can record programme, you can play games powered by X box 360 technology.
The announcement was made by Anil D Ambani, chairman, Reliance Communications, and Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft.


Reliance Communications shall have the exclusive deployment right for the platform in India.
"As consumers today are becoming more sophisticated, they are demanding more compelling and personalized entertainment to suit their individual needs and preferences," Ambani said.
Ballmer said, "Reliance is about to change the way consumers experience television."

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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Reliance Industries Ltd, gifted the $60 million Airbus plane to wife Neeta :Mumbai Mirror

India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, has bought his wife a luxury jet with entertainment cabins, a sky bar and fancy showers for her birthday, a newspaper said on Friday.
Ambani, who owns the country's biggest private company, Reliance Industries Ltd, gifted the $60 million Airbus plane to wife Neeta on her 44th birthday on Thursday, the Mumbai Mirror newspaper said.

The jet is custom-fitted with an office and a cabin with game consoles, music systems, satellite television and wireless communication, the report said.
It also has a master bedroom, a bathroom with a range of showers and a bar with mood lighting. The newspaper said Airbus sources had confirmed the sale and the jet had arrived at New Delhi's airport and would be brought to Mumbai soon.

A spokesman for Reliance, estimated to have a market capitalisation of nearly $100 billion, told Reuters, "we are neither denying nor confirming the report". With business interests ranging from oil to retail and biotechnology, Ambani is not known to shy away from conspicuous consumptionIndia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, has bought his wife a luxury jet with entertainment cabins, a sky bar and fancy showers for her birthday, a newspaper said on Friday.

Ambani, who owns the country's biggest private company, Reliance Industries Ltd, gifted the $60 million Airbus plane to wife Neeta on her 44th birthday on Thursday, the Mumbai Mirror newspaper said.

Courtesy:timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Reliance Retail is planning to increase its workforce

Notwithstanding the unabated protests against its stores in some parts of the country, Reliance Retail is planning to increase its workforce to one million within the next four years.

"We will be having a million people working for us within the next four years. What took Wal-Mart to achieve in 30 years, Mukesh Ambani plans to do that in four years," Susan Bloch, chief culture officer of Reliance Retail Ltd., said at the Fortune Global Forum here.

Reliance Retail, which has earmarked an investment of $5 to 6 billion, launched its first fruit and vegetable stores called Reliance Fresh in November last year. Since then, the company has opened 300 stores in 30 cities

Courtesy:timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Mukesh and Anil Ambani are yet again made it to a list of richest people

Sometimes a fight can be the route to fame. Mukesh and Anil Ambani have yet again made it to a list of richest people compiled by Forbes, but this time the recognition is not only for their business acumen.

Forbes, in its latest list of "Billionaire Family Feuds", has bestowed the Ambani brothers with the recognition because of their fight over Reliance since the death of their father Dhirubhai Ambani.

Calling their fight a “silver lining”, the magazine has detailed how the fortunes of the brothers have continued to rise even though they have been at loggerheads. Ten families have made it to the list with the Ambanis being the only ones from India.

"Sometimes fighting has a silver lining, as has been the case for Indian brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani. Unable to get along, the brothers began fighting publicly in late 2004 for control of Reliance Industries, one of India's largest conglomerates. The situation became so untenable that their mother Kokilaben brokered a court- approved peace settlement that entailed divvying up the family businesses," the US business magazine wrote about the siblings in a report in its latest edition.

The magazine reports that in 2005, the brothers had a collective net worth of $7 bn, but fortunes changes soon after. In the Forbes' March 2007 list of world's richest persons, Mukesh was ranked at 14th place with $20.1 billion and Anil followed with a net worth of $18.2 billion ranked at 18th.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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Our investment in Bihar will be for long term :Mukesh.D.Ambani

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh D Ambani, on his maiden visit here, gave clear indications that the company is keen to make long-term investments in the state. “Reliance will be in Bihar in the coming years,” said Ambani, duing a three-hour luncheon meeting with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. “I have not come here for short-term investment. Our investment in Bihar will be for at least five to 10 years,” he said.

Stating that the purpose of his visit here is to acquire a first-hand information about the challenges and opportunities in redressing the endemic development deficit of the state, Ambani said: “I have come here to understand Bihar and the areas where we can make investments. My Bihar visit is the the first step in that direction.”

Courtesy:The Times of India
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RIL mega expansion

Mukesh Ambani has surprised the street again. After announcing some mega expansion plans a few days back at the AGM, he declared huge profit of nearly a billion dollars in a single quarter.
Reliance has declared its quarterly numbers for the first time with IPCL numbers added to its account books. Analysts see this move as making of a petrochemical giant.
Reliance second quarter profits rose 25.3 per cent at Rs 3,837 crore against Rs 3,060 crore. However the numbers are not comparable due to IPCL merger.
The company's second quarter profits have beaten analyst's expectations of Rs 3,440 crore. Sales rose 12.5 per cent at Rs 32,043 crore while earnings per share for the quarter stood at Rs 26.40.
Gross refining margins also rose to $13.6 per barrel. Analysts attribute strong profit margins to higher refining and petrochemical margins. Operating profit margin in the second quarter stood at 18.65 per cent.
Expansion plans
However RIL's refining and marketing EBIT margin was at 9.8 per cent, petrochemicals EBIT margin for the second quarter stood at 15.6 per cent. Reliance's major expansion plans is very much on track including retail and oil & gas.

Courtesy:ndtvprofit.com
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Mukesh Ambani speek in GAM

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday said that it matters little to him whether his personal fortunes are measured in billions or millions if the country prospers and the company grows.

"There have been several reports in the media about my personal wealth. Frankly, I am amused with these reports. Because I never thought of myself in these terms. Nor have I worked in any way for these epithets," PTI quoted Mukesh Ambani as saying.

"True wealth lies in what you give to the society and to the country, the real assets that you build, the institutions you nurture and the contribution you make to all-round prosperity," Mukesh said.He was referring to reports that Reliance's turnover has shot up to one trillion rupees and its market cap to Rs 3,82,259 crore
.
"The money you accumulate merely gives you an opportunity to make a difference. But only if we make use of it to create wealth for the nation and to look for a social return. I measure my success by the value that I create for my shareholders and the assets that we, as a company, create for the nation as a whole," he added.

Courtesy:IBNLive
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Reliance Industries Annual General Meeting Friday

Reliance Industries is conducting its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday October 12 at Birla Matoshree in Mumbai.

A day ahead of the AGM work is on and investors are hoping for a dose of good news.Unlike his father promised in 1997 Mukesh Ambani has not issued or handed out bonus shares every five years. But clearly market men are hoping for some news.

"Looking at the price (of the stock) which is trading at Rs 2,500, I think fundamentals of Reliance justifies it. Stock spilt is just an accounting which leads to more of liquidity. Looking at the price justification public shareholders would demand that Mukesh Ambani should please them. There is a possibility that share split would happen," said Sushil C Choksey, Director, Rosy Blue Securities.

So will it be a stock split or bonus or just another dose of oil and gas discovery. Going by the high stock price, a split makes sense as it makes the stock affordable for small investors. It also increases the number of shares traded what is known as liquidity.

Wealth creation

While a bonus is a straightforward reward to RIL investors, it only reduces the amount of reserves on the balance sheet. So will it be a stock split or a bonus or just a dose of good news, the investors clearly have high expectations.

"Idea is to create wealth so that small investors benefit, it also shows the prospecting growth the sustainability and that confidence for a company to take this decision, it is a good signal about the shape of things to come," said Jigar Shah, KR Choksey Securities.

Courtesy:NDTV
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