18th October – 24th October 2010

WEEKLY NEWS

• JYOTHY Laboratories (JLL),which owns brands such as Ujala and Maxo, is in advanced stage of talks with West Bengal-based detergents and allied products company Safechem Industries to buy its flagship laundry detergent brand, Safed.

• The deal is estimated to be 70 crore, according to two people familiar with the transaction.

• HUL and P&G are majors players in the 12,000-crore laundry care market, with 36.8% and 14.6% share, respectively.

• In the mass market space, strong players like Nirma and Ghadi are getting aggressive in terms of marketing and distribution.

• Mid premium segment is the only space where JLL can hope to expand.

• The company is already the largest player in the fabric whitener space with more than 70% market share.

Jyothy Lab In Talks To Acquire Laundry Detergent Brand Safed

18th October 2010

• Travel and hospitality company Bird Group on Monday said it would invest up to $500 million ( 2,200 crore) in the next six years on developing six luxury hotels across the country.

• The company had entered into a 50:50 JV with Thailand-based Dusit Hotels for foraying into the hospitality sector.

• It expects to open its first hotel next year under the brand 'Dusit Devarana'.

• The hotels, which will have a total capacity of around 800 rooms, will be managed by the JV Dusit Bird Hotel.

Bird Group To Invest 2,200 Crore In India 

19th October 2010

• Numero Uno Clothing, a denim wear manufacturer, will now retail and distribute German brand Lerros in India.

• Lerros Fashions India, a joint venture between Gurgaon-based House of Pearl Fashions and German casual wear brand Lerros Moden, decided to licence out the brand to Numero Uno after failing to make a mark in the retail market in two years.

• Numero Uno Clothing will retail and distribute (Lerros) all over India.

• When the JV was set up in 2008,Lerros Fashions set itself a target of around 100 stores in five years. So far, it has managed to open only four outlets, all in the NCR.

• Hence the decision to rope in Numero Uno. House of Pearl and Lerros will support the venture in design and sourcing in return for royalties.

Numero Uno To Retail Lerros In India

20th October 2010

• Priced between Rs 20.95 and 22.95 lakh ex-showroom.

• 2.2 litre CRDi unit with E-VGT which pumps out a class leading 197 PS and 410 plus Nm of torque.

• 6-speed manual gearbox with shift indicator on the speedo console.

• The Santa Fe is available in both 2WD and 4WD variants.

• ESP and ABS.• 6 airbags to break your

impact.

Hyundai Launches The Santa Fe!

21th October 2010

• Chinas gross domestic product at $4.9 trillion is about 3.78 times that of India's. The US economy, the worlds largest, is 2.9 times the size of Chinas and 11 times India's.

• It is expected that India to start growing faster than China, but not so soon. A research report by Morgan Stanley had said India could overtake Chinas growth rate by 2013 and expected it to be notably ahead from 2015 onwards.

• Chinas industrial production also fell from the previous quarter to 13.3%,China growth forecast is a bit on the downside.

• The Chinese central bank raised the benchmark interest rate by 0.25% to 2.25% on Tuesday after nearly three years to rein in prices and inflation, which touched a 23-month high of 3.6%.

• The growing global friction over currency values and calls for China to let the Yuan appreciate and address the large surplus it runs with other countries for better distribution of growth.

Chinas GDP 3.78 Times Of India's 

22nd October 2010

• HONDA Motor Co said on Friday it was recalling 528,000 vehicles world-wide due to potential problems with a master brake cylinder seal.

• Most of the recalled vehicles are Odyssey minivans sold in the United States. The recall is similar to one issued on Thursday by Toyota Motor Corp for about 1.5 million vehicles worldwide.

• Of the Honda recalls,435,000 of them are Odyssey minivans sold in the United States. A smaller number of Acura RL sedans sold around the world is involved in the Honda recall.

• Still Honda did not say how much the repairs will cost the company.

Honda Recalls 528,000 Cars

23rd October 2010

• Foreign direct investment (FDI) in August dipped by about 60% to $1.33b,the lowest in this fiscal, industry department data released on Friday showed.

• The FDI inflows in August 2009 were $3.26 billion.• During the first five months of 2010-11,the inflows declined by 35% to

$8.88 billion compared to $13.76 billion in the same period last year.• For a smart recovery in the domestic economy and a rebound in

exports, overseas investment in form of equity inflows are on decline since June.

• The overseas investment in June was at $1.38 billion, while that in July was $1.78 billion.

• The FDI in the first two months of this fiscal, April and May was $2.17 billion and $2.21 billion, respectively.

• Crisil chief economist D K Joshi said India provides good opportunities for growth and the declining trend will not continue.

FDI Inflow Dips By 60% To $1.33b In August

24th October 2010