1. Art and Diseño

BUSINESS
18
OMAN TRIBUNE
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
Kuwait trims
spending plan
as oil slide
hurts exports
Sensex, Nifty hit
fresh highs on
N-deal optimism
KUWAIT
Sales of Maruti’s cars during the October to December quarter rose 12.4 per
cent to 323,911 vehicles. It
had warned of comparatively
slower growth in the second
half of the 2014-15 year,
dampening expectations of
a rapid recovery in an auto
market that is hobbling back
after two weak years.
“Compared to what we estimated, the sales are slightly
lower, and also the kind of advantage that one should see
because of the benign raw
material costs and a favourable exchange rate is not seen
in the profits,” said Shah.
KUWAIT’S FINANCE MINistry has slashed spending
and projected a big deficit
in a draft budget for the next
fiscal year, as plunging oil
prices hit its export revenues.
The draft budget for the
year starting in April envisages spending of KD19.07
billion ($64.6 billion),
down by KD4.14 billion or
17.8 per cent from planned
spending for the current
2014/15 year, the ministry
said on Monday.
It pledged to save money
by cutting waste, placing
caps on spending in all areas
of government and reducing
non-essential expenditure
while continuing to allocate
money to social welfare and a
range of major infrastructure
projects.
Meanwhile, next fiscal
year’s revenues are projected at 12.05 billion dinars,
down from KD20.07 billion
originally expected for the
current year.
A total of KD1.21 billion
would be allocated next year
to Kuwait’s Future Generations Fund, part of its sovereign wealth fund.
The result would be a
budget deficit of KD8.23
billion, which the government would cover through
borrowing from its general
reserves or from the local
and foreign capital markets,
the ministry added.
Reuters
Reuters
NSE breaches 8,900 mark; BSE gains 1%
MUMBAI
EXTENDING THEIR WINning run to the eighth
straight session, the BSE
Sensex on Tuesday jumped
292.20 points to end at new
closing high of 29,571.04
points and Nifty surpassed
the 8,900-mark for the first
time on optimism over IndoUS nuclear deal amid sustained foreign fund inflows.
The Sensex resumed higher at 29,451.65 points and
then touched all-time high
of 29,618.59 points, before
settling at fresh closing peak
of 29,571.04-gain of 292.2
points or 1 per cent.
In eight successive sessions, the Sensex has zoomed
by 2,224.22 points or 8 per
cent. In five of those days, it
has hit new highs.
Sentiments
remained
buoyant as foreign flows
continued into domestic equities. On Friday, foreign investors bought shares worth
Rs20.19 billion in cash market. In past one week, foreign
investors have pumped in almost Rs65.5 billion.
The NSE Nifty opened
at 8,871.35 points and
breached the 8,900-mark
for the first time as it touched
all-time high of 8,925.05
points. It ended with a gain
of 74.90 points, or 0.85 per
cent, at new closing peak of
8,910.50 points.
Capital goods sector
stocks hogged the limelight
after the US President Barack
Obama and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi unveiled a
deal aimed at unlocking billions of dollars in nuclear
trade and deepening defence
ties.
In key earnings, stocks of
Maruti Suzuki India rose by
2.12 per cent after the country’s largest carmaker reported 17.8 per cent growth in
net profits for the third quarter. Other prominent gainers
among the 30 Sensex stocks
include Axis Bank, Cipla,
ICICI Bank, Tata Motors,
ITC, HDFC Bank, Bharti
Airtel, L&T, HDFC and SBI.
Among Sensex components, 19 stocks gained,
while 11 led by Dr Reddys,
Infosys, M&M, Coal India
and HUL declined.
Buying activity gathered
further momentum as funds
and investors were seen
creating positions on hopes
of pick up in foreign investments in India after the ECB
launched a landmark bondbuying stimulus programme
to revive euro zone economy.
A mixed trend in global
markets amid optimism that
the actions of Greece’s new
government would not force
the nation to leave the euro
currency bloc, also influenced sentiment.
Sector-wise, the BSE Banking index gained the most by
surging 2.30 per cent, followed by Capital Goods index 1.84 per cent, Auto index
1.24 per cent, FMCG index
1.14 per cent, Realty index
1.03 per cent and Power index 0.88 per cent.
Press Trust of India
PTI file photo
New Maruti Suzuki cars at a stockyard on the outskirts of Gurgaon, Haryana. Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday posted a
smaller-than-expected rise in profit.
Maruti Q3 profit soars 18%
NEW DELHI
INDIA’S LARGEST CARmaker Maruti Suzuki India
posted a smaller-than-expected rise in profit for the
third quarter, hit by one-off
items including a jump in advertising costs, a higher tax
rate and lower income from
investments.
Maruti, which sells nearly
one in two cars in India, reported a quarterly net profit
of Rs8.02 billion ($130.53
million), up 18 per cent. Analysts on average expected the
company to make a profit of
Rs9.06 billion, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
4.1% fiscal
target to be
met: Jaitley
NEW DELHI
FEDERAL FINANCE MINister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday
said fiscal deficit targets for
current year are likely to be
met and manufacturing sector
is showing turnaround signs.
“Even though the revenues
have been challenging due to
slow manufacturing industry,
now, it is turning around and
it looks like we will be able to
meet our fiscal targets.”
The government has
pegged fiscal deficit target
at 4.1 per cent of the GDP
for the current year.
“Our currency is one of
those two global currencies
that withstood the might of the
dollar. Most of the global currencies are under pressure,”
he said. “From depressing
slowdown in last last two three
years, suddenly our growth
rates are likely to look up.”
Competing economies
globally have not been so
good, he added.
Press Trust of India
Analysts attributed the
miss largely to higher taxes
and advertising spending
that increased in the quarter
due to the number of new
launches. The drop was also
due to lower income from a
cash pile, net of debt, that
ranks among the largest in
the Asian auto sector.
“There is a lot of surplus
cash and we had expected
around Rs2 billion (of other
income) for the quarter but...
it came at 1.28 billion, so
that is a major gap,” said Jigar Shah, head of research at
brokerage Kim Eng.
Maruti’s $1.3 billion cash
pile, net of debt, is invested
mainly in debt mutual funds
and is expected to grow an
annual 27 per cent by March
31, Reuters data showed. But
investors have demanded a
more transparent use of the
capital or higher dividends.
“The other income is
largely a timing issue where
the redemption of these investments happen, so it will
always vary year to year...this
time it (redemptions) would
happen in Q4,” said Maruti.
Net sales rose 15.5 per
cent to Rs122.63 billion,
outpacing growth in the number of cars sold by Maruti,
majority owned by Japan’s
Suzuki Motor.
Jaguar Land Rover sales rise 9%
MUSCAT
JAGUAR LAND ROVER,
the UK’s leading manufacturer of premium luxury
vehicles has achieved solid
sales performance in 2014,
retailing 462,678 vehicles,
up 9 per cent when compared
with the prior year. This is
the company’s fifth successive year of growth in sales,
a press release said.
On the full year performance, Jaguar Land Rover
Group sales operations director Andy Goss said: “Jaguar
Land Rover has once again
outperformed prior year
performance, with retails up
across all of our key regions.”
“With 12 significant new
product actions planned for
2015 and the introduction
of the new Jaguar XE and the
Land Rover Discovery Sport,
we anticipate retailing over
half a million vehicles for the
first time in the company’s
history. Last year has been
a year of significant achievements for Jaguar Land Rover,
recognised by more than 100
international awards. We aim
to make 2015 even better, by
creating ever more exciting
cars that deliver great customer experiences.”
Jaguar Land Rover’s global
performance shows a balanced portfolio with sales
up across all key regions:
122,010 in the China region, up 28 per cent; 96,505
for overseas, up 1 per cent;
86,310 in Europe, up 3 per
cent; 82,872 in the UK, up 7
per cent and 74,981 in North
America, up 2 per cent.
The company’s Mena performance in 2014 echoed
the trend, with Land Rover
sales up 8 per cent, driven
by strong demand for the
OCC capacity to go up in 2016
Continued from Page 17
implications for his company,
and companies as a group intend to take up the matter with
the government.
He said about 40-50 per cent
of its production is consumed
domestically and the remaining
is exported, of which 20 per
cent goes to the US and UK.
In the GCC states, the company’s 300-400 outlets sell its
products, which “come with a
universal appeal,” he added.
Natrajan said although they
were currently making products for the mid-segment, they
intend to enter the high-end
market and were working on it.
In Oman, the market is domi-
nated by European manufacturers and “we intend to bite
into it soon. We have three inhouse designers who are experts in this”.
This is a smaller market, as
the price of high-end sanitary
ware can be five times the low
end and up to twice the mid segment, he added.
Range Rover Sport and flagship Range Rover which is
now the brand’s top selling
model in the region.
Overall sales for Jaguar
Land Rover were up 6 per
cent in 2014, maintaining
the region’s position as the
company’s fifth largest market overall, and the fourth
largest market globally for the
Jaguar XJ, Range Rover and
Range Rover sport models.
Globally, Land Rover had
its best ever year with sales
reaching 381,108, up 9
per cent year-on-year. The
company sold more Range
Rovers, Range Rover Sports
and Range Rover Evoques in
2014 than ever before, on
the back of continued strong
customer demand.
Jaguar global sales were up
6 per cent, retailing 81,570
vehicles. The F-Type continues to raise brand awareness
around the world.
Jaguar Land Rover has collected over 100 international
awards and honours in 2014
for its products and for many
other areas of the business.
Heading the list is a prestigious 2014 Queen’s Award
for Enterprise in International Trade, reflecting sustained
success with global exports to
over 170 countries.
Oman Tribune