10 per cent discount offered; Poompuhar expects sales of Rs. 7 lakh

Handloom products from different parts of the country such as Jaipur, Haryana, Varanasi, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal could be viewed and purchased at a special exhibition being conducted at Poompuhar showroom in the city.

The handloom exhibition was opened to public on Monday and will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. till August 17, except Sundays at Singarathope in the city. The collections are priced between Rs. 60 and Rs. 15,000, and one could avail of a discount of 10 per cent on handloom items. The highlights of the exhibition are silk items priced between Rs.12,000 and Rs. 14,500.

The 13-day exhibition will feature unique collections such as Madurai Sungadi saris, Valanar saris, Banaras silk saris, cotton handloom saris, chudidhars, gaghra cholis, tops, skirts, and nighties.

Accessories such as Pashmina shawls, silk scarves, silk shawls, and silk bags are available.

Patchwork bed-sheets, sofa back covers, dewan sets, cushion covers, door and window curtains, woollen carpets, quilts, silk table cloths, silk wall hanging sceneries, and different silk products can be purchased. The stock value of the items on display is approximately Rs. 30 lakh, according to V. Ganesan, manager, Poompuhar.

Poompuhar expects sales of Rs. 7 lakh from this exhibition and hopes the revenue will help artisans who have put in a lot of hard work and dedication towards creating the items.

“Poompuhar has begun the selection process to provide training to 100 women on Thanjavur picture painting. The interviews are likely to be conducted shortly,” said Mr. Ganesan.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Staff Reporter / Tiruchi – August 07th, 2013

May look raising the money through private equity, QIP and other routes

The Rs 22,500 crore Murugappa Group’s NBFC arm Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co Ltd is planning to raise around Rs 300 crore. The company has said it may look raising the money through private equity, QIP and other routes.

Speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, Vellayan Subbiah, managing director, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co Ltd said that in 2014-15 the company plans to raise the money but the exact timing will depend on the environment.

“Mode we have not decided yet, we will look at traditional routes including QIP. PE is also an option, we are yet to take a final call on the route,” said Subbiah.

It may be noted in 2012-13, the company raised equity capital of Rs 300 crore through QIP route. The company also raised Rs 698 crore through perpetual debt and subordinated debt instruments to meet the CAR and business volumes.

The company is looking at growing by around 15-20% during the current fiscal, said Subbiah.

He added, “Current year is definitely going to be more challenging than last year and the company sees significant head winds in the economy. But we are convinced that its going to be a good year,” he said.

He added that company’s CAR is currently at 18%, which is higher than RBI’s norm.

De-risking strategy

In the last fiscal, the company has entered into three more lending areas, which Subbiah says was part of company’s de-risking strategy.

In the long run, the company doesn’t want to see itself fully dependant on the two businesses – vehicle finance and home equity – which account for nearly 98% of the loan book currently, said Subbiah. The company entered into home loan, rural and MSME lending during the last fiscal.

While ticket size for home loan is around Rs 20 lakh, for SMEs the ticket size will be around Rs 30-50 lakh, he said.

The two existing businesses will continue to grow, but over time it will tapper and our intention is to grow other businesses, which are currently being experimented and once we reach the comfortable position the company will accelerate the growth. At this stage these businesses contributes 3% of company’s book, he added.

Meanwhile, the company has decided to withdraw gold loan offering. It may be noted the company started gold loan in fiscal 2012 as a pilot project. Considering the turbulence and the several regulatory changes witnessed in the gold loan business, the company decided to withdraw gold loan offering, M B N Rao, chairman of the company told the shareholders at the AGM today.

Company’s gold loan disbursed and outstanding stood at Rs 19 crore which constituted less than 1% of the net managed assets.

Rao said, the company realigned its corporate finance business and reduced its finance against shares portfolio in line with its revised focus and strategy in this business.

Chola Invest reported a 30% growth in profit after tax during the first quarter ended June 30, 2013 at Rs 91 crore as against Rs 70 crore, a year ago. Total Income rose to Rs 762 crore from Rs 558 crore in the first quarter of 2012 -13 registering a growth of 37%.

While disbursements in vehicle finance growing by 29% and disbursements in home equity loans grew by 34% compared to the same period last year.

The Company disbursed Rs 2,609 crore in Vehicle Finance as against Rs 2,026 crore in Q 1 of 2012 – 13 and disbursed Rs 662 crores in Home Equity loans as against Rs 493 crore in Q1 of 2012–13.

Disbursements from new businesses were Rs 8 crore for the quarter. The aggregate disbursements of the company for the quarter are Rs 3,279 crore as against Rs 2,535 crore in the first quarter of 2012-13 registering a growth of 29%.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News /by T E Narashmhan / Chennai – August 01st, 2013

Tamil Nadu has attracted domestic and foreign investment worth over Rs 10 lakh crore in the last eight years, almost seven per cent of the total investment commitments made across India, according to a study.

The study titled ‘Realising double digit growth in Tamil Nadu’ — released by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India southern region council chairperson Ravindra Sannareddy, chairman of India-SAARC business promotion council Ravi Wig and national secretary general D S Rawat ­— says Tamil Nadu is ranked sixth among industrialised states attracting investments. Clocking a year-on-year growth rate of over 10 per cent, Tamil Nadu has successfully attracted investment proposals worth over `10 lakh crore as of June 2013, the report says.

“The electricity sector with a share of 44.5 pc in total investment is the main investment absorber. The State is witnessing investments in both conventional and non-conventional energy resources and has 132 proposals absorbing investment worth over `4 lakh crore, clocking year-on-year growth of over 30 per cent,” the study says.

After power, the services (29.1 per cent) and manufacturing (16 per cent) sectors are the important investment destinations in Tamil Nadu, the report says.

The real estate sector has attracted 9.1 per cent of the total investment, while the irrigation and mining sectors have gotten lower shares in investment.

As for the implementation status of investment projects, more than 52.8 per cent of these investments are under implementation and 40.4 per cent are in announcement stage, the report says.

Tamil Nadu has acquired a share of over nine per cent and over five per cent in the total investments made by government and private sources respectively across India, it states.

Recording a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 10 per cent, the services sector accounted for the highest contribution of over 61 per cent to the State Domestic Product (SDP). The report states that the industrial sector in Tamil Nadu grew at nine per cent CAGR, thereby contributing over 30 pc to the SDP.

The study also points out that agriculture is increasingly transforming into a failing economic activity.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Education> Student / by Express News Service – Chennai / August 02nd, 2013