Seasonal magazine march 2014 issue

VOLUME 13 ISSUE 3 MARCH 2014

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EDITORIAL

MAGAZINE

Seasonal www.seasonalmagazine.com

“people of the country will teach you a lesson”

Managing Editor Jason D Pavoratti Editor John Antony Director (Finance) Ceena Senior Editorial Coordinator Jacob Deva Senior Correspondent Bina Menon Creative Visualizer Bijohns Varghese Photographer Anish Aloysious Correspondents Bombay: Rashmi Prakash Hyderabad: Iqbal Siddiqui Delhi: Anurag Dixit Director (Technical) John Antony Publisher Jason D

It took only 49 days for the Establishment to destroy the anti-establishment. The headline was Jan Lokpal. But the fine-print was a specific corruption allegation.

Move aside 2G and Coal. India’s biggest scam has arrived. Or depending on your viewpoint, it can even be the biggest sham allegation.

Anyway, this scam or sham allegation, has been so huge in its impact that you found enemies becoming allies overnight. They had nothing in common, except that they were part of the Establishment. When the Establishment was threatened, they came together and removed the self-proclaimed anarchist.

The groundwork has been underway, ever since this mother-of-all-allegations was made by the anarchist.

In a case where FIRs were filed against two Congress ministers and a former Congress minister, the best defence came not from Congress, but from the most unlikely source.

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He was not just claiming things out of thin air. He cited all the valid law points like these: “Legislative and executive jurisdiction of Delhi is circumscribed by Article 239AA. Entries 1, 2 and 18 of the State List under the Seventh Schedule are not applicable to Delhi. Entry 1 deals with public order, entry 2 with police and entry 18 with land.”

And this was not just a career politician’s speak. The words are from the former Additional Solicitor General of VP Singh Government, the legal architect of Bofors allegations, the former Law Minister of Vajpayee Government, and a Senior Advocate of Supreme Court.

And don’t think Arun Jaitley stopped his defence of Veerappa Moily, Kapil Sibal, & Murli Deora, at that.

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“The Delhi government has no police powers. What thus is the function of the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi Government? The ACB is part of the Vigilance Directorate of the Delhi Government. It is the function related to vigilance and not to the police powers.”

The veteran BJP leader, former Cabinet Minister, and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, went on: “Ordinarily, when we perceive threats to federalism, it is suspected that encroachment of federal principles is by the Centre. The Centre, through its agencies, cannot usually investigate what happens in the states. It is only in extreme cases that it issues an advisory or, where there is breakdown of constitutional machinery, it can invoke powers under Articles 356.”

Implying that just the reverse - or perhaps even worse than the reverse - has taken place, he continued his defence of the Congress trio: “What happened in Delhi therefore merits a comment. Delhi is a Union Territory with a State Assembly.”

Got it? Delhi is not even a proper state. Just a Union Territory (read as property of the Union Government) which somehow happens to have a State Assembly. So, how can a mere tiny half-state attempt something unimaginable - entering Centre’s turf - that has never been attempted by even BJP’s biggies like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh?

Then his masterpiece in the argument: “It is an attack on federalism.”

Imagine, Arun Jaitley of BJP defending powerful archrivals Sibal, Moily, & Deora of the all-powerful Congress and Central Government, against the onslaught of a Chief Minister of a minority government of a tiny half-state. That is what is called principle.

Sure, as finally Kejriwal himself admitted in his farewell speech in the Delhi Assembly, they were freshers and they made mistakes. “When we came to this House we were newcomers. We thought we will learn from the seniors who are members of this House for so long. We admit we do not know the rules,” said the anti-corruption crusader before quitting as CM.

The principle that nobody is above money, and by its extension, nobody is above Mukesh Ambani when it comes to India.

But such ignorance is limited to only Article 239AA or TBR, or such stuff. What about all the bigger rules that everyone in the establishment breaks day in and day out?

That is what irked the sensibilities of Jaitley about an FIR that had no one from BJP, but only from Congress, plus the richest Indian on the globe. Maybe Jaitley was doing a preemptive strike by Kejriwal against Modi, who as a fellowGujarati and capitalist has been successfully weaning away Ambani from Congress.

Just the day before his resignation, one MLA broke Kejriwal’s mike, tore some of his papers, and on the day of his resignation, a BJP MLA was seen grabbing and running away with Kejriwal’s papers, while he was out on an adjournment. Such behaviour may not have fancy names like Article XYZ or Section 000, but are even baser violations of democracy.

Anyway, Kejriwal obviously doesn’t know as much about Jaitley, when it comes to federalism and the laws that govern it like Article 239AA, because he has never been a lawyer.

Incidentally, that very disqualification may be Kejriwal’s biggest qualification, but that is another story altogether.

There are other rules too that Kejriwal doesn’t know anything about. Section 22(3) of the Government of NCT of Delhi Act 1991, and Rule 55 (1) of Transaction of Business Rules (TBR) of Government of National Capital Territory Rules 1993, are two other examples. Those were the ones cited by Lieutenant Governor in his letter to Speaker, for disallowing the tabling and discussion of Jan Lokpal Bill, which was regarded as a Financial Bill due to its financial implications on the Centre, without his prior sanction.

Jung is not a lawyer, but studied History for his BA and MA at St. Stephen’s, and took his MSc in Social Policy & Planning from London School of Economics. If this ex-IAS officer can master such fine law points, ex-IRS officer Kejriwal too should have followed suit. Instead, he kept on harping that there was nothing unconstitutional in either his Jan Lokpal Bill or in the way it was tabled. He even took legal advice from four legal luminaries, who admitted that such a position from the Centre, can be contested but only in a court. Kejriwal obviously disregarded that going-to-court part of that advice.

Or by what Article or Section name will one pin down the UPA-BJP-Ambani axis in the gas price scam? The issue is so complicated and divisive, with India standing to gain much and standing to lose much due to the price hike.

Only one thing is sure, which is that when there is big business like the Ambanis and the Establishment on the same side of an alleged scam, it calls for the most intricate of scrutiny.

Even the TBR has been violated by Sheila Dikshit when she tabled 13 bills without LG’s consent, and BJP had no objection, claims Kejriwal. But who knows she and BJP might have finer law points in their support.

Aam Aadmi and their leader Arvind Kejriwal don’t know such finer law points.

The real answer is that Sheila and BJP are parts of the Establishment, which the common man and Kejriwal are not.

However, the anarchist’s concluding remarks to the establishment was telling.

“Remember, the people of the country will teach you a lesson. I pray to the Lord to bless us.”

John Antony Seasonal Magazine

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Contents

Paulraj’s Marconi Prize Highlights Dimensions of India’s Brain Drain Tamil Nadu-born scientist Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj has become the second Indian to be awarded the Marconi Society Prize, 2014, considered an equivalent to the Nobel Prize for the..

Which Came First?

Chicken or Egg? Health or Happiness?

Being healthy can make a person happy, but happiness itself may also lead to better health, according to a new study.

Lessons Raymond Weil Taught Us Raymond Weil, whose Swiss watches told more than time, recently passed away. He was 87. His story is one of beating all odds. Raymond Weil is not a centuries old Swiss brand. He came into Switzerland’s watchmaking scene when it was beginning to be destroyed by the so-called Quartz Crisis.

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Inside Maruti’s Affordable Automatic Maruti Suzuki has cracked the affordable automatic transmission problem with its new Celerio hatchback.

The Celerio offers a simple but elegant solution: It has a manual gearbox with a hydraulic actuator installed on top. Supported by an..

Paracetamol Not So Safe for Kids A new study has found that paracetamol can interfere with the brain development of children, and can even be dangerous for unborn kids.

How 60 Indians Can End Indian Poverty Forever India has 60 odd billionaires currently. Just half of their combined net worth is enough to end India’s poverty forever, says IMF. Now, you will understand why programs like the Giving Pledge by Gates & Buffett makes so much sense.

Tips for Teens: Four Ways to Try Out Careers Before Choosing One For most teenagers, the working world may seem like a faraway destination, but it’s never too early to explore career paths, deepen your knowledge and develop your..

What Makes Bill Gates Feel Inadequate Bill Gates recently took on World Chess Champ, Magnus Carlsen, but was mated in just 9 moves by the 23-year old.

Men’s No.1 Health Secret is Sleep, For Ladies, it is Good Food Good sleep patterns can help men live longer but women will only benefit if they follow a diverse diet too, a new Australian study has found.

Arguing to Death Arguing with your partner is bad for your heart it seems.

Couples who don’t support each other have ‘thicker arteries’. People who think their partner is often unsupportive are more likely to develop heart disease.

Being unsupportive is actually more damaging to the arteries than overall marriage quality, say researchers.

Caffeine Boosts Long-term Memory Energy booster for some, waking-up stimulant for others.

Now, caffeine stirs another benefit as you prepare that morning cup of coffee or tea enhancing memory.

Tax Deductions That Are Useless Jokes Certain heads that provide savings from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 might not be worth the effort

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Contents

Petrol engine performs better: Timothy Needell

Honda Builds Muscle, While Harley Goes Dieting

Why You Should Chose a Car Dashboard With Blue Illumination

Meet Baby Halder, Domestic Help, Best-selling Author

British racing driver Timothy 'Tiff' Needell, who hosts Fifth Gear, a television series on

Honda is finally realizing that 150 cc commuters are not enough for India. The Japanese giant is planning to launch a 650 cc 4 cylinder monster.

Harley Davidson, meanwhile, is finally realizing that cruisers above 1000 cc are not going

Researchers have found that exposure to short wavelength, or blue light, immediately improves alertness and performance.

She has been on book tours to cities such as Paris, Frankfurt and Hong Kong; her books have been translated into 12 foreign languages - including French, German and Japanese.

She is often invited to speak at literary festivals across the country. Her new book is set to hit the stands later this month. However, there is an intriguing twist in the tale of

How India Grows at Night, When Government Sleeps Is Banking Transaction Tax Practical?

The so-called banking transaction tax that has been proposed to eliminate all other taxes in the economy has caught people’s fancy.

Here is an investigation to its merits and demerits.

American Banking’s Rising Star is an Indian Woman JPMorgan Chase & Co is the largest bank in America. Anu is a India-born woman banker and still an Indian citizen. Why is she considered as the rising star at JPMorgan?

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How to Sell Ice to Eskimos

Well, that may not be a noble ideal to pursue in sales, but even that can be done, and that too by anybody who is willing to learn the ropes.

Jappreet Sethi, an HR & Business Strategy Professional, argues that practically anybody can develop sales skills, if they follow the right strategy. Sethi has experience in the team building and people consulting practice of multinational

Why is a Malayalam Movie Creating Waves?

Everyone who has seen the movie is calling up everyone they care for and asking them to see this movie.

Ben Doherty has been The Age’s South Asia correspondent. In his last dispatch from Delhi, Doherty produces a classic essay, that springs from his first-hand experiences with an Indian family, that is beating all odds to survive, and come up

Delhi Gone, What Next? Yogendra Yadav, CM, Haryana?

Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav combines the academician's eclecticism with the psephologist's certitude every time he participates in prime-time TV debates or articulates his party's ideas in newspaper

10 Minutes to Learn the Best Meditation Meditation for Relaxation Response, inspired from a Harvard Study of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation (TM) is perhaps the world’s best researched and best ranked scientific way to meditate for wholesome health and productivity benefits. Its pioneer Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard’s Mind/Body Medical Institute

Bosses Are Out, Holocracy is In? Leading online retailer Zappos has long been known to do things its own way. The customer-service obsessed company calls its executives “monkeys,” has staffers ring cowbells to greet guests, and offers new employees cash to quit as a way to test their loyalty.

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Contents

If you have ever bought stocks, you would have done this. Stare awestruck at the graph of a stock like Eicher Motors. A graph that didn’t go anywhere much for the nine years between 2000 and 2009, and then started climbing from a modest price of Rs. 184.

All through the next 5 years, it would keep on climbing, to reach Rs. 5295 recently. Going up nearly 29 times within 5 years. Not any 5 years, mind you, but one of the toughest five years that Indian industry has witnessed ever, thanks to the global financial crisis. Not only that, it was a five year period that saw steady deterioration in the specific industrial sector that Eicher was in. Almost every other commercial vehicle manufacturer including mighty Tatas, Leylands, and Mahindras found their commercial vehicle business plummeting to new depths during these same five years. What a contrarian graph Eicher has! But that is pure hindsight. You probably don’t own Eicher. Neither do we. Because five year back, who would have been interested in a tier-2 truck maker whose stock had been largely stagnant for the 9 years from 2000 to 2009? Even if you were a news buff, you wouldn’t have given much weight to Eicher forging a new tie-up with Volvo..

POLITICS

Delhi Gone, What Next?

Yogendra Yadav, CM, Haryana?

Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav combines the academician's eclecticism with the psephologist's certitude every time he participates in prime-time TV debates or articulates his party's ideas in newspaper interviews. But more than these alluring attributes, what has propelled him to emerge as arguably India's best political spokesperson is the democratic demeanour he sports in the public domain. is demeanour hinges on appearing refreshingly transparent, as someone who isn't inclined towards dissimulation and concealment. Just think - could any other leader have sounded convincing on releasing the internal surveys of his or her party as Yadav did on occasions he made public AAP's? Indeed, most others would have been dismissed outright for pedaling fudged figures.

His credentials as a democrat are enhanced because of his propensity to engage AAP's harshest critics and implacable rivals in discussions. He seems not to duck stinging questions through ambiguous replies, nor shy away from being barracked, yet always desisting from the self-righteous shrillness that defines our public debates. Rarely has Yadav violated the norms of civility, or tried to silence his critics - no, not even Subramanian Swamy - through brusque interjections in a high-pitched voice.

It is possible to argue that Yadav has succeeded in adhering to democratic ethos because he doesn't have to defend the indefensible, that AAP hasn't been in power long enough for a chasm to Seasonal Magazine

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exist between its rhetoric and conduct, as is mostly true of parties which have governed for long.

Again, it can be claimed that Yadav's task to bat for his party was rendered easier because it made its debut in Delhi, which boasts of a less complex, relatively civilized politics than those parts of India languishing outside the arc of media spotlight. For instance, AAP could eschew the politics of identity - and win a round of applause - because it is class, not caste or religion, which drives Delhi's politics.

This is precisely why Yadav's democratic credentials, as also the belief that AAP represents new politics, both in style and substance, will be tested in Haryana. The State Assembly election is due in October, and the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies during the general elections will provide an inkling into the possibility of AAP doing a Delhi in Haryana. Though not formally announced, it is widely assumed Yadav will spearhead the AAP's campaign there, not the least because he hails from the State.

In the popular consciousness, Haryana has come to symbolise, rightly or wrongly, the very antithesis of what Yadav's persona represents - namely,

democratic ethos and a conscionable, albeit modern, approach to politics. The State has become the bedrock of reactionary social conservatism, earning notoriety for its khap panchayats issuing firmans against the same-gotra and inter-caste marriages, often ordering the social boycott of the defiant, at times even condemning them to death. Its female child ratio is the worst in the country. The Dalits in Haryana are oppressed and mauled with impunity.

Its politics mirrors the grim social reality. Haryana's contribution to the country's political lexicon was the term Aaya Ram Gaya Ram, which aptly describes the culture of legislators willing to shift their loyalties to the highest bidder. Today, it has become a byword for corrupt governance, a turf for realtors and politicians to combine in enriching themselves at the expense of the people, and a thriving site for a few political families to rule over generations.

Unlike Delhi, Haryana is susceptible to caste politics, which has as its driver the Jats, who comprise nearly 26 percent of the state's population.

Primarily agriculturists, they are entangled in social and agrarian tensions involving the lower castes, particularly the Dalits, who, significantly, constitute 19 percent of the population but are economically too weak to challenge the hegemony of the Jats.

The social lay of Haryana consequently makes it tempting for a new entrant to take recourse to the politics of identity, in the hope of consolidating other castes against the Jats. But this route AAP can take only at its peril. For one, it would invariably compromise AAP's USP of not appealing to voters in caste and religious terms, significantly eroding its countrywide appeal and nixing its national ambition. Second, AAP in Haryana can't unduly harp on caste conflict for mobilisation as Yadav's own caste is perceived to be landed and exploitative.

In the three weeks following AAP's spectacular performance in Delhi, the party, under the aegis of Yadav, has been brainstorming to evolve a language to

address social and political contradictions without slipping into the quagmire of identity politics. In the pursuit of this goal it will attempt to replicate its Delhi model in Haryana of dovetailing specific concerns of Dalits and lower OBCs with the problems the poor and the marginalised at large encounter.

sense for the AAP to focus on Haryana.

With five political parties in the fray the Congress, the BJP, the Indian National Lok Dal, the Haryana Janhit Congress and now the AAP - the threshold of vote-share required to govern gets lowered to around 25 percent. It's a situation advantageous for a debutant.

Unlike other political parties, it won't shy away from the khap question, having already arrived upon, its leaders say, at the bottom-line response - that there is nothing called honour killing, that murder is murder. Rhetorical questions will be posed publicly - for instance, whom does the khap represent? Does it speak universally for the old and the young?

The AAP also believes the Jat factor in Haryana's politics has been overstated.

All political parties tend to court the Jats because they are numerically preponderant, thus fracturing their votes and neutralizing, to an extent, their decisive role in politics. No doubt, the Congress under Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been aggressively playing Jat politics, particularly in the absence of Om Prakash Chautala, who has been undergoing imprisonment. Hooda's endeavour is likely to get bolstered if the Centre manages to smuggle in the Jats into the OBC category for reservation in jobs.

Underlying such questions is perhaps the belief that the khap has increasingly become assertive, and murderous, because of the anxiety among the older generations at the young throwing off the yoke of conservative traditions. In much the same vein, the oppression of Dalits will be portrayed as a breakdown of law and order and collapse of civil society, a situation fraught for the twothirds of the population - that is, those who do not belong to the three social groups of Jats, Ahirs and Meos.

It is too early to tell whether AAP's politics and tactics will yield a rich harvest of votes in Haryana.

Nevertheless, it has chosen to focus on the State because the anti-corruption movement from the Anna days elicited a robust response here. For instance, the maximum number of missed calls and SMSs to register support for the AAP came from Haryana and west Uttar Pradesh. Haryana also supplied more than 2000 volunteers for AAP's Delhi election campaign, of which around 200 made the Capital city their home for weeks to end. It also happens to be the home state of AAP's mascot, Arvind Kejriwal, as also Yadav, a fact likely to sway voters. Lastly, innumerable land scams, particularly involving Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, Robert Vadra, would provide the AAP with just the kind of opening it had against Sheila Dikshit in Delhi.

It also makes immense psephological

As in Delhi, in Haryana the AAP will try to turn the elections, both parliamentary and assembly, into extraordinary ones, appealing to the voters to listen to their conscience, to venture beyond caste and class calculations to vote for change, for the betterment of India and the State. In other words, the AAP would seek to turn the battle of ballot into what is called a realigning election, a term describing the overturning of existing socio-political configurations.

Yadav's demeanour will come to tellingly symbolise the AAP's strategy.

His rooting for a new type of politics interest vs identity - will have credence because he won't be viewed as a typical politician mouthing trite slogans. After all, he has risen to national prominence outside the bounds of politics, making it easy for AAP to project him entering the electoral arena for cleansing it of corruption, for making the system more democratic and equitable. Should Yadav succeed, he would seem such a contrast to the Chautalas and Hoodas, to the Devi Lals and the Bhajan Lals, in a state infamous for its socio-political conservatism and venality.

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ACHIEVER

Baby Halder, Author

Meet Domestic Help, Best-selling She has been on book tours to cities such as Paris, Frankfurt and Hong Kong; her books have been translated into 12 foreign languages including French, German and Japanese. She is often invited to speak at literary festivals across the country. Her new book is set to hit the stands later this month. However, there is an intriguing twist in the tale of Baby Halder. This 39-year-old prolific writer does not like to be called an author. "I am a domestic help, not a writer," said Halder, who has two best-selling books to her credit and first shot to fame in 2006, with her work A Life Less Ordinary. or the past 14 years, Halder has been working as a maid at the house of Prabodh Kumar in Gurgaon, where she lives in a temporary house on the terrace.

Kumar, 80, her employer, is not only her employer, but also her literary mentor and translator.

"When she started working at my house, she had enormous interest in books. She would pick Bengali books from the bookshelf and avidly read them. As I interacted with her, I realised that she had a story that needed to be told," said Kumar, a retired professor of Anthropology.

Halder had a motherless childhood and an abusive father. Her step-mother married her off at the tender age of 13 years to a man twice her age. She was raped on her wedding night.

Fed up with her abusive husband, she boarded a train from Durgapur in West Bengal for Delhi, where she started working as a maid at a house. She, however, soon left the house after her employers started mistreating her.

Soon, she found work at Prabodh Kumar’s house and life took a turn for the better.

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since my school days. But when I started writing, words began to flow effortlessly. In fact, writing turned out to be a cathartic experience," revealed Halder, who has studied up to 7th grade.

One day, Kumar handed Halder a pen and asked her to write her story in her mother tongue, Bengali.

"What she wrote had enormous depth.

In fact, I showed it to my friends and they agreed with me," said Kumar, who has translated Halder’s books into Hindi. In fact, her first book ‘Aalo Aandhari’ (Light and Darkness) was published in 2002 in Hindi. In 2006, it was published in English, titled ‘A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir.’

"I was nervous when I held the pen in my fingers. I had not written anything

In 2010, she published her second book ‘Eshast Rupantar’, a sequel to her first

One day, Kumar handed Halder a pen and asked her to write her story in her mother tongue, Bengali. "I was nervous when I held the pen in my fingers. I had not written anything since my school days. But when I started writing, words began to flow effortlessly.

book the English translation of which is slated to be released next month. Her third book the story of her progression from childhood to teenage will be published by the end of this month.

Halder said she writes between cooking, sweeping and swabbing and it took her a year to finish each of her books. "I am not organised or disciplined as far as writing is c o n c e rn e d . I w ri t e a ny t i m e,

Her first book ‘Aalo Aandhari’ (Light and Darkness) was published in 2002 in Hindi. In 2006, it was published in English, titled ‘A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir.’ anywhere," she added.

Halder has rubbed shoulder with many top writers at literary festivals and seminar across the world. She is a fan of Arundhati Roy, Taslima Nasrin and Jhumpa Lahiri. Nasrin’s ‘Amar Meyebela’ (My Girlhood) is her favourite book. "I have met her several times; she has always been very encouraging," said Halder.

And what do writers talk to her about?

"They mostly discuss my life and my writing; but one question that everyone asks is why I continue as a domestic help," Halder said.

Halder has built a house in Kolkata with earnings from her books. "I need not work as a domestic help anymore, but I am not comfortable leaving my

employer who is a father-like figure to me. But eventually I hope to move to Kolkata someday, which I think is the best place for people who want to write in Bengali," said Halder.

Her two children, Tapas, 20, and Piya 17 who want to become a fashion designer often complain about not being sent to a private English-medium school.

"They do not understand that when they started going to school, I did not have enough money. Today, I would have certainly sent them to a private school," Halder added.

A voracious reader, Halder is looking forward to reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘The Lowland’ and ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’. "Many people say it is similar to my first book," Halder said.

She has been closely following the Devyani Khobragade issue and feels that it was Sangeeta Richard, the maid, and not her employer who is the victim in the case.

"I appreciate the domestic help’s courage in taking on her powerful employer, who I believe shortchanged her in terms of salary. Unfortunately, there is no respect for physical labour in India. The rich and the powerful feel that they have a right to exploit their domestic help," she added.

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INNOVATION

After Revolutionising Sound,

Stuns With Sharply Better Images Ater revolutionising the way we listen to music and experience movies, Dolby Laboratories now want to change the way we view television. The global leader in audio technologies has announced that televisions running its new Dolby Vision technology will become available in certain markets by the end of this year.

So what is Dolby Vision? "Today's television images have limitations imposed through legacy. The brightness of the content has been substantially reduced to deliver it on the traditional CRT TVs. The maximum brightness a TV can show you is 100 nits, while the

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eye is capable viewing of much brighter images," explains Mathias Bendull, Senior Director, Broadcast Business, Dolby Laboratories. While the latest televisions Even the new televisions are capable of up to 1000 nits, but Bendull says since the content is also constrained they just upscale what is available. "We think this is the wrong way and are working with the industry bodies to change the standard to 10,000 nits. We are also working with everyone one in the value chain to enable this content," he adds.

"The brightness gives the director a totally different way to tell the story.

For instance, from a colour perspective blues are very weak now an they have the lowest colour allocation. This information is there in the original master, but is dropped in the BluRay or broadcast as TVs are not capable of showing it," he adds.

While the Dolby Vision televisions from Sharp, TCL and Vizio will be available in certain markets by the end of this year, the company has tied up with Netflix, Amazon and Microsoft for content delivery. "We get everybody to see the value in the product before launching anything. So soon you will have directors also shooting in this technology," he says, adding that digital cameras don't need any upgradation for Dolby Vision quality images. The Dolby Vision content will mean 25 per cent more info, so a 8MB stream will need to be 10MB with the new stream.

Dolby will encode the normal image and add an enhancement layer for the additional nits. So even TVs without the Dolby Vision capabilities will be able to play the information, though it will not be as good.

However, don't expect Dolby Vision to come on regular TVs for some time to come. The technology is being packaged as complementary to Ultra HD or 4K and will be a premium solution for sometime to come. "We are not competing with Ultra HD. In fact, a combination of the two That will be the big differentiator for people to buy a new television with Dolby Vision," Bendull added.

Smaller and cheaper screens are on the way, but it will take time. In the future, you could see the same Dolby Vision logos on anything from smartphones to tablets and laptops.

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T R E N D

BOSSES ARE OUT HOLOCRACY IS IN? Leading online retailer Zappos has long been known to do things its own way. The customerservice obsessed company calls its executives “monkeys,” has staffers ring cowbells to greet guests, and offers new employees cash to quit as a way to test their loyalty. he Las Vegas-based retailer is now going even more radical, introducing a new approach to organizing the company. It will eliminate traditional managers, do away with the typical corporate hierarchy and get rid of job titles, at least internally.

The company told employees of the change at a year-end meeting.

The unusual approach is called a “holacracy.” Developed by a former software entrepreneur, the idea is to replace the traditional corporate chain of command with a series of overlapping, self-governing “circles.” In theory, this gives employees more of a voice in the way the company is run.

According to Zappos executives, the move is an effort to keep the 1,500Seasonal Magazine

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Nick Swinmurn, Founder and Tony Hsieh, CEO - Zappos person company from becoming too rigid, too unwieldy and too bureaucratic as it grows.

“As we scaled, we noticed that the bureaucracy we were all used to was getting in the way of adaptability,” says Zappos’s John Bunch, who is helping lead the transition to the new structure.

The company has become a force in online shopping as it expanded beyond shoes into apparel, housewares and cosmetics. Amazon, which acquired it in 2009 for $1.2 billion but allows it to be run as a mostly independent unit, does not break out sales for Zappos.

The holacracy concept is the brainchild of management consultant Brian Robertson, a serial software entrepreneur who says he launched the idea after realizing he was “more

interested in how we worked together” than in his own job. The concept has a couple of high-profile devotees Twitter cofounder Evan Williams uses it at his new company, Medium, and time management guru David Allen uses it run his firm but Zappos is by far the largest company to adopt the idea.

At its core, a holacracy aims to organize a company around the work that needs to be done instead of around the people who do it. As a result, employees do not have job titles. They are typically assigned to several roles that have explicit expectations. Rather than working on a single team, employees are usually part of multiple circles that each perform certain functions.

In addition, there are no managers in the classically defined sense. Instead,

T,

Zappos and Robertson are careful to note that while a holacracy may get rid of traditional managers (those who both manage others’ work and hold the keys to their career success), there is still structure and employees’ work is still watched. Poor performers, Robertson says, stand out when they don’t have enough “roles” to fill their time, or when a group of employees charged with monitoring the company’s culture decide they’re not a good fit.

there are people known as “lead links” who have the ability to assign employees to roles or remove them from them, but who are not in a position to actually tell people what to do.

Decisions about what each role entails and how various teams should function are instead made by a governing process of people from each circle.

Bunch does note, however, that at Zappos the broadest circles can to some extent tell sub-groups what they’re accountable for doing.

Bunch, meanwhile, says that while people have latched on to the idea that Zappos is getting rid of managers, what the company is actually doing is “decoupling the professional development side of the business from the technical getting-thework-done side.”

Both also say that while the system lacks traditional managers, it does not mean that leaders won’t emerge. If anything, the goal is to get more people to take charge.

Still, truly stamping out the corporate hierarchy may be much more difficult than it seems. Bob Sutton, a professor

at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and author of the forthcoming book “Scaling Up Excellence“, says “show me any group of five human beings or five apes or five dogs, and I want to see the one where a status difference does not emerge. It’s who we are as creatures.”

While Sutton says that the instinct to remove as much friction and internal competition is the right idea, “creating situations where you’re clear who has decision authority is important.”

Without that, he says, “you get more politics.”

Since April, Zappos has moved 10 percent of its employees to the new system. Now that it’s official, Bunch expects that the rest of the company’s employees will transition by the end of 2014. He acknowledges that it could take up to six additional months, though, for people to fully understand its complexity. “There’s no two ways around it this is a difficult system to grasp. We’re so ingrained in the traditional work paradigm.”

At its core, a holacracy aims to organize a company around the work that needs to be done instead of around the people who do it. As a result, employees do not have job titles.

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OBITUARY

LESSONS RAYMOND WEIL TAUGHT US

Raymond Weil, whose Swiss watches told more than time, recently passed away. He was 87. His story is one of beating all odds. Raymond Weil is not a centuries old Swiss brand. He came into Switzerland’s watch-making scene when it was beginning to be destroyed by the so-called Quartz Crisis. He was also not young when he started out on his own. It was 1976 and he was 50 years old when he started Raymond Weil, after getting bitterly disappointed with how his employer of 27 years - Camy Watch - was reacting to the advent of cheaper battery powered quartz watches coming from Japan and Asia. Raymond Weil, together with an equally big visionary Nicolas G. Hayek of Swatch, repositioned their products as luxury fashion accessories, and the results have been astounding for the entire Swiss watch-making industry. Weil was also a master in quality management, branding, celebrity endorsements, and in the art of staying as an independent company. wiss watch companies had dominated the world of precision timekeeping for two centuries by the 1970s, when a technological marvel known as the quartz watch - a cheaper, more accurate work of horology mass-produced in Asia threatened them with extinction.

Between 1970 and 1983, as watch buyers abandoned windup mechanical timepieces for digital ones, the Swiss lost half their watch companies, twothirds of their watchmaking jobs and their unrivaled authority as the world’s most reliable timekeepers. Industry Seasonal Magazine

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analysts called it the “quartz crisis.”

Raymond Weil, who died at 87 on January 26 in Geneva, started a watch company that bore his name in the midst of all that, joining a watchmaking vanguard that saved the nation’s signature product by redefining it.

Swiss watches had been marketed as symbols of intellectual rigor and personal integrity. Beginning in the late 1970s, Mr. Weil and major Swiss watchmakers like Nicolas G. Hayek, founder of the Swatch Group, sought to reposition them as paragons of haute fashion - “an emotional product,

carrying a message about the authenticity, uniqueness and excellence of the wearer,” said Ryan L. Raffaelli, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School who has studied the Swiss watchmaking industry.

Mr. Weil, who led his company for about 20 years, combined high-quality mechanisms produced in his own and other Swiss factories with original designs and features. By the late 1980s, Professor Raffaelli said, the Swiss companies still standing had followed suit.

Mr. Weil started his company in 1976, when he was 50. He began modestly, selling his first designs from a foldout bridge table in a stall in Geneva, he said in a 2011 company promotional video interview. Most people in the industry considered it a mad scheme, Professor Raffaelli said; about 800 Swiss watchmaking companies died in the 1970s.

Mr. Weil, who led the company for about 20 years, combined highquality mechanisms produced in his own and other Swiss factories with original designs and features. He then marketed them internationally to appeal to so-called entry-level luxury buyers. In today’s dollars, entry-level luxury watches sell for $500 to $4,000. High-end luxury models cost $20,000 or more.

Mr. Weil’s line included both mechanical Swiss watches of the spring-powered, cog-and-gear type and others powered by quartz crystals, known as Swiss quartz watches. What they all had in common were their “Swiss-made” bona fides; design values that conveyed understated grace (what The Times of London characterized as a “watch with lovely manners”); and the benefit of Mr. Weil’s marketing.

Mr. Weil was also considered a pioneer in celebrity endorsement advertising. Paul McCartney, Lady

(By Paul Vitellofeb for New York Times) Gaga, Ozzy Osbourne and Andrea Bocelli are among the stars who have been contracted to wear Raymond Weil watches exclusively for defined periods.

The company, now run by Mr. Weil’s son-in-law, Olivier Bernheim, and two grandsons, Elie and Pierre Bernheim, has become one of the most familiar of the Swiss watch brands. And in a Swiss industry with genealogies, in most cases, dating back a century or more, Raymond Weil is both the youngest and one of the few independent, family-run watchmaking concerns in the country.

Since the 1980s, Swiss watchmakers have re-established their pre-eminence, at least in terms of sales: in a 2010 study, they accounted for just over half the dollar value of all watches sold

worldwide. The most expensive are Swiss mechanical watches.

Raymond Louis Weil was born in Geneva on Oct. 10, 1926. After graduating from a technical high school, he went to work for the Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), a Swiss company that inspects and verifies the quantity, weight and quality of various goods traded around the world.

In 1949 he joined Camy Watch in Geneva and rose to general manager.

He worked there for 27 years before deciding to strike out on his own, partly

in frustration at his employer’s passivity in response to the quartz crisis. Camy was later bought by a Hong Kong watchmaking company.

watchmaking in the 1970s had fathers, grandfathers, greatgrandfathers and beyond, who had done the same work.”

Mr. Weil is survived by his wife, Eliane Bloch Weil, and two daughters, Diana and Anita Weil.

“Watchmaking was tied up in what it meant to be Swiss, the national sense of competence,” he said.

Professor Raffaelli said the threat posed by the 1970s crisis was existential as well as economic. “This was an industry that traced its roots to the early 1500s,” he said. “People employed in

Mr. Weil, though not the son of a watchmaker, sensed the importance of the craft to the national identity.

“He was a kind of visionary,” Professor Raffaelli said.

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E CAFFBEooIN sts Long-term

MEMORY

Energy booster for some, waking-up stimulant for others.

Now, caffeine stirs another benefit as you prepare that morning cup of coffee or tea - enhancing memory.

I

n a first study of its kind, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US have discovered that caffeine has a positive effect on long-term memory in humans.

Michael Yassa, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences in the

Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins, and his team found that caffeine enhances certain memories at least up to 24 hours after it is consumed.

"We've always known that caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects, but its particular effects on strengthening memories and making them resistant to forgetting has never been examined in detail in humans," said senior author Yassa.

"We report for the first time a specific effect of caffeine on reducing forgetting over 24 hours," he added in the study published in the journal Nature

HEALTH Neuroscience. The participants who did not regularly eat or drink caffeinated products received either a placebo or a 200-milligram caffeine tablet five minutes after studying a series of images.

Salivary samples were taken from the participants before they took the tablets to measure their caffeine levels.

The next day, both groups were tested on their ability to recognise images from the previous day's session, said the study.

The researchers added some new visuals and some images similar to the items previously viewed.

More members of the caffeine group were able to correctly identify the new images as "similar" to previously viewed images.

"If we used a standard recognition memory task without these tricky similar items, we would have found no effect of caffeine," said Yassa.

Using these items required the brain to make a more difficult discrimination what we call pattern separation, which seems to be the process that is enhanced by caffeine in this case, the study added.

The brain's ability to recognise the difference between two similar but not identical items reflects a deeper level of memory retention, the researchers said.

Until now, caffeine's effects on longterm memory had not been examined in detail. Of the few studies done, the general consensus was that caffeine has little or no effect on long-term memory retention.

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Page23

HAZARD enforcement of whatever laws that exist.”

Nearly Half of

FAIRNESS CREAMS in India Contains

MERCURY

oxic metal mercury, which is not allowed to be used in cosmetics in India, is found in 44 per cent of the fairness creams in India, a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found. It also found chromium and nickel in around fifty per cent of the lipstick samples it tested.

The CSE’s Pollution Monitoring Lab (PML), which did the study, says use of mercury in cosmetics is prohibited in India. But PML found mercury in 44 per cent of the fairness creams it tested. It also found chromium in 50 per cent and nickel in 43 per cent of the lipstick samples which were tested.

The CSE had also tested for lead and cadmium but they were not found in any of the products.

The study also tested samples of antiageing creams and lip balms. But it did not find any heavy metal in anti-aging creams and lip balms.

“Mercury is not supposed to be present in cosmetic products. Their mere presence in these products is completely illegal and unlawful,” said CSE’s director general Sunita Narain.

“Additionally, the fact that our lab did not find mercury in 56 per cent of the products tested suggests that the industry has the capacity and wherewithal to clean up their act. Many companies are following the law – what is stopping the others from doing so?” she asked.

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Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Acts and Rules of India, mercury, a neurotoxin, is banned for use in cosmetics. Inorganic mercury present in fairness creams can damage kidneys and may cause rashes, skin discolouration and scarring. It can also cause anxiety, depression, psychosis and peripheral neuropathy.

The CSE’s deputy director general Chandra Bhushan, who is also PML’s head, said, “What is coming out very clearly is that this sector has extremely weak regulations and almost no

In an attempt to gauge the safety of the cosmetic products it tested, the CSE compared the levels of heavy metals found with their Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) limits. ADI is the maximum amount of a toxin that a person can be exposed to over a lifetime without any appreciable health risk.

However, since India has not set any limits for ADI of mercury, the CSE compared the amount of mercury in fairness creams with the ADI set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The study showed that the whitening creams may contribute up to 71 per cent of the ADI for mercury, depending upon the product and the amount of the fairness cream used.

For the study, the CSE tested 73 cosmetic products of four different categories for heavy metals. Thirty two fairness creams (26 for women and six for men) were tested for mercury.

Thirty lipsticks, eight lip balms and three anti-ageing creams were tested for lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel.

The samples included both Indian and the international cosmetic brands along with a few herbal products as well.

TEEN CAREERS

TIPS FOR TEENS:

FOUR WAYS TO TRY OUT CAREERS BEFORE CHOOSING ONE For most teenagers, the working world may seem like a faraway destination, but it’s never too early to explore career paths, deepen your knowledge and develop your skills. aria McGinnis works in career services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and assists students in all phases of career development.

According to McGinnis, you don’t have to know exactly what you want to do right away.

good to be open to many careers rather than focused on one option.”

“Being unsure about your career path is totally normal,” she says. “In fact, it’s

Perhaps you’re required to complete a few hours of volunteer work through a

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A great way to begin thinking about your chosen career path is to experience different types of jobs. Here are three ways to “try out” careers before you commit to them.

1. Volunteer

class or FFA. Pick a project that will challenge you to learn something new.

Whether you love or hate the experience, you’ll learn more about the kind of work that best fits you. For example, if you are considering a career as a veterinarian, volunteer at your local animal shelter. Or if you think you’d like to be a teacher, volunteer at an afterschool youth facility.

2. Job shadow Many professionals are more than happy to spend a couple of hours sharing their insight and experiences.

Your local FFA alumni chapter is a good place to start making these contacts.

When you go on a job shadow, be

prepared and make the most of the professional’s time. McGinnis recommends perfecting the way you introduce yourself so that you can share your skills and interests in a meaningful way. Also, be sure to ask the person you’ll be shadowing some basic questions about what to wear, what materials to bring and what timeframe they can commit to you. The more prepared you are for the day, the more you’ll learn and gain from the experience.

3. Get a part-time job Sometimes, you can earn money while learning about a future career. Potential meat or food scientists can often get part-time jobs at local grocery stores or meat markets, where daily interaction with career professionals can make a major difference. Animal enthusiasts often find work at a veterinarian’s office. When pursuing a part-time job, make sure it’s something you are ready to commit to. You’ll be treated as part of the team and afforded more opportunities if you can work there for months or years at a time. Be honest, up front, about the number of hours you can work each week. If it’s not enough time to justify the position, some businesses will still allow you to job shadow or volunteer without pay, just to gain the experience.

4. Pursue an apprenticeship or internship Unlike other part-time jobs, internships and apprenticeships are generally offered for a specific duration of time.

Just like your supervised agricultural experience program, they offer handson experiences that build upon what you’ve learned in the classroom.

McGinnis recommends picking the internship that will challenge you the most.

“Interns who ‘push the envelope’ tend to come away with experience that will be useful when they graduate,” she says.

Some internships are paid while others

Maria McGinnis

“Interns who ‘push the envelope’ tend to come away with experience that will be useful when they graduate,”

are not. McGinnis reminds students that unpaid internships can provide experiences and skills that make the investment of time well worth it.

Can you do it all?

Balance your time wisely. If you’re concerned you don’t have time for a job, start slowly with a few volunteer hours or job-shadow experiences. Take on an internship or part-time job when you feel you’re organized enough to fulfill all of your responsibilities.

“We encourage students to find connections between what they need to do and what they ought to do,” McGinnis says. “Students gain many professional skills completing experiences that either combine academics with professional development or take place when school is not in session.”

– Andrea Bloom Seasonal Magazine

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CRYSTAL BALL

7 BIGGEST TECH PREDICTIONS FOR 2014 1 Charging Will Go Wireless Wireless charging will become popular as we move towards a universal standard for inductive power mats/pads.

Storage Will Go Cloud

2

Pretty much everyone is backing this one: a continued shift towards cloud storage (i.e. saving your documents to services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud). It makes things easier to access wherever you are and saves on hard drive space - but security will have to be top notch. The first big hacking of a cloud service will dent confidence.

3

Cars Will Self Park Will my car soon be able to reverse neatly into a space at the touch of a button? Ford, Mercedes, Toyota and several other carmakers have demonstrated autoparking technology - so, is it ready for public use?

The latest demonstrations look pretty good - but there are legal hurdles to surpass.

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We Will Start Wearing Tech This is the big one. A recent major survey showed that 91% of people are excited about gadgets you can wear - either glasses, wristbands or clothing. 2014 promises smartwatch launches from Google and Apple, as well as a host of other tech accessories. The revolution will be led by Google Glass becoming available to all. By December 2014 you'll be able to communicate using a stand-alone smartwatch, browse the internet in your glasses and log dozens of health measurements through wristbands, trainers and clothes.

5 We Will Return to Sign Language

4

As the Xbox One Kinect and PS4 camera systems develop, we're increasingly going to be telling our devices what to do by waving our hands around.

As other manufacturers get on the bandwagon, we'll need a standard 'language' of gestures, like the pinching and swiping on smartphones.

Passwords Too Will Pass

6

2014 will be the year that we give up on written passwords and use biometric data - primarily fingerprints - instead. It makes sense - passwords are increasingly fragile. But switching over to a new means of online identification will take a long time. Expect Apple to lead the way on this one as they reveal new uses for the iPhone 5S's fingerprint scanner.

Skype Will be More Than Hype

7

Voice Over IP (VoIP) or using broadband for calls, including for video calls through services like Skype will become the standard for phone calls in 2014. Although Skype and its ilk are useful, particularly for international calls, the reliability and bandwidth have to increase.

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HEALTH

MEN’S NO.1 HEALTH SECRET IS SLEEP, FOR LADIES, IT IS GOOD FOOD

Good sleep patterns can help men live longer but women will only benefit if they follow a diverse diet too, a new Australian study has found.

“Poor sleep has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease.

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Women who ate a varied diet, including sources rich in vitamin B6, could still live long lives despite poor sleep habits

Monash University led collaborative study investigated the ways diet contributed to the relationship between sleep quality and mortality among elderly men and women.

Women who ate a varied diet, including sources rich in vitamin B6, could still live long lives despite poor sleep habits, according to the study that had researchers from Monash University, National Defence Medical Centre, Taiwan, and National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan.

Mark Wahlqvist, Emeritus professor at Monash University, said sleep played a more important role in men’s mortality than women’s.

“Poor sleep has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality, including obesity, diabetes,

cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease. We found that for both genders, poor sleep was strongly correlated with poor appetite and poor perceived health,” Walhqvist said.

He said there was significant interaction between sleep quality and dietary diversity. For men, poor sleep was not associated with a greater risk of death unless there was also insufficient dietary diversity. For women, good sleep only provide a survival advantage if they had a diverse diet.

The study, recently published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, found women were almost twice as likely as men to sleep badly.

Women who were poor sleepers had a lower intake of vitamin B6 from food than those whose sleep was rated fair or good. Also, fair sleepers had lower iron intakes than good sleepers.

However, both men and women could improve their outlook by eating a more varied diet.

“Sufficient dietary diversity in men could offset the adverse effect on mortality of poor sleep while women need to make sure they are eating foods high in vitamin B6,” he said.

People who did not sleep well were also less able to chew, had poor appetites and indulged in less physical activity. These characteristics could contribute to lower overall dietary quality and food and nutrient intake, especially for vegetables, protein-rich foods, and vitamin B-6, Walhqvist said.

“They may also contribute to the risk of death, either in their own right or together with problematic sleep.

Intervention focusing on education on healthy dietary practices in elderly people could improve sleep duration and provide more stable levels of health,” he said.

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HOLISTIC

10 MINUTES TO LEARN THE BEST MEDITATION

Meditation for Relaxation Response, inspired from a Har vard Study of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation (TM) is perhaps the world’s best researched and best ranked scientific way to meditate for wholesome health and productivity benefits. Its pioneer Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard’s Mind/Body Medical Institute shows how to practise Meditation for Relaxation Response. r. Benson has studied the body’s ‘relaxation response for nearly 45 years, and says, ‘’Why it’s so important today is because over 60 percent of visits to the doctor are in the stress-related realm.”

Here are the eight steps to meditate and achieve relaxation response: Pick a focus word, short phrase, or prayer that is firmly rooted in your belief system, such as ‘’God”, ‘“Still”, “Peace”, or ‘’The Lord is my Shepherd.”

Sit quietly in a comfortable position.

Close your eyes. Relax your muscles, Seasonal Magazine

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progressing from your feet to your calves, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, head, and neck.

Dr. Herbert Benson

Breathe slowly and naturally, and as you do, say your focus word, sound, phrase, or prayer silently to yourself as you exhale.

doing. When other thoughts come to mind, simply say to yourself, ‘’Oh well,” and gently return to your repetition.

Don’t worry about how well you’re

Continue for 10 to 20 minutes.

Relaxation Response meditation lowers BP, boosts immunity and fights stress and many diseases

Do not stand immediately. Continue sitting quietly for a minute or so, allowing other thoughts to return. Then open your eyes and sit for another minute before rising.

Practice the technique once or twice daily. Good times to do so are before breakfast and before dinner.

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STRANGE

WHAT MAKES BILL GATES FEEL INADEQUATE Bill Gates recently took on World Chess Champ, Magnus Carlsen, but was mated in just 9 moves by the 23-year old.

Challenged tto o a game in a cha w host ed bbyy chatt sho show hosted esen well-kno wn Nor wegian ttele ele vision pr pre sentter FFrredrik ell-known Norw elevision ast in Nor way, Denmark and Sk avlan and w as ttelec elec Ska wa eleca Norw oso ounder Bill Ga e Sweden, Micr Microso osofft FFounder Gattes said be beffor ore the game tha ede thatt the challenge had “a pr prede edettermined out come”. outc owned Nor wegian w orld che cro Norw world chesss champion Newly wly cr Ne Magnus C arlsen ttook ook just nine mo o Carlsen movv e s tto checkma game.. checkmatte Bill Ga Gattes in a speed game

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Ga ank ed curr en tly a orld’s sec ondGattes, 58, rrank anked curren ently ass the w world’s secondriche st per son behind Me xic o’s C arlos Slim, had 2 richest person Mexic xico’s Carlos o mak e his mo onds minut es tto make movves against just 30 sec seconds minute o the 23-y ear-old in ar ound for C arlsen. But he lost tto Carlsen.

23-year-old around 1 minut e 20 sec onds. minute seconds.

“W ow, tha as ffa ast,” he said tto o C arlsen, whose thatt w wa “Wo Carlsen, rock st ar appeal ha on him the monik er Justin ockst star hass w won moniker er,, the ““Justin avlan under wha Bieber o sk Ska whatt off che chesss”. A Ask sked ed bbyy Sk cir cumst anc es he ffelt elt in tually inadequa cumstanc ance inttellec ellectually inadequatte, Ga Gattes circumst wer ed: “When I pla arlsen)”. ans answ ered: playy che chesss with him (C (Carlsen)”. er sinc e he w ec eiv ed Carlsen, a gr andma st grandma andmast ster since wa eceiv eived as 13, rrec ele vision cco over age in Nor way when he non-st op ttele elevision erage Norw non-stop bea is wana than Anand o anathan off beatt de deffending champion V Vis isw o ttak ak e his fir st w orld title India la st No ake first world title.. last Novvember tto

HEALTH

DRINKING LINKED TO MENTAL DECLINE IN MIDDLE-AGED MEN Middle-aged men risk a faster mental decline as they age if they've been drinking heavily for years, new research suggests. he study of about 5,000 British civil servants found that over a decade, the added decline was the equivalent of about two extra years of aging for a combined measure of mental abilities like reasoning, and about six years for memory. The heavy drinkers' abilities were compared to those of men who drank moderately or abstained.

It's no surprise that heavy alcohol consumption can affect the brain, but the study focuses on an age range that has received much less attention from alcohol researchers than the elderly and college students.

The work was published online by the

journal Neurology. Researchers found no such effect in women, but the study included too few female heavy drinkers to test the effect of drinking the same amount as in men, said Severine Sabia, a study author from University College London.

In an email, she said it was not possible to identify a specific minimum level of consumption at which the risk begins in men.

Her study used data from over 20 years. Using questionnaires, researchers calculated the men's average daily intake of alcohol for the decade up to when they were an average of 56 years old. Then, they tracked decline in mental abilities over the following decade from tests

administered every five years.

Accelerated decline was seen for the heaviest-drinking group, which included 469 men with a wide range of alcohol intake. The minimum amount was the equivalent of about 13 ounces of wine a day or about 30 ounces of beer. The maximum was about three times that.

Men drinking that minimum amount are not necessarily at risk for accelerated mental decline, since the results pertain to the category overall, said Sara Jo Nixon, a substance abuse researcher at the University of Florida in Gainesville, who did not participate in the work.

She also said that the study shows a link between drinking and faster mental decline but not proof that alcohol intake was responsible. And she said that because of the sensitive mental tests used in the study, the extra declines in performance may be too subtle to make a difference in daily life. Sabia said she believed the difference would eventually be noticeable.

Still, Nixon said, the study "does suggest that middle-aged to youngold individuals do need to pay attention to what their drinking habits have been, and are."

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AUTO

HONDA BUILDS MUSCLE, WHILE HARLEY GOES DIETING Honda is finally realizing that 150 cc commuters are not enough for India. The Japanese giant is planning to launch a 650 cc 4 cylinder monster.

Harley Davidson, meanwhile, is finally realizing that cruisers above 1000 cc are not going to be popular in India, perhaps, ever. The iconic American brand is scaling down and launching a 750 cc and even a 500 cc cruiser soon.

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HONDA-CBR650F

HD Street 750 Honda announced a new bike, CBR 650F, on the first day of the 12th Auto Expo in Greater Noida on Wednesday.

The CBR 650F will be available from mid-2015. The price for the two-wheeler was not revealed by the Japanese auto-maker. Sources, however, said the sports bike would be priced at around Rs. 7 lakh.

The CBR 650F will be assembled in India and powered by an all-new 650cc four-cylinder engine. The engine will come with a six-speed gearbox.

There is a growing buzz in the sportsbike segment in India and Honda’s new bike will put it within reach of several motorcycling enthusiasts. The bike would compete with the Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the Triumph Street Triple.

Meanwhile, iconic US bike-maker Harley-Davidson has just come within kissing distance of becoming affordable, to many more customers. The company recently launched the entry-level Street 750 at Rs. 4.1 lakh, bookings for which will begin on March 1.

If you don’t mind waiting another year, the company is in the process of giving the finishing touches to the Street’s younger sibling, a 500cc version, which is expected to bring the price point even lower.

Launching the Street 750 bike on the first day of Auto Expo 2014, Anoop Prakash, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson India, said: “We believe the new Street 750 will excite a new segment of urban riders in India and to experience the Harley-Davidson lifestyle at an accessible price.”

The Street 750 will be built at the company’s assembly facility in Bawal, Haryana and exported to select international markets.

The Street series are the company’s first new launch in 14 years. It had approached 3,000 bikers in 10 countries including some 600 from India - mainly Delhi and Mumbai - for inputs while designing the bike. “We will continue to adopt and invest in strategies that make our products and ownership experience accessible to more enthusiasts and customers in India,” Prakash said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch event, he said that lower price does not compromise on the quality or feel of the bike, which has a number of components sourced at lower costs from India.

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EXPERT

PETROL ENGINE PERFORMS BETTER: British racing driver Timothy 'Tiff' Needell, who hosts Fifth Gear, a television series on automobiles from around the world, offers some car safety and maintenance tips hat are some important, but often ignored, safety precautions to be taken while driving?

First thing, check the tyre pressure.

If the tyre is underinflated, it can overheat. And if it is overinflated, handling the car on the road can get a bit tricky. Concentration is another factor which cannot be emphasised enough. While racing, absolute focus is crucial. But even during your everyday driving, you must concentrate hundred per cent. In England, for example, it is legal to speak on a hands-free device while driving. But I can tell you from personal experience that three or four times, I have missed my regular motorway junctions because I was speaking on the hands-free. So, don't turn on the radio and don't talk to fellow passengers or on the mobile phone. Else, the mind just starts wandering all over the place.

What are the two most important points to consider while buying a Seasonal Magazine

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second-hand car?

A mechanical check of the car is a must. Get as much information about the car and its history so that you know what you are seeing in what you are getting. Ideally, take a friend along who knows something about automobiles. Look around, open the door, check the bonnet, go on a test drive and importantly, get an expert opinion. Don't rush into it.

If you were to buy a second-hand car from the Indian market, which one would you choose in the following categories and why: sedan, hatchback and SUV? Everybody has his or her preferences and requirements. Personally, I like the BMW X5, which is a midsize luxury SUV. Honda too is very trustworthy. My son recently bought a Honda Civic. But there is so much choice that it's difficult to say which is the best in each category. On my show, there will be experts who will be analysing the cars and their performance at length.

How should one drive and maintain a car so that it fetches a good price in the second-hand market?

For maintenance, ideally always go to the dealer who sold you the car. I know there are street-side garages too, but research them well before trusting them with your car. On an everyday basis, check the tyre pressure. Maintaining the correct tyre pressure is important not just for optimum fuel efficiency, but also so that there is less wear and tear to the car. Also check the level of fluid - oil and water. It all boils down to air, water and oil.

Between a diesel and a petrol car, which one would you say is better and why?

I would go for a petrol version any day. A petrol engine revs high and gives better performance. While a diesel car is more economical, a badly maintained diesel automobile gives more trouble and is far more polluting.

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LEADERSHIP

American Banking’s Rising Star is an

advisory firm Silver Lane Advisors, has a similar story to tell. Nesvold, who has been a banker for more than two decades, said it took 16 years until she sat across from another female senior banker during deal negotiations.

Indian Woman

Nesvold said she also thinks being a woman helps at times.

“Sometimes clients have told me things that I am 100 per cent sure they would have not told a man,” Nesvold said.

“The work-life balance is challenging, while we see a lot of young women come into the profession, we do not see that many senior women stay the course.”

JPMorgan Chase & Co is the largest bank in America. Anu is a India-born woman banker and still an Indian citizen. Why is she considered as the rising star at JPMorgan? ifteen years ago, when Anu went for an interview to become a mergers and acquisitions banker at a major Wall Street firm, she got a stark, disappointing message.

“You have three strikes against you,” Anu Aiyengar, who was born in India, recalled the interviewer telling her.

“How can I hire you? You are the wrong gender, wrong color and wrong country.”

Anu, now a managing director at JPMorgan Chase & Co, is seen as one of the rising stars within the largest U.S. bank’s M&A group, advising clients in sectors ranging from retail to industrials.

Over the past 15 years at JPMorgan, she has worked on around $200 billion worth of transactions. Last year, she advised on such deals as auto parts retailer Advance Auto Parts Inc’s $2 billion purchase of General Parts International Inc, and office supply company Office Depot Inc’s $1 billion acquisition of rival OfficeMax Inc. JPMorgan was ranked No. 2 in M&A deals by value globally last year. Being a woman, she said, has proven to be an advantage in connecting with clients, so much so that many become friends or mentors. “Maybe it’s stereotypical, but I do feel that listening skills are pretty important,” she said.

Former OfficeMax CEO Ravi Saligram said Anu gained his trust with her analytical skills and because she spoke her mind. “She’s not afraid to push back,” Saligram said. “She Seasonal Magazine

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Anu said she makes an effort to find that balance. Married for 18 years with no children, Anu, who remains an Indian citizen, said she finds relaxation through Indian classical dance and tries to stay in touch with friends and family outside of banking. She also tries to mentor younger women bankers.

“

I am very passionate about having more women in broader financial services, and especially banking, not just M&A,

”

was not a ‘yes’ person.” Still, Anu said she rarely comes across other women in her business, a reflection of how corporate America and Wall Street remain male-dominated, even if the kind of overt prejudice that she experienced fifteen years ago has receded.

Women made up 15.6 per cent of top executives and managers at U.S. investment banks in 2012, compared with 17.7 per cent in 2007, according to annual studies published by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Elizabeth Nesvold, a managing director at the women-owned M&A

“I am very passionate about having more women in broader financial services, and especially banking, not just M&A,” she said.

Anu herself benefited from mentors such as Eric Stein, JPMorgan’s head of investment banking coverage for North America, who helped her with everything from learning how to build deal models to the intricacies of American football.

“He spent six hours on a white board teaching me how to set up a model,” she said. “My basic checking models are still set up the way he originally taught me.”

Stein said it is rare to find a banker who can handle a wide range of deals, from financial services to retail. Teaching her American football, however, was another matter.

“There is no doubt teaching her football was more difficult, but part of the reason was I tried to convince her to join me in being a Buffalo Bills fan,” Stein said. “I am proud to say she is getting there after close to 20 years, and much more quickly than I have picked up on cricket.”

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MIND-BODY

ARGUING TO DEATH Arguing with your partner is bad for your heart it seems.

Couples who don’t support each other have ‘thicker arteries’. People who think their partner is often unsupportive are more likely to develop heart disease.

Being unsupportive is actually more damaging to the arteries than overall marriage quality, say researchers.

rguing with a partner isn’t just upsetting - it’s also bad for your heart.

People who think their partner is unsupportive are more likely to develop heart disease, a study has found. Scientists at the University of Utah found people who say their spouse is sometimes supportive but also sometimes upsetting have higher levels of artery calcification. This suggests their arteries are diseased and they are at greater risk of premature death. The findings showed that when both partners perceive the support they get from each other as ambivalent - that is, sometimes helpful and sometimes upsetting - each partner’s levels of coronary artery calcification tend to be particularly high.

“There is a large body of research suggesting that our relationships are predictors of mortality rates, especially from cardiovascular disease,” said Bert Uchino, a psychological scientist at the University of Utah.

“But most prior work has ignored the fact that many relationships are Seasonal Magazine

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characterised by both positive and negative aspects - in other words, ambivalence.” Dr Uchino and his colleagues were interested in exploring how this complexity in relationships predicts cardiovascular health.

The researchers asked 136 older couples – with an average age of 63 to fill out questionnaires measuring their overall marriage quality, as well as their perceived levels of support from their spouse.

Specifically, they indicated how helpful or upsetting their spouse was during times when they needed support, advice, or a favour. The researchers found that about 30 per cent of individuals viewed their partner as delivering positive support, whereas 70 per cent viewed their partner as ambivalent - sometimes helpful and sometimes upsetting.

People who say their spouse is sometimes supportive but also sometimes upsetting have higher levels of artery calcification suggesting their arteries are more diseased.

Using a CT scanner to check for overall

calcification in the participants’ coronary arteries, the researchers found that artery calcification levels were highest when both partners in the relationship viewed each other as ambivalent.

When only one partner felt this way, the risk was significantly less. The effect was independent of gender, meaning that these associations were comparable for husbands and wives.

Given that the participants were married for an average of 36 years, one might predict that overall marital satisfaction would have a significant impact on cardiovascular disease risk - but the researchers did not find that to be the case.

It was the positive and negative aspects of lending support that were most significant in predicting cardiovascular health, suggesting that these factors exert their effects independently of overall marital quality.

“

There is a large body of research suggesting that our relationships are predictors of mortality rates, especially from cardiovascular disease.

”

It is not exactly clear why this is the case, but the researchers hypothesise that when both partners perceive each other as a source of ambivalence, it changes their behaviour toward one another.

“The findings suggest that couples who have more ambivalent views of each other actively interact or process relationship information in ways that increase their stress or undermine the supportive potential in the relationship,” said Dr Uchino. “This, in turn, may influence their cardiovascular disease risk.”

While Dr Uchino and his colleagues cannot be certain that mutual ambivalence causes higher levels of artery calcification, since the study didn’t follow participants over time, the results do provide the initial evidence necessary for further studies on relationship support and cardiovascular health.

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INEQUALITY

HOW 60 INDIANS CAN END INDIAN POVERTY FOREVER India has 60 odd dollar billionaires currently. Just half of their combined net worth is enough to end India’s poverty forever, says IMF. Now, you will understand why programs like the Giving Pledge by Gates & Buffett makes so much sense. he net worth of India’s billionaire community has soared 12-fold in 15 years, which is enough to eliminate absolute poverty twice over in the country, where income inequality is also on the rise, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Seven out of ten people in the world today live in countries where inequality has increased over the past

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three decades,” IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said while delivering the Richard Dimbleby Lecture in London.

“We are all keenly aware that income inequality has been rising in most countries,” Lagarde said in her speech.

“The richest 85 people in the world own the same amount of wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population,” Lagarde added.

“In the US, inequality is back to where

it was before the Great Depression, and the richest 1 per cent captured 95 per cent of all income gains since 2009 while the bottom 90 per cent got poorer,” she said, ruing that in the past, economists have underestimated the importance of inequality.

Observing that over the next three decades, the world’s population will get much larger and much older, Lagarde said that in 30 years there will be about two billion more people on the planet, including three quarters of a billion people over the age of 65.

“By 2020, for the first time ever, there will be more old people over 65 than children under five,” Lagarde said. “In the coming decades, we expect India to surpass China, and Nigeria to surpass the United States, in terms of population.

“And both China and India will start ageing in the near future. This can create problems on both ends of the demographic spectrum for youthful countries and for greying countries,” Lagarde said.

AT T I T U D E

WHICH CAME FIRST? CHICKEN OR EGG? HEALTH OR HAPPINESS? BEING HE AL TH Y C AN MAKE A PERS ON HAPP Y, HEAL ALTH THY CAN PERSON HAPPY BUT HAPPINE S S IT SELF MA Y AL S O LE AD TTO O HAPPINES ITSELF MAY ALS LEAD BE TTER HE AL TH, A CCORDING TTO O A NE WS TUD Y. BET HEAL ALTH, AC NEW STUD TUDY esearchers found that people who enjoy life tend to maintain better physical function than those who don’t in daily activities as they age.

The study included more than 3,000 people age 60 and older living in England, and followed them for eight years. The study participants reported how much they enjoyed life by rating statements such as “I enjoy the things that I do,” and “I enjoy being in the company of others.”

according to the study published Jan. 20 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The researchers also found that happier people’s walking speed declines at a slower rate than those who enjoy life less,” said Andrew Steptoe, director of Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London.

“This is not because the happier people are in better health, or younger, or

richer, or have more healthy lifestyles at the outset, since even when we take these factors into account, the relationship persists,” Steptoe said.

The results also showed that the study participants with higher economic status and education, and those who were married and working, had higher levels of wellbeing.

As expected, poor health was linked to lower levels of happiness: People with chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, stroke and depression reported lower levels of enjoyment of life.

Researchers had previously shown that older people with greater enjoyment of life are more likely to survive over the next eight years, Steptoe said. The new findings show that “they also keep up better physical function,” he said.

The study cannot confirm a cause-andeffect relationship between happiness and health, but adds to the evidence that enjoyment of life is relevant to the future disability and mobility of older people, according to the researchers.

“Efforts to enhance well-being at older ages may have benefits to society and health care systems,” the researchers said.

Using in-person interviews, the researchers examined whether participants experienced impairments in their daily activities, such as getting out of bed, getting dressed or bathing.

They also gauged participants’ walking speed with a gait test.

The results showed that happier people maintained better physical function as they aged, even when the researchers accounted for confounding factors such as age, healthier lifestyle and economic situation.

The unhappiest people in the study were about 80 percent more likely to develop impairments in daily functions, compared with the happiest, Seasonal Magazine

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HAZARD

WHY NIGHT WORK SHOULD BE ANYBODY’S LAST OPTION Doing the night shift throws the body “into chaos” and could cause long-term damage, warn researchers. The same goes for those who sleep very late on a daily basis.

Shif ork ha ed tto o higher Shiftt w work hass been link linked rates o ype 2 diabe off ttype diabettes, hear heartt a atttack ackss and ccanc anc er w scien tist ancer er.. No Now scientist tistss a att the Sleep R esear ch C en tr e in Surr ey ha Re search Cen entr tre Surre havve unc over ed the disrup tion shif ork unco ered disruption shiftt w work st molecular le cause usess a att the deepe deepest levvel.

Exper ale ale,, speed and xpertts said the sc scale aused bbyy being se sevverit erityy o off damage cca awak ea as a surprise ake att night w wa surprise..

The human body ha wn na tur al hass it itss o own natur tural rhy thm or body clock tuned tto o sleep rhythm

at night and be ac tiv e during the da activ tive dayy.

It ha ofound eefffec hass pr pro ectts on the body body,, alt ering eevver om hormone altering eryything fr from hormoness and body ttemper emper atur e tto o a thle tic empera ture athle thletic abilit ain func tion. TThe he abilityy, mood and br brain function. study oc eedings o study,, published in Pr Proc oceedings off the Na tional A c ademy o e s, National Ac off Scienc Science follo wed 22 people a as ollow ass their body w wa om a normal pa o tha shif patttern tto thatt shiftted fr from er of a night-shif ork night-shiftt w work orker er..

Blood tte est wed tha stss sho show thatt normally 6%

of gene tions ccon on geness - the instruc instructions onttained in DNA - w er e pr ecisely timed tto o be wer ere precisely mor e or le tiv ea more lesss ac activ tive att specific time timess of the da dayy.

Onc e the vvolun olun er e w orking Once oluntteer eerss w wer ere working thr ough the night, tha tic finethrough thatt gene genetic tuning w as lost. wa “O 7% o thmic gene ome “Ovver 9 97% off rhy rhythmic geness bec become out o ync with mistimed sleep and off ssync this rreally eally eexplains xplains why w e ffeel eel so bad we during je e ha ow ork jett lag, or if w we havve tto work irr egular shif cher irregular shiftts,” said Dr Simon Ar Archer cher,, one o e sear cher off the rre searcher cherss a att the Univ er sit ey.

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Fello w rre esear cher Pr of Derk-J an Dijk ellow searcher Pro Derk-Jan said eevver sue in the body had it eryy tis tissue itss own daily rhy thm, but with shif rhythm, shiftts tha thatt was lost with the hear oa heartt running tto dif en o the kidne difffer eren entt time tto kidneyys running o the br ain. He to a dif en difffer eren entt time tto brain. told : “It’s chr ono-chaos. It’s lik e living chrono-chaos. like in a house her e’s a clock in eevver house.. TTher here’s eryy room in the house and in all o off those r ooms those clock e no w clockss ar are now disrup our se leads tto o disruptted, which o off ccour ourse chaos in the household.” wn tha ork er Studie havve sho shown thatt shif shiftt w work orker erss Studiess ha ge oo lit tle sleep a ong gettting ttoo little att the wr wrong

time o ea sing their off da dayy ma mayy be incr increa easing risk o ype-2 diabe sit off ttype-2 diabettes and obe obesit sityy. se st hear therss analy analyse sess sugge suggest heartt O ther attack e mor e ccommon ommon in night ackss ar are more work er s. Pr of Dijk added: “W e o orker ers.

Pro “We off cour se kno w tha ork and je ourse know thatt shif shiftt w work jett lag is a tiv e side asssocia sociatted with nega negativ tive effec onsequenc es. ectts and health cconsequenc onsequence

Pr of Hugh Piggins, a body-clock Pro resear cher fr om the Univ er sit ersit sityy o off searcher from Univer Manche st er old: “T he study indic ated Manchest ster er,, ttold: “The indica tha e eeff fec e quit e thatt the acut acute ectt s ar are quite se e. “It is surprising ho w lar ge an sevver ere how large effec as no tic ed so quickly ectt w wa notic ticed quickly,, it’s ger disrup tion than perhaps a lar larger disruption might ha ecia havve been appr apprecia eciatted.”

al yyear ear “T he w up a heyy sho show affter se sevver eral earss o off “The shif ork. W e belie se change shiftt w work.

We believve the these changess in rhy thmic pa rhythmic patt t erns o off gene expr ession ar e lik ely tto o be rrela ela o xpre are likely elatted tto some o erm health off those long-t long-term consequenc es.” onsequence

He cca autioned tha as a shor t-t erm thatt it w wa short-t t-term study so any la sting change e are lasting changess ar unc er ou ccould ould imagine this uncer erttain, but “y “you would lead tto o a lo ela lott o off health-r health-rela elatted pr oblems”. problems”.

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SELLING

HOW TO SELL ICE TO ESKIMOS? Well, that may not be a noble ideal to pursue in sales, but even that can be done, and that too by anybody who is willing to learn the ropes. Jappreet Sethi, an HR & Business Strategy Professional, argues that practically anybody can develop sales skills, if they follow the right strategy. Sethi has experience in the team building and people consulting practice of multinational professional services firms in India. He specializes in consulting for start-up ventures in South Asia. He has been numbered among the world‘s Top 101 employee engagement experts by New York Times bestselling author Kevin Kruse. He also authors Humanresourcesblog.in, a high-ranking HR blog. onvincing people to buy things that they’ve never heard of or probably don’t need is not an easy job. While many sales people struggle to get though the process, some can masterfully hook customers and sell products and services with ease. So what does it take to be a great salesperson? This is a timeless question that has been asked by innumerable marketing students and professionals.

The difference between being good and great is actually quite small, and there’s a fine line between the two.

Primarily, the answer involves overcoming your personal constraints - those psychological obstacles that hold you back from taking that decisive extra leap. Of course, there are several other factors involved which can differ depending on the industries in question. However, regardless of industry vertical, there are some changes that you need to make in Seasonal Magazine

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yourself if you aim to become a great salesperson:

Smile, No Matter What A smile conveys power and charisma, and can attract buyers you normally wouldn’t have thought of as potential customers. Few people can resist the charm of a genuine smile. It will light up the conversation and involuntarily create a positive reaction in your buyer.

Whatever the situation, a salesperson needs to learn how to smile in an

Customers may ask several questions about the product, often in a negative or downright nasty manner, but it is your skill of responding to them that will change their perception.

authentic and spontaneous manner.

Understand Human Nature Understanding human nature and human thought processes can be the most complicated of tasks, and a salesperson has to hone this skill at every instance. Customers may ask several questions about the product, often in a negative or downright nasty manner, but it is your skill of responding to them that will change their perception. A course in NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP) will help you choose the right response to your customer’s queries and steer them towards closing the deal.

Be A Good Listener You may have already heard this many times over, but to understand your customer better, you need to give all your attention to what he or she says or is trying to say. Sometimes, it isn’t about just a single customer but a whole group of them, each with different perspectives. Patiently listening to their reservations and addressing each doubt succinctly will always work in your favour. Listening is a skill that will take you far, whether in building relationships with your customers or with others in your life.

Don’t Talk Too Much Generally, we believe that as a salesperson, we need to talk a lot.

That’s not so. Building credibility and rapport is best done when you talk less and choose your words carefully. You need to make sense to your customers, not overwhelm them with your verbosity.

Don’t Overpromise Great salespeople never overpromise; this is what makes the product or service exceed customer expectations.

Overpromising can actually overwhelm customers and prospects and make them doubt your ability to deliver. It will also harm your company’s reputation when your customer service team fails to deliver what you promised.

Be Goal Oriented And Enthusiastic Great salespeople are usually taking notes at all times. They have written down their goals and believe that

Apart from the usual saying that customers are not your Gods, great salespeople believe that customers are no more special than they themselves are.

random sales calls are just a waste of precious time that could be better devoted to actual prospects. Their love and passion for the job naturally leads them to customer groups who are potentially most interested in their product or service, and this is where they choose to focus their energy.

Know That Customers Are Not Gods Apart from the usual saying that customers are not your Gods, great salespeople believe that customers are no more special than they themselves are. This makes it easier to put themselves in their customers’ shoes and adopt strategies that will influence them to take the next step.

Treat people the way you want to be treated and you will get the results you want. It takes a little effort and practice to cross the thin line between being good and being great in the sales field. Respond to challenges with a ‘can do’ attitude and you’ll find that it nothing is impossible including selling ice to an eskimo.

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SOCIAL

WHY IS A MALAYALAM MOVIE CREATING WAVES? Everyone who has seen the movie is calling up everyone they care for and asking them to see this movie.

movie, ‘Dhrishyam’, is creating waves in Kerala. It has broken all collection records in the history of Malayalam cinema. It is bringing people in hordes back to the theatres. Looks like it is headed for 100 plus days in theatres.

Its lead actor Mohanlal says what happened to his character, George Kutty and his family is something that should not happen to anyone anywhere.

Its popularity is worrying top police officers. who are now saying that the message in this movie is wrong and Mohanlal, arguably India’s most natural actor, should not have played the role of the school dropout George Kutty.

‘Dhrishyam’ is the brainchild by a young and very promising Director Jeethu Joseph. It is the story of a cable TV operator, his wife and two daughters. An incident of bullying

using a mobile clip of the teenage daughter, taken clandestinely by the wayward son of a senior police officer changes everything. It leads to a crime.

The father takes it upon himself to protect them from the crime. The movie buff cable operator outwits the investigators at every step using his filmy experiences.

Why is this movie then such a draw.

Yes, it has Mohanlal essaying one of his finest acting moments. Yes, it is a brilliant murder mystery. It has no item girls...no popular songs, no fights. But this movie is much beyond the star, the

If a movie has raised an alarm and has communicated to people the perils of online intrusion it has send a message. It has done its job.

plot and the screenplay.

I think it is about family. This movie has unnerved yet educated lakhs of families. A family is a safe harbour from the storms of the adversary. Here a relatively new adversary - cyber bullying - has been introduced in a shocking manner. Most families are aware of this, but thought this will not happen to them. This movie helps them take guard and be prepared to handle the new devil. In my student days parents worried about love affairs, cigarettes, alcohol and drugs.

But now, online and virtual intrusion is here to stay. The movie is a cinematic eye opener.

In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make families the centre of our lives. The protagonist, George Kutty was convinced that he was doing the right thing when he protected his daughter and wife who committed a crime without intent. Before the law he is in the wrong. But for him he did the right thing. Most of his audiences seem to agree with him. More and more families are watching this movie to get the lesson right. To ensure that they don’t have to go through this cinematic experience in real life.

To revert to the debate triggered by a top police officer that the message in the movie is wrong. He said the family that features in the movie should have informed the police about the bullying and not taken law into their hands. But the director has taken the route of shock and awe.

Over half (52 per cent) of children in India have been bullied online, according to a survey released by Microsoft. China and Singapore are the only countries where cyber bullying is a bigger menace. There is a serious problem. If a movie has raised an alarm and has communicated to people the perils of online intrusion it has send a message. It has done its job.

I am told the movie will be remade in Hindi and many other Indian languages.

(By Radhakrishnan Nair for IBN Live)

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BREAKTHROUGH

WHY YOU SHOULD

CHOSE A CAR DASHBOARD WITH BLUE ILLUMINATION

Researchers have found that exposure to short wavelength, or blue light, immediately improves alertness and performance.

ead researcher Shadab Rahman, PhD, a researcher in BWH’s Division of Sleep Medicine, said that their previous research has shown that blue light is able to improve alertness during the night, but their new data demonstrates that these effects also extend to daytime light exposure, asserting that these findings demonstrate that prolonged blue light exposure during the day has an alerting effect.

In order to determine which wavelengths of light were most effective in warding off fatigue, the BWH researchers teamed with George Brainard, PhD, a professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University, who developed the specialized light equipment used in the study.

Researchers compared the effects of blue light with exposure to an equal amount of other light on alertness and performance in 16 study participants for 6.5 hours over a day. Participants

then rated how sleepy they felt, had their reaction times measured and wore electrodes to assess changes in brain activity patterns during the light exposure.

The researchers found that participants exposed to blue light consistently rated themselves as less sleepy, had quicker reaction times and fewer lapses of attention during the performance tests compared to those who were exposed to other light. They also showed changes in brain activity patterns that indicated a more alert state.

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INNOVATION

INSIDE MARUTI’S AFFORDABLE AUTOMATIC

Maruti Suzuki has cracked the affordable automatic transmission problem with its new Celerio hatchback.

he Celerio offers a simple but elegant solution: It has a manual gearbox with a hydraulic actuator installed on top. Supported by an electronic control unit (ECU), a transmission control unit (TCU) directs the hydraulic actuator to engage the clutch and shift the gear based on the acceleration and at the optimum engine rpm (revolutions per minute) level.

So, unlike the conventional torque converter automatic or CVT (continuously variable transmission) auto gearboxes, the Celerio’s auto shifter is just a manual gearbox and an attachment with a brain sitting on top of it.

Driving the Celerio is like driving a conventional automatic. There is no clutch pedal and the gear knob is just as it is in a

regular automatic, except for the mild shift feel when the gears change.

To prove its reliability, Maruti has developed a longlife transmission fluid, which will stay sealed for 10 years or 160,000 km. On fuel-efficiency - a general grouse with automatics - the Maruti officials have confirmed that the ARAI-rated mileage is the same 23.1 kmpl for both the manual and the automatic variants.

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GENIUS

PAULRAJ’S MARCONI PRIZE HIGHLIGHTS DIMENSIONS OF INDIA’S BRAIN DRAIN

Tamil Nadu-born scientist Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj has become the second Indian to be awarded the Marconi Society Prize, 2014, considered an equivalent to the Nobel Prize for the technology sector.

at both the transmitting and receiving stations has revolutionised wireless delivery of multimedia services for billions, said the Marconi Society.

By winning the award, Paulraj joins a select group of information technology (IT) pioneers such as Tim Berners-Lee (world wide web), Vint Cerf (internet), Larry Page (Google Search), Marty Hellman (public key cryptography) and Martin Cooper (cellphone).

N R Narayana Murthy, executive chairman of Infosys, said, in a release

by Marconi Society, “Paulraj’s brilliance and perseverance have revolutionised wireless technology bringing a lasting benefit to mankind.”

Before Paulraj migrated to the US in the early 1990s, he was well known for pioneering the development of sonars for the Indian navy. Paulraj is the founding director of laboratories Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Bangalore, and the Central Research Labs of Bharat Electronics.

After moving to Stanford University, he built the world’s leading research group in MIMO, and founded two companies in the Silicon Valley to develop MIMO. While global chip maker Intel acquired a company in 2003, Broadcom Corporation bought another later.

he award recognises his work on developing wireless technology to transmit and receive data at high speeds.

Paulraj is credited with the invention and advancement of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), a key enabler of WiFi and 4G mobile systems.

The 69-year-old is an emeritus professor at the Stanford University and has served 25 years in the navy.

He got the Padma Bhushan in 2010.

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Before Paulraj migrated to the US in the early 1990s, he was well known for pioneering the development of sonars for the Indian navy. Paulraj is the founding director of laboratories Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Bangalore, and the Central Research Labs of Bharat Electronics.

Named after Nobel laureate Guglielmo Marconi, who invented radio, and set up in 1974 by his daughter Gioia Marconi Braga through an endowment, the Marconi Society annually awards an outstanding individual whose scope of work and influence emulate the principle of “creativity in service to humanity” that inspired Marconi.

After Sir J C Bose’s demonstration of the millimetre wave radio in 1895, Paulraj’s invention of MIMO in 1992 is the next major innovation in IT from an Indian-born scientist, notes tech commentator Anand Parthasarathy.

The prestigious prize includes $100,000 honourarium and a sculpture. Its honourees become Marconi Fellows.

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CONTROVERSY

INSIDE BTT

The so-called banking transaction tax that has been proposed to eliminate all other taxes in the economy has caught people’s fancy. Here is an investigation to its merits and demerits.

s the Indian state heads into elections in a few months, there has been a steady buzz over a proposed socalled banking transaction tax (BTT) that could potentially replace all other taxes that are currently levied.

The idea of the BTT first started when ArthKranti, a Pune-based nongovernmental organization focused on socio-economic issues, first proposed the levy. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who has been vocal about his views on corruption, picked up the gauntlet and the issue entered mainstream public discourse when the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi called for a complete tax reform, with several other BJP leaders hinting they were seriously considering giving BTT due thought.

Here’s an FAQ to help give you a complete lowdown on the proposed banking transaction tax: Q: What is the complete proposal?

A: The BTT should replace every single tax in the country barring customs duty. Apart from this, all cash transactions above Rs 2,000 should not be legally valid (one cannot issue an invoice on the same) though not criminalised. The government should Seasonal Magazine

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also withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes from circulation.

Q: What will this achieve?

A: According to ArthKranti’s calculations, at the rate of 2 percent per transaction, this can result in net tax collections of Rs 40 lakh crore for the government, compared to about Rs 10 lakh crore currently. The NGO says this could be distributed among the central, state and local governments.

Q: Has such a proposal been tried in history?

A: While a tax on all banking transaction was put in effect in some countries such as Brazil (and later withdrawn), it was just another tax rather than a standalone intended to replace other taxes.

Q: What could be the positives for such a tax?

A: Firstly, the proposal aims to simplify (or, oversimplifies, according to critics) India’s complicated tax system, and if nothing else, brings into public conscience the need for reforms in the current tax system. Second, it could potentially directly kickstart consumer spending by doing away with income and a host of other taxes while also

eliminating the need to set up several layers of government machinery employed to collect taxes. Third, the BTT would help fight black money, money laundering and tax evasion.

Q: What do the critics say?

A: Critics say the first and potentially the most drastic negative consequence of such a system would be to force people away from banking transactions. The various possibilities include people starting to hoard cash, emergence of parallel systems such as barter trade or dealing in alternative payment systems such as gold, etc.

Critics add the move’s radical nature could even give rise to unpredictable shifts in the economy such as companies wanting to move toward inhouse manufacturing rather than dealing with others in order to save on tax. The move, as it caps cash transactions at Rs 2,000, would need to develop robust electronic payment systems in a country where 60 percent of people do not have a bank account.

The BTT also produces a cascading effect on economic activity (leading to an effective rate that would be higher than the headline 2 percent) as repeat transactions to complete a single activity such as production would lead to multiple levies. Finally, the tax would charge the same rate on the rich and the poor, thereby potentially widening the inequality gap.

Q: What is the BJP’s official position on the BTT? A: The BJP has so far remained noncommittal on whether it would include BTT as a focus area in its election manifesto. In an interview, party leader Arun Jaitley said: “The BJP has not accepted the concept of a banking transaction tax. There have been suggestions made by ArthaKranti to the BJP. The proposal, on the face of it, sounds very popular and attractive. However, I am conscious of the huge number of difficulties which are there in implementing such a proposal. Therefore, the BJP as a responsible party is not going to accept it without going through such a proposal, without figuring out the consequential spiral effects of this.”

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E S S A Y

HOW INDIA GROWS AT NIGHT, WHEN GOVERNMENT SLEEPS Ben Doherty has been The Age’s South Asia correspondent. In his last dispatch from Delhi, Doherty produces a classic essay, that springs from his firsthand experiences with an Indian family, that is beating all odds to survive, and come up to middle-class level. bout the same time as I came to Delhi, a family moved in around the corner. A couple of hundred metres from my neat, whitewashed house in a middleclass South Delhi neighbourhood, a Rajasthani family took up residence on the side of the road.

Their new home was a blue tarpaulin tied to the fence outside a 12th-century Mughal tomb, between a stinking rubbish dump where the rag-pickers and the drunks spend their days, and a busy road. A narrow strip of dirt, three metres at its widest, between the fence, the rotting garbage and the road, was their existence.

They came in winter, as I did. It was cold in Delhi that year. Whenever I passed, the family - how many there were was hard to tell - seemed pressed together under as many blankets as they could gather.

It rained. But gradually the weather warmed, and the family took confidence that a couple of weeks without eviction had become a month. Their home became more substantial. They built a wooden house, with some scavenged tin for a roof, held down with rocks.

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replaced by a wooden door, with hinges they forged themselves in a pit fire at the front door.

The family, I learnt, was two brothers, their wives and children.

Soon they built a second wooden hut, leaning off the first, then illegally rigged electricity from a nearby wire to bring power. They got a small TV from somewhere and set it up in a corner, and charpoys (stretchers) for beds. Lately, they’ve been wrestling with a discarded old washing machine with a broken lid, trying to get it to work. Their shelter has become a home.

The head of the family, the older brother Vikram, is a gruff, taciturn fellow.

Heavy-shouldered and bearded, his face, when at rest, seems set in a scowl.

He’s not been the easiest man to get to know. But gradually, with my regular passage on foot past his front door, a nod of recognition has become a ‘’namaste’’ and, now, occasional conversation.

We sit, perhaps once a week when I’m in town, over chai and puri, bought from a food cart down the road. He barely eats himself. He spends our conversation tearing up the warm fried bread with his fingers and feeding it to whichever of the children is wandering by at the time.

Ben Doherty The change in his face is extraordinary.

The scowl is gone, and he appears suddenly friendly, all bright, shining eyes and strong, white teeth.

He finds it funny that I’m so tall, but he is disappointed I’m not yet married. He wants me to bring him some red wine from Australia so that we can drink it together.

He and his brother Mani are from Rajasthan, Vikram explains. There are 18 people in their combined families: wives, children, mothers and in-laws. They are from a nomadic tribe of people known as the Gadia Lohars, the literal translation of which is ‘’blacksmiths on the wheel’’. And so it is with them.

Like their father and his father before, Vikram and Mani are smiths, spending their days over fire pits outside their respective front doors, banging at the

red-hot metal, forging picks and hammers and skewers for tandoori ovens.

Stacked by their homes they keep their stock, from which they make a modest living selling to passers-by, tradesmen and local homeowners.

Their family has come to Delhi to seek a better life. Gradually, over three years, they’ve found it. From their spartan first shelter, their homes have become liveable, and even, Vikram insists, comfortable.

The house has no plumbing or toilet, but their lives are better here than they’ve been before.

Vikram has four children, all of whom attend school, in between helping with work. The youngest carries around her books and pencil case.

She has a white-and-green uniform, which her mother rips from her back every afternoon to start furiously washing for the next day. ‘’All of my kids are in school, I want to see at least one of them, any one of them, become something,’’ Vikram says.

I see India in Vikram’s story. The family try to make each day a little better than

the last. There is somethingnew to save up for, an improvement to the house, shoes or a book for a child, a new tool to make work easier, or more profitable.

Vikram’s family shares the irrepressible energy of this country’s massive population. Progress is not always pretty, it’s not always linear (Vikram’s house has blown over a couple of times), it’s not always legal, but it is progress undeniable. It is chaotic and ad hoc and imperfect, but, little by little, it is headway.

So it is with India.

There is a currently a sense almost of disappointment from Western powers that India has not developed as rapidly as hoped, or in the way it was hoped.

Economic progress is slower than predicted, social ills appear unaddressed, and governance failures, inefficiencies, and obstructionist economic protectionism still stubbornly exist.

India is hyper-sensitive to censure or maltreatment, real or imagined, from the West, in particular its old ruler Britain, or most powerful friend, the US. Criticism from outside, no matter how carefully couched in diplomatic language, receives an overtly

aggressive response.

This country keenly feels its history, and is adamant it will never be dictated to again. Its people are leaders all over the world: in business, sport, politics, science, literature, art and music. The country has made extraordinary progress in my instant of time here.

But this is not to gloss over India’s problems, some critical, and many of which are exacerbated by the country’s sheer size.

The good and the bad occur in extremes here, be it the world’s most expensive home, or the number of children who starve. And the answers to India’s problems are, like the place itself, complex. The shameful, disgraceful treatment of women in India will be improved not only when attitudes to girls are altered, but when the way boys are brought up is changed.

Young men who grow up as little princes, allowed to misbehave with impunity, told that everything they do is wonderful, and taught that women exist only to serve and to gratify them, cannot help but have a warped view of the opposite sex.

The culture of corruption that allows

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government ministers to cream off tens of millions of dollars - and then act affronted when caught - has its roots in workaday briberies: the 100 rupees to escape a traffic fine, the baksheesh demanded of a poor family for a ration card.

Indian friends cynically tell me that ‘’the country grows at night, while the government sleeps’’, an allusion to the governance failures that cripple progress. Many here argue it is India’s most pressing problem.

Sometimes it seems they are right, the place might be ungovernable. But it is not so. India’s democracy - with its vivacity and its passion, its polarity and its inefficiencies - is an example to the countries around it.

But the world’s largest democracy will hold elections in May, and faces difficult choices. A move away from the Gandhidominated dynasty of the Congress party might be good for a maturing nation.

And a new BJP administration under Narendra Modi might bring economic reform, but that may come to the detriment of India’s minorities.

There is, too, an emerging third force in Indian politics. The Aam Aadmi (Common Man) party is the political arm of a growing anti-corruption movement.

It was swept to power to govern Delhi in recent elections on a promise of massive reforms and benefits for the poor. But the poetry of its campaign has been reduced to prose in government.

Aam Aadmi has found India harder to change than it hoped. But hope remains that it is the vanguard of what might have to be a slow revolution.

Any reflection on India is, by necessity, an oversimplification. This country is too big, too broad and too diverse to bend to stereotype.

Churchill neither liked nor understood India, but he was right when he said: ‘’India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the equator.’’

The differences across India - in language, culture, religion, food, work habits, treatment of women, views on outsiders - from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Kerala in the south, from Gujarat in the west to Nagaland in the east, are as dramatic as those from Seasonal Magazine

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Dublin to Moscow.

And so everything that is undeniably true about India is also completely false. At the same time.

This is a country that has sent a spacecraft towards Mars, but has more hungry children than all of Africa. A country that has 90 nuclear warheads, but where a third of women can’t read.

Outsiders often divide India into north and south, along a crude ethno-cultural line. But a more useful division might be longitudinal, separating east from west.

The Western world likes to deal with the west of India because it is the part that it understands: the financial epicentre of Mumbai, the entrepreneurial hub of Gujarat, the power base of Delhi.

But it is the east that is more deserving of international notice. The east is where the government’s actual control of and attention to the country is poor. It is where girls don’t go to school, where women are trafficked for sex, where children are forced into labour, where policemen are killed by lawless militias.

People are poorer, jobs fewer, and chances for education slimmer. The spirit of aspiration that drives so much of India is weakened here by unrelenting, bitter circumstance.

There are huge swaths - Naxal (guerilla)blighted Jharkhand and Orissa, the seven remote north-east states - where populations don’t feel part of the

Vikram’s family shares the irrepressible energy of this country’s massive population. Progress is not always pretty, it’s not always linear (Vikram’s house has blown over a couple of times), it’s not always legal, but it is progress undeniable. It is chaotic and ad hoc and imperfect, but, little by little, it is headway. So it is with India.

country: tens of millions who feel dissociated from the world’s next superpower.

(There are exceptions, as with every Indian generalisation, to this east-west divide: the eastern cities of Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata fit more naturally with the developing west; insurgency-riddled Kashmir in the northwest has greater similarities with the restive east.)

But when the West is speaking to the businessmen of Mumbai and the bureaucrats of Delhi, it must remember that they represent a tiny minority. Most people in India are still poor. Some half a billion people here subsist each day on less than $1.25. Four in 10 of this country’s children are stunted because they don’t have enough to eat.

For all the millions of words written in analysis, praise or criticism of India, it is a place still not well understood by outsiders. Those who write on India are often too-hastily categorised either as ‘’boosters’’ or ‘’haters’’.

I argue one has to be both here: to love India while acknowledging its flaws, to bear witness to the extraordinary in this place, without being blind to that which is abhorrent.

It’s Vikram’s third winter in Delhi, and the floor of his house is still cold dirt. I am leaving Delhi. He is staying.

Vikram and I talk most often about his children, a universal enough theme for two people whose life experiences are so different.

At least one child is always sick, it seems, another always in trouble with someone or other nearby. He wishes he could do more to give his kids a better chance, an easier life than the one he’s had to endure.

Vikram sits on a low stool outside his home, barely a metre from the incessant noise and the belching smog of Delhi’s relentless traffic. A festering, foulsmelling rubbish dump lies next door.

The roof of his house leaks, and he worries that someday someone will move him on to somewhere even worse.

He sees and feels India’s faults keenly.

And he thinks tomorrow is going to be better than today.

BUSINESS ETHICS

Apple & Amazon Stocks Downgraded on Ethical Grounds!

In the report, Ronnie Moas, Standpoint Research's founder and director of research, downgraded Apple stock from a "hold" to a "sell," reiterated a "sell" recommendation for Amazon.com shares and initiated cigarette maker Philip Morris stock with a "sell" rating.

ne analyst blacklisted several companies recently, citing a reason not often (or possibly ever) heard on Wall Street moral and ethical grounds. In the report, Ronnie Moas, Standpoint Research's founder and director of research, downgraded Apple stock from a "hold" to a "sell," reiterated a "sell" recommendation for Amazon.com shares and initiated Philip Morris stock with a "sell" rating.

After holding in his feelings for "too long," Moas wrote that he couldn't sleep despite taking his nightly sleeping pill.

At 1 a.m., he reached his boiling point and felt compelled to speak his mind.

Moas' Standpoint bio page states he began his career as an analyst and market strategist at Herzog Heine Geduld, which was bought by Merrill Lynch in 2002, before leaving to start his own firm

in 2000. Before this, he served for three years in the Israeli army and worked in concert productions.

"For Apple Computers to pay their workers USD 2 an hour while they have USD 150 billion in the bank is nothing short of obscene. I heard all of the arguments in their defense and they make no sense to me," wrote Moas in the note.

Thomson Reuters StarMine, which tracks and ranks analysts' performance, has no record of Moas'

"For Apple Computers to pay their workers USD 2 an hour while they have USD 150 billion in the bank is nothing short of obscene."

recommendations on Apple. According to published reports, he downgraded the stock in August from "buy" on valuation concerns.

While Moas said there are dozens (if not hundreds) of companies he would like to blacklist, he singled out just three in the report, noting that he planned to speak his mind even if it resulted in the destruction of his business.

"Philip Morris has the black lungs and blood of 500,000,000 people on their hands," he wrote, acknowledging that his email was controversial and would upset many.

"I recently read something about Amazon and how much pressure is on their employees and at the same time Jeff Bezos with his obscene net worth of USD 27 billion was on his yacht in the Galapagos Islands. USD 27 billion and this man is not treating his workers fairly? It boggles the mind," Moas wrote.

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TAX MANAGEMENT

TAX DEDUCTIONS THAT ARE USELESS JOKES There are many deductions or benefits the Income Tax (I-T) Act offers that are not in line with the current expenses of individuals or in keeping with the pace of inflation. As an income tax consultant puts it, “Some of the deductions are a joke.” Certain heads that provide savings from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 might not be worth the effort.

The tax rates for various income brackets aren’t too high as compared to many other countries.

But the inflation and interest rates are low in the latter. So, while one pays a higher income tax, they are not paying high equated monthly instalments or food prices have not gone through the roof.

Most countries across Europe, including the United Kingdom, have the highest tax rate in the range of 4555 per cent and the gap between the Seasonal Magazine

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income brackets is much wider compared to India. In the highest slab, Sweden has a tax rate of 56.6 per cent, Denmark 55 per cent, the Netherlands 52 per cent, Austria and Belgium 50 per cent, Ireland, Finland and Norway nearly 45 per cent, Japan 50 per cent, and Australia, China and Israel 45 per cent. The income threshold for the basic exemption and for the highest tax bracket in most other countries are quite high.

There are various expense- and investment-based deductions in Indian I-T laws that have not been revised for

a long time. Here’s a look at some.

Medical Expenses Says Kuldip Kumar, executive director (tax and regulatory practice) at PricewaterhouseCooper, “Something as basic as the annual medical reimbursement has been kept at Rs 15,000 for the last 15 years (it was raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 in April 1999). This should be revised to be on a par with medical inflation, which has been huge in the past years.”

For those battling health issues or having elders who need medical attention, Rs 15,000 is a rather small

amount to claim. Some tax consultants say senior citizens should be given some relief for medical expenses as their income might not be much but health care expenses could be high.

Also, senior citizens get negative returns when there is a limited income flow.

Preventive Health Check-ups In 2012, then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee brought an additional deduction for preventive health checks.

You can claim up to Rs 5,000 for this under Section 80D. Unfortunately, this Rs 5,000 deduction is a part of the Rs 15,000 deduction you can claim for contribution towards premiums of a health insurance policy.

In effect, it eats into your deduction for the health insurance premium if you have a high cover and premium. At the same time, Rs 5,000 for health checks is small. Definitely not enough when looking to get your family a preventive health check. In most cases, this can cost you Rs 9,000-12,000.

Health Insurance The Rs 15,000 deduction available for individuals for contribution towards premium of a health insurance policy for oneself could be good enough. “But the deductions for contribution towards premium of a health insurance policy for elderly parent(s) might not be enough,” says Suresh Surana, founder of tax consultancy firm, RSM Astute Consulting. If you buy a policy for a retired parent, you will need an individual policy as an elderly person could have complicated health issues.

A health insurance policy of Rs 5 lakh for a retired individual can cost you between Rs 20,000 and Rs 36,000 annually. In case you contribute this for both parents - it could cost you upwards of Rs 40,000 a year. In comparison, a 30-year-old would pay Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 for a health policy with a sum assured of Rs 3 lakh.

Children’s Tuition Fee The good part is you can claim up to

The deduction for interest repayment up to Rs 1.50 lakh is significant but might not work much in metro cities, where houses cost way more than the Rs 15-18 lakh of loan amounts (which would provide a Rs 1.50-lakh benefit).

Rs 1 lakh for your children’s tuition fee, for up to two children. And, each parent can claim for two children thereby covering four children. This is under Section 80C of the I-T Act. But, for salaried individuals, the contribution towards Employee Provident Fund (EPF) covers most of the Rs 1 lakh allotted under this section.

Hence, there is little left for you to claim for your children’s tuition fee.

The annual tuition fee in schools can easily be Rs 50,000 and upwards. This apart, “if your employer pays you an allowance for children’s education, you can claim Rs 100 per child per month, for up to two children. And, Rs 300 per month per child for up to two children for expenses towards their hostel accommodation,” says Amarpal Chadha, tax partner at EY.

When the tax deduction amounts are so small, you probably have no inclination left to claim deductions.

Imagine paying around Rs 50,000 a year towards your child’s education, for which you get deductions of up to Rs 1,200 in a year (for two children).

“We suggest clients not take such an allowance, if possible, because it doesn’t make sense to keep records of such meagre deductions. Instead, take deductions under Section 80C. This way, you make up for the cost to at least some extent. For those who can’t deny having received such allowances, we suggest they don’t bother claiming,” says a chartered accountant.

Repayment of Home Loan Principal Can you really claim a Rs 1-lakh deduction on your home loan principal repayment? Given that it is under Section 80C and amid all those other heads like EPF, child’s education, insurance claims, etc, one will seldom be able to claim it. The deduction for interest repayment up to Rs 1.50 lakh is significant but might not work much in metro cities, where houses cost way more than the Rs 15-18 lakh of loan amounts (which would provide a Rs 1.50-lakh benefit).

Someone who has a home loan of Rs 50 lakh pays an equated monthly instalment (EMI) of roughly Rs 50,000. Of that, at least 80 per cent goes towards servicing the interest portion, which comes to Rs 40,000 or Rs 4.80 lakh annually. The person gets tax benefit on only Rs 1.50 lakh of that, unless it is a second property. You get unlimited tax benefit for repaying interest on a second home loan.

Similarly, if you avail a loan for renovating your house, you can claim for the interest paid on this loan as a tax deduction, subject to a cap of Rs 30,000 annually for a self-occupied property.

Renovation can actually cost way higher. Surana says the Rs 2,000 rebate to every person with a total income of up to Rs 5 lakh, introduced in the previous Budget under Section 87A, is also on the lower side and might not be worth the effort of claiming.

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WHAT IF YOUR CEO DIES TOMORROW?

Tata Motors MD Karl Slym’s sudden death shows it is time companies asked themselves ‘What would we do if we lost our CEO tomorrow?’ ????????????????????

eyond the obvious human tragedy, Karl Slym’s sudden death is a wake-up call for India Inc on the need for a well-oiled CEO succession mechanism. Appointing an interim successor (either the chairman or a retired or about-to-retire senior executive takes up the job in most cases) is the usual practice when a large company has suffered the abrupt exit of a CEO. But it’s not enough. Companies often fail to recognise that while the loss of a senior executive is bound to send shock waves through the system, the sense of void has to be minimised. That calls for a well-crafted plan to have a deep talent pool, so that a replacement is found in the shortest time possible.

The plan’s starting point could be as follows: the company’s senior executive team should ask themselves, “What would we do if we lost our CEO tomorrow?”

The other aspect that companies should consider is to have a doomsday strategy in place that includes a planned communication strategy in case of such tragic events. It’s not enough to just keep quiet after giving out sketchy details since it leads to nervousness among key stakeholders.

Companies such as McDonald’s have done exactly that - a strategy that helped the fast-food giant come out of such a crisis not once but twice in the past decade: its celebrated CEO Jim Cantalupo died of a heart attack in 2004 Seasonal Magazine

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LEADERSHIP ????????????????????

and his successor Charlie Bell died of cancer less than a year later.

In the first case, less than six hours after Cantalupo’s death, McDonald’s board named 43-year-old Bell, who was the chief operating officer, for the top job.

It was a tough decision since under Cantalupo the company reported a surge in its profits. That was a big deal since Cantalupo had joined at a time when McDonald’s had reported its first quarterly loss in 38 years. But the transition was a smooth affair since the McDonald’s board executed a plan that was already in place.

Also, in July that year, two months after his treatment started, the company issued a release about management changes and promotions, including an expansion of duties for Skinner. The release, thus served as a kind of de facto announcement of the succession plan.

Bell resigned in November, paving the way for Skinner’s elevation as CEO, and died within a couple of months.

In an interview with CNN Money, McDonald’s Director Andrew McKenna said the company faced three choices: make no CEO appointment, name an interim CEO, or promote the heir apparent prematurely. The board found the first two options unacceptable and opted for the third one, and all this was possible because of its robust succession plan.

That strategy was followed again when Bell died of cancer, and the chain named Jim Skinner as CEO almost immediately. One of the key planks of this strategy was communication that showed the company was open and transparent about the situation. Bell, who was diagnosed with cancer just two weeks after taking charge, communicated to employees through emails and voicemails some details of his treatment. He also attended the company’s annual meeting to reassure shareholders that his battle with cancer had not hurt the company’s operations.

McDonalds has proved its capabilities in rapid CEO succession twice.

Karl Slym

It’s not only big companies alone.

Even their smaller counterparts need to put in place a variation of an emergency CEO succession plan. For proof, look at what happened to Milestone Capital, a private equity firm managing assets worth Rs 4,000 crore, after its CEO Ved Prakash Arya, 42, died in a freak accident in 2011.

Milestone, where the Arya family held an 88 per cent stake, didn’t know how to fill the void. His wife, Ruby, even contemplated selling the company.

Starting an E-Commerce Firm is Not Easy, But Still Doable

Since offers weren’t attractive enough, she decided to steer the company herself and is now getting ready to raise fresh funds. But two valuable years were lost in the process.

A memorandum with the objective, liability of member, capital clause of the company and article defines powers of the management.

The two case studies show clearly why it’s important for boards to discuss who will take over in case of an emergency. No one can predict an emergency, but it’s clear that the task will be a lot easier if a company’s board has discussed this issue before a crisis occurs.

Human resource consultants say emergency successions act as a stress test of a company’s CEO succession process. A Conference Board report quotes research to say that emergency CEO successions have a substantial impact on post-succession company performance. For example, studies have found that the rare but important succession event of the sudden death of a CEO is associated with an 18 per cent decline in operating profitability, along with declines in asset growth and sales growth, in the year following the emergency succession. So, a contingency CEO succession plan must be integrated into the corporate crisis-preparedness process.

Here are the 15 unavoidable steps that you have to take: At least two people needed to register as a private ltd company (preferred over other partnerships because of limited liability and perpetual succession issues) Minimum investment Rs 1 lakh.

A clear objective of the company crucial. A marketplace company defined as IT services, marketing, etc.

A marketplace company needs to be registered with the service tax department for providing services.

An inventory company defined as retail, wholesale, cash & carry or retail trade.

An inventory-led model needs Trade Identification Number or TIN from the state sales tax department.

If company working from leased or self-owned premises and has at least two persons, it needs to register under the Shops and Establishments Act, 1954, of the state.

If there are at least 20 workers,

registration with the employee state insurance necessary.

Mumbai asks for special professional tax & local body tax and compliance with the labour department. No such taxes in Delhi and Haryana.

If customer care services isn’t outsourced, other service provider (OSP) registration needed for bandwidth & phone.

If labourers on contract and more than 20, registration with the contract labour department and compliance with labour rules needed.

To launch the platform, registration for domain address, software licences needed.

Marketplace company needs to pay service tax of 12.36% and 30% tax on profit.

Twin-company structures used to avoid foreign direct investment (FDI) rules.

In inventory-led model, where FDI is not allowed, one company is wholesale/cash & carry which have no FDI cap. Enforcement directorate looking out for such companies.

Personal products companies Marico and Godrej have what they call a dropdead succession plan, under which there is a replacement available almost immediately after any tragic event.

In any case, if companies can have business continuity plans for IP, technology systems and operations, there is no reason why the human angle can’t be introduced as well.

By Shyamal Majumdar: Seasonal Magazine

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BABY CARE

PARACETAMOL NOT SO SAFE FOR KIDS A new study has found that paracetamol can interfere with the brain development of children, and can even be dangerous for unborn kids.

Researchers at Uppsala University examined paracetamol, one of the most commonly used drugs for pain and fever in children, by giving small doses of it to ten-day-old mice. They later carried out tests on the behavioral habits of the mice in adulthood.

They found that the mice could be hyperactive in adulthood, could display behavioural disturbances,

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and could have lower memory capability compared to the mice that weren’t given the dose.

Researchers said that the exposure to and presence of paracetamol during a critical period of brain development can induce longlasting effects on cognitive function and alter the adult response to paracetamol in mice.

They added that parents should be

careful in administering the drug.

Researcher Henrik Viberg told that this shows that there are reasons to restrict the use of paracetamol at the end of pregnancy and to hold back from giving the medicine to infants.

However, there is still a valid case for administering paracetamol to kids, especially if they are prone to febrile fits. It is important to follow your doctor’s advice and never exceed a paracetamol dose.

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COVER STORY

Q3 RESULTS ANALYSIS

WHERE THESE 100 COMPANIES ARE GOING you have ever bought stocks, you would have done this. Stare awestruck at the graph of a stock like Eicher Motors. A graph that didn’t go anywhere much for the nine years between 2000 and 2009, and then started climbing from a modest price of Rs. 184. All through the next 5 years, it would keep on climbing, to reach Rs. 5295 recently. Going up nearly 29 times within 5 years. Not any 5 years, mind you, but one of the toughest five years that Indian industry has witnessed ever, thanks to the global financial crisis. Not only that, it was a five year period that saw steady deterioration in the specific industrial sector that Eicher was in. Almost every other commercial vehicle manufacturer including mighty Tatas, Leylands, and Mahindras found their commercial vehicle business plummeting to new depths during these same five years. What a contrarian graph Eicher has! But that is pure hindsight. You probably don’t own Eicher. Neither do we. Because five year back, who would have been interested in a tier-2 truck maker whose stock had been largely stagnant for the 9 years from 2000 to 2009? Even if you were a news buff, you wouldn’t have given much weight to Eicher forging a new tie-up with Volvo, or it slowly turning around Enfield that it had bought some years back. Instead, all of us - probably you and anyway we included - were hooked on to the big new stories of 2008-09. Reliance Power and its Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs), for one example. Today, don’t we loathe to see the RPower graph? Don’t we curse Anil Ambani under our breath for turning our nest egg of 5 lakh to just 50,000 bucks within those same five years? We are entitled to curse, but then, it is again a case of pure hindsight. Nobody saw it coming. Except, those who were a bit more diligent. We all could have been more diligent, but only if knew how to be more dili-

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gent. Which brings us to the question - is there any predictive graph in the stock business? All of us are done with price graphs.

We hate such hindsight graphs because our portfolio is made up of more Rpowers, and less or no Eichers. Well, there is a predictive graph, of course. It is nothing but the EPS graph. Earnings Per Share filters out much noise (like equity dilution) from the headline number of net profit. Plot each quarter’s EPS of a stock against a quarterly timeline, and you would have a neat predictive graph. More often than not, you will see the price graph trailing it in action. But the work is easily said than done. You can plot for a few companies you are passionate about, but not more. And disappointing you, many of them will turn out to be duds, after some quarters of diligent watching.

Enter the concept of TTM EPS, which tries to make the work of tracking a large number of stocks easier. The concept is that using the Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) value, you have a more accurate handle on the profit or EPS run rate, without a graph. But again, it is not the full story. Stock prices depend not just on EPS growth or shrinkage, but on the Valuation multiple the market is willing to attribute to a stock. Enter P/E. Stock theories will come and go, but P/E will have its position secured as long as there are markets. If there is one number that captures the essence of a stock, it is the price/earnings multiple. Unnoticed by many, its unit is years. In short, it denotes how many years of earnings it would take for the current share price to be justifiable or break-even. Its very definition, as such, shows its predictive powers. It is a Valuation metric that the market rewards a stock with, taking into account its perceived future. Prices don’t move northward on EPS growth alone. They can very well move forward if this Valuation i.e. P/E Value moves forward, which is called positive re-rating in stock

market parlance. Similarly, prices can move southward not just on EPS shrinkage, but also when market negatively re-rates this Valuation i.e. its P/E value. Sounds confusing? That is because, you regard P/E as something derived by dividing Price by Earnings. Instead, think of Price as something derived by multiplying Earnings with this Valuation. If you plot the P/E graph of Eicher between 2009 and now, you will see this phenomenon - that the growth was not just in earnings, but also in the valuation the market was willing to give it. The reverse can be seen in the case of Reliance

Power. After all the IPO noise, when it came to the difficulties of financing and execution, the market understood that what Anil’s power company deserved was lower and lower P/E valuation. But there is even more to P/E than what first catches the eye. If you closely watch the markets, you will see some share prices continuing to climb despite P/E Valuation shrinking, and also some shares continuing to fall despite P/E Valuation getting higher. While the latter case almost always hints at immediate trouble, the former also spells trouble - future trouble to be exact - and the stock of iPhone maker Apple is a good example of this phenomenon. Despite phenomenal earnings growth, and rising stock prices, market has been negatively re-rating the stock continually with dramatically lower and lower P/E Valuation, which indicates that the future is not as bright as the current earnings would indicate. This is why not just an EPS graph, but an ongoing P/E graph is also essential to predict the future of stock prices.

Again, easily said than done. That is where the concept of the most updated P/E - the TTM P/E - comes into the picture. Frequent monitoring of the TTM P/E for a stock gives an ongoing handle into whether any kind of positive or negative re-rating is taking place in the stock. Seasonal Magazine does the hard work of bringing you this crucial TTM P/E of 100 performers and non-performers in this past quarter of Q3. The task was complicated as no reliable data sources like BSE/NSE highlight consolidated TTM EPS, and are content with highlighting just the standalone figures. With more than half of noteworthy companies having major subsidiaries, standalone figures doesn’t make any sense at all. Before you delve into this collection of 100 stocks, a few caveats: P/E is a double-edged sword. Lower is better, but too lower often spells trouble like poor future outlook, and even worse, poor corporate governance. In contrast, too high a P/E may signal a rigged stock price, but moderately high stocks often hint at better-than-average investment opportunities due to low or nil capex requirement, low or zero debt, high Return on Investment (RoI), and above-average corporate governance. Also, it makes more sense to compare P/Es within the same sector, and not across different sectors. To make it more precise, even P/Es of PSU banks shouldn’t be compared with private banks. Lastly, P/E is not everything. But without P/E, there can’t be anything further in stock knowledge. So, here we go: Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

SBI’s Profit Falls, Total Income Rises, Asset Quality Yet to Stabilize

India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) disappointed street with the net profit falling 34.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,234.34 crore in the quarter ended December 2013, dented by higher provisions and expenses. Net interest income increased 13.3 percent to Rs 12,640 crore from Rs 11,154 crore year-on-year. Total expenses shot up 20 percent to Rs 31,442.3 crore SBI while other income of the bank jumped 15.5 percent to Rs 4,190.30 crore compared to Q3(Dec13) same quarter last year. Employee expenses Q2(Sept-13) increased 35 percent year-on-year to Rs 5,867 crore in Q3FY14 due to higher Q1(June-13) provisions for salary and pension. Domestic Q4 (FY13) net interest margin improved sequentially to 3.51 percent versus 3.48 percent during TTM EPS the quarter. Gross non-performing assets Price

TTM P/E

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(NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances increased to 5.73 percent in Q3FY14 as against 5.64 percent in Q2FY14 and 5.3 percent in Q3FY13 while net NPAs rose to 3.24 percent from Rs 2.91 percent and Rs 2.59 percent during the same period. In absolute term, gross NPAs were up 5.6 percent (up 26.8 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 67,799.3 crore EPS and net NPAs climbed 15.6 percent (up 46.5 percent on yearly basis) to Rs 37,167.35 41.50 crore compared to previous quarter.

Provisions and contingencies spiked 37 44.92 percent sequentially (up 55.5 percent on 62.84 yearly basis) to Rs 4,149.6 crore, including provision for non-performing assets that 55.82 jumped 29.6 percent quarter-on-quarter (up 205.08 24 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 3,428.6 crore during December quarter. Provision 1475.10 coverage ratio declined to 58.32 percent 7.19 from 60.16 percent on sequential basis.

Fresh slippages during the quarter were Rs 11,438 crore as against Rs 8,365 crore in previous quarter while cash recovery stood at Rs 1,538 crore in the quarter gone by. Net slippages for the quarter were Rs 3,593 crore as against Rs 4,568 crore quarter-on-quarter. The bank restructured assets worth Rs 3,900 crore in the third quarter that is lower compared to Rs 8,585 crore in second quarter of current financial year 2013-14. State Bank of India’s upgradation of accounts for the quarter were Rs 1,230 crore while write-off stood at Rs 5,077 crore. Total advances of the bank increased 17.3 percent to Rs 11.5 lakh crore and deposits grew 16.4 percent to Rs 13.5 lakh crore compared to same quarter last fiscal.

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Bank of Baroda Manages Growth, But Pressure on Asset Quality Continues Public sector lender Bank of Baroda’s third quarter net profit rose 3.6 percent to Rs 1,047.84 crore compared to same quarter last year due to lower provisions and higher other income, but was squeezed by deferred tax liability.

Pressure continued on its asset quality.

Net interest income came in at Rs 3,057 crore, a growth of 7.6 percent compared to corresponding quarter of previous year.

The bank created deferred tax liability of Rs 272.09 crore during the quarter ended December 2013 on account of special reserve for the nine months of current financial year, which was charged to profit & loss account. Tax expenses during the period jumped to Rs 372.2 crore from Rs 202.6 crore year-on-year.

Gross non-performing assets (NPA) expanded 91 basis points (17 bps sequentially) to 3.32 percent and net NPAs rose 76 bps (4 bps) to 1.88 percent compared to a year-ago period. In absolute terms, gross NPAs jumped 63 percent year-on-year (9.5 percent quarteron-quarter) to Rs 11,925.76 crore and net NPAs doubled (up 5 percent on sequential basis) to Rs 6,623.60 crore in the quarter gone by. Slippages declined sequentially to Rs 1,553 crore from Rs 1,863 crore while the restructured assets stood at Rs 1,213 crore as against Rs

1,637 crore in September quarter. SS Mundra, CMD said the debt restructuring pipeline for the January-March quarter is at Rs 1,500-2,000 crore. He expects Q4 domestic net interest margin at 3 percent as against 2.95 percent in Q3. Provisions and contingencies slipped 26 percent Yo-Y and 11 percent Q-o-Q to Rs 761.87 crore during October-December quarter.

Non-performing loan provisioning coverage ratio increased to 62.22 percent as on December 31 as against 61.68

percent in September 2013. Domestic net interest margin climbed to 2.95 percent from 2.85 percent and global net interest margin rose to 2.37 percent versus 2.32 percent quarter-on-quarter. Other income or non-interest income of the bank shot up 11 percent on yearly basis to Rs 932 crore during December quarter. Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda raised USD 750 million via overseas market in January 2014 apart from Rs 550 crore received from government through preferential issue.

Bank of Baroda EPS Q3(Dec13) 24.87 Q2(Sept-13) 27.73 Q1(June-13) 27.72 Q4 (FY13) 24.99 TTM EPS 105.31 Price 558.10

TTM P/E 5.30

SS Mundra, BoB

United Bank Slips Into Red United bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 32.25 -13.61 0.68 0.32 19.64 25.95

TTM P/E 1.32

United Bank of India, a small-sized PSU lender, has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 2,765.53 crore and net loss was Rs 1,238.08 crore. Other income for the quarter was Rs 221.27 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 2341.06 crore and net profit was Rs 42.20 crore., and other income Rs 258.33 crore.

Archana Bhargava, United Bank Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Brigade Enterprises Defies Realty Slowdown Bangalore headquartered real estate developer Brigade Enterprises has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 181.97 crore and a net profit of Rs 14.86 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Other income for the quarter was Rs 1.51 crore.

For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 156.94 crore and net profit was Rs 6.63 crore, and other income Rs 2.14 crore.

Brigade Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 1.32 1.69 0.59 2.53 6.13 57.05

TTM P/E 9.31

Brigade World Trade Centre-Bangalore

HCC’s Turnaround Holds, Service Tax Claims an Overhang Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) today reported a standalone net profit of Rs 5.39 crore in the OctoberDecember quarter after cutting expenses. The construction major had reported a net loss of Rs 38.51 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Net sales, however, declined 14.7 percent to Rs 870.37 crore from Rs 1,020.75 crore.

Total expenditure fell to Rs 713.28 crore, equivalent to about 82 percent of net sales, compared with 93.1 per cent of net sales a year earlier. Finance Ajit Gulabchand HCC

HCC Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.09 0.52 0.32 -0.82 1.24 13.05

TTM P/E 10.52 Seasonal Magazine

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costs rose 9.4 percent to Rs 156.66 crore. Company auditors K S Aiyar & Co drew attention to a demand of Rs 741.51 crore and interest related to alleged contravention of provision of service tax by the company between April 1, 2007, and March 31, 2012. The company is of the view that it has a reasonably strong case as most of the demand appears to be fictitious and the remainder can be contested since the legal outcome of the same is pending, according to the note from the auditors.

Commenting on the results, Chief

Financial Officer Praveen Sood said that “despite a marginal dip in turnover, the operational efficiency we have achieved clearly manifests in this quarter.” He said HCC will continue to implement measures to improve financial parameters and “inflow of substantially big orders during the quarter will help to improve the turnover in the next few quarters.” The company had an order backlog of Rs 13,388 crore in December, including Rs 2,040 crore of contracts bagged in the last quarter. HCC was also the lowest bidder for contracts worth Rs 1,408 crore, the company said. Among HCC’s group firms, Switzerland-based Steiner AG registered revenue of CHF 188.3 million (Rs 1,230.1 crore) and net profit of CHF 1.6 million (Rs 10.2 crore) in the last quarter. The company had an order book of CHF 1.16 billion and unsigned contracts worth more than CHF 170 million. Talking about group company Lavasa Corporation, HCC said work has gathered pace at the Lavasa township near Pune and 5,300 construction workers are on the ground. The company has constructed 628 residential units and about 1.6 lakh tourists visited Lavasa in the last quarter. HCC Infrastructure, a subsidiary that builds roads, expects to start commercial operations of NH34’s Baharampore-Farakka section in West Bengal by March-end. Another section, Farakka-Raniganj, is expected to open by June.

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

SBM’s NII, Other Income Up, Bottomline Dives Down SBI associate bank, State Bank of Mysore, has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13.

Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 1,606.02 crore and net profit was Rs 85.14 crore. Other income for the quarter was Rs 124.32 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 1503.03 crore and net profit was Rs 154.77 crore., and other income Rs 112.96 crore.

S Viswanathan, SBM

SBM Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

TTM P/E 7.62

Muthoot Capital’s Topline Soars, Net Profit Flat Kerala based listed NBFC Muthoot Capital Services, belonging to Muthoot Pappachan Group, has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 40.25 crore and a net profit of Rs 5.15 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Other income for the quarter was Rs 0.18 crore. For Muthoot Capital EPS the quarter ended Dec Q3(Dec13) 4.13 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 26.54 Q2(Sept-13) 4.11 crore and net profit was Q1(June-13) 4.79 5.28 Rs 5.16 crore, and other Q4 (FY13) income Rs 0.03 crore.

TTM EPS 18.31

Price

EPS 17.73 6.33 11.08 16.28 51.42 391.80

Karur Vysya Bank Grows Topline, Other Income, Bottomline Flat South based private sector lender Karur Vysya Bank has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13.

Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 1,298.00 crore and net profit was Rs 106.82 crore.

Other income for the quarter was Rs 105.61 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 1072.10 crore and net profit was Rs 113.04 crore., and other income Rs 105.49 crore.

82.55

TTM P/E 4.51 Thomas John Muthoot

KVB Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price K. Venkataraman KVB

EPS 9.97 7.73 11.22 14.80 43.72 318.65

TTM P/E 7.29 Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

V-Guard Expands Bottomline by 14%, To Launch New Inverters and Stabilizers Consumer electrical and electronics company, V-Guard Industries, has announced its results for the third quarter ended 31st December. Profit After Tax for the Quarter was Rs. 17.53 crores, registering a growth of 14% over corresponding period of last financial year (Rs.15.35 crores). Net Revenue from operations for the Third Quartern was Rs. 352.93 crores. Net revenue operations for the corresponding period of last financial year were Rs.349.04 crores. Robust sales was recorded in electric and solar water heaters during the quarter under review. A new model of Electric Water Heater, ‘Pebble’ was launched in the premium category and the model has been well accepted in South India and

the product will be taken to other States in the next financial year. Sales of digital UPS and pumps have been very subdued and have recorded decline for the quarter which lead to overall flat growth in sales. V-Guard Industries Limited is a Kochi based company, incepted in 1977 by Kochouseph Chittilapilly to manufacture and market Voltage stabilizers. What started in 1977 with two employees and a burning passion is now a force to reckon with in the Indian electric and electronic goods panorama. The company has since then established a strong brand name and aggressively diversified to become a multi-product company catering to the Light Electricals sector manufacturing

Kochouseph Chittilapilly, V-Guard Industries

V-Guard Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 5.88 4.85 5.91 2.99 19.63 430.75

TTM P/E 21.94 Seasonal Magazine

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Voltage stabilizers, Invertors & Digital UPS systems, Pumps, House wiring/ LT cables, Electric water heaters, Fans, Solar water heaters and has also recently forayed into Induction cooktops Switchgears and mixer grinder. Commenting on the company’s performance, Mithun K. Chittilappilly, Managing Director, VGuard Industries Ltd said the overall slowdown in Indian economy has affected the consumer goods industry to a considerable extent. However, focused efforts on various cost management measures has helped the company in retaining the margin. He said that the company is launching new series of inverters and stabilizers for the summer season.

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Irfan Razack, Prestige

Uzma Irfan, Prestige

Prestige Posts Strong Growth in Volumes, Collections Prestige Estates Projects the Bangalore-based leading real estate developer reported strong performance during October-December quarter (Q3) despite slowdown in the economy. The company sold 904 units (area of 1.55 million square feet) worth Rs 940.2 crore in the quarter gone by, a growth of 24.69 percent compared to a year ago period. In December quarter of 2012, it has sold 682 units aggregating 1.44 million square feet. Collections during the same period jumped 16.69 percent year-on-year to Rs 592.3 crore from Rs 507.6 crore. Net profit improved on a

Prestige Westwoods

Prestige Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 2.30 2.22 2.48 2.59 9.59 136.90

TTM P/E 14.28 QoQ basis, but fell on a YoY basis.

Prestige reported a drop of 12 percent in revenues at Rs 430 crore compared to Rs 492 crore in the previous quarter last year. Margins of the company improved sequentially due to better product mix. During the quarter, the company launched the first phase of residential project Prestige Lakeside Habitat in Bangalore and the total developable area is 2.79 million square feet. In the last nine months of the current financial year 2013-14, Prestige sold 3,141 units and 0.15 million square feet area of commercial space, totaling to 5.15 million square feet amounting to Rs 3,031.6 crore.

Prestige’s performance in these nine months is inline with its guidance set for this fiscal, in terms of sales, collections, and launches. The realty company is launching a farm house project in Goa for which the approval process is on. It also has two major projects under approval in Hyderabad.

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

VR Iyer Bank of India

Bank of India’s NII and NPA Performance Good, Net Profit Falls Public sector lender Bank of India disappointed street with the third quarter net profit falling 27 percent to Rs 586 crore on account of higher provisions. Net interest income grew 17.8 percent to Rs 2,719 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 as against Rs 2,308 crore in same quarter last year. Gross nonperforming assets improved to 2.81 percent during December quarter as against Rs 2.93 percent in previous quarter and 3.08 percent in same quarter last year.

Net NPA declined 10 bps sequentially (22 bps year-onyear) to 1.75 percent. In absolute term, gross NPA increased 1.4 percent quarter-on-quarter (16 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 10,023 crore Seasonal Magazine

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while net NPA declined marginally (up 13 percent on yearly basis) to Rs 6,147 crore in the quarter ended December 2013. Slippages during the quarter were higher at Rs 1,747 crore compared to Rs 1,469 crore and restructured assets too were higher at Rs 1,146 crore compared to Rs 855 crore on sequential basis. Provisions and contingencies jumped 14 percent on sequential basis (53.3 percent year-on-year) to Rs 1,403.7 crore in the quarter gone by. Provision coverage ratio improved to 63.77 percent as on December 2013 as against 63.29 percent in September 2013. Other income increased to Rs 1,097 crore from Rs 937 crore year-on-year.

BOI Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 9.66 10.43 16.18 13.04 49.31 181.75

TTM P/E 3.69

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

ICICI Bank’s Headline Numbers Reasonable, Asset Quality Concerns Continue India’s biggest private sector lender ICICI Bank reported stable numbers in the third quarter with the net profit growing 12.5 percent to Rs 2,532.2 crore compared to a year ago period, supported by higher net interest income and non interest income (other income). This was after the additional tax provision of Rs 215 crore for deferred tax liability on special reserve for the nine months ended December 31, 2013. Growth in profit after tax excluding this impact was 22 percent. Net interest income ICICI Bank grew 21.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,255 Q3(Dec13) crore in the quarter ended December 2013, driven by retail banking operations. Other Q2(Sept-13) income or non-interest income increased 26 Q1(June-13) percent on yearly basis to Rs 2,801 crore while Q4 (FY13) fee income jumped 13 percent to Rs 1,997 TTM EPS crore in the quarter gone by. Operating profit Price of the bank increased 29 percent to Rs 4,439 TTM P/E crore during December quarter. Net interest margin improved (up 25 basis points year-onyear) to 3.32 percent from 3.31 percent on sequential basis.

Quarter-on-quarter domestic net interest margin of the bank climbed to 3.67 percent from 3.65 percent but international NIM declined 10 basis points to 1.7 percent during OctoberDecember quarter. “We would like to maintain net interest margin at current levels,” Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO said. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances declined 3 bps quarter-on-quarter (26 bps year-on-year) to 3.05 percent while net NPA increased 9 bps sequentially (18 bps on yearly basis) to 0.94 percent in the quarter gone by. In absolute term, gross NPAs rose 3.7 percent Q-o-Q (6.5 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 10,399 crore and net NPAs jumped 15.6 percent Q-o-Q (43 percent Y-o-Y) to

TTK Prestige’s Performance Sharply Down

Chanda Kochhar, ICICI Bank

EPS 21.93 20.38 19.71 19.98 82.00 969.10

11.82 Rs 3,118.44 crore during October-December quarter. ICICI Bank restructured loans worth Rs 8,602 crore as on December 2013 compared to Rs 6,826 crore as on September 2013. Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO said the bank would see asset quality stress for a few quarters at least. “We will continue to see addition NPAs and restructured assets. We have recast loan pipeline of Rs 3,000 crore,” she elaborated. Its provision coverage ratio fell to 70 percent in the third quarter from 73.1 percent in second quarter and 75.4 percent in first quarter of FY14.

Provisions and contingencies increased 11 percent sequentially to Rs 694.64 crore during December quarter and the year-on-year jump was 88.4 percent.

T T Jagannathan, TTK

TTK Prestige has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 369.44 crore and a net profit of Rs 29.49 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. TTK Prestige’s product range includes Pressure Cookers, Non-Stick Cookware, Rice Cookers, OTG’s, Kitchen EPS Hoods (Chimneys), Hobs, LP Gas Stoves, TTK Prestige Coffee Makers, Kettles, Sandwich Toasters Q3(Dec13) 25.33 and many other small electrical appliances. Q2(Sept-13) 26.03 TTK Prestige Limited also offers Modular Q1(June-13) 22.74 Kitchen solutions. Other income for the Q4 (FY13) 24.72 quarter was Rs 2.53 crore. For the quarter 98.82 ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover TTM EPS 3080.70 was Rs 437.13 crore and net profit was Rs Price 44.10 crore, and other income Rs 0.94 crore. TTM P/E 31.17 Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results SBBJ’s NII and Other Income Growth Healthy, Net Profit Shows Trouble

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, an associate bank of SBI, has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 2,119.97 crore and net profit was Rs 151.97 crore. Other income for the quarter was Rs 168.81 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 1915.08 crore and net profit was Rs 215.11 crore., and other income Rs 167.17 crore.

SBBJ Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 21.71 22.08 26.79 25.46 96.04 300.00

TTM P/E 3.12

Maruti Suzuki’s Results Good, Gujarat Expansion Raises Corporate Governance Red Flag India’s largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) surpassed street expectations with the third quarter net profit rising 36 percent year-on-year, driven by strong operational performance, higher localisation and favourable forex. Quarter-on-quarter growth was 1.6 percent. “Higher localisation, favourable foreign exchange and cost reduction initiatives by the company contributed significantly to net profit,” RC Bhargava, Chairman said. The lag effect of rupee depreciation in second quarter was seen in the third quarter.

Net profit increased to Rs 681.15 crore from Rs 670.23 crore Q-o-Q and Rs 501.3 crore Y-o-Y. Numbers were not comparable on year-on-year basis due to the Suzuki Powertrain merger.

Suzuki Powertrain was merged into Maruti on October 3, 2012, the results started to reflect from Q4FY13. Total income from operations or revenues climbed 4 percent (down 2.7 percent year-on-year) to Rs 10,893.8 crore on sequential basis while net sales grew 4 percent Q-o-Q (down 3 percent Y-oY) to Rs 10,620 crore in the quarter gone by. Operational performance was very strong during the quarter.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 2.6 percent sequentially to Rs 1,355 crore and operating profit margin slipped 20 basis points to 12.4 percent. The market share of the company increased 2.5 Seasonal Magazine

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percent to 42.8 percent in the quarter gone by. Maruti sold a total of 2,88,151 vehicles in the quarter ended December 2013, degrowth of 4.4 percent over a year ago period. Exports dipped 38.6 percent to 19,966 units while domestic sales slipped 0.3 percent year-on-year to 2.68 lakh units. Sales of utility vehicles like Ertiga, Gypsy, Grand Vitara dropped 10.2 percent to 18,222 units and compact cars (which are Swift, Estillo, Ritz) sales declined 13.5 percent to 59,481 units. Sales of mini cars, which are M800, A star, Alto, Wagon R, grew 3.6 percent to 1.15 lakh units. Meanwhile, the board of directors decided to expand manufacturing facilities in Gujarat after more than two years the board approved the purchase of land in Mehsana district of Gujarat (on October 29, 2011). The company had kept expansion on hold due to market conditions. Since the approval, the company acquired approximately 640 acres of land in Becharaji and 550 acres

Maruti Suzuki EPS Q3(Dec13) 22.55 Q2(Sept-13) 22.19 Q1(June-13) 20.91 Q4 (FY13) 41.04 TTM EPS 106.69 Price 1658.00

TTM P/E 15.54

in Vithalpur. “The board approved implementing the expansion through a 100 percent Suzuki subsidiary Suzuki Motors Gujarat Private Limited because it would result in substantial financial benefits to MSIL and its minority shareholders,” the company said. The Suzuki subsidiary will not sell vehicles manufactured in this plant to anybody else. This subsidiary will produce vehicles according to requirements of MSIL and will be sold to MSIL only. “The price of the vehicles to MSIL will include only the cost of production actually incurred by the subsidiary and just adequate cash (net of all tax) to cover incremental capital expenditure requirements,” the release said. Bhargava said the Gujarat expansion will be funded by Suzuki subsidiary and overall investment is expected to be around Rs 3,000 crore.

“It will be started with Rs 100 crore.

The company, which will not be listed company, having headquarters in Ahmedabad will be set up by April 2014,” he elaborated.

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Allahabad Bank’s Topline Helped by Other Income, NII Flat, Asset Quality Degrades Allahabad Bank EPS Q3(Dec13) 6.46 Q2(Sept-13) 5.52 Q1(June-13) 8.26 Q4 (FY13) 2.52 TTM EPS 22.76 Price 76.90

TTM P/E 3.38

IOB Performs on Total Income, Bottomline Hit by Asset Quality Public sector lender Indian Overseas Bank today reported a 35.5 percent decline in net profit to Rs 75.07 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013. The Chennai-based bank had reported net profit of Rs 116.50 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. For the nine-month period ending December 31, the net profit slipped by 34.4 percent to Rs 333.41 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 508.36 crore in the same period of the previous year. The total income in the December quarter rose to Rs 6,190.26 crore from Rs M.Narendra, IOB

5,846.98 crore in the comparable period. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) for the third quarter rose to 5.27 percent as against 4.13 percent registered during the same period of the last fiscal. Net NPA of the bank increased to 3.24 percent from 2.33 percent. Total business rose to Rs 3,87,406 crore from Rs 3,43,186 crore.

Total deposits grew to Rs 2,13,319 crore as on December 31, 2013 from Rs 1,85,573 crore in the comparable period. Total gross advances increased to Rs 1,74,087 crore from Rs 1,57,613 crore. Total capital fund of the bank stands at Rs 18,943.80 crore as on December 31, 2013 as against Rs 17,219.94 crore registered as on December 31, 2012, it said. The increase in capital fund is due to infusion of capital to the extent of Rs 1,200 crore from Government of India.

IOB Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.79 1.43 1.36 0.72 4.30 44.90

TTM P/E 10.44

State-promoted lender Allahabad Bank reported 4.8 percent growth in net profit and 0.6 percent growth in net interest income year-on-year, but asset quality worsened in the quarter ended December 2013. Net profit of the bank increased to Rs 326 crore from Rs 311 crore and net interest income rose to Rs 1,337.6 crore from Rs 1,330.2 crore. The growth in profitability was largely on account of other income that jumped 59 percent to Rs 542.3 crore compared to a year ago period. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) climbed 256 basis points year-on-year (53 bps sequentially) to 5.47 percent and net NPAs doubled (36 bps Q-o-Q) to 4.19 percent during December quarter versus 2.08 percent in a year ago period. In absolute term, gross NPAs jumped 113 percent on yearly basis (13.6 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs 7,512.14 crore while net NPAs rose 128 percent Y-o-Y (12 percent on sequential basis) to Rs 5,650.5 crore in the quarter gone by. Provisions and contingencies stood at Rs 556.9 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 as against Rs 742.2 crore in previous quarter and Rs 432.4 crore in a year ago period.

Provision coverage ratio for the October-December quarter was 42.93 percent.

Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Jyothy Laboratories Posts Robust Growth

S.R. Bansal, Corp Bank

Corporation Bank’s Topline Expands Medium-sized PSU lender Corporation Bank has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 4,608.75 crore and net profit was Rs 126.69 crore. Other income for the quarter was Rs 338.59 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 3870.88 crore and net profit was Rs 303.17 crore., and other income Rs 386.96 crore.

EPS

Corporation Bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) (FY13) TTM EPS Price

8.16 1.01 24.72 23.92 57.81 244.05

TTM P/E

4.22

City Union Bank’s NII Growth Reasonable, Asset Quality Slips Private sector lender City Union Bank’s third quarter net profit increased 4.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 89 crore due to lower provisions and higher net interest income, but asset quality weakened. Net interest income jumped 21 percent to Rs 197.5 crore from Rs 163.4 crore during the same period while other income or non-interest income declined to Rs 64.76 crore from Rs 65.89 crore. Gross nonperforming assets (NPAs) climbed to 1.70 percent as against 1.66 percent in September quarter and 1.23 percent in a year-ago period. Net NPAs rose to 0.89 percent as against Rs 0.83 percent quarter-on-quarter and 0.63 percent year-onyear. Provisions and contingencies slipped 6.4 percent (67 percent sequentially) to Rs 29.1 crore compared to corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Provisioning coverage ratio during December quarter has been maintained at 70 percent compared to September quarter.

CUB Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

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Jyothy Labs Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 1.63 1.26 1.73 0.71 5.33 209.55

TTM P/E 39.32

EPS 1.65 1.62 1.90 1.73 6.9 48.25

TTM P/E 6.70 Seasonal Magazine

Homegrown FMCG firm Jyothy Laboratories Ltd today reported a 63.11 percent increase in its standalone net profit to Rs 27.37 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013. The company had posted a standalone net profit of Rs 16.78 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal. Net sales of the company stood at Rs 296.98 crore for the quarter as compared with Rs 234.20 crore in the year-ago period. Commenting on the results, Jyothy Laboratories CMD MP Ramachandran said: “Increase of geographical footprints of our seven power brands has helped us grow at fast pace. We have strategically concentrated on investing in our brands through advertising campaigns and brand extension which is paying off well.” He further said Jyothy Laboratories would continue to expand its product portfolio. Jyothy Laboratories markets various brands, including Ujala, Maxo, Exo, pril, Margo, Fa, Mr White and Henko.

M P Ramachandran, Jyothy Laboratories

INVESTMENT

“WE INDIANS ARE SELLING STAKES IN OUR BEST COMPANIES” Aashish Somaiya, CEO, Motilal Oswal AMC, argues that Indians have one of the most promising stock markets, but are selling away invaluable stakes in some of our best companies to foreigners. This stock market veteran explains why this should stop and how to make a start in long-term profitable investing. e are lucky to be born in the India that we live in, but sadly till date foreigners have benefited more from our growth than we ourselves. 250 years back India and its business was taken over forcibly by East India Company but now we Indians have systematically sold equity in our best companies to foreigners. It’s good to be proud of India’s growth, wouldn’t it be better to invest into it and benefit from it. Start now. But how?

I believe that my money has to work hard for me, I don’t believe in protecting wealth because I think protection, status quo, consolidation these kind of ideas used in conjunction with wealth generally result in slow and steady destruction of wealth. I believe in taking intelligent risks and I believe that when it comes to luck, one has to give luck a chance to work and for that taking intelligent risks is a must.

waiting for opportune time etc all of it is like saying “I will start a 100 metre race after three seconds but then I will run at double the speed and still break the record”.

Life is finite, we have achievements to accomplish, families to take care of and goals to be reached. There is a limit to how much risk you can take and what rate of return you can generate, starting late only increases degree of difficulty.

People associate risk with the word aggressive but still I would describe myself an aggressive investor. This is in theory purely arising out of the fact that I invest only in equity and real

Aashish Somaiya estate. At the same time, my preference for real estate and equity comes from my personal circumstances because my goals are all spread over the next 10 to 20 years and I have no immediate liabilities. Also it is because I am convinced that interest rates can only compensate inflation and they cannot give growth.

There is only one way to make money consistently over long periods of time -buy right, sit tight. The opportune time to sell is if and only if you need the money. As they say in Hindi, “baaki sab mithya hai”.

Please study the definitions of these words in the Oxford dictionary – Savings, Investments, Interest. We need to realize that saving is not investing and interest does nothing more than compensate for inflation. Products which pay interest do not give growth.

I would call myself a disciplined investor. Since the time I started my career, I have always had SIPs in equity funds, I bought my first house at an early age and I have always believed Warren Buffet’s maxim that expense is what your incur from the balance left after investing.

Postponing investment to accumulate the right amount, getting the right deal, Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Apollo Tyres Posts Excellent Bottomline Growth, Rethinks Strategy Post Failure of Cooper Deal

Puravankara Focuses on New Launches in Q3, Benefits to be Visible in Upcoming Quarters Puravankara Projects has reported a consolidated sales turnover of Rs 268.11 crore and a net profit of Rs 20.06 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Other income for the quarter was Rs 0.20 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the consolidated sales turnover was Rs 310.62 crore and net profit was Rs 64.41 crore, and other income Rs 0.19 crore. The drop in profit was due to a 2.80 times rise in land costs incurred during this quarter. Purva management has noted that focus had been on new launches in third quarter, the benefits of which will be visible only in next few quarters. New launches in Q3 include Purva Westend in Hosur (Bangalore) and Purva Amaiti. Both the projects have seen strong response.

Ravi Puravankara

Puravankara EPS Q3(Dec13) 0.85 Q2(Sept-13) 1.94 Q1(June-13) 3.08 Q4 (FY13) 3.69 TTM EPS 9.56 Price 62.65

TTM P/E 6.55 Ashish-Puravankara

Apollo Tyres posted a 87.15 percent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 338.01 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, helped by benefits accruing from a better product portfolio.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 180.60 crore during the same period of previous fiscal.

Consolidated net sales of the company rose to Rs 3,475.12 crore during the third quarter, compared to Rs 3,217.34 crore during the same period in the previous fiscal. “Improved and expanded product range in key markets for the company has helped us in reporting incremental revenues for the third quarter,” Apollo Tyres Chairman Onkar S Kanwar said. “This gives me confidence to invest in future growth for the company, decisions for which had been kept on hold for the past few months,” he added. For nine months ended December 31, 2013, the company posted a net profit of Rs 723.43 crore, compared to Rs 470.82 crore in the same period of previous fiscal. Post the collapse of the USD 2.5 billion deal with Cooper, Apollo Tyres is now working on a new strategy. The strategy will see revenue from overseas markets grow to 50 percent over the next five years from around 30 percent currently. As per the plan, Apollo Tyres has decided to revive its investment plans in two overseas facilities that were put on hold for over a year.

One projected advantage of buying Cooper was its 25% China revenue. Now that the Cooper deal is history, Apollo is re-strategizing. One of the two new plants would come up in the ASEAN region and the other in Eastern Europe. The only contentious issue as far as Cooper Tire is concerned, which the management maintains now, is the question of whether Apollo Tyres will now be required to pay the severance fee of about a USD 112.5 million.

Apollo Tyres Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 6.71 4.36 3.29 2.81 17.17 118.80

TTM P/E 6.92 Jackbastian K. Nazareth Seasonal Magazine

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TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Eicher Motors Bullets Ahead With Momentum Eicher Motors has reported a consolidated sales turnover of Rs 1,679.51 crore and a net profit of Rs 96.25 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Other income for the quarter was Rs 14.53 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the consolidated sales turnover was Rs 1,653.56 crore and net profit was Rs 72.72 crore, and other income Rs 27.13 crore.Royal Enfield manufacturer’s consolidated net profit grew 32.3 percent to Rs 96.2 crore compared to a year-ago period on healthy operational performance. Consolidated revenue increased marginally to Rs 1,679.5 crore from Rs 1,653 crore during the same period, but operating profit shot up 41 percent year-on-year to Rs 166.5 crore and margin expanded 290 basis points at 10 percent in the quarter ended December 2013. Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO said the company reported healthy operational performance in a weak environment. “Operational performance was driven mainly by strong motorbike business. We achieved 20 percent margin for Royal Enfield for the first time,” he said. Lal further said the company will invest Rs 600 crore in Royal Enfield business for capacity expansion and new products. According to him, the pricing is not an issue for Royal Enfield, margin has more leeway. Commenting on the the recently introduced ‘Pro Series’ range of trucks in the 5-49 tonnes segment, Lal said the entire product range would be out in the next 18 months. When asked about progress on the 50:50 joint venture with US-based Polaris Industries, he said, “It is well on track for a commercial launch in 2015.” “We are trying to create a new segment in personal four wheel space.

It is an on road personal EPS vehicle, a new segment, which Eicher Motors we are trying to create,” Lal Q3(Dec13) 35.61 said when asked about JV’s Q2(Sept-13) 39.77 product development plans. Q1(June-13) 34.19 Meanwhile, Eicher Motors has Q4 (FY13) 36.27 recommended 300 percent 145.84 dividend on the equity share TTM EPS Price 4825.00 capital (Rs 30 per share).

TTM P/E 33.08

Central Bank Back to Black, NIM Improves Impressively Pubilc sector lender Central Bank of India turned profitable with the third quarter (October-December) net profit of Rs 61.5 crore as against loss of Rs 1,509 crore in previous quarter. Profit declined 66 percent compared to a year-ago period on higher tax cost and provisions. In September quarter, it reported loss due to higher provisions that was at Rs 658 crore in the quarter gone by as against Rs 2,049 crore in previous quarter and Rs 628 crore in same quarter last year.

Net interest income jumped over 28 percent year-onyear to Rs 1,807.6 crore in the quarter ended December 2013. Tax expenses for the quarter stood at Rs 150 crore as against tax write back of Rs 29 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Gross nonperforming assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances inched up to 6.48 percent in Q3FY14 versus 6.47 percent in Q2FY14 and 5.64 percent in Q3FY13.

Net NPA declined 8 basis points sequentially and 10 bps on yearly basis to 3.69 percent during December quarter. In absolute term, gross NPAs were flat at Rs 11,599 crore as against Rs 11,563 crore on sequential basis while net NPAs declined 2 percent to Rs 6,377 crore from Rs 6,511 crore.

EPS Rajeev Rishi, chairman and CBI Q3(Dec13) 0.18 managing director said net interest margin improved to Q2(Sept-13) -14.44 2.99 percent as against 2.45 Q1(June-13) 0.21 percent on sequential basis. Q4 (FY13) 1.63 “We hope to maintain net TTM EPS 2.69 interest margin levels going Price 44.85 forward,” he said.

TTM P/E 16.65

Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results Eldeco Housing Posts Tough Q3, Like Most Other Developers

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Eldeco Housing has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 9.55 crore and a net profit of Rs 0.55 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13.

Other income for the quarter was Rs 0.88 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 14.95 crore and net profit was Rs 5.88 crore, and other income Rs 8.49 crore.

Eldeco Housing EPS Q3(Dec13) 2.80 Q2(Sept-13) 3.62 Q1(June-13) 5.37 Q4 (FY13) 2.11 TTM EPS 13.9 Price 160

TTM P/E 11.51

PNB’s Asset Quality Improves, But Profits Fall Public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported 42 percent degrowth in net profit in the third quarter year-on-year, but the asset quality of the bank improved sequentially. Net profit fell to Rs 755.41 crore from Rs 1,305.62 crore on account of higher provisions and tax expenses, and lower other income. Year-on-year net interest income grew 13 percent to Rs 4,221 crore in the quarter gone by. Gross non-performing asset (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances declined 18 basis points (up 35 bps year-on-year) to 4.96 percent and net NPAs too slipped 27 bps (up 51 bps Y-o-Y) to 2.80 percent sequentially. In absolute term, gross NPAs increased 0.4 percent (up 18.6 percent on yearly basis) to Rs 16,595.84 crore while net NPAs dropped 5.5 percent sequentially (up 19.7 percent year-on-year) to Rs 9,083.99 crore in the quarter gone by. Provisions and contingencies slipped 19 percent (up 98 percent Yo-Y) to Rs 1,590 crore on sequential basis. Provision coverage ratio climbed further to 58.55 percent in the quarter ended December 2013 from 55.27 percent in September quarter and 54.67 percent in June quarter FY14. Other income fell marginally to Rs 938.43 crore from Rs 972 crore while tax expenses dropped to Rs

PNB Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 21.29 14.30 36.08 32.91 104.58 546.95

TTM P/E 5.23 Seasonal Magazine

Page 82

KR Kamath, PNB

356.9 crore from Rs 574.7 crore year-on-year. Meanwhile, the bank in its filing said an amount of Rs 166.18 crore was charged to profit & loss account during the quarter towards the amortisation relating to enhancement in gratuity limit and re-opening of pension option for existing employees.

The bank has declared an interim dividend of Rs 10 per share for the financial year 2013-14.

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Manappuram Zooms on CRISIL Re-rating, Despite Quarterly Numbers Slipping Slightly

VP Nandakumar, Manappuram

Manappuram EPS Q3(Dec13) 0.84 Q2(Sept-13) 0.83 Q1(June-13) 0.63 Q4 (FY13) -1.68 TTM EPS 3.06 Price 24.30

CRISIL has re-rated Manappuram Finance’s banking facilities from Negative to Stable, due to significant and ongoing improvement in its business metrics, as well as more friendly regulations from RBI towards NBFC gold lending activity. Manappuram Finance has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 534.87 crore and a net profit of Rs 71.06 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Other income for the quarter was Rs 0.19 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 586.20 crore and net profit was Rs 84.38 crore, and other income Rs 11.26 crore.

TTM P/E 7.94 Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results Tech Mahindra’s Dollar Revenue Growth Impressive, Ahead of All IT Companies

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Country’s fifth largest software services provider Tech Mahindra reported 38 percent sequential growth in third quarter net profit on account of exceptional gains of Rs 346.6 crore. Net profit increased to Rs 1,001 crore from Rs 718.4 crore including exceptional gains. After excluding that, net profit stood at Rs 663.22 crore for the quarter. The company reported an exceptional gain of Rs 120 crore. “It represents write back during the quarter of the estimated excess provision for contingencies provided in an earlier year by erstwhile Satyam,” the company said. Mahindra Satyam was merged with Tech Mahindra in July 2013. It has a tax writeback of Rs 226.6 crore during the quarter.

After re-evaluating the effects of the possible outcomes of the tax matters in dispute relating to erstwhile Satyam, the company has written back the excess tax provision in respect of prior years.

Rupee revenues grew 2.7 percent quarter-on-quarter (33.5 percent year-on-year) to Rs 4,900 crore and dollar revenues shot up 4.35 percent

C. P. Gurnani Seasonal Magazine

Page 84

Tech Mahindra EPS Q3(Dec13) 43.48 Q2(Sept-13) 30.96 Q1(June-13) 29.60 Q4 (FY13) 29.54 TTM EPS 133.58 Price 1880.00

TTM P/E 14.07

(17.2 percent Y-o-Y) to USD 791 million. While addressing press conference, Vineet Nayyar, MD said Tech Mahindra has signed a large deal in Australia in BFSI segment in the quarter. “We will continue to grow through acquisitions,” he added. He further said the company ended Q3 on a fairly optimistic note. “We remain confident of the success of our differentiated offerings.” Nayar sees greenshots in global economy.

There was a miscellaneous income of Rs 95.74 crore during the quarter, a growth of 49.3 percent over previous quarter. Tech Mahindra reported a foreign exchange loss of Rs 141.44 crore during OctoberDecember quarter as against Rs 26.06 crore in previous quarter.

Operating profit margin was unchanged at 23.28 percent compared to previous quarter. On sequential basis, active clients increased to 605 from 576. Total headcount of the company increased 2,165 to 87,399 as of December 2013. Attrition rate for the quarter was stable at 17 percent.

Cash and cash equivalent for the quarter was Rs 3,459 crore while debt stood at Rs 342 crore in the quarter ended December 2013.

Meanwhile, the board of directors of the company increased the limit of investment by foreign institutional investors from the existing 45 percent to 48 percent of the paid up capital.

Vijaya Bank’s Profit Falls Sharply, But Asset Quality Better Vijaya Bank reported 91.1 percent drop in net profit at Rs 11.39 crore for the October- December quarter due to higher provisioning for bad loans and rise in operating expenses.

The Bangalore-based public sector lender had posted net profit of Rs 126.73 crore for the same quarter of last fiscal, 2012-13. The bank’s total income in the third quarter ended December 31, 2013 increased to Rs 2,874.60 crore, from Rs 2,357.05 crore in the year-ago period.

Provisions other than tax and contingencies during the quarter increased to Rs 159.41 crore as against Rs 102.72 crore in the same period of last fiscal. At the same time, operating expense of the bank rose to Rs 456.39 crore during the quarter as compared to Rs 319.18 crore. As of December 31, bank’s portfolio quality improved, with gross NPAs (non performing assets) rising to 2.67 percent of gross advances, as against 2.91 percent a year ago. Its net NPAs during the third quarter declined to 1.57 percent, from 1.71 percent in the period a year earlier.

Vijaya Bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.23 2.75 2.67 3.92 9.57 35.30

TTM P/E 3.69

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Sobha Developers’ Profit Rises, Profitability Dips Bangalore-based real estate company Sobha Developers’ third quarter consolidated net profit grew 11 percent to Rs 58.3 crore on higher revenues compared to same quarter last year.

“We are bullish about the industry and the markets in which we operate. We have scheduled 11 million square feet of new launches in the coming four to five quarters. We also plan to enter the Kochi market in Kerala during FY14,” JC Sharma, VC and MD said. Total income from operations increased 26.6 percent to Rs 544.3 crore from Rs 430 crore during the same period. Earnings

before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 8.8 percent to Rs 149 crore but operating profit margin fell 460 basis points to 27.4 percent on higher expenses year-on-year. Total expenses jumped 34 percent to Rs 412.5 crore. The company generated Rs 162 crore of operational cash flows compared to Rs 111 crore in the previous year. Meanwhile, during the quarter Sobha Developers launched two new projects measuring 0.46 million square feet. One project in Coimbator called “elan” (joint development residential project between company and Lakshmi Machine Works) having a total saleable area of 0.32 million square feet and second project is a plotted development in Mysore “Sobha Estate”. “Both our launches in the quarter have met with good response,” JC Sharma said.

Sobha Developers EPS Q3(Dec13) 5.92 Q2(Sept-13) 5.77 Q1(June-13) 5.11 Q4 (FY13) 7.10 TTM EPS 23.90 Price 275.15

TTM P/E 11.51

IDFC Shows Reasonable Growth

Vikram Limaye, IDFC Infrastructure finance company IDFC’s consolidated profit rose by 10 percent to Rs 500.68 crore in the third quarter ended December, 2013. Company’s consolidated net profit was Rs 455.07 crore during the corresponding quarter of 2012-13. The Group has posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit at Rs 500.68 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 455.07 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012. Total income of the company during the quarter increased to Rs 2,122.84 crore from Rs 2,047.58 crore a year ago. On standalone basis, the company posted a net profit of Rs 475.44 crore during OctoberDecember quarter. Standalone income increased from Rs 1,974.88 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 to Rs 1,995.01 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.

IDFC Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 3.30 3.21 3.68 3.47 13.66 99.30

TTM P/E 7.27

Ravi Menon, Sobha Developers Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results ING Vysya Bank Records Modest Growth

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Private lender ING Vysya Bank today reported a marginal rise of 3.1 percent to Rs 167.34 crore in net profit for the third quarter of the current financial year.

The bank had reported net profit of Rs 162.33 crore during the corresponding October- ING Vysya Bank EPS December quarter of 2012-13. “Total income Q3(Dec13) 8.90 has increased from Rs 1,425.46 crore for the Q2(Sept-13) 9.47 quarter ended December 31, 2012 to Rs Q1(June-13) 11.25 1,487.85 crore for the quarter ended Q4 (FY13) 11.04 December 31, 2013,” ING Vysya said. Bank’s TTM EPS 40.66 provisioning during the quarter remained Price 550.25 lower at Rs 23.01 crore as against Rs 24.60 TTM P/E 13.53

Canara Bank’s Topline Grows, Bottomline Hit by Higher Provisioning Public sector lender Canara Bank reported a 42.39 percent decline in net profit at Rs 409.35 crore for the third quarter ended December, mainly due to higher provisioning for bad loans. The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 710.51 crore in the October-December quarter of 2012-13 fiscal. Total income of the bank increased to Rs 10,935.29 crore during the quarter, from Rs 9,390.29 crore in the same period a year ago. During the quarter, the bank made bad loan provisioning of Rs 1,051 crore, against Rs 626 crore provisioning made in the corresponding quarter in 2012-13 fiscal.

Canara Bank EPS Q3(Dec13) 9.24 Q2(Sept-13) 14.13 Q1(June-13) 17.88 Q4 (FY13) 16.37 TTM EPS 57.62 Price 219.40

crore a year earlier. However, its net nonperforming assets (NPAs) or bad loans increased to 0.21 percent from 0.05 percent. But gross NPAs were trimmed to 1.68 percent from 1.77 percent.

Union Bank Comes Up With Impressive Growth, Asset Quality Concerns Linger Public sector lender Union Bank of India Friday reported a 15 percent year-on-year rise in its third quarter net profit to Rs 349 crore, helped by a sharp fall in provisions. Quarterly net income grew 4 percent to Rs 1963.5 crore. Gross non-performing assets of the bank climbed to 3.85 percent from 3.64 percent in the September quarter. Net NPAs increased to 2.26 percent from 2.15 percent. Quarterly EPS provisions stood at Rs 610 crore Union Bank for the quarter, down 29 percent Q3(Dec13) 5.79 compared to Rs 857 crore during Q2(Sept-13) 3.49 the same period last year. The Q1(June-13) 9.39 bank’s capital adequacy ratio (as Q4 (FY13) 14.15 per Basel III norms) stood at TTM EPS 32.82 10.12 percent.

Price

TTM P/E 3.81

R.K. Dubey, Canara Bank

Arun Tiwari Union Bank Seasonal Magazine

Page 86

105.25

TTM P/E 3.21

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Bank of Maharashtra Records Higher NII, Profits Dive Due to Provisioning Bank of Maharashtra reported 91.8 percent dip in net profit at Rs 15.8 crore for the October-December quarter because of higher provisioning for bad loans.

The Pune-based public sector lender had posted net profit of Rs 194.06 crore for the same quarter of last fiscal, 2012-13. Its total income in Q3, 2013-14 increased to Rs 3,307.49 crore, from Rs 2,710.16 crore in the year-ago period. Provisions other than tax and contingencies during the quarter increased three-fold to Rs 407.78 crore as against Rs 143.89 crore in the same period of last fiscal. Its operating profit in Q3 also declined to Rs 425.01 crore, as against Rs 525.01 crore in the year-ago period. As of December 31, bank’s portfolio quality deteriorated further, with gross NPAs rising to 4.01 percent of gross advances, as against 1.71 per cent a year ago.

Its net NPAs during the third quarter rose to 2.56 percent, from 0.66 percent BoM EPS in the period a year earlier.

Q3(Dec13) 0.01 Meanwhile, the bank declared an interim Q2(Sept-13) 0.50 dividend of Re 1 per share Q1(June-13) 3.81 or 10 percent of paid up Q4 (FY13) 4.13 capital for 2013-14.

TTM EPS 8.45

Price

32.25

TTM P/E 3.82 Sushil Muhnot, BoM

Ashwani Kumar, Dena Bank

Dena Bank Expands Topline, Bottomline Dives Down

dena bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 1.97 3.07 5.40 3.59 14.03 53.00

TTM P/E 30.78

Dena Bank, a small-sized PSU lender, has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13.

Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 2,533.84 crore and net profit was Rs 67.80 crore. Other income for the quarter was Rs 128.96 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 2263.96 crore and net profit was Rs 206.44 crore., and other income Rs 144.46 crore.

Punjab & Sind Bank’s Growth Impressive Punjab & Sind Bank has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 2,062.07 crore and net profit was Rs 100.11 crore. Other income for the quarter was Rs 115.51 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 1878.46 crore and net profit was Rs 73.68 crore., and other income Rs 105.02 crore.

PSB Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price JATINDERBIR SINGH, PSB

EPS 3.91 1.69 4.79 4.30 14.69 42.95

TTM P/E 2.92 Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results OBC Posts Modest Growth in NII, Profits Slip Due to Higher Operating Expenses

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Public sector bank Oriental Bank of Commerce Friday reported a 31 percent year-on-year decline in its third quarter net profit to Rs 224.3 crore, on weak growth in net interest income and higher operating expenses.

Quarterly net income grew 2 percent to Rs 1230 crore.

Gross non-performing assets of the bank climbed to 3.87 percent from 3.77 percent in the September quarter. Net NPAs increased to 2.91 percent from 2.69 percent. In absolute terms, gross and net NPAs were Rs 5184 crore and Rs 3833 OBC EPS crore respective. Quarterly Q3(Dec13) 7.64 provisions stood at Rs 561 crore Q2(Sept-13) 8.62 for the quarter, compared to Rs 604 crore quarter during the same Q1(June-13) 12.11 10.55 period last year. The bank’s Q4 (FY13) provision coverage ratio stood at TTM EPS 38.92 59.68 percent as on December 31, Price 168.90 and capital adequacy ratio (as per TTM P/E 4.34 Basel III norms) at 11 percent.

SL Bansal, OBC

Syndicate Bank’s NII and Profit Down, But Asset Quality Stable Syndicate Bank’s third quarter net profit fell 25.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 380 crore on low net interest income (as well as high base last year), but asset quality was stable. In Q3FY13, there was a minimum alternate tax credit of Rs 141 crore, which was not available in Q3FY14. If the same is excluded, there is an increase of Rs 13 crore in net profit in the quarter gone

Syndicate Bank EPS Q3(Dec13) 6.31 Q2(Sept-13) 7.81 Q1(June-13) 7.51 Q4 (FY13) 9.84 TTM EPS 31.47 Price 82.40

TTM P/E 2.62 Seasonal Magazine

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by. Operating profit of the bank declined 6.71 percent on yearly basis to Rs 806 crore during December quarter as the net interest income during the quarter is less by Rs 52 crore. Net interest income fell 3 percent to Rs 1,358.5 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 1,400 crore in same quarter last year. Cost to income ratio increased to 48.39 percent

Sudhir Kumar Jain Syndicate Bank

in Q3FY14 from 47.83 percent in Q3FY13 as the net interest income was less in this quarter and also due to the superannuation of staff. Net interest margin (NIM) dropped significantly to 2.76 percent during the quarter as against 3.29 percent in corresponding quarter of last fiscal on account of the stress in the economy and more NPAs in the industry as well as in the bank.

Gross non-performing asset (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances slipped 8 basis points sequentially (up 49 bps year-on-year) to 2.80 percent while net NPA was unchanged at 1.66 percent quarter-on-quarter (grew 81 bps compared to a year ago period). Yearon-year increase in gross NPA was due to high slippage in these nine months.

Provisions and contingencies grew 35 percent (down 13.4 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 459 crore compared to previous quarter. Provision coverage ratio slipped to 70.39 percent in the quarter gone by compared to 83.01 percent in same quarter last year but sequentially the bank saw marginal dip compared to 70.58 percent. Other income (noninterest income) increased to Rs 292.34 crore during December quarter from Rs 269.3 crore in same quarter last year.

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

on-year) during December quarter as

same quarter last year.

Motherson Sumi Systems Posts Good Growth, against Standalone operating profit jumped to Rs 227 crore from Rs 192.9 crore and Helped by Overseas Subsidiaries Auto component maker Motherson Sumi Systems, the flagship company of the Samvardhana Motherson Group, recorded best ever performance on every parameter in the third quarter of FY14. “The company has delivered its best ever results in revenues as well as operating margins for a quarter. This is exceptional performance both in domestic and overseas businesses in current market conditions,” said VC Sehgal, Chairman. Consolidated net profit jumped 2.4 times to Rs 249.6 crore, aided by forex gain and strong operational performance. Total income from operations grew 20 percent to Rs 7,988.7 crore compared to a year ago period. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation or operating profit surged 78 percent yearon-year to Rs 793 crore and operating profit margin expanded 320 basis points to 9.9 percent in the quarter ended December 2013. It has foreign exchange gain of Rs 32.3 crore during December quarter as against loss of Rs 65.8 crore in same quarter last year.

Both subsidiaries Samvardhana Motherson Reflectec (SMR) and German-based Peguform delivered operational improvement in the quarter gone by. Former reported record operating performance while latter turned into the black at the profit before tax level. SMR (erstwhile Visiocorp), which is in the rear view mirror business, reported 83 percent growth year-on-year in profit before tax at Rs 243.5 crore and 30 percent jump in revenues at Rs 2,398 crore during October-December quarter. Peguform, the plastic processor acquired in 2011, grew its revenues by 23 percent to Rs 4,091.4 crore compared to a year ago period. Profit before tax of this German subsidiary stood at Rs 119 crore as against loss of Rs 38.2 crore year-onyear and loss of Rs 11.3 crore quarteron-quarter. Motherson Sumi Systems showed margin improvement despite slowdown in its standalone business (domestic). Profit after tax increased 6 percent to Rs 123 crore on revenues of Rs 1,106 crore (4 percent growth year-

margin expanded 240 basis points to 20.5 percent during the same period.

MOTHERSON SUMI EPS Q3(Dec13) 2.83 Q2(Sept-13) 2.38 Q1(June-13) 1.24 Q4 (FY13) 3.33 TTM EPS 9.78 Price 229.00

TTM P/E 23.42

VC Sehgal, Motherson Sumi Systems

SBT’s NII Expands, But Profits Fall Sharply

Can Fin Homes Records Healthy Growth

State Bank of Travancore, an associate bank of SBI, has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13.

Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 2,436.49 crore and net profit was Rs 14.76 crore. Other income for the quarter was Rs 165.50 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 2139.75 crore and net profit was Rs 131.99 crore, and other income Rs 157.41 crore.

Small-sized housing loan NBFC Can Fin Homes has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 151.80 crore and a net profit of Rs 20.35 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 102.90 crore and net profit was Rs 12.64 crore. Can Fin Homes, which has been on an expansion spree, is promoted by PSU lender Canara Bank.

SBT Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 2.95 11.07 37.13 33.20 84.35 376.55

Can Fin Homes EPS Q3(Dec13) 9.90 Q2(Sept-13) 9.10 Q1(June-13) 8.10 Q4 (FY13) 7.60 TTM EPS 34.70 Price 175.20

TTM P/E 5.05

TTM P/E 4.46 Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

UCO Bank Puts Up a Good Show,

NII Growth and MAT Credit Helps

UCO Bank ‘s third quarter net profit trebled to Rs 315 crore from Rs 102 crore in a year ago period, supported by higher net interest income despite higher provisions. Net interest income grew 33 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,565.7 crore in the quarter gone by. Asset quality of the state-run lender also improved as gross non-performing assets declined 33 basis points (down 12 bps on sequential basis) to 5.2 percent compared to a year ago period. Net NPAs EPS slipped 26 bps year-on-year (7 bps Q-o- Uco Bank Q) to 3.06 percent. In absolute term, gross Q3(Dec13) 4.18 NPAs jumped 9.6 percent (down 0.3 Q2(Sept-13) 5.32 percent sequentially) to Rs 7,353.3 crore

Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

6.79 0.02 16.31 65.05

TTM P/E 3.99

Arun Kaul, UCO Bank and net NPAs rose 7.4 percent (down 0.3 percent Qo-Q) to Rs 4,216.55 crore in the quarter gone by.

Year-on-year provisions and contingencies increased 11.5 percent to Rs 811.7 crore and on sequential basis that rose 7 percent. Capital adequacy ratio (as per Basel III norms) stood at 11.16 percent as against 12.31 percent quarter-on-quarter.

The bank has recognised minimum alternate tax (MAT) credit to the extent of Rs 363.89 crore for the nine months ended December 2013 and Rs 126.38 crore in the quarter gone by.

Fortis Malar Hospitals

Maintains Profit Run Rate

Fortis Malar Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 1.08 1.10 0.91 0.81 3.9 22.50

Fortis Malar Hospitals has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 26.80 crore and a net profit of Rs 2.02 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. This Fortis Group firm runs Chennai’s mid-sized corporate super-speciality hospital, Fortis Malar Hospital. Other income for the quarter was Rs 1.68 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 26.05 crore and net profit was Rs 36.02 crore, and other income Rs 1.29 crore. But the December 2012 quarter enjoyed an Extra Ordinary Item of Rs. 33.38 crore.

TTM P/E 5.77 Aditya Vij, Fortis Malar Seasonal Magazine

Page 90

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Mahindra Lifespace Developers’

Sales Down, Profit and Other Income Up Mahindra Lifespace Developers has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 57.53 crore and a net profit of Rs 16.66 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. This Mahindra Group company is the real estate division of the Group and responsible for ‘Mahindra World City’ developments in Chennai and Jaipur.

These developments cover 4,600 acres and house over 100 reputed global companies, providing an integrated environment. The company’s residential footprint spans across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Chennai and is poised to venture into Bengaluru. Other income for the quarter was Rs 23.97 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 61.41 crore and net profit was Rs 13.56 crore, and other income Rs 13.28 crore.

MLDS Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

TTM P/E 16.02

Arun Nanda, Mahindra Lifespace Developers

Edelweiss Financial Services Posts All-round Growth Edelweiss Financial Services has reported a consolidated sales turnover of Rs 641.38 crore and a net profit of Rs 57.80 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd. provides investment banking, institutional equities, private client broking, asset management, wealth management, insurance broking and wholesale financing services to corporate, institutional and high net worth individual clients. Other income for the quarter was Rs 3.63 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the consolidated sales turnover was Rs 536.68 crore and net profit was Rs 46.04 crore, and other income Rs 2.54 crore.

Essar Ports’ Headline Numbers Up Slightly, Finance Cost Zooms Essar Ports reported a modest set of numbers for Q3 FY14 with PAT moving up marginally by 4 percent on year on year basis to Rs 94 crore and revenues rising 8.6 percent to Rs 399 crore. However, the interest and finance cost at Rs 144.6 crore zoomed 14 percent and the company says it is mainly because of fresh investments and an expensive debt that enabled it. The company is now looking for other refinancing options after its plans to raise ECBs failed. With an eye to complete existing developmental work, the company expects to double its volumes in the next 2-3 years and increase third-party cargo.

Edelweiss Fin Services EPS Q3(Dec13) 0.75 Q2(Sept-13) 0.60 Q1(June-13) 0.73 Q4 (FY13) 0.67 TTM EPS 2.75 Price 27.25

TTM P/E Rashesh Shah, Edelweiss Financial Services

EPS 7.15 4.74 5.33 5.68 22.90 366.90

Essar Ports Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

9.91

EPS 2.20 2.28 2.37 2.15 9.00 54.60

TTM P/E 6.06 Rajiv Agarwal, Essar Ports

Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Kolte-Patil Developers’ Sales and Profit Down

Karnataka Bank EPS Q3(Dec13) 5.66 Q2(Sept-13) 1.54 Q1(June-13) 5.00 Q4 (FY13) 3.58 TTM EPS 15.78 Price 95.10

TTM P/E 6.03 P. Jayarama Bhat, Karnataka Bank

Rajesh Patil, Kolte-Patil Developers

Karnataka Bank’s Profit Grows, Asset Quality Challenges Remain Private sector lender Karnataka Bank’s third quarter net profit jumped 33.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 106.7 crore, but net depreciation on investments limited the profitability. Out of net depreciation on investments of Rs 36.4 crore as on December 31, 2013, the bank amortised a net depreciation of Rs 24.26 crore in the third quarter. Net interest income grew 19.2 percent to Rs 271.5 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 227.8 crore in a year ago period. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) climbed 35 basis points year-on-year (6 bps sequentially) to 3.65 percent and net NPAs rose 4 bps Y-o-Y (down 2 bps Q-o-Q) to 2.23 percent in the quarter gone by. In absolute term, gross NPAs jumped 27.6 percent on yearly basis (3.6 percent quarter-on-quarter) to Rs 996.81 crore and net NPAs rose 17 percent (up 1 on sequential basis) to Rs 599.44 crore compared to a year ago period. Provisions and contingencies increased to Rs 40.4 crore during December quarter as against Rs 126.7 crore in previous quarter and Rs 37 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

CARE Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 9.66 12.27 8.51 12.47 42.91 757.15

TTM P/E 17.65 D. R. Dogra, CARE Seasonal Magazine

Page 92

Pune-based realty company Kolte-Patil Developers disappointed street with the third quarter consolidated net profit falling 33 percent year-on-year to Rs 20.4 crore on lower revenues.

Consolidated net sales dropped 16.5 percent to Rs 186 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 222.8 crore in a year ago period. Total expenses of the real estate developer declined 19.5 percent to Rs 132 crore compared to a year ago period, driven by fall in cost of construction (cost of land and materials consumed). Finance cost increased 11 percent to Rs 12 crore while tax expenses plunged 24 percent to Rs 15.8 crore during December quarter year-on-year.

Meanwhile, other income slipped significantly to Rs 1.9 crore from Rs 9.2 crore during the same period.

Kolte-Patil Developers EPS Q3(Dec13) 2.69 Q2(Sept-13) 4.25 Q1(June-13) 3.48 Q4 (FY13) 5.95 TTM EPS 16.37 Price 76.95

TTM P/E

4.70

CARE Ratings Performs Reasonably Credit Analysis and Research has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 53.84 crore and a net profit of Rs 28.02 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. CARE Ratings is the secondlargest credit rating agency in India. Majority shareholding of CARE is by leading domestic banks and financial institutions in India. Other income for the quarter was Rs 6.71 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 45.57 crore and net profit was Rs 27.82 crore, and other income Rs 7.89 crore.

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Glenmark Pharma Posts Good Performance, Operating Profit Margin Slightly Down Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharma reported 1.5 percent growth year-on-year in profits and 16 percent in revenues for the quarter ended December 2013. The net profit for the quarter is not comparable due to out-licensing income of Rs 49.3 crore reported in the previous corresponding quarter. Year-on-year consolidated net profit increased to Rs 216.2 crore from Rs 213 crore and revenue rose to Rs 1,601.2 crore from Rs 1,382 crore. Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation or operating profit grew 14 percent on yearly basis to Rs 365 crore while operating profit excluding out-licencing income jumped 34.75 percent in the quarter gone by. Operating profit margin fell 40 basis points year-on-year to 22.8 percent. “Despite challenges in the operating environment, we have registered good growth in both speciality and generics businesses across the globe,” Glenn Saldanha, chairman and MD said.

He is reasonably confident of maintaining growth trajectory with emerging markets businesses being a key growth driver going ahead.

Glenmark Pharma EPS Q3(Dec13) 7.98 Q2(Sept-13) 5.69 Q1(June-13) 4.75 Q4 (FY13) 6.16 TTM EPS 24.58 Price 552.25

TTM P/E 22.47

Glen Saldanha, Glenmark Pharma

Blue Star’s Performance Down Sharply, Only Other Income Up Blue Star has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 545.90 crore and a net profit of Rs 2.81 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Blue Star is India’s largest central airconditioning company with an annual turnover of Rs 2800 crores. Other income for the quarter was Rs 9.05 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 598.80 crore and net profit was Rs 5.37 crore, and other income Rs 2.06 crore.

Blue Star Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.31 0.84 2.53 2.06 5.74 137.55

TTM P/E 23.96

L&T Finance’s Revenue Up, Profits Down, Attributes it to Acquisition of Subsidiaries Earlier

Dinanath Dubashi, L&T Finance L&T Finance Holdings’ consolidated net profit for the third quarter ended December 2013 fell by 62.8% to Rs. 109.69 crore. The group has posted a net profit of Rs. 109.69 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2013 where as the same was at Rs.294.63 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2012. Total income of the company stood at Rs. 1,315.24 crore versus Rs. 993.05 crore a year earlier.

The company claimed that figures for the quarter ended 31 December 2012 are not comparable with other periods on account of acquisitions of subsidiaries during the third quarter of the previous financial year.

L&T Finance Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.51 0.81 0.75 1.00 3.07 71.70

TTM P/E 23.35

Ashok M Advani, Blue Star Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Indian Bank’s Profit and NII Fall, But Asset Quality Improves

T. M. Bhasin, Indian Bank

Indian Bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 5.92 6.87 7.14 6.53 26.46 95.95

TTM P/E 3.62

State-run Indian Bank’s third quarter year-on-year net profit dropped 20 percent on account of depreciation on its AFS portfolio, and lower net interest income, but the asset quality improved sequentially. Net profit declined to Rs 264.5 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 330.58 crore in a year ago period while net interest income slipped 4.75 percent yearon-year to Rs 1,090.6 crore during the same period. Asset quality Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) fell 34 basis points quarteron-quarter (up 24 bps year-on-year) to 3.42 percent and net NPAs slipped 31 bps sequentially (up 8 bps Y-o-Y) to 2.25 percent in the quarter gone by. In absolute term, gross NPAs dipped 8 percent Q-o-Q (up 20.6 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 3,834.78 crore and net NPAs stood at Rs 2,483.6 crore, down 11.4 percent Q-o-Q and up 16 percent compared to a year ago period. During the quarter, the bank assigned non-performing financial assets aggregating to Rs 389.97 crore to asset reconstruction companies for a consideration of Rs 675.71 crore. But the surplus of Rs 285.74 crore from this sale is not accounted in profit and loss account by the bank.

Provisions and contingencies dropped 42 percent (up 5.7 percent quarter-on-quarter) to Rs 237.9 crore during October-December quarter as against Rs 411.6 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Provision coverage ratio stood at 57.99 percent as on December 31, 2013. Capital adequacy ratio (as per Basel III norms) stood at 12.49 percent in the quarter gone by versus 12.82 percent in previous quarter. During the quarter, other income increased to Rs 242.6 crore from Rs 238.8 crore while tax expenses jumped to Rs 129.8 crore from Rs 58.9 crore year-on-year.

Cairn India’s Profit Falls, Share Buyback to Support Prices for Now Cairn India, the subsidiary of London-listed Vedanta Resources, reported 14.8 percent sequential de-growth in third quarter net profit, impacted by forex loss and higher expenses (employee cost and exploration cost written off). Profit after tax declined, to Rs 2,884.04 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 3,385 crore in previous quarter. Revenues climbed 7.5 percent (in-line) quarter-on-quarter to a record level of Rs 5,000 crore in the quarter gone by, driven by increased volumes. Average gross operated production for the quarter was at higest level at 2,24,493 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up 5 percent compared to previous quarter. “Cairn remains committed to discover new resources and deliver accelerated value from its assets. We remain on track to meet the full year (FY14) exit guidance of over 225,000 boepd,” Elango P, whole time director said. The company said cash equivalents as at December 31, 2013 were Rs 13,000 crore or USD 1.45 billion. The part of which is expected to be used for the buyback programme, it added. Shareholders of the oil & gas company had approved a proposal for buyback of equity shares at a price not exceeding Rs 335 per share. The company is going to spend upto Rs 5,725 crore for this buyback that commenced recently.

Seasonal Magazine

Page 94

Cairn India Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 15.09 17.72 16.37 13.42 62.60 334.65

TTM P/E 5.34 Rahul Dhir, Cairn India

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Biocon

Biocon Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 5.35 5.21 4.77 12.70 28.03 434.40

Biocon’s Topline and Bottomline Grows Pharma player Biocon’s Q3FY14 net profit stood at Rs 105 crore, against Rs. 92 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. Biocon is India’s largest biotech company, focusing on developing affordable therapies for chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases. Its research subsidiary is Syngene, while its clinical development subsidiary is Clinigene. Its net sales stood at Rs 700 crore versus Rs 635 crore (Y-oY). The company said that its Malaysian facility is on track for commissioning in FY15.

TTM P/E 15.50

Raymond’s Bottomline Soars, Credit Goes to Margin Expansion in Core Business Diversified group Raymond registered an over four-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 56.89 crore for the third quarter ended December 31 on account of margin expansion in key business segment.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 12.84 crore during the same period of previous financial year. Total consolidated income from operations rose to Rs 1208.15 crore for the OctoberDecember period as against Rs 1053.03 crore during the same period of last financial year. “We have ended the third quarter on a positive note, despite subdued discretionary spend witnessed in the month of December 2013. Our focus on profitability through margin expansion across key business segment has led to a strong bottom line growth in the current quarter as well as for the period till date,” Raymond Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Hari Singhania said. On outlook, he said that Raymond’s long term sustainable initiative in brands, retail, supply chain management and operational efficiency will able to surge ahead. Raymond Group offers end-to-end solutions for fabrics and garmenting. It has several brands, including Raymond, Park Avenue, Parx, ColorPlus, among others. Also, the company manufactures men’s accessories, personal grooming products and toiletries, energy drinks, files and tools and auto components.

Raymond Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price Gautam Singhania, Raymond

EPS 9.27 15.03 -8.10 0.10 16.30 292.80

TTM P/E 18.0

Dr. Ramachandra N. Galla, Amara Raja Batteries

Amara Raja Batteries Survives Higher Expenses, Posts Decent Overall Growth Amara Raja Batteries reported a 17.4 percent year-on-year growth in its bottomline on account of strong operational performance, but higher raw material cost and tax expenses limited the growth.

Net profit increased to Rs 95 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 80.9 crore in a year ago period while total income from operations grew 13.44 percent to Rs 863 crore in the quarter gone by. On the operational front, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 23 percent to Rs 150 crore and operating profit margin expanded 140 basis points to 17.4 percent compared to a year ago period. Total expenses of the AMARON EPS battery manufacturer Q3(Dec13) 5.56 soared 11.7 percent to Q2(Sept-13) 5.54 Rs 728.29 crore and Q1(June-13) 5.73 raw material cost 3.49 climbed 20.8 percent Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS 20.32 on yearly basis to Rs 534.76 crore during Price 365.50 the same period.

TTM P/E 17.99 Seasonal Magazine

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Q3

Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Ramesh Iyer, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services

Mahindra Finance’s Profit Falls, But NII Holds Up Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services reported poor set of earnings in the quarter ended December 2013. Standalone profit after tax of the non-banking finance company fell 18 percent year-on-year to Rs 164 crore dented by higher provisions indicating stress on asset quality. However, net interest income grew 21 percent. Loan provisions and write-offs increased 121 percent on yearly basis (43 percent sequentially) to Rs 180 crore during October-December quarter.

Consolidated profit after tax declined 16 percent to Rs 182.4 crore while net interest income jumped 22 percent to Rs 745 crore in the quarter gone by.

Dabur Grows its Topline and Bottomline, Boosted by Overseas Growth Personal care products manufacturer Dabur India’s third quarter consolidated revenues grew 16.7 percent to Rs 1,909 crore compared to a year ago period, supported by strong growth in international business. “Net sales growth was driven by strong volume growth across key categories of health supplements, air care, hair care, oral care, skin care and foods,” the company said. Net profit rose 15 percent year-on-year to Rs 243 crore, but that was squeezed due to weak operational performance. Higher employee cost and advertising expenses also affected the profitability. Volume growth of the FMCG company stood at 9 percent.

Dabur’s international business grew 26 percent in the quarter ended December 2013, led by strong performance in GCC, Egypt and Nigeria. “The GCC business reported a 21 percent growth, while sales in Egypt and Nigeria both grew by 16 percent. Going forward, we will continue to pursue an aggressive growth strategy,” PD Narang, Group Director said. Operational performance missed expectations.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 8.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 298 crore and operating profit margin declined 120 basis points to 15.6 percent Advertising-spends climbed 23.2 percent on yearly basis to Rs 290 crore and that as a percentage of sales rose 80 basis points to 15.2 percent compared to a year ago period. Employee cost jumped 29 percent to Rs 158 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 123 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Sunil Duggal, Chief Executive Officer said, “Focus on brand building and market expansion programs coupled with a greater degree of innovation has helped Dabur sustain strong growth in the core categories, which have been significantly ahead of the market. Going forward, the focus will be on pursuing an aggressive and profitable growth strategy.”

Sunil Duggal, Dabur

Dabur Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 1.40 1.43 1.07 1.15 5.05 176.30

TTM P/E 34.91 Seasonal Magazine

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M&M Fin Services EPS Q3(Dec13) 3.24 Q2(Sept-13) 4.13 Q1(June-13) 3.61 Q4 (FY13) 6.30 TTM EPS 17.28 Price 261.25

TTM P/E 15.12

ITDC / Ashok Group

Performance Sharply Down

India Tourism Development Corporation has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 110.12 crore and a net profit of Rs 5.80 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. India Tourism Development Corporation Limited (ITDC) is a hospitality company promoted by Government of India, under Ministry of Tourism. Established in 1966, it owns over 17 properties under the Ashok Group of Hotels brand and other brands, across India. Other income for the quarter was Rs 20.28 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 112.39 crore and net profit was Rs 8.91 crore, and other income Rs 19.93 crore.

ITDC Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.67 3.00 0.14 0.54 1.80 67.80

TTM P/E 37.67

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Indiabulls Housing Finance Grows Reasonably, Asset Quality Concerns Emerge Mumbai-based Indiabulls Housing Finance reported 7 percent growth in third quarter consolidated profit after tax of Rs 395 crore compared to previous quarter. Total income from operations grew 7.6 percent sequentially to Rs 1,565.8 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 while total expenses declined 17 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 131.6 crore.

Quarter-on-quarter, asset quality weakened. Gross nonperforming assets (NPAs) expanded to 0.88 percent from 0.85 percent while net NPAs rose to 0.48 percent from 0.44 percent.

Bad debts during the quarter jumped to Rs 23.5 crore from Rs 5.13 crore while the housing finance company made provision for bad debts at Rs 7.9 crore in the quarter gone by as against Rs 47 crore in previous quarter. Indiabulls Housing Finance declared a third interim dividend of Rs 7 per share for the financial year 2013-2014.

Gagan Banga, Indiabulls Housing Finance

India Bulls HF EPS Q3(Dec13) 11.89 Q2(Sept-13) 11.33 Q1(June-13) 11.15 Q4 (FY13) 11.73 TTM EPS 46.10 Price 192.20

TTM P/E 4.17

HDFC Continues Reasonable Performance, But Banks Crowding Into Housing Finance

HDFC Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price Keki Mistry, HDFC

EPS 12.41 12.14 11.02 13.52 49.09 774.80

TTM P/E 15.78

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) matched street expectations with the third quarter net profit rising 12 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,278 crore. Net interest income came in at Rs 1,678 crore, growth of 13.7 percent compared to corresponding quarter of last fiscal. In the quarter gone by, total income from operations grew nearly 15 percent to Rs 6,020 crore while total expenses rose 15 percent to Rs 4,273.2 crore compared to a year ago period. Tax expenses climbed 18.5 percent to Rs 480 crore during October-December quarter. Loan book of the housing finance company jumped 19.5 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,92,266 crore as of December 2013. Net interest margin for the December quarter stood at 4 percent and spreads at 2.25 percent. On consolidated basis (loans, insurance and asset management businesses), net profit of the company grew 13.4 percent year-onyear to Rs 1,934.85 crore and total income climbed 13.3 percent to Rs 10,040.86 crore in the quarter gone by.

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Q 3Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Prabha Parameswaran, Colgate Palmolive

Colgate Palmolive’s Volumes, Market Share, & Sales Up, Profit Growth Sluggish Colgate Palmolive’s third quarter net profit increased marginally to Rs 113 crore as against Rs 111 crore in a year ago period, impacted by higher expenses and tax cost. Year-on-year net sales grew at 16 percent to Rs 884 crore in the quarter ended December 2013. The company, which sells toothpaste under brands like Colgate Dental Cream, Active Salt, Max Fresh and Colgate Total, reported a volume growth of 10 percent over a year ago period, driven by strong growth of 11 percent in toothpaste category. Colgate enhanced its leadership position in toothpaste category by registering a 56 percent volume market share for 2013 compared to 54.5 percent in 2012. It also strengthened its leadership position in the toothbrush category by reporting a volume market share of 41.5 percent for 2013 as against 39.8 percent in 2012. On the operational front, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 11 percent yearon-year to Rs 143 crore while operating profit margin dipped 70 basis points to 16.2 percent. Total expenses climbed 16.7 percent to Rs 752.63 crore on account of sharp jump in advertising (22 percent rise) and other expenses (32.4 percent jump).

Colgate Palmolive EPS Q3(Dec13) 8.30 Q2(Sept-13) 8.05 Q1(June-13) 13.62 Q4 (FY13) 9.06 TTM EPS 39.03 Price 1318.15

TTM P/E 33.77

Kotak Mahindra Bank Posts One of its Poorest Shows Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank disappointed street with its third quarter earnings on every parameter with the asset quality weakening. Standalone (banking operations only) net profit fell 6 percent year-on-year to Rs 340 crore and net interest income grew nearly 11 percent to Rs 912.7 crore. Profitability was also impacted due to amortisation of Rs 43.43 crore in the quarter gone by. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) expanded 4 basis points sequentially (55 basis points year-on-year) to 2.01 percent while net NPAs jumped 14 bps quarter-on-quarter (46 bps Y-o-Y) to 1.1 percent in the quarter gone by. In absolute term, gross NPAs surged 7 percent quarter-on-quarter (45.4 percent year-on-year) to Rs 1,076.18 crore while net NPAs climbed 20 percent Q-o-Q (81 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 584.52 crore during October-December quarter. Provisions and contingencies increased 64.6 percent to Rs 69.74 crore in Q3 compared to a year ago period but that sequentially declined from Rs 72.29 crore. The bank restructured loans worth Rs 42 crore in the quarter ended December 2013, which was 0.08 percent of net advances. Net interest margin slipped to 4.8 percent in December quarter as against 4.9 percent in previous quarter while that was maintained compared to a year ago period. Savings deposits grew 38 percent year-on-year to Rs 9,106 crore while CASA ratio stood at 30 percent during October-December period.

Return on assets dropped to 1.6 percent in the quarter gone by compared to 1.8 percent in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

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Uday Kotak, Kotak Mahindra Bank

Kotak Mahindra EPS Q3(Dec13) 7.69 Q2(Sept-13) 7.59 Q1(June-13) 8.29 Q4 (FY13) 8.93 TTM EPS 32.05 Price 650.75

TTM P/E 20.02

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Dewan Housing Finance Surges Ahead in its Niche Sector Dewan Housing Finance Corporation has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 1,301.01 crore and a net profit of Rs 138.39 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Mumbai headquartered DHFL is the second largest private housing finance company in India.

Dewan Housing enables home ownership in the low-to-moderate income segment in semi-urban and rural areas of India. Other income for the quarter was Rs 0.36 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 840.18 crore and net profit was Rs 91.24 crore, and other income Rs 0.47 crore.

Kapil Wadhawan, Dewan Housing

DHFL Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 10.79 10.07 9.38 16.77 47.01 209.25

TTM P/E 4.45

Lakshmi Machine Works Records Strong Performance

Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu, Lakshmi Machine Works

LMWs Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

TTM P/E

EPS 46.51 46.34 22.52 25.30 140.67 2702.10

19.21

Lakshmi Machine Works has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 629.64 crore and a net profit of Rs 52.40 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Lakshmi Machine Works Limited is a leading Textile Machinery Manufacturer in India and one among the three in the world to produce the entire range of Spinning Machinery. Other income for the quarter was Rs 20.56 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 393.30 crore and net profit was Rs 20.36 crore, and other income Rs 14.96 crore.

Asian Paints Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

Asian Paints’ Momentum Facing Headwinds Asian Paints, the country’s largest paint company disappointed street on every parameter. Its third quarter consolidated net profit fell 1.76 percent year-on-year to Rs 329.3 crore, dented by weak demand for industrial paint and high raw material cost. “Industrial paints segment continued to be impacted by sluggish manufacturing environment in the economy, with no major capex activity.

Automotive coatings growth was affected due to the subdued demand in the automotive sector,” KBS Anand, MD and CEO elaborated reason for weak bottomline numbers. However, Anand said international business registered good growth. Consolidated total income grew 13.2 percent to Rs 3,452 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 3,049.6 crore in a year ago period. On the operational front, consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation climbed 5 percent to Rs 537 crore and operating profit margin declined 110 basis points Y-o-Y to Rs 15.6 percent in the quarter gone by. Raw material cost jumped 17.35 percent to Rs 1,845.21 crore while depreciation cost surged 73 percent to Rs 63.34 crore and employee benefit expenses rose 29 percent to Rs 197 crore during OctoberDecember quarter, year-on-year.

KBS Anand, Asian Paints

EPS 3.43 3.41 2.87 2.62 12.33 484.35

TTM P/E 39.28

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Q 3Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Tata Coffee’s Sales Down Marginally, US Based EOC Brand Shores Up Profit Tata Coffee today posted 40 percent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 37.66 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, buoyed by increased sales and royalties from its ‘Eight O’ Clock’ coffee brand in the US. The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 26.90 crore in the same quarter last year. However, net income fell marginally by 6 per cent to Rs 391.93 crore in the October-December period of 2013-14 fiscal, as compared with Rs 418 crore in the year-ago period.

Commenting on its Q3 performance, Tata Coffee Executive Director (Finance) M Deepak Kumar said: “The quarterly profits have risen as sales and royalties from our ‘Eight O’ Clock’ (EOC) brand increased substantially beyond our expectation.” Sales have increased after the re-launch of the EOC brand in the US as also revenue from royalties grew by licensing the brand to the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), a speciality coffee roaster, he told.. Kumar said that the tie-up with the US-based GMCR has led to substantial growth and sizeable presence in the fast growing ‘singleserve’ coffee market in the US. Tata Coffee, a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) and India’s third largest exporter of instant coffee, had acquired the Eight O’ Clock (EOC)

Harish Bhat, Tata Coffee

Tata Coffee Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 20.17 -6.90 21.62 13.50 48.39 907.70

TTM P/E 18.76 Coffee Company in 2006 for USD 220 million by borrowing funds. Today, it is part of the TGBL family of brands like Tata Tea and Tetley. On status of debt, Kumar said: “We had borrowed USD 168 million for acquiring EOC. We have so far repaid USD 38 million, and also paid out USD 41 million in dividends.”

Thermax Disappoints on Most Fronts, Orderbook Growth Reasonable Engineering solutions provider Thermax ’s third-quarter numbers were below street‘s expectations. The company’s net declined 12.8 percent to Rs 66.6 crore as against Rs 76.4 crore and quarterly total income stood at Rs 1,014 crore against Rs 1,047 crore year-on-year. An India based global energy solutions company, Thermax produces Heating equipment, Absorption chillers, Power and captive cogeneration plants, Waste heat recovery units, Waste water management systems, Air pollution control systems, Performance improving chemicals, and Solar based heating, cooling and power. The operating margin declined to 9 percent from 10.7 percent and EBITDA slipped to Rs 91 crore against Rs 112 crore (Y-o-Y). Thermax’s Q3 order intake stood at Rs 1,365 crore as against Rs 1,284 crore and the orderbook increased to Rs 6,445 crore from Rs 5,191 crore (Y-o-Y), the company said in its filing.

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Kajaria Ceramics’ Performance Healthy on Most Counts Kajaria Ceramics has reported a consolidated sales turnover of Rs 440.43 crore and a net profit of Rs 29.39 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Kajaria Ceramics is the largest manufacturer of ceramic/vitrified tiles in India. It has an annual aggregate capacity of 45.20 mn. sq. meters, distributed across seven plants Sikandrabad in Uttar Pradesh, Gailpur in Rajasthan, four plants in Morbi in Gujarat and one at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. Other income for the quarter was Rs 1.58 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the consolidated sales turnover was Rs 417.71 crore and net profit was Rs 24.95 crore, and other income Rs 0.30 crore.

Kajaria Ceramics EPS Q3(Dec13) 3.93 Q2(Sept-13) 3.66 Q1(June-13) 3.51 Q4 (FY13) 4.18 TTM EPS 15.28 Price 321.50

TTM P/E 21.04

MS Unnikrishnan Thermax

Thermax Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 5.59 2.53 4.22 9.68 22.02 625.00

TTM P/E 28.38

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

HDFC Bank Maintains Performance, Asset Quality Relatively Stable HDFC Bank, the second largest private sector lender in India, matched street expectations on December quarter net profit, supported by other income. Quarterly net profit grew 25 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,326 crore from Rs 1,859 crore while net interest income rose 22 percent to Rs 4,635 crore from Rs 3,799 crore during the same period. Other income (non-interest revenues) climbed 11.4 percent yearon-year to Rs 2,148.3 crore. Total expenses jumped 15 percent on yearly basis to Rs 8,850.1 crore due to higher other operating expenses in the quarter gone by. Net interest margin for the quarter declined further to 4.2 percent, down 10 basis points compared to a year ago period and previous quarter. In its earlier quarter (September 2013), the margin was down 30 basis points sequentially. The bank’s asset quality was stable during December quarter as gross nonperforming assets (NPA) fell 10 basis points sequentially to 1 percent and it was unchanged compared to a year ago period. Net NPAs as a percentage of net advances remained unchanged on sequential basis at 0.3 percent but that increased 10 basis points compared to a year ago period. In absolute terms, gross NPAs increased 24 percent year-onyear (2.6 percent quarter-on-quarter) to Rs 3,017.84 crore while net NPAs surged 60.8 percent Y-o-Y (4 percent Q-oQ) to Rs 797.34 crore during December quarter. “Total restructured loans (including applications under process for restructuring) were at 0.2 percent of gross advances as of December 31, 2013 as against 0.3 percent as of December

Emami’s Topline Sluggish, Profit Growth Better FMCG firm Emami Ltd reported a 31 percent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 150.68 crore for the third quarter ended December 31. The company had posted a profit of Rs 114.95 crore in the same period last fiscal. Net sales rose to Rs 584.67 crore from Rs 548.44 crore.

During the quarter, Emami said its cost of material consumed increased to Rs 164.39 crore from Rs 157.28 crore a year earlier. The company’s board of directors recommended an interim dividend of Rs 3 per equity share.

Commenting on the performance, Emami Director Mohan Goenka said: “Despite depressed market conditions due to sluggish economy, high inflation and erratic weather, Emami has been able to

HDFC Bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price Aditya Puri, HDFC Bank

EPS 9.80 8.30 7.70 8.00 33.80 644.80

TTM P/E 19.08

31, 2012,” the bank said in its release. With asset quality remaining stable during the quarter, provisions and contingencies declined 4 percent (up 0.75 percent sequentially) to Rs 388.84 crore in Q3FY14 from Rs 405 crore in Q3FY13.

sustain modest growth.” While demand for the company’s products was good, leading to continuous increase in market share in key categories, a delayed and erratic winter affected offtake, he added. “International business has performed well, with aggressive growth in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and SAARC countries.

RS Agarwal, Emami

Emami Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 6.64 3.52 2.67 6.21 19.04 446.50

TTM P/E 23.45 Seasonal Magazine

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Q 3Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

RIL Struggling to Grow Profits

Mukesh Ambani, RIL

RIL Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 17.10 17.00 16.60 17.30 68.00 805.25

TTM P/E 11.84

Reliance Industries , India’s number one private sector company by sales, reported a net profit of Rs 5,511 crore for the December quarter, flat year-onyear as weak refining margins, low gas output and higher raw material, power and fuel costs squeezed profitability. Quarterly net revenues of the Mukesh Ambani flagship stood at Rs 1.03 lakh crore, up 10 percent year-on-year. Net profit was largely helped by a 32 percent year-on-year jump in other income to Rs 2,305 crore. The company said its earnings before depreciation, interest and taxes decreased 1.8 percent to Rs 9,927 crore, profit before tax rose 2.1 percent to Rs 6,992 crore, while cash profit fell 3.3 percent to Rs 7,676 crore. “Reliance’s robust refining configuration enabled it to deliver stable refining profits in 3Q FY14, against the backdrop of declining regional benchmark margins,” said Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani.

“Even as we invest to further strengthen our energy businesses, this quarter demonstrates the outstanding quality of our refining and petrochemical business resources and their ability to deliver creditable performance in a period marked by cyclicality and uncertainties,” he said. The company said it had cash and cash equivalents of Rs 88,705 crore as at the end of the December quarter.

UltraTech Cement Stares at a Slowdown UltraTech Cement’s third quarter net profit fell 38.4 percent yearon-year to Rs 370 crore dented by lower selling prices due to the subdued demand. Net sales declined 1.5 percent to Rs 4,786 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 4,857.4 crore in a year ago period. UltraTech believes the outlook continues to remain challenging. “Demand growth in the long term is likely to be around 8 percent. The key demand drivers will continue to be housing and infrastructure spends,” the company said. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation dropped 25.4 percent to Rs 764 crore and margin slipped 509 basis points on yearly basis to 16 percent in the quarter gone by. The company said on-going cost optimisation measures helped in containing costs despite the continuing increase in input and logistics cost. Total expenses increased 4.5 percent yearon-year to Rs 4,256.70 crore during December quarter as raw material cost climbed 2.3 percent, depreciation rose 10.76 percent, freight and forwarding expenses 5.7 percent and other expenses surged 7 percent. Finance cost of the company jumped 73.6 percent on yearly basis to Rs 90.45 crore while tax expenses dropped 45 percent to Rs 139 crore compared to a year ago period. The combined domestic cement and clinker sales remained flat at 9.7 million tonne while the sales of white cement and wall care putty increased 10.3 percent year-on-year to 2.89 lakh metric tonne.

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Ultra Tech Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 13.49 9.63 24.53 26.49 74.14 1699.35

TTM P/E 22.92

Kumar Mangalam Birla, UltraTech

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Wipro Keeps Pace with IT Pack

Azim Premji, Wipro

Wipro, India’s third largest IT services exporter, met street expectations in third quarter (October-December) with the IT services revenues growing 2.6 percent sequentially to Rs 10,327 crore. Consolidated profit after tax of the company climbed 4.27 percent sequentially to Rs 2,014.7 crore and revenues grew 3 percent to Rs 11,327.4 crore for the quarter ended December 2013. “Focus on account management has yielded encouraging results. Global infrastructure services business grew strongly (5.6 percent Q-o-Q) on revenues,” TK Kurien, executive director and chief executive officer said.

In dollar terms, IT services revenue rose 2.9 percent quarteron-quarter (6.4 percent on yearly basis) to USD 1,678.4 million that was in-line with company’s guidance (USD 16601690 million). For the quarter ended March 2014, Wipro expects revenues from IT services business to be in the range of USD 1,712 million to USD 1,745 million including the revenues from acquisitions. “As the global economy is progressing towards stability, we see optimism amongst clients, especially in the West,” Azim Premji, Chairman said.

Wipro added 42 new customers in Q3. IT services earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jumped 5 percent sequentially (33 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 2,379 crore in the quarter gone by.

EBIT margin expanded 54 basis points to 23 percent.

“Investments in automations and productivity tools have driven efficiencies and helped the company expand margins of IT Services,” Suresh Senapaty, executive director & chief financial officer said.

Ashok Leyland Widnes Loss Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland posted a net loss of Rs 167 crore against a profit of Rs 74.2 crore (Y-o-Y) in its third quarter due to very low volumes, high discounts, and high interest and depreciation cost.

Ashok Leyland is one of the largest commercial vehicle manufacturers in India with a turnover of US $ 2.3 billion in 2012-13, and is also largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Army. The total income of the company stood at Rs 1,953.2 crore against Rs 2,380 crore on a year-on-year basis.

Wipro Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 8.20 7.87 6.61 6.42 29.10 563.15

TTM P/E 19.35

Bhartiya International’s Sales & Profits Up Bhartiya International has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 85.62 crore and a net profit of Rs 2.37 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Other income for the quarter was Rs 0.57 crore.

The leading leather goods exporter has been more in the limelight for being the co-promoter of Bhartiya City, a large-scale integrated township in Bangalore, that has witnessed brisk sales in the first two rounds of residential apartments. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 73.28 crore and net profit was Rs 2.12 crore, and other income Rs 0.38 crore.

Deeraj Hinduja, Ashok Leyland

Bhartiya International EPS Q3(Dec13) 2.15 Q2(Sept-13) 4.19 Q1(June-13) 1.92 Q4 (FY13) 0.56 TTM EPS 8.82 Price 160.00

TTM P/E

18.14

Snehdeep Aggarwal, Bhartiya International Seasonal Magazine

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Q 3Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

GRUH Finance Shows Topline and Bottomline Expansion

Shyam Srinivasan, Federal Bank

GRUH Finance has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 217.39 crore and a net profit of Rs 35.24 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13.

Gruh Finance is a group firm of housing finance major HDFC. Gruh specializes in home loans to the middle and low income group through a lucrative credit score model. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 166.41 crore and net profit was Rs 28.89 crore.

GRUH Finance EPS Q3(Dec13) 1.96 Q2(Sept-13) 1.91 Q1(June-13) 1.89 Q4 (FY13) 3.54 TTM EPS 9.30 Price 262.50

TTM P/E 28.23

Federal Bank Back to Health Private sector lender Federal Bank reported 9 percent growth in profit after tax and 9.71 percent in net interest income for the quarter ended December 2013 compared to the year ago period. Net profit of the bank stood at Rs 230 crore as against Rs 211 crore while net interest income rose to Rs 545.6 crore from Rs 497.3 crore year-on-year. Total expenses jumped 15.6 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,540 crore in the quarter gone by. The profitability was boosted by improvement in asset quality and fall in provisions. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) declined 56 basis points sequentially (102 bps Y-o-Y) to 2.83 percent while net NPA fell 12 bps quarter-on-quarter (6 bps Y-o-Y) to 0.86 percent during December quarter. Provisions and contingencies dropped to Rs 7.3 crore during October-December EPS quarter as against Federal Bank Rs 74.4 crore in a Q3(Dec13) 2.69 year ago period and Q2(Sept-13) 2.64 Rs 11 crore in Q1(June-13) 6.18 earlier quarter.

Q4 (FY13) 12.97

TTM EPS Price

24.48 78.10

TTM P/E 3.19 Seasonal Magazine

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Bajaj Auto Troubled by Domestic Slowdown, Consoled by Export Growth India’s second-largest two-wheeler company Bajaj Auto’s third quarter results were slightly below expectations. The company’s net profit rose 10.4 percent to Rs 904.5 crore against Rs 818.7 crore (Y-o-Y). However, the revenues missed expectations due to a slump in domestic two-wheeler segment, which could not be offset by growth in exports. The Q3 revenues were down 5.2 percent to Rs 5,131 crore as against Rs 5,412.7 crore (Y-oY). Operational performance and profits have improved, but there is an MTM (mark to market) gain of Rs 95 crore included, which the company has clocked in the quarter. If that is excluded, adjusted PAT (at Rs 855 crore) is not very impressive. The company’s EBITDA stood at Rs 1,135 crore against Rs 1,011 crore (Y-o-Y). The operating margins were up 22.1 percent against 18.6 percent (Y-o-Y). The company’s exports were up 12.3 percent (Y-o-Y) at 4.22 lakhs as against 3.76 lakhs, which has been the only positive for the company this quarter. The exports revenues rose 23.5 percent to Rs 2,123 crore versus Rs 1,719 crore (Y-o-Y).

Bajaj Auto Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 31.30 28.90 25.50 26.50 112.20 1936.50

TTM P/E 17.26

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Mindtree Hit by Forex Loss

Bangalore-based IT services exporter Mindtree missed street expectations on the profit front while the rest of earnings (revenues and operational performance) were in-line. Net profit fell 31 percent sequentially to Rs 88.5 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 as it reported forex loss of Rs 27.2 crore as against forex gain of Rs 20 crore in the year ago period.

Revenues grew 2.7 percent quarter-onquarter to Rs 790.6 crore while dollar revenues increased 2.7 percent to USD 127.1 million in the quarter gone by, which was lower compared to peer HCL Technologies (4 percent) and higher compared to Infosys (1.6 percent). Net income in dollar terms declined 31.5 percent to USD 14.2 million on sequential basis. “We are seeing good business momentum and traction with clients. Strong deal pipeline, improved client metrics and ability to attract and retain talent demonstrate confidence for a promising future,” Krishnakumar Natarajan, CEO and MD said.

Mindtree Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 21.25 30.96 32.60 19.04 103.85 1630.30

TTM P/E 15.70

Mindtree, Krishnakumar Natarajan

N Chandrasekaran, TCS

TCS Maintains Profit Run, Revenue Run Showing Slowdown TCS, India’s number one software exporter, reported a net profit of Rs 5,314 crore for the quarter ended December, up 13 percent sequentially, as the company maintained its robust operating margins. Quarterly revenues at Rs 21,294 crore were up 1.5 percent sequentially and 32.5 percent yearon-year. The company’s dollar revenues of USD 3.438 billion, were up 3 percent sequentially, and overall international revenues were up up 2.9 percent in constant currency terms. TCS CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran said that the coming fiscal was likely to be a much stronger one than the current one. The company attributed strengths in the manufacturing, telecom and life sciences verticals as the key drivers of earnings.

Operating margins stood at 29.7 percent for the quarter, and the company said it would be able to maintain its margin in 27-29 percent range. The company said it invested 70 basis points of its operating margins during the quarter into

TCS Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 27.20 23.63 19.54 18.46 88.83 2101.70

TTM P/E 23.66 sales. The company added 5483 employees during the quarter, four USD 20 million clients and two USD 50 million clients. It signed 8 large deals during the quarter, logged a 1.8 percent growth in volumes, and a 74 basis pointimprovement in realization.

Revenues from the domestic business declined, while international business showed good growth. Utilisation rate for the quarter, including training was 77.5 percent and excluding trainees was 84.3 percent. The attrition rate was 10.9 percent. The company said the domestic market was likely to remain uncertain till June or September.

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Q 3Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

LIC Housing Finance Posts Robust Growth LIC Housing Finance’s third quarter profit after tax grew 38 percent yearon-year to Rs 326.6 crore. Net interest income climbed 24 percent to Rs 457.6 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 as against Rs 370 crore in a year ago period. Total income from operations rose 21 percent on yearly basis to Rs 2,343 crore while total expenses jumped 17.5 percent year-onyear to Rs 1,920.11 crore during third quarter. Non-interest income or other income jumped 66.6 percent to Rs 33.67 crore whereas tax expenses climbed to Rs 129.66 crore from Rs 84.25 crore year-on-year. There was a net writeback of Rs 7.5 crore during December quarter as against provisions of Rs 32 crore in a year ago period and Rs 34 crore in previous quarter.

HCL Tech Posts Strong Numbers HCL Technologies reported a net profit of Rs 1,496 crore (up 5.7 percent quarter-on-quarter) on revenues of Rs 8,184 crore (up 2.8 percent) for the second quarter. HCL delivered strong growth even in dollar revenue, which rose 4 percent sequentially to USD 1,321 million. This topped Infosys’ dollar revenue growth that came in last week at 1.6 percent for the quarter.

“HCL continues its profitable growth trajectory with yet another stellar quarter of 4% quarter-on-quarter revenues growth and 39.1% year-onyear net income growth,” said President and CEO Anant Gupta. The company delivered strongly on the margin front as well, with net and operating margins coming in at 18.3 percent and 23.7 percent, respectively.

For the September quarter, margins for the firm stood at 17.8 percent and 23.7 percent. Margins did not decline despite HCL’s customary wage hike that takes place in this quarter of the year. “This was due to operational efficiencies that came in.” CFO Anil Chanana said the operating efficiencies, the scale of business in the Seasonal Magazine

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LICHF Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 6.47 6.14 6.15 6.27 25.03 200.30

TTM P/E 8.00 Sunita Sharma, LIC Housing Finance Shiv Nadar, HCL Technologies

HCL Technologies EPS Q3(Dec13) 18.58 Q2(Sept-13) 18.52 Q1(June-13) 20.78 Q4 (FY13) 11.99 TTM EPS 69.87 Price 1473.10

TTM P/E 21.08 run-the-business offering and the optimization of general and administrative spend helped in pushing the net income margin. “The asset light model reflected by our fixed asset turnover at 10 times of revenues, and efficient working capital management, continued to keep the return on equity at a historic high of 35 percent and operating cash flows in excess of 100 percent of net income.”

Liberty Shoes Runs Faster Liberty Shoes has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 110.46 crore and a net profit of Rs 3.24 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Liberty Shoes has six manufacturing units collectively producing, 50,000 pairs of footwear a day, sold through 6,000 multi-brand outlets and 350 exclusive showrooms, and has a presence in 25 countries, with 50 showrooms outside India. Other income for the quarter was Rs 0.01 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 90.10 crore and net profit was Rs 1.78 crore, and other income Rs 0.03 crore.

Liberty Shoes EPS Q3(Dec13) 1.90 Q2(Sept-13) 1.78 Q1(June-13) 1.52 Q4 (FY13) 1.86 TTM EPS 7.06 Price 127.35

TTM P/E 18.04

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

Shikha Sharma, Axis Bank

Axis Bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 34.19 29.04 30.07 34.39 127.69 1120.95

TTM P/E 8.78

Axis Bank Grows Topline and Bottomline, Asset Quality Worsens A decrease in provisioning requirements helped Axis Bank, the country’s third largest private sector lender, report a 19 percent growth in third quarter net profit to Rs 1,604.11 crore.

Net interest income climbed 19.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,984 crore for the quarter ended December 2013. Retail banking business led the growth in earnings (22.9 percent year-on-year) and the treasury and corporate banking business grew 7 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. Total expenses of the bank increased nearly 10 percent to Rs 6,818.52 crore during the third quarter as against Rs 6,218.79 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Asset quality worsened in the December quarter with gross nonperforming assets (NPA) rising 15 basis points on yearly basis (6 bps sequentially) to 1.25 percent. Net NPAs climbed 9 bps year-on-year (5 bps Q-o-Q) to 0.42 percent during the same period. In absolute terms, gross NPAs jumped 32 percent (10 percent quarter-on-quarter) to Rs 3,008 crore compared to a year ago period while net NPAs surged 48 percent on yearly basis (19.6 percent sequentially) to Rs 1,003 crore in December quarter. Provisions and contingencies fell sharply to Rs 202.5 crore in OctoberDecember quarter as against Rs 687.5 crore in earlier quarter and Rs 384 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Capital adequacy ratio (as per Basel III norms) stood at 15.50 percent in the third quarter as against 15.85 percent in second quarter of current financial year 2013-14. Net interest margin declined marginally to 3.71 percent versus 3.79 percent on sequential basis.

VA Joseph, South Indian Bank

South Indian Bank EPS Q3(Dec13) 1.05 Q2(Sept-13) 0.94 Q1(June-13) 0.86 Q4 (FY13) 1.15 TTM EPS 4.00 Price 19.95

South Indian Bank’s Focus on Recoveries Deliver TTM P/E

4.99

Private sector lender South Indian Bank’s third quarter net profit climbed 10.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 141.3 crore, supported by improved asset quality, lower provisions and higher other income. But net interest income declined marginally to Rs 350.5 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 352.6 crore in a year ago period due to higher expenses. Total expenses jumped nearly 17 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,118.86 crore in the third quarter on higher employee cost and other operating expenses. Other income of the bank soared 27.9 percent to Rs 84.62 crore during the same period. Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of gross advances fell 26 basis points sequentially (up 4 bps on yearly basis) to 1.66 percent while net NPAs declined 21 bps quarter-on-quarter (up 50 bps Y-o-Y) to 1.18 percent in the quarter gone by. In absolute terms, gross NPAs dropped 10 percent to Rs 554.63 crore and net NPAs slipped 11 percent to Rs 391.93 crore on sequential basis. On yearly basis, however, these NPAs climbed 17 percent and 99.3 percent, respectively. The reason for improvement in asset quality is that recoveries were greater than slippages in the quarter gone by, VA Joseph, MD and CEO said.

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Q 3Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Bajaj Finserv Boosted by Life Insurance Growth Private sector insurance company Bajaj Finserv’s profit after tax increased 13 percent year-on-year to Rs 281 crore and total income climbed 24 percent to Rs Rs 1,393 crore in the quarter ended December 2013. Profit after tax of the general insurance segment rose 4 percent on yearly basis to Rs 95 crore. Gross written premium during the quarter jumped 13 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,073 crore during third quarter. Life insurance business’ net profit shot up 15 percent on yearly basis to Rs 115 crore. New written premium was slightly higher at Rs 678 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 compared to Rs 669 crore in a year ago period. During the same period, renewal premium was lower at Rs 707 crore as against Rs 839 crore and gross written premium declined to Rs 1,385 crore from Rs 1,508 crore.

Geojit BNP Paribas Aided by Other Income, Exceptional Gain Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services’ third quarter consolidated net profit jumped 20.76 percent year-on-year to Rs 15.7 crore, led by other income and exceptional gains.

However, consolidated net sales fell 15 percent to Rs 50.2 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 59.2 crore in a year ago period. Total expenses of the broking and financial services company declined to Rs 41.54 crore from Rs 46.49 crore and tax expenses fell to Rs 5.67 from Rs 6.28 crore during the same period. Other income jumped to Rs 8.97 crore during December quarter from Rs 5.39 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Geojit BNP earned an exceptional gain of Rs 2.26 crore in the quarter gone by as its subsidiary recovered amount against the provision made for funded exposure of its clients who had trade relationship with National Spot Exchange.

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Sanjiv Bajaj, Bajaj Finserv

Bajaj Finserv EPS Q3(Dec13) 17.70 Q2(Sept-13) 17.40 Q1(June-13) 17.50 Q4 (FY13) 15.80 TTM EPS 68.40 Price 681.55

TTM P/E 9.96

Bajaj Finance EPS Q3(Dec13) 39.00 Q2(Sept-13) 33.56 Q1(June-13) 35.30 Q4 (FY13) 35.35 TTM EPS 143.21 Price 1465.60

Bajaj Finance Grows Bottomline, TTM P/E Despite Higher Provisioning

10.23

Bajaj Finance’s third quarter profit after tax climbed 21 percent year-on-year, to Rs 194.14 crore. Loan losses and provisions increased 55 percent to Rs 79 crore during December quarter from Rs 51 crore in a year ago period. “Without the accelerated provisioning of Rs 21 crore, made to strengthen provisioning framework, the increase in loan losses for Q3FY14 over Q3FY13 would have been 14 percent and the profit after tax would have been at Rs 208 crore, a growth of 30 percent,” the company said. Total income of the finance company rose 30 percent to Rs 1,070.3 crore and net interest income jumped 33 percent on yearly basis to Rs 672 crore in the quarter ended December 2013. Assets under management (AUM) grew 33 percent to Rs 22,461 crore while customers acquired during the third quarter spiked 15 percent year-on-year to 9,62,204 and deployments climbed 45 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 7,532 crore. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) increased to 1.15 percent from 1.14 percent while net NPAs declined to 0.23 percent from 0.26 percent year-on-year. Provisioning coverage ratio stood at 80 percent and capital adequacy ratio (including Tier-II capital) stood at 19.53 percent as of December 2013.

Geojit BNP Paribas EPS Q3(Dec13) 0.69 Q2(Sept-13) -4.13 Q1(June-13) 0.72 Q4 (FY13) 0.66 TTM EPS 2.76 Price 20.80 CJ George, Geojit BNP Paribas

TTM P/E

7.54

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

YES Bank Relies on Non-Interest Income, Asset Quality Weakens Further Private sector lender YES Bank ‘s third quarter net profit jumped 21.4 percent, higher-than-expected, to Rs 415.6 crore supported by non interest income, but asset quality weakened.

Net interest income, rose 14 percent, to Rs 665.4 crore on account of a cautious and steady growth in advances. The bank managed to keep net interest margin unchanged at 2.9 percent in the quarter ended December 2013 compared to earlier quarter, but it has fallen by 10 basis points from 3 percent, year-on-year. Non-interest income climbed 23.9 percent year-onyear to Rs 387.9 crore on continued growth across all fee income streams.

Gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a proportion of gross advances more than doubled (up 12 basis points sequentially) to 0.39 percent in Q3 compared to 0.17 percent in a year ago period. Net NPAs increased to 0.08 percent in December quarter from 0.04 percent in previous quarter as well as corresponding quarter of last fiscal. In absolute term, gross NPA surged 157 percent year-on-year (48 percent Q-oQ) to Rs 195.80 crore while net NPAs rose 172 percent on yearly basis (118.5 percent sequentially) to Rs 42.31 crore during October-December quarter.

Rana Kapur, YES Bank

YES Bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 11.53 10.30 11.16 10.11 43.10 306.30

TTM P/E 7.10

IndusInd Bank’s Growth Strong, But Asset Quality is Worsening

P.K. Kataky, Exide

Exide Loses Charge Automobile battery manufacturer Exide Industries missed street expectations on every parameter with the third quarter net profit falling 25.5 percent year-onyear to Rs 77.5 crore, impacted by weak demand. PK Kataky, MD and CEO said continued sluggish demand had its impact on the performance of the company. “In the replacement market, the demand for heavy duty and light duty commercial vehicles including passenger cars used for commercial application (taxi) remained subdued.

Automobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) had a degrowth.

In industrial batteries, the demand for infrastructure, motive power, telecom and inverter batteries continued to be sluggish,” Kataky elaborated. Revenue for the quarter declined to Rs 1,301.4 crore from Rs 1,462.1 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation dropped 15 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 140 crore and operating profit margin declined 50 basis points on yearly basis to 10.8 percent in the quarter gone by. Other income of the company more than halved to Rs 5 crore from Rs 12.2 crore during the same period.

Exide Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.91 1.40 1.87 1.72 5.90 104.05

TTM P/E 17.64

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank’s third quarter net profit rose 29.8 percent, higher-than-expected, yearon-year to Rs 346.9 crore, but asset quality deteriorated. Net interest income increased 26.3 percent to Rs 730 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 578 crore in a year ago period. “The bank has incurred a mark-to-market loss of Rs 64 crore during the quarter,” Romesh Sobti, MD and CEO said. Gross nonperforming assets (NPA) climbed to 1.18 percent during the quarter from 1.11 percent in earlier quarter and 0.99 percent in a year ago period while net NPAs rose 9 basis points sequentially (up 1 bp year-on-year) to 0.31 percent. In absolute term, gross NPA increased 14.5 percent Q-o-Q (up 48.2 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 625 crore and net NPAs surged 51.4 percent on sequential basis (31.7 percent on yearly basis) to Rs 165 crore in the quarter gone by.

Provisions and contingencies too climbed to Rs 126 crore during October-December period from Rs 88.8 crore in September quarter and Rs 78.68 crore in a year ago period.

Meanwhile, net interest margin (NIM) of the bank has been stable despite cost of deposits being up 17 basis points. NIM rose to 3.65 percent from 3.46 percent year-on-year.

IndusInd Bank EPS Q3(Dec13) 6.62 Q2(Sept-13) 6.30 Q1(June-13) 6.41 Q4 (FY13) 5.89 TTM EPS 25.22 Price 386.10

TTM P/E 15.31 Seasonal Magazine

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Q 3Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Infosys Shows Murthy Effect, But Lags TCS in Most Metrics India’s second largest IT services exporter Infosys ‘ consolidated net profit rose 19.4 percent, higher-thanexpected, quarter-on-quarter to Rs 2,875 crore in the quarter ended December 2013. Year-on-year growth in profit was 21.4 percent. Its profitability was impacted by visa cost of Rs 219 crore (one off item) in the quarter ended September 2013.

“During the quarter, we saw early but promising results of our initiatives to increase efficiency in our operations,” said Rajiv Bansal, Chief Financial Officer. Consolidated revenue increased 0.47 percent sequentially (up 25 percent Y-o-Y), in-line, to Rs 13,026 crore and dollar revenue climbed 1.6 percent Q-o-Q to USD 2,100 million in the quarter gone by.

Meanwhile, the IT exporter raised its full year (FY14) dollar revenue guidance to 11.5-12 percent from 910 percent earlier. “The year ahead

looks exciting for the IT services industry. We believe the global economic environment has improved and clients are gaining confidence to invest in their strategic initiatives,” SD Shibulal, CEO and Managing Director said. Rupee revenues on consolidated basis is expected to grow 24.4-24.9 percent for the current financial year 2013-14, Infosys said. Earnings before interest and tax for the December quarter (EBIT) rose 14.9 percent, stronger-than-expected quarter-onquarter to Rs 3,259 crore and EBIT margin expanded by 328 basis points to 25 percent. Infosys and its subsidiaries added 54 clients during the quarter as against 68 clients in the previous quarter and 89 clients in a year ago period. Active clients increased to 888 in December quarter as against 873 in earlier quarter. The company won more than 20 deals during third quarter.

“Focus on cloud and big data as new

growth areas continues to yield results,” Infosys said. Infosys and its subsidiaries added 6,682 employees on gross basis in the quarter gone by, taking the total headcount to 1,58,404 employees as on December 31, 2013.

Liquid assets including cash and cash equivalents, available-for-sale financial assets, certificates of deposits and government bonds increased to Rs 27,440 crore as on December 31, 2013 from Rs 26,907 crore in earlier quarter.

Revenue from BPO business climbed 3.3 percent to USD 136.5 million from USD 132.1 million, quarter-on-quarter and net income grew 31 percent to USD 24.72 million from USD 18.87 milllion Q-o-Q. Geograhical growth On sequential basis and in constant currency, revenues from its North America business declined 0.8 percent.

Europe business grew by 5.5 percent Q-o-Q and 3.5 percent in constant currency while Indian business jumped 9.2 percent Q-o-Q and 8.1 percent in constant currency. Rest of world grew 4.9 percent sequentially and 5.2 percent in constant currency.

Narayana Murthy, Infosys

Infosys Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 50.32 42.12 41.54 41.89 175.87 3595.80

TTM P/E 20.45

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TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

L&T Performs Against Pressure, To Focus More on International Business Country’s largest engineering and construction company Larsen and Toubro’s third quarter net profit grew 10.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,241 crore compared to a year ago period. After considering the exceptional gain on dilution of part stake in a subsidiary company (hydrocarbon), adjusted profit after tax soared over 22 percent during the quarter. Post demerger, L&T transferred hydrocarbon business to its subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering with effect from April 1, 2013. Accordingly, the company restated suitably its earnings for the previous quarter ended September 2013 and numbers relating to previous periods, R Shankar Raman, whole-time director and Chief Financial Officer said, “Competitive value proposition to the clients and disciplined execution have helped the company sustain its profitable growth momentum.” Revenues jumped 11.8 percent to Rs 14,387.5 crore in the quarter ended December 2013, that was limited due to fall in power, and metallurgical and material handling businesses. On the operational front, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 33 percent Rs 1,675 crore and operating profit margin expanded 180 basis points to 11.6 percent compared to a year ago period. Order Book Order inflow in the December ended quarter rose 21 percent to Rs 21,722 crore year-on-year, aided by major orders in infrastructure segment. The international order inflow in Q3 grew more than doubled to Rs 8,237 crore on the back of major orders from Middle East. Order book of the engineering and construction company stood at Rs 1.71 lakh crore as on December 2013, a growth of 13 percent compared to a year ago period, including 15 percent international order book.

Tata Motors’ Topline Helped by JLR, Bottomline by Sale of Investments Third-quarter earnings for Indian automaker Tata Motors zoomed, driven mainly by an exceptional income in the local standalone business and a robust performance at its British subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover. Consolidated revenue for the firm stood at Rs 63,877, rising 38 percent year-on-year from Rs 46,090 crore. Operating profit came in at Rs 9,948 crore versus Rs 5,657 crore in the year-ago quarter (a jump of 75 percent) while net profit surged 195 percent, from Rs 1,627 crore to Rs 4,805 crore. However, much of the higher profits came in due to an exceptional income of Rs 1,948 crore accruing to the local business, which came from a sale of investments in foreign subsidiaries. In the standalone business, revenue fell 27 percent yearon-year, from Rs 10,630 crore to Rs 7,769 crore while net profit stood at Rs 1,251 crore versus a loss of Rs 458 crore. Tata Motors’ domestic business has witnessed an intense slowdown as

Tata Motors Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

AM Naik, L&T

L&T Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 13.40 10.57 8.18 29.06 61.21 993.65

TTM P/E 16.23

Cyrus Mistry, Tata Motors

EPS 14.91 10.99 5.38 12.35 43.63 376.65

TTM P/E 8.63 sales of its passenger cars came off in the face of high competition and its own line-up of cars being perceived as dated. The firm’s share in the passenger vehicle fell to about 8.5 percent in the month of December 2013, down from about 12 percent in FY13 and 14 percent in FY12. At the ongoing Auto Expo, Tata has showcased a slew of vehicles including a hatchback named Bolt and a Zest sedan, apart from recently launching upgraded versions of its Nano car. In contrast, business at JLR, the marquee British firm Tata acquired in 2008, remained brisk and

continued to provide a boost to the consolidated numbers. Quarterly profits for JLR stood at 619 million pounds on revenues of 5.33 billion pounds. Operating profit for the automaker stood at 955 million pounds, translating into margins of 17.9 percent. The company management, at a press conference, said JLR’s margins increased due to an improvement in its product mix - the company’s new Land Rover models such as the Range Rover Evoque and Jaguar’s F-Type have met with success - and higher contributions from highgrowth markets such as China.

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Q 3Results

EPS - Quarterly Consolidated Earnings Per Share (Quarterly Consolidated Net Profit divided by No of Equity Shares) TTM EPS - Total Consolidated EPS for Trailing Twelve Months (Last Four Quarters) Price - Stock Price

Reliance Power’s Topline Falls, Bottomline Flat Anil Ambani, Reliance Power

RPower Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.95 0.89 0.86 0.95 3.65 61.00

TTM P/E 16.71

Reliance Power’s third quarter (October-December) consolidated net profit grew 6.7 percent sequentially to Rs 267.2 crore on better operational performance.

Year-on-year the profit was flat.

Consolidated net sales rose 4 percent quarter-on-quarter (down 6 percent year-on-year) to Rs 1,372.6 crore in the quarter gone by.

Operating profit or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 16 percent to Rs 500 crore and margin Seasonal Magazine

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expanded 380 basis points to 36.4 percent on sequential basis. “1,200 MW Rosa power plant in UP operated at an availability of 97 percent and registered a plant load factor of 84 percent despite planned overhaul of one unit during December 2013,” the company said. The company’s second 660 MW unit of the Sasan UMPP achieved full load in December and was commissioned in January 2014.

“The third 660 MW unit is expected to be commissioned during JanuaryMarch quarter,” Reliance Power said.

DCB Bank’s Bottomline Expands Handsomely, Promoter Stake Remains an Overhang Private sector DCB Bank today reported a 33 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 36 crore in the three months ended December 31 from Rs 27 crore a year ago. The small-sized lender’s deposits grew 27 per cent to Rs 9,592 crore, while advances jumped 23 per cent to Rs 7,361 crore on a good show by corporate and mortgage books.

DCB Bank Managing Director and CEO Murali M Natrajan attributed the good set of numbers to prudent business wherein the bank lowered its exposure to stressed sectors such as agriculture and small industrial units, among others. On equity dilution by the promoters, Natrajan said the bank is unlikely to meet the RBI deadline of March 2014 due to market conditions and will approach the regulator for a deadline extension. The DCB promoters Aga Khan Fund hold 18 per cent in the bank and have to bring it down to under 10 per cent as per RBI directive. Over the past four years, the promoters have trimmed their holding to 18 from 26 per cent.

Good asset quality helped the lender to improve its net interest margin (NIM) to more than the expected level of 3.5 per cent, up from 3.38 per cent a year ago. Natrajan said he expects the NIM to come down a bit in Q4 as priority sector lending will increase in the quarter.

DCB Bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 1.45 1.32 1.71 1.36 5.84 53.35

TTM P/E 9.14

TTM P/E - Price divided by Consolidated TTM EPS (Core metric showing how expensive or cheap is a stock. In the same se ctor, a lower P/E stock is cheaper than a higher P/E stock, and vice-versa.

But a too low P/E than peers can hint at various underlying risks. A moderately higher P/E than peers can also hint at various strengths, even though a very high P/E shows that it is overpriced or even rigged.)

GIC Housing Finance Grows Topline, Net Profit Remains Flat Small-sized housing finance firm, GIC Housing Finance, promoted by India’s public sector general insurance majors, has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 158.49 crore and a net profit of Rs 23.64 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 139.48 crore and net profit was Rs 23.21 crore.

GICHF Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 4.39 4.59 4.51 3.09 16.58 97.05

TTM P/E 5.85 Ashok K. Roy, GIC Housing Finance

TIL’s Sales Improve, Profits Plunge TIL has reported a consolidated sales turnover of Rs 322.66 crore and a net profit of Rs 0.83 crore for the quarter ended Dec ’13. Tractors India Ltd is a leading solution provider in the infrastructure equipment space, known for their mobile cranes, materials handling solutions, and power systems solutions.

Other income for the quarter was Rs 0.57 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the consolidated sales turnover was Rs 289.37 crore and net profit was Rs 3.84 crore, and other income Rs 2.00 crore.

A. Mazumdar TIL

TIL Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.83 -7.77 -11.47 19.79 41.26 129.25

Andhra Bank’s Bottomline Plummets, But NII and Other Income Up Mid-sized PSU lender Andhra Bank has reported its results for the quarter ended Dec ’13.

Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter was Rs 3,597.64 crore and net profit was Rs 45.57 crore. Other income for the quarter was Rs 302.90 crore.

For the quarter ended Dec 2012 the Standalone Net Interest Income (NII) was Rs 3231.05 crore and net profit was Rs 257.09 crore., and other income Rs 238.16 crore.

andhra bank Q3(Dec13) Q2(Sept-13) Q1(June-13) Q4 (FY13) TTM EPS Price

EPS 0.81 1.26 4.13 6.16 12.36 54.70

TTM P/E 4.42

CVR Rajendran, Andhra Bank

TTM P/E 3.13

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LUXURY

Chanel la unche launche unchess the No Nottes de Prin Printtemps Spring 20 14 Mak eup C ollec tion 2014 Makeup Collec ollection The Chanel Makeup Creation Studio has orchestrated the Spring 2014 collection where pink and violet plum shades combine with joyful red. At the heart of the Collection is a spring red. Fresh and luminous, this sunny red is tender and bright on lips, nails and cheeks, and plays the lead in an orchestra of notes.

Following the red tone, pinks and violets play up their shades in a crescendo and improvise with endless variations: pastel pink swept over eyelids in a sheer touch or electric pink on lips. Grey lavender for a soft gaze or violet plum lacquer on

nails. The eyeshadows present romantic accents of grey lavender or a luminous matte intense brown for a more sensual effect. A satiny apricot pink perfects a natural beauty look, while an ivory, shimmering with gold pearlescent pigments, is dabbed on for a touch of radiance. The Chanel lipstick range is as vibrant as ever. Choose between a fresh bluish pink, a soft peach pink, tangy candy red and more such fresh shades. Nail colours feature a dark mauve and a soft red shade.

Burberr esen Burberryy pr pre sentts Mens wear A utumn/ Mensw Autumn/ Win 14 C ollec tion Wintter 20 2014 Collec ollection Burberry’s recently presented menswear Autumn/Winter 2014 collection, ‘A Painterly Journey’, is probably one of the most innovative we have seen from the brand in the recent years. Mr Bailey uses fabrics such as hand-painted leather and suedes, London map and iconic landmark prints, lightweight silks, cashmeres and wools, and dips them in rich shades like ink blue, brilliant navy, bottle green, dark plum, bitter chocolate.

Guc ci pr esen Gucci pre sentts Childr en’s ccollec ollec tion ffor or Children’s ollection Spring/Summer 20 14 2014 The Gucci Children’s Collection for next Spring/Summer 2014 takes inspiration from the lightheartedness of the last days of school and the forthcoming seaside holidays. It is a versatile wardrobe characterized by lightness and colour. For boys, the colour palette revolves around classic tones of white, beige, navy blue and different shades of sky blue, combined with quirky, vibrant hues, including ochre, bright orange, anthurium red and gentian blue, which saturate knitwear for a bold and confident look. Mixed with pure cotton fabrics, natural linen brings a soft feel to the summery outfits: travel blazers worn over chino pants in washed blends, while the aviator bomber jacket meets loosefitting cargo pants in a fluid, washed cotton fabric that reinvents the traditional silhouette for a safari style.

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Audi RS7 Spor tback Sportback la unched in India launched Audi, the German luxury car manufacturer, has introduced its sporty spearhead Audi RS 7 Sportback in India. Combining the power of a sportscar with the elegance of a large, five-door coupé, the Audi RS 7 Sportback boasts of being the most powerful Audi in its existing range in India and is priced at INR 1,28,56,000 (ex-showroom Mumbai). This powerful biturbo V8 is available at all Audi

dealerships across India. In the Audi RS 7 Sportback, the sprint from 0 to 100 km/ h (62.14 mph) takes just 3.9 seconds; an option enables a top speed of 305 km/h (189.52 mph). The car consumes on average just 9.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (24.00 US mpg). The distinctively styled bumpers, partly tinted LED headlights, high-gloss black honeycomb grill, add-on parts in matt aluminum and flared sills add sporty accents. A hybrid aluminum design, the

RS 7 Sportback weighs roughly 15 per cent less than a comparable all-steel body. The quattro permanent all-wheel drive system gives a decisive advantage in traction and driving safety. At its heart is a newly developed center differential with a high locking rate. The Audi RS 7 Sportback is one of the first RS models from Audi to come standard with a specifically tuned air suspension. ”With LED headlights and rear-lights, RSspecific driver information system with shift light, MMI navigation plus with MMI touch and BOSE sound system standard and numerous innovative assistance systems available as options, Audi RS 7 Sportback will thoroughly delight our customers and auto enthusiasts,” said Mr. Joe King, Head, Audi India.

number 8 – representing good health and opulence. The writing instruments are thus limited to 888 exclusive pieces in the world. Symbolising wisdom and inner peace, Caran d'Ache Buddha Silver Medium Fountain Pen is dedicated to Buddha. This hand-crafted collection is limited to 108 fountain pens and 108 roller ball pens in the world. The entire collection has a distinctive finish in 800 solid silver, enhanced by a vivid lacquer of saffron.

Car an d’A che announc es aran d’Ache announce w limit ed edition ne new limited collec tion ollection Caran d’Ache, the Swiss writing instruments maker, has launched a new collection of limited edition pens which look to the East for inspiration. The Caran d’Ache Fountain Pen Bamboo honours the Bamboo plant, which is an enduring symbol of consistency, longevity and loyalty in Asia. Limited to 10 exclusive pieces, this writing instrument is crafted from solid gold. The clip of the pen is intricately carved to resemble a bamboo shoot, while the button is set with a Chrysoprase, a softgreen, semi-precious stone that represents renewal and self-confidence.

Caran d'Ache Fountain Pen Harmony is inspired by the teachings of Feng Shui, an integral part of the Chinese Culture.

The pen favours the shape of the Bamboo plant, and enveloped in vibrant red Chinese lacquer. Following Feng Shui, the writing instrument favours the Seasonal Magazine

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LUXUR Y URY

Megu a he LLeela eela P alac e Ne w Delhi att TThe Palac alace New la unche w menu launche unchess ne new Megu, the modern-Japanese restaurant at The Leela Palace New Delhi, has launched a new menu to celebrate its second anniversary. The new winter menu presents an array of new delicacies combining exotic flavours of rare and authentic Japanese ingredients with unique cooking techniques. It is interesting to note that Chef de Cuisine, Yutaka Saito, has not used any Indian spices, rather sourced Japanese ingredients that are closest to the taste and aroma of the local produce.

Indulge in a variety of meats like duck, chicken, pork etc, a wide-selection of vegetarian options like the appetizing rolls with tempura, cheese and avocado, and interesting additions like a spider roll which is a unique combination of crab with Asian salsa. Apart from new delicacies, Chef Saito has also introduced variations to the existing dishes like the popular Salmon Toro Tartare, which is now served with Tosa – Zu, rich velvety béchamel bathe Baked Lobster, Crispy Chicken delicately placed on avocado with tomato salsa and more.

Est ée LLa auder in tr oduc es stée intr troduc oduce dv anc ed Night wA New Adv dvanc anced Ne Repair S ynchr oniz ed Synchr ynchroniz onized Rec over omple eco eryy C Comple omplexx II Luxury skincare brand, Estée Lauder, has now introduced the New Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II, which supports the natural nighttime purification process vital to younger-looking skin. Their revolutionary new ChronoluxCB Technology combines potent Catabolysis and Chronolux technologies, adding the power of cellular purification to the precision of synchronization to help skin maximize its natural nightly repair.

With over 25 patents and patents-pending, the new complex dramatically reduces ageing. The Catabolysis Technology (Purifying) is a complex of active ingredients that includes an algae extract and a yeast extract and is proven to help skin cells increase their own natural Catabolysis activity.

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Paner ai la unche adiomir 8 Da anerai launche unchess R Radiomir Dayys GMT Or oR os so – 45mm Oro Ros osso Officine Panerai has launched the Radiomir 8 Days GMT Oro Rosso, a special edition, which pays tribute to the long history of brand by reinterpreting the classic Radiomir with sophisticated and elegant details. The new Radiomir 8 Days GMT Oro Rosso has a polished red gold case which encloses a dial derived from a rare model of the late 1930s. The design of the dial is minimalist with simple linear and dot hour markers. The various functions can be read directly: the date at 3 o’clock; the linear indication of the power reserve; and the small seconds counter with a.m./p.m. indicator for the second time zone.

The dial is deep blue with a satiné soleil finish, elegantly set off by the warm tone of the 5Npt red gold, an alloy that has a higher percentage of copper than yellow or pink gold and a proportion of platinum. The same alloy, which provides greater toughness and strength, is used for the adjustable clasp closing the blue alligator strap.

MA C pr esen ok eo ollec tion MAC pre sentts the Str Strok oke off Midnight C Collec ollection Including some universal shades of lip colours, blushes and eye shadows, MAC’s new Stroke of Midnight collection presents a kit which will always be helpful to women! The eye compacts embellish eyes in an array of intoxicating looks, designed for every mood. Three limited-edition compacts feature five shades each, in gorgeously Warm, Cool and Smoky palettes. Anything goes with shimmering pearls, frosted pinks and lustrous metallics! The Face Palettes contain all you need for any occasion. Complete looks come coordinated with three Eye Shadows, one Bronzing Powder or Iridescent Pressed Powder, two Lipsticks and one Eye Kohl. Combining cool nudes, deep bronzes and pearlescent pinks, Stroke of Midnight Face Palette/Warm gives you a captivating look with the perfect hint of shimmer. Stroke of Midnight Face Palette/Cool fuses deep plums, mauves and blue-greys in sophisticated shades meant to be seen.

Taj Gr oup rrebr ebr ands Group ebrands London ho hottels The Taj Group has introduced its two newly rebranded London hotels - St. James' Court, A Taj Hotel and Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences.

The hotels will now be promoted within the Taj Group’s portfolio of luxury hotels, resorts and palaces. Taj Group has sole ownership and management, as well as operational and marketing control of both properties. Since opening its doors in 1902, St. James' Court has regularly hosted royalty and Heads of State. The hotel has introduced the quintessential Taj service through new offerings, amenities and service enhancements.

Some of the enhanced experiences include in-room check in, signature welcome and signature fragrances.

Guests will also have access to an extensive fleet of exclusive vintage and classic vehicles, including the Queen Mother's favourite Jaguar DS420 Daimler limousine 'Grand Princess’ and Lord Mountbatten's vintage Daimler 'Silver Baroness'.

A. LLange ange & Söhne no wa now avvailable in weden Munich and S Sw German luxury watchmaker, A. Lange & Soehne, opened its second boutique in the country, in Munich. The shop is operated in cooperation with long-time partner WempeJewellers. Including Munich, Lange now has twelve stores around the world.

The rooms in the store are designed to take visitors on a journey through the manufactory’s Saxon homeland. The typical Lange grey of the showcases, a small library, and a watchmaker’s workstation accentuate the ambience of the 37-squaremetre boutique. “Many people with an affinity for beautiful watches live in and around Munich. From the very beginning, A. Lange & Söhne has had a loyal and growing community of fans here,” said Mr Andreas Haude, General Manager Northern Europe at Lange. Munich, however, is also historically significant for the brand.

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LUXUR Y URY

Four Sea sons Ho Seasons Hottel Mumbai o offfer erss Dom Pérignon Dinner a att San-Qi Wine and champagne drinkers, who swear

by Dom Perignon, are in luck this month!

Enjoy an exclusive Dom Perignon dinner at Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai’s San-Qi, only available till January 31, 2014. In the restaurant’s dramatic setting, enjoy an exclusive set meal prepared by their master chefs, along with a bottle of Dom Pérignon 2004 in a private dining room or by the chef’s table. End on a high note with a special dessert selection and say cheers to Joie de Vivre! Dom Perignon is a miraculous triumph of blending and delicate fine-tuning of white and black grapes from the two classic grape varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Salv ator e FFerr err agamo Salva ore erragamo unche ed edition la launche unchess limit limited sungla ollec tion titled sunglasss ccollec ollection “F if tie s” “Fif iftie ties” The sensual silhouettes and glamour of the 1950s is captured in Salvatore Ferragamo Eyewear’s “Fifties” limited edition sunglasses. Sporting a vintageinspired cat-eye shape, the sunglasses are

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accentuated with individually placed crystals inlayed on contrasting rich zyl.

Gradually extending from end pieces towards the bridge and down temples, a delicate wave pattern adds an air of femininity. The limited edition sunglasses are available at Salvatore Ferragamo boutiques and selected stores worldwide. Only 1,500 numbered pieces are available in three colours: black, tortoise and striped brown.

Kiehl’s par tner partner tnerss with eep A Alicia K eys and K Ke Keep Child Aliv e ffor or ne w Alive new fundr aising initia tiv e fundraising initiativ tive Luxury skincare brand, Kiehl’s Since 1851, and artist and philanthropist Alicia Keys, along with her foundation ‘Keep a Child Alive’, are partnering to bring treatment, care and support to children and families affected by HIV. Kiehl’s is retailing a special edition of their Midnight Recovery Concentrate with 100 per cent of the proceeds benefiting Keep a Child Alive. The special edition designed bottle includes an important call to action from Alicia Keys to, echoing her drive to encourage everyone to use their voice for change and make a difference in the fight against AIDS. Buying one bottle of Midnight Recovery Concentrate helps Keep a Child Alive provide one month of HIV care, medicines, and love to a child living with HIV. Beyond treatment, there are many critical aspects of HIV care: transportation to clinics; healthy meals that often are the primary meal of the day; fun activities for children to help them live positively and deal with the challenges of life with HIV; essential skills training for women so they can financially support their children going forward. Alicia Keys shares, “Supportive partners like Kiehl’s are part of our extended family. They share our passion for bringing dignified treatment, care and support to children and families affected by HIV. Every action, big or small can make a difference and take us one step closer in making health care a human right.”

Ermenegildo Z egna Zegna cr ea ed edition crea eattes limit limited Garmen ar Garmentt Bag & Sc Scar arff collec tion ffor or Z egna.c om ollection Zegna.c egna.com Ermenegildo Zegna has launched a special collection of garment bags and scarves which will be retailed exclusively on zegna.com. The collection of eight scarves are designed in elegant muted hues with subtle patterns. Luxuriously fine wool in tonal blues, greys and reds combine with windowpane checks, relaxed plaid and block colour. They can be paired with professional weekday wear or layered over a casual jacket for a weekend stroll. Ermenegildo Zegna’s Garment Bag is extremely lightweight with zip around closure and pockets for extras.

Shangri-L a Ho Shangri-La Hottels and or Hope” Resor sortts’ “Ride FFor raised o ovver 400, 000 RMB In a philanthropic effort, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts organized a threeweek, nearly 2,500 kilometre "Ride for Hope" charity bike ride, which raised over RMB 400,000. The charity funds will be used to build water cellars for 20 families in a small village in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and to help Shenzhen Blue Ocean Conservation Association and the Shanghai-based Will Foundation. With the joint efforts of 11 Shangri-La properties in South and East

China, six dedicated riders completed the entire journey. A group of more than 1,000 bikers from four different provinces covering 22 cities joined the ride in their respective cities. "It was an amazing journey", said Nicholas Smith, resident manager of Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen and initiator of the charity ride. "The idea for 'Ride for Hope' first came up in January 2013. To see it realized with the help of Shangri-La colleagues who warmly embraced the idea, our generous sponsors and all the supportive people we met along the way is incredibly heart-warming. The money raised for these three worthy charities will make a real difference in people's lives."

Chanel sho wcase show sess ollec tion Mé tier Métier tierss d'Ar d'Artts ccollec ollection Paris-Dalla aris-Dallass Karl Lagerfeld recently unveiled the Chanel Métiers d’Art show in a décor that resembled a rodeo. The Paris-Dallas 2013/14 collection was held at Dallas Fair Park, a national historic landmark renowned for its Art Deco architecture.

To kick off the evening, guests entered a drive-in where they enjoyed the screening of Karl Lagerfeld’s new film ‘The Return’, seated in a fleet of vintage cars.

Mr Lagerfeld has fused Chanel’s mainstay colours, white, beige, red, navy and black, with touches of blush pink, and prairie hues such as browns, grays and wheat-tones in this collection. He channels romantic elements of the Wild West but with a contemporary twist. Flared and straight skirts hitting mid-calf, snappy cocktail dresses, long, flowing gowns, sculpted or loose suit jackets, capes and ponchos capture an easy, effortless style.

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LUXUR Y URY Le Cir que a he LLeela eela Cirque att TThe Palac e Ne w Delhi o alace New offfer erss Prix FFix ix e menu ixe Le Cirque at The Leela Palace New Delhi has launched a temptingly crafted Prix Fixe menu for a limited time where the restaurant turns its Cellar room overlooking the walk-in wine cellar and city's beautiful skyline on either side to provide an exclusive experience.

Chef Mickey Bhoite orchestrates a finely crafted special three course prix fixe menu offering an interesting medley of French– Italian cuisine keeping in mind the preferences of the young and stylish Delhites. The European interior of the cellar room is adorned with pictures of renowned Sirio Maccioni with celebrities and dignitaries from world over.

Start with the double cooked mozzarella and tuna tartar, leading on to Kashmiri saffron risotto or the grilled Scottish salmon. The dessert takes the cake with orange curd panna cota and baked fudge cheese cake.

The menu has a lot more to offer! The promotion runs at an exclusive introductory price till March 31, 2014.

JW Marrio ashmiri FFood ood FFe estiv al Marriottt Mumbai host hostss K Ka stival

Hakk Hakkaasan Mumbai celebr se Ne w YYear ear elebraates Chine Chinese New International restaurant Hakkasan is ushering in the year of the horse with authentic Cantonese cuisine at its Mumbai venue. Indulge your senses and enjoy an exquisite meal at Hakkasan, offering tantalising specials in the coming Chinese New Year, which is available from January 27 to February 1, 2014.

Specially designed set menus feature mouth watering appetizers such as Chicken and taru shu mai, prawn and water chestnut roll and Yu sheng salad. Choose from a variety of accompaniments which include Golden dragon chicken, Wok fried tiger prawns in ‘Thai Who sauce’, Pak-choi in oyster sauce and much more. End your Chinese New Year celebrations with sumptuous desserts such as Strawberry panna cotta and Chocolate Orange mousse.

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JW Marriott Mumbai has welcomed the expert duo Chef Fayaz Ahmad and Mohammed Abbas Bhat from Kashmir to host and entice guests with the ‘Wazwan - Kashmiri Food Festival’ which is on till February 2, 2014 at Lotus Café.

(Sweet Pulao, usually a Dessert). For the vegetarian palate, one can binge on dishes like Lyodur Tschaman (Cottage Cheese Cooked in Creamy Turmeric Based Gravy), Dum Oluv (Whole Potatoes Cooked in Spicy Red Gravy) and MarchaWangan Korma (Chilli Eggplant Korma).

Using the finest organic ingredients from the valley, the master chefs will prepare dishes infused with the richness of cinnamon, cardamom and saffron, the key ingredients of Kashmiri cuisine, making the festival a must-visit for every Mumbaikar.

A Kashmiri meal is incomplete without Sheekh Kebabs like Spicy Ground Lamb on Skewers, Roasted Chicken, Beef and Lamb Kebabs. For dessert, the traditional and flavourful Kheer and Phirnee will lure your taste buds and end a complete feast.

Guests can taste dishes like Rogan Josh (Lamb Cooked in Spicy Red Gravy),Yakhni (Lamb Shanks Cooked in Curd Based Gravy), Tabakh Maaz (Fried Rack of Lamb also known as Qabargah), Syoon Olav (Meat with Potatoes Cooked in Spicy Gravy) and Modur Pulaav

Nobu a att One&Only Cape TTo own pr esen pre sentts it itss Wine & Dine Ma st er cla C ‘14 Mast ster ercla classs & MC MCC Serie Seriess Nobu Cape Town has announced an exclusive programme of exquisite dining events for 2014. Every alternate month, the restaurant will feature a fine Cap Classique producer and their sparkling wines, pairing them in an evening of fabulous bubbles and flavours in the Nobu Lounge. In the months in-between, some of the country’s most iconic wineries and winemakers will be conducting ‘Vertical Masterclass’ evenings, going back over several years, each wine paired with the very finest cuisine Nobu restaurant has to offer.

Furla’s fir st Cruise S S SS first w in 20 14 ccollec ollec tion no ollection now 2014 es st or stor ore Placed in stores now, Furla’s first ever Cruise collection pays tribute to nature, and in particular the gentle nuances of flowers and plants, evoked alongside symbolic, geometric and ultra-modern lines and shapes. Soft colours are combined with gold and with warm hues ranging from pink to yellow and apricot.

The materials are natural, soft and velvety to touch, to create a highly feminine, sophisticated and suffused mood.

The new Cortina bag, for example, is reinterpreted in pastel hues, made in python-print calfskin combined with leather and soft nappa. The new Candy Bag’s python-print calfskin body comes with a saffiano flap and a metal fastener.

Pastel colours are paired with dark brown, on translucent rubber set off by touches of natural leather.

Don’t forget to have a look at the rest of the collection at the store!

Ermenegildo Z egna Zegna sho wcase show sess it itss Fall-Win 14 all-Wintter 20 2014 collec tion ollection Ermenegildo Zegna explores the beauty and majesty of nature for its Fall-Winter 2014 collection.

Building on spring-summer’s union of industry and savoir-faire, the new autumn-winter collection celebrates natural fibers, exploring and validating Zegna’s patrimonial, historical and technological identity. Stefano Pilati merges the formal with sportswear; dark tones with light; nuances to graphisms; textures to surfaces; functionality to frivolity; natural to synthetic.

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LUXUR Y URY Br eitling in tr oduc es Super Breitling intr troduc oduce Avenger Milit ed Serie Militar aryy Limit Limited Seriess ar Always known for power, precision and functionality, Breitling’s new Super Avenger Military chronograph lives up to the same philosophy. It’s rugged steel case, water-resistant to 300 meters (1,000 ft.), features an ultra-resistant carbon-based black coating. The result is a non-reflective stealth look. The equally black dial provides a 24-hour “military time” display to avoid any potential confusion in the heat of action. The offroader strap is made of a durable and comfortable synthetic fabric. Issued in a 500-piece limited edition, the Super Avenger Military is also distinguished by its screwed-in pushpiece guards, its large screw-locked crown with non-slip grip guaranteeing maximum functionality; its thick glareproofed sapphire crystal, as well as the oversized hands, hour-markers and numerals ensuring optimal readability. It is equipped with a self-winding movement chronometer-certified by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute).

Guc ci sho wcase utumn Gucci show sess Men’s A Autumn Win 14-20 15 ccollec ollec tion Wintter 20 2014-20 14-2015 ollection The Gucci Men’s Collection for Autumn Winter 2014-2015 employs linear, graphic shapes, with a colour palette in dusty pastels that culminates with monochromatic black. The black definitely intensifies the lines for heightened sensuality. The silhouette is purely graphic. Leather is the protagonist in a collection punctuated by outerwear and biker jackets. It also features on slim, Sixties-style sartorial pants, on jacket lapels, on coat buttons, on the velvet suit’s trim and on tuxedo pants. Nappa shirts over turtlenecks strike a contrast with suiting. Casentino cloth from Tuscany meets neoprene lining for novel and elegant outerwear including Gucci’s signature marine peacoat. Wool, bonded underneath with fabric, turns knitwear into a deluxe sweatshirt. Velvet characterizes the evening suit, with leather trim, as well as hidden detailing on blazers and coats. The accessories include casquette de marin caps for bohemian style and strong sensuality. In sumptuously unlined calfskin or crocodile, maxi duffles or shoppers with burnished bamboo handles add class. Shoes with thick soles featuring Goodyear construction have the monk straps, fringe or lace-ups.

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Tod’s pr esen pre sentts men’s ac cessorie or A utumn soriess ffor Autumn acc Win 14/15 Wintter 20 2014/15 Tod’s completes the wardrobe of a gentleman on the move, who is classic and modern, refined and practical. This new men’s collection is dedicated to those who regard quality as a priority, both in what they wear and in how they live. In the Winter Gommino 2014, the lines become more streamlined in a timeless design that combines tradition and innovation. The Winter Gommino 2014 is an ultralight version of the design. The Script Bag from the Double Stripe collection is refined and has a clean design with smaller internal pockets. Two pairs of grips allow the removal of an inner folder that may be used as a separate bag. Intended for those who prefer to travel light once at main destination, they can carry only essentials to business meetings or in free time.

Chanel la unche e rrange ange o launche unchess the Chanc Chance off fr agr an t body pr oduc t s fragr agran ant produc oduct Chanel has unveiled three new shimmering products for the body in limited edition, Chance, Chance Eau Fraiche and Chance Eau Tendre, which perfume and illuminate the skin with a subtle pearly sheen. The Chance Shimmering Body Cream has a rich and silky texture which wraps the body in an iridescent veil and moisturises the skin. Its floral scent prolongs the trail of Chance, while its subtle pearly shimmer further enhances the skin. Its fragrance is created like a constellation, in which jasmine, pink pepper and amber patchouli form a sphere of scents in perpetual movement, in which any note can unexpectedly appear in an olfactory whirlwind. Chance Eau Fraiche is a velvety gel texture applied in subtle touches to enhance the fresh and vibrant trail. Its delicate shimmer is a must for highlighting and putting a sparkle in your décolleté.

This one is filled with the energy of jasmine absolute, a zesty citron note and a teak wood note. Our favourite, Chance Eau Tendre Shimmering Powdered Perfume, is refined and feminine.

The application with a powder puff deposits a fine dusting of shimmer on the body again. It is a delicate and subtle illumination with a fruity-floral scent intermingled with a grapefruitquince accord, jasmine absolute and a white musk note.

Corneliani in tr oduc es intr troduc oduce our ‘Cour ourtt Suit’ ‘C Following the suit of many international luxury brands taking inspiration from India, Corneliani has launched The Court Suit, comprising of suits and jackets in the dominant and authoritative style of an exotic, distinguished collar, which mirror the typical elegant style of the brand.

Corneliani's The Court Suit is the perfect fusion of tradition, quality and modernity. Crafted with the finest raw materials and shaped with the rigour of unrivalled tailoring skills, the pieces boast of irreplaceable hand-crafted techniques as well as nano-technologies.

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LUXUR Y URY Chanel sho wcase show sess Ha ut e C outur e ute Coutur outure Haut Spring-Summer 20 14 2014 collec tion ollection

Mandarin Orien o open in TTaipei aipei Orienttal tto

Karl Lagerfeld recently transformed the Grand Palais into the Cambon Club, a contemporary vision of a night club with minimalist décor, for Chanel’s Haute Couture show.

The aluminum floor was surrounded by mirrors veiled in muslin. "It’s like a night club from another galaxy," the designer explained. To the sound of an orchestra led by Sébastien Tellier, the dragonflylike models walked down staircases that framed the stage, sporting sneakers on feet and hair in spiked tendrils.

This season, Mr Lagerfeld mixes the feminine corset with the sneaker.

Luxury hotel, Mandarin Oriental, Taipei, is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2014 and is set to bring Mandarin Oriental’s service to the city.

Mandarin Oriental, Taipei is ideally located in the heart of the city on Dunhua North Road, Taipei’s main boulevard renowned for its vast canopy of trees. The 256 guest rooms and 47 suites, designed with classic inspiration and contemporary touches, range from 55 sq m and are equipped with the latest technology, luxurious marble bathrooms and walk-in closets. Two Presidential Suites, including a Mandarin Suite, each at almost 400 sqm with a private spa and gymnasium, offer the ultimate in luxury, comfort and indulgence. All suite guests can also enjoy the prestigious Oriental Club.

The restaurants and bars at Mandarin Oriental, Taipei will showcase innovative concepts and superlative cuisine. The Seasonal Magazine

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contemporary French Brasserie, Coco, offers classic brasserie fare along with a selection of international favourites. Ya Ge, the fine dining Cantonese restaurant provides a beautiful setting to enjoy excellent cuisine with personalised service and a range of private rooms for entertaining.

Bencotto, the Italian restaurant will serve authentic, heart-warming cuisine from a team of Italian chefs overseen by Michelin-starred Italian chef Mario Cittadini in a lively, atmospheric setting with a large open kitchen. Guests can also enjoy the ultimate in fine patisserie, cakes and pralines created by World Chocolate Master, Frank Haasnoot at The Mandarin Cake Shop with its beautiful courtyard setting. The stylish M.O. Bar will serve an extensive range of cocktails and Champagnes. Located adjacent to the lobby, The Jade Lounge will be the place to visit for Mandarin Oriental’s renowned afternoon tea.

Louis V uit esen Vuit uittton pr pre sentts it utumn-Winitss Men’s A Autumn-Winter 20 14-15 ccollec ollec tion 2014-15 ollection Louis Vuitton’s recently showcased men’s Autumn-Winter 2014-15 collection is best described in the words of Kim Jones: “Our collections have always been about travel, but the idea this time was technical travel, digital travel, the implications of the fact that we can now see the world through a screen. We looked at NASA maps of the world from space, and at aerial photographs of Machu Picchu, Cusco, the Atacama Desert, and the Nazca Lines in Peru.

Then, we went into those areas and found the finest local materials. The idea this season is combine these refined fabrications with the notion of digital, new age travel, of never being in one place. As is the tradition of Louis Vuitton, there’s a focus on craftsmanship, but technology was important; I didn’t want to make something rustic or nostalgic. It had to feel technical and modern.”

Taking this inspiration, traditional materials are transformed into new colours and textures, with the introduction of Damier Cobalt, and artisanal reworking of house leathers.

Four Sea sons R esor oh Samui Seasons Re sortt K Koh oh la unche w rre est aur an sta uran antt K Koh launche unchess ne new Luxury hotel, Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, has launched a new dining destination offering authentic local cuisine and wines, called Koh. Located amid a plantation of coconut palms and cooled by breezes, Koh Thai Kitchen & Bar offers a unique setting.

The restaurant is an open-sided, open-air dining venue which offers a contemporary space that is distinctly Thai in style. Helmed by Executive Chef Alex Garés, Koh goes back to the roots of some of the island’s favourite dishes. Chef Garés and Sous Chef Sumalee Khunpet have come up with a menu that is authentic and straightforward, but which also introduces less familiar Thai recipes and flavours.

With a strong focus on seafood, and with many products sourced locally, the menu includes items such as local oysters with hot tamarind leaves, crispy shallots, garlic and lime; raw prawns with lime and chili; and tom kati talay coconut soup

with seafood, tamarind and kaffir lime leaves. Meat-eaters should try the grilled quail marinated in curry with eggplant; dry red curry with chicken, cashew nuts, sweet basil and lime leaves; and slow-cooked pork trotters with five spice, pickled cabbage and kale. Vegetarians aren’t forgotten here, with a separate menu available including dishes such as wok-fried bindweed with garlic and egg; and straw mushroom salad with Thai herbs, cracked rice and chili powder. Incredibly, the menu changes every three days.

Koh Bar boasts of the widest selection of Thai wines by the glass on the island as well as a carefully curated menu of more than 50 Old World and New World labels. Classily choreographed cocktails are also on the menu, and wines have been selected to match Thai dishes. With copper wine walls, a dramatic onyx bar, and steel-and-rattan chandeliers inspired by birds’ nests, Koh Bar is Koh Samui’s newest hangout.

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LUXUR Y URY In on tinen oper IntterC erCon ontinen tinenttal Ho Hottels open a luxur luxuryy pr proper opertty in Da Davvos InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced the opening of the InterContinental Davos. With its futuristic façade, the spectacular building situated above Lake Davos sets a new standard in luxury hotels for the Alpine region. InterContinental Davos has 216 rooms and suites, each with its own private balcony, and a 1,200 sqm spa, Globini Kids Club & Sixteenhundred Teens Club, sports outfitters, as well as avantgarde gastronomy and state-of-the-art conference facilities.

With its façade of gold-coloured steel elements, the InterContinental Davos has already become the centre of attention. This project is realized by Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund Hospitality, a real estate fund of the Credit Suisse AG, while the leaseholder is Stilli Park AG.

Mandarin Orien Orienttal, Ne wY ork w elc ome New York welc elcome omess Michelin-st arr ed Che Michelin-starr arred Cheff Thierr or hierryy Mar Marxx ffor exclusiv e dinner serie clusive seriess Mandarin Oriental, New York is welcoming Michelin-starred French chef Thierry Marx to their signature restaurant Asiate for an exclusive dinner series from January 28 to February 1, 2014. Known for his acclaimed restaurants Sur Mesure par Thierry Marx and Camélia at Mandarin Oriental, Paris, Chef Thierry Marx will showcase his modern twist on traditional French cuisine with special three (USD 195) and five (USD 250) course prix fixe dinner menus. The menu highlights renowned dishes offered at Camélia, including Calamari Risoni with squid ink, cuttlefish tagliatelle and crunchy vegetables, Pumpkin Cream with chestnut and balsamic foam, “Crossed Arms” Ravioli with haddock, Granny Smith apple and mozzarella foam as well as Charred Beef with rice cracker and colonnata ravioli. Desserts include Castanea with chestnut biscuit and mousse, cherry marmalade, vanilla whipped cream and meringue and Frozen Sake with crystallized fruits.

To complement the culinary experience, Wine Director Annie Turso has collaborated with renowned French sommelier, Seasonal Magazine

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Most of the spacious rooms face southwest and look down upon Davos from the hotel's elevated location. Its extensive terrace and private balconies provide a magnificent view of the Grisons Alps. Its design is based on alpine 'rocks and herbs' and combined with natural rock, traces of gold and Alpine herbal applications. The magnificent gastronomy of the InterContinental Davos includes the Brasserie Capricorn, the restaurant Matsu with its fusion of Asian alpine cuisine, and the lounge bar Nuts&Co. In Studio Grigio on the top floor, guests are served finest culinary specialities. All three restaurants and both bars as well as the InterContinental Alpine Spa are also open to guests not staying at the hotel. InterContinental Davos also provides conditions for conferences and other events with more than 1,500 sqm large, stateof-the-art, first-class conference facilities.

The Globini Kids Club has play areas across two floors, inspired by the magical alpine scenery. And in the Sixteenhundred Teens Club, teenagers find a choice of creative entertainments, including a movie cinema. The in-house Angerer Sport Shop carries the latest collections from famous brand names, as well as a wide range of winter sports equipment. There is a rental station with snowboard and cross-country ski equipment, as well as bicycle hire. As a “Ski-Label” hotel, the InterContinental Davos cooperates with Davos Klosters to offer guests a number of additional tours, free of charge. Guests can explore the surrounding skiing area accompanied by local mountain guides.

Christian LLouboutin ouboutin announc es it ation ffor or announce itss inspir inspira Spring Summer 20 14 and pr esen ollec tion’s 2014 pre sentts the ccollec ollection’s cr ea tiv e imager crea eativ tive imageryy Shoe designer Christian Louboutin has presented a visual representation of its themes for Spring Summer 2014 through a creative collaboration with the photographer Peter Lippmann. Inspired by the floral works of impressionists including Monet and Van Gogh, Mr Lippmann works reveal shoes and handbags nestled within and around bouquets of magnificent floral arrangements, creating a collection of exquisite portraits that capture the whimsical persona of the season.

Drawing on the brand’s heritage, the collection introduces the Apostrophe and the Bat Pump, classic styles updated with sleek modern lines. The Apostrophe, a pointed toe sling-back pump, is presented in this season’s deep cyclamen pink and anis suede and features an extended cut sole. This playful detailing gives rise to a shape resembling the punctuation mark. The Bat Pump, by contrast, draws attention to a squared toe through its asymmetrical cut in a nod to archive designs and offered in patent neptune blue and muted poudre pink.

The classic Sweet Charity handbag fabricated from soft calf form fitting

leather, developed exclusively for the brand, receives an update for spring with an extended front flap and added structure to its lines. The Miss Rigidaine, a point-toe d’Orsay, pairs smoked grey and pink pastel PVC with matte and patent leather, creating a striking contrast of materials and enhancing the natural line of the foot.

Artisan techniques of the past merge with new fabrics and color palettes in both men’s and women’s collections: first in the form of the Academicus and Academia, which boast gold handembroidery artfully employed on black suede flat.

Hide sign la unche ed edition, Hidesign launche unchess limit limited t ed c ollec tion hand-pain hand-paint collec ollection Indian leather brand, Hidesign, has launched the St. Tropez collection of hand painted limited edition bags, in partnership with artist Amrita Nambiar. Depicting a woman enjoying St. Tropez to her fullest, this collection captures the majestic powers of the sea with its distinctive look. “St. Tropez is inspired by the Hidesign woman. With a strong, raging ocean, breaking into waves behind her, the Hidesign woman stands proudly with a loose scarf flowing behind her, mirroring the same strength and passion that she uses, to effortlessly blend her many lives together. Hidesign once again beautifully portrays their commitment to workmanship which they proudly patronize,” says Amrita Nambiar.

Je a Springst een Jesssic sica Springsteen joins Guc ci’s tteam eam o Gucci’s off Eque strian amba s sador questrian ambassadorss Luxury fashion brand Gucci has enhanced its relationship with the equestrian world by appointing American champion show jumper Jessica Springsteen as the brand’s ambassador.

To celebrate this, Frida Giannini, Gucci’s Creative Director, has developed a riding collection especially for Ms Springsteen.

This collection marks the fourth year of equestrian activity since Gucci decided to return to the world of horse riding in December 2009, after a 20-year hiatus, when the fashion house assumed the title sponsorship of the Gucci Masters in Paris and also signed a sponsorship agreement with Charlotte Casiraghi for her participation in the Global Championship Tour in both 2010 and 2011. The new collection includes technical clothing and accessories for show jumping and training that also epitomise the style and glamour of horse riding. A key feature of the collection is the Gucci crest. The motif originated in the early 1950s, and features a heraldic shield incorporating the figure of a knight in armour holding a suitcase and handbag in place of a sword and shield. Also present are a ship’s wheel, symbolising entrepreneurial spirit and leadership, and a rose, for beauty and value. The knight is modelled on an image of a bellboy, which was the House’s first ever symbol and references founder Guccio Gucci’s time working at the Savoy Hotel in London. In the new equestrian collection, Ms Giannini has applied the crest to blazers, rugs and saddle pads.

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