Dish TV narrows Q3 loss at Rs 44.

28 cr
DTH major Dish TV reported a lower net loss at Rs 44.28 crore for the
quarter ended December 31, 2010 on the back of increased ARPUs and
better product mix.

The company's net loss stood at Rs 76.23 crore for the same period during
the previous fiscal.

"Q3, being the festival period has a significant potential for leveraging on
the burgeoning consumer demand. In line with our expectations, Dish TV
registered exceptionally strong growth during this period," Dish TV
Managing Director Jawahar Goel said.

Price hike across popular packs resulted in package mix getting favourably
skewed towards higher value packs, he added.

Total income rose to Rs 374.9 crore for the quarter under review from Rs
278.56 crore for the same quarter last year.

Dish TV's subscriber base stood at 9.4 million at the end of December 31,
2010, which it expects will cross 10.5 million by the end of the fiscal.

Tax raids launched on pan-masala cos

The Income Tax department today raided business establishments and
residences of prominent pan-masala and gutkha manufacturers in 14
states.

The raids were conducted on 69 premises related with manufacturers of

the tobacco products, sources said.

"The raids and survey were conducted by over 1,000 tax officials and
security personnel," they added.
The raids comes a day after, the department said it has recovered of Rs
44.2 crore of unaccounted money from three Delhi-based commodity
traders.

It was the largest ever cash haul of unaccounted money by the

department, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said. The traders have
admitted of tax evasion of about Rs 150 crore, it added.

A few days ago, in a similar search operation, the IT department in

Asansol, West Bengal had seized unaccounted cash and bank deposits
worth RS 12.57 crore.

The IT department has unearthed unaccounted income of over Rs 15,000

crore in the last two years.

Godrej Consumer to hike soap prices

on high costs
mumBAI: After Hindustan Unilever (HUL), it is now
Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) which is planning to raise soap
prices on account of rising input costs.

GCPL, the second-largest soap maker after HUL, is expected to take a

5% increase in soap prices in due course. "Vegetable oil prices have
risen quite a lot over the last few months. We have raised prices in
hair colour and we are looking at raising prices of soaps, too, because
raw material costs have risen," said Adi Godrej, chairman, GCPL. The
company markets brands like Godrej No.1, Cinthol and Godrej
Renew.

HUL, which had hiked the price of Lux soap (90 gm) by Re 1 to Rs 17
last week, has also raised the price of Liril soap (75 gm) by a rupee to
Rs 22. At the same time, the price of Lux International (75 gm) has
been increased by Rs 2 to Rs 22.

Palm oil prices have been shooting up on global supply constraints.

This has put pressure on the margins earned by soap makers, who are
left with little choice but to pass on the cost escalation to consumers.

An HUL spokesperson said the company was looking at all possible

options, including cost effectiveness programmes and judicious price
increases. "It should be noted that the increase in cost of some
commodities is exceptionally high," said the spokesperson.

FMCG companies feel that while inflationary pressures can be

tackled, it is important to maintain the purchasing power of
consumers. In particular, income growth is a new-found phenomenon
for rural consumers who have upgraded to branded products, adding
to the growth of the FMCG sector. "The government should attempt
to maintain the purchasing power of consumers by keeping a hold on
interest rates, taxes and duties," said M P Ramachandran,
CMD, Jyothy Laboratories.

Ramachandran said consumer products are the first to get hit when
purchasing power declines and consumers downgrade to lower-priced
products. This impacts the industry as a whole.

Many factors like high inflation and interest rates edging higher have
jolted the macro-economic environment of the country. But
economists say this would not derail the growth story.

"We expect that an increase in wage incomes both at the rural and the
urban level could partially offset the rate/inflation impact and help
support consumption. Trends in rural consumption could get a boost
following the proposal to link wages under the employment guarantee
act to inflation," said Rohini Malkani, economist, Citi India.

A CII report, released last year, had stated that it was the FMCG
industry which helped the Indian economy emerge fast from the
clutches of the global recession.

It had added that a strong driver to the growth would be the positive
sentiment of the consumer with respect to purchases.

However, it remains to be seen how the product price increases

undertaken by companies would impact volumes.
*******************************************************************************
Rupee down by 27 paise against dollar
Mumbai : The rupee fell sharply by 27 paise to 45.80 against the US
currency in late morning trade due to strong dollar demand from
banks and importers.

Sustained demand for dollar in view of firm US currency in New

York mainly affected the rupee value, a dealer said.

The dollar turned higher in New York yesterday, especially against

the Japanese yen and British pound, as positive US economic data
trumped optimism about Europe and worries that China, now the
world's second-largest economy, might be pushed towards tightening
monetary policy.

In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange ( Forex) market,

the domestic unit opened lower at 45.63/64 a dollar from its previous
close of 45.53/54 and dropped further to 45.80 per dollar before
quoting at 45.74/75 per dollar at 1030hrs.

It moved in range of 45.63 per dollar and 45.80 per dollar in morning
deals.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices were lower in Asian trade today as

unexpected gains in US crude inventories placed a dampener on
energy demand, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet
crude for March delivery, fell three cents to USD 89.56 per barrel.

Read more: Rupee down by 27 paise against dollar - The Times of

India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Rupee-
down-by-27-paise-against-
dollar/articleshow/7332062.cms#ixzz1BgJ2Wbr2