Company: Tata Steel
Broking House: Goldman Sachs
Rating: Buy Price Target: Rs 661

Tata Steel recorded a first quarter profit of Rs 1,830 crore in Q1 against a loss of Rs 2,210 crore for the same period last year. Indian operations recorded another strong quarter of performance, with an operating profit of $456/tonne compared to $400/tonne in Q4 FY10. However, the European operations had a much lower margin of $79/tonne. The lower than expected earnings are beca-use of depreciation of the Euro and a production cut due to a plant fire. However, the Indian operations compensated for the lower profits from Europe, the brokerage says. Going ahe-ad, the broker expects steel prices to soften in the seco-nd quarter — a seasonal variation — but should start firming up by September.

Company: State Bank of India
Broking House: Merrill Lynch
Rating: Buy Price Target: Rs 3,240

Merrill Lynch has raised the price target on the State Bank of India following the strong first quarter results and expectations of a strong growth in earnings. The bank together with its associates is trading at a price to book value of 1.6, which could increase to 1.9, the broker feels. The brokerage expects the bank to clock earnings growth of 30 per cent and 45 per cent for FY11 and FY12. The first quarter profits of the bank were higher on increased revenue, increase in low cost deposits and higher fee income. Increase in bad loans was a concern with loans worth Rs 4,100 crore being classified as non-performing.

Company: Bharti Airtel
Broking House: UBS
Rating: Buy Price Target: Rs 400

Bharti Airtel’s Q1 net profit of Rs 1,682 crore is in line with UBS estimates. Total minutes of use — a measure of volumes for the firm — was up 10.1 per cent to 190 billion minutes. However, the revenue/ minute dropped from 42 paisa to 40 paisa. The drop in revenues per minute is partly due to the increasing adoption of per second plans by operators. The company plans to launch 3G services in India by December this year. There was also a decline in operating profit from mobile phone operations, which was due to higher spectrum fee. From this point on, UBS sees a limited drop in the revenue/minute metric.

Readers are recommended to consult their financial advisers before making any investment. This newspaper is not liable for investment decisions made on the basis of recommendations in these columns.

Commodity watch

Aluminium Rs 99.8/kg

Copper Rs 333.95/kg

Lead Rs 96.20/kg

Nickel Rs 1,000.20/kg

PLATINUM Rs 2,285.5/gm
Steel (Long) Rs 23,810/tonne
Zinc Rs 94.65/kg
Crude oil Rs 3,512/bbl
Rubber (Kochi) Rs 18,350/100 kg
JUTE (Kolkata) Rs 2,729.5/100 kg

Spot prices (MCX at Mumbai as on August 14) are disseminated for information only and shall not be considered as guidance in any case.

Business People

OLIVER GRUENBERG has been appointed managing director (technical affairs) at SkodaAuto India, a fully owned subsidiary of SkodaAuto A.S., Czech Republic. He was earlier manufacturing director and deputy general director of Volkswagen Russia, He joined the Volkswagen in Wolfsburg in 1995.

ALOK GOEL has taken over as CEO at Nitco Ltd. Prior to this, he was the CEO of Usha International. In his 30 year career, Mr Goel held various positions in like Tata Motors, ICI Plc.

SANJIV SARIN has been appointed regional president for the South Asian region at Tata Global Beverages. Mr Sarin has been part of the Tata Global Beverages’ integration and tra-nsformation journey from its start. Before joining the Tatas, he had worked with Cadbury Schweppes in the Philippines, Egypt, India and the UK.

UDAY BHANSALI has been appointed executive vice-president, business development, at GE India. Prior to this, he was an executive director of Kotak Investment Bank. Before that, he was associated with Accenture Ltd for 20 years.

SANJEEV PRASAD, the chief information officer of Genpact’s India and Philippines operations, has been appointed CIO of parent organisation Genpact Ltd. He joined Genpact in 2006. Prior to this, he had worked with with companies like Nortel and Amdhal.

AJAY PRAKASH, the president of TAFI, has been appointed as deputy chairman, World Travel Agents Associations Alliance.

Media Watch

DRAFTFCB ULKA bagged the Tata Indicom and Walky businesses, while Contract Advertising retained Tata Photon business in the new alignment of these businesses according to exchange4media.

JWT INDIA has bagged the creative business of Airtel which ended its 15-year relationship with Rediffusion. The Airtel account has been pegged at Rs 400 crore.

TBWA-Ignitee has bagged digital assignments that include Visa and Style Spa, among others in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. TBWA is a part of Omnicom Group Inc.