Sulajja Firodia Motwani: The scooter ain't dead yet

If you can't beat them, join them. That's what the Pune-based Kinetic group seems to have decided. Best known for its swanky scooters Kinetic has come out with three new motorcycle models in the last six months. In fact this year Kinetic Engineering expects to sell over 1.25 lakh motorbikes, more than double the 50,000 it sold last year. That strategy makes ample sense, given that mobikes now account for 70 per cent of the two-wheeler market.

It's not as if Kinetic is giving up on the scooters segment. The company has launched a four-stroke scooter Nova, which is targeted at the 'macho' motorcycle rider. Says Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Joint Managing Director, Kinetic Engineering: "With its masculine design, powerful engine & fuel efficiency, Nova is an option even motorcycle riders will consider."

That gamble had better work, for the slowdown in scooter sales has already taken a toll of Kinetic's report card. Net profits fell 10.75 per cent in 2001-02 to Rs 14.2 crore, as did total income. Managing Director Arun Firodia is counting on the Nova and the Zing, a 65 cc scooterette to be launched shortly, to stem the erosion in profits. Helping him pull it off will be a Rs 10 crore ad budget. The scooter isn't dead, yet. Not at least for the Firodias.

-Abir Pal

ZEE TELEFILMS
The Laloo Effect
Zee TV claims the highest viewership for one of its programmes. But are media planners excited?

Laloo Yadav on JIKNH: A great draw

The biggest draw on satellite television may not be the Big B or the Big C (cricket, stupid), but an oddball from Bihar who converses with cows, styles his hair like Dilip Kumar and whose drawl has more admirers (and imitators) than most popular VJs. Here's proof of the kichdi: When Laloo Prasad Yadav, Bihar's supremo and hero, appeared on Zee TV's celebrity show, Jina Isi Ka Naam Hai (JIKNH), the program garnered a whopping 45 per cent viewership across the country, according to research conducted by independent agency, exchange4media.com.

Zee was quick to use the data in its favour, splashing a comparative ad in a couple of mainline newspapers. For Zee, which doesn't subscribe to tam-the ratings that move the market-the study was like manna from heaven. "We have the most popular show," boasts Ajay Trigunayat, VP (Marketing) Zee Networks.

There's a small problem with that claim, which Star TV officials are quick to point out: tam figures indicate that JIKNH has ratings of just 1.3, as against Star's top programmes that score 14. What's more, tam ratings put 41 of Star's serials in the top 50; Zee doesn't figure in the top 50. The ratings row rages on...

-Vinod Mahanta

C-SNIPS

Sify's Ramalinga Raju: High-value smile

HCL Tech's Shiv Nadar: Target scale

SATYAM'S BRAND VALUE UP
As mentioned in Satyam Computer's 2001-02 annual report, the company's brand value increased by 41 per cent last year, to just under Rs 3,200 crore. As on March 31, 2001, Satyam's brand value stood at Rs 2,274 crore.

GRASIM UPS STAKE IN L&T
Grasim has hiked its holding in Larsen & Toubro to 12.89 per cent, after picking up an additional 2.84 per cent from the open market. Late last year, Grasim had bought a 10.05 per cent chunk in L&T from Reliance.

SCI SALE NEXT ON CARDS
According to reports, the government will invite bids for a 51 per cent stake in Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) by end-June, and the deal could be finalised by July. The bidders in the fray include Great Eastern Shipping, Essar Shipping, and consumer electronics major BPL, amongst others

HCL TECH IN TAKEOVER MODE
Shiv Nadar's HCL Tech is acquiring Gulf Computers of the US. The US company's strong client relationships and established process advantages fit in with HCL's offshore capabilities; together the two could combine to execute big government projects.

I-FLEX IS DIFFERENT, CLAIMS MD.
I-flex Solutions, whose IPO hit the market on June 5, claims to be a product-centric company. Ergo, says Rajesh Hukku, MD, I-flex, his company needs to be valued differently.

BHEL TARGETS OIL SECTOR
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) is reportedly targeting revenues of Rs 2,200 crore from the oil sector. It has an agreement with ONGC for the supply and upgrade of oil rigs, and expects Rs 1,800 crore in the next 3-4 years through this.

IDBI IN THE ROUGH
IDBI's profits in fiscal 2001-02 were lower by 40 per cent and income from operations dropped 12 per cent. The reasons given are predictable: poor industrial growth and slowdown in credit offtake.

LML'S TURNAROUND GAMBIT
Even as Bajaj, Hero Honda and TVS Suzuki continue to blaze a trail in the two-wheeler industry, LML continues to slip into the red, notching up a Rs 40-crore loss in 2001-2002. MD Deepak Singhania is now planning to recast LML's high-cost debt and prune the workforce. How about some new bikes?

TATA STEEL-SAIL
A Silver Lining For Steel
After a disastrous year, in which prices hit a 20-year-low, manufacturers spot an upturn on the horizon.

B. Muthuraman, MD, Tata Steel: The worst may be over for the industry

It's not often that a company declares a whopping 63 per cent drop in profits, yet suggests it has bucked the industry trend. That's what B. Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel, claims to have achieved, along with global steel majors like China Steel. He may be right you know, for when it comes to the steel sector you can't go by profits (or losses) when passing judgment. Because demand for steel, globally and domestically, has been sluggish. Because there's been a 7 per cent average drop in prices between 1995 and 2001. Because there's chronic overcapacity in the country-200 million tones at last count. Because domestic prices have been hammered lower than the landed prices of imported steel.

It's been worse for sail, whose losses bloated to Rs 1,707 crore last year (from Rs 729 crore in 2000-01). Of course, you could attribute a fair share of those losses to the inefficiencies at sail's manufacturing units, but when company officials point out that Rs 1,000 crore of the losses was courtesy the steep 8 per cent drop in sales realisations you're inclined to believe them. What's more last year was particularly bad for flat products-with prices hitting a 20-year low-which account for 60 per cent of sail's product mix.

Tata Steel, for its part, produced 5 per cent more and sold 4 per cent more last year, in the process beating the industry growth rate of 1.3 per cent. ''(That's because) we're more modern than most steel producers in the world,'' says Muthuraman. Things are looking up at sail as well. It sold a record 1.42 million tonnes of steel products in the home market in April-May 2002, thereby, achieving a 36 per cent growth as compared to the performance in the same period last year.

The good news for the steel sector is that the worst appears to be over. Analysts say that China and India are the only countries whose steel industries will register growth in the current year, of 7 per cent and 4-6 per cent, respectively. That's why Tata Steel has gone in for its third price hike in recent months, although Muthuraman stresses that the cumulative increase of Rs 1,500-1,800 is still lower than the Rs 2,300 drop in prices last year). SAIL too expects a hike in prices to augur well for the company this year. But it will clearly take more than firmer prices to wipe out that huge blot of red on this PSU's bottomline.

-Brian Carvalho and Swati Prasad

NFO-MBL
MR Mantras
Markets are sluggish, but not market researchers. Not NFO MBL, at least.

Jenny Abraham, MD, NFO-MBL: Tracking brands

When most consumer markets are refusing to grow, should marketers be spending more on gaining deeper customer insight? Perhaps, but that's not how it works. ''As against a 25-30 per cent growth per annum between 1990 and 1997, the market research industry has dipped to 10-15 per cent growth since 1998,'' says MR guru Titoo Ahluwalia, Chairman, ORG-MARG and A.C. Nielsen India.

There's one MR agency in the estimated Rs 310-crore industry that's claiming to be bucking the trend: the Hyderabad-based NFO MBL India, which is talking of 35-40 per cent growth rates. The secret, if you could call it that, of those numbers: Sector specialisation, says Jenny Abraham, Managing Director, NFO MBL, India. Brand-tracking and customer satisfaction are two segments that accounted for 40 per cent of NFO's 35 crore turnover in 2002. NFO claims to have 13 per cent of the market in the bag. Not bad for a late-comer.

-E. Kumar Sharma

TI CYCLES
Peddling On Price
Ti Cycles rides into the mass market with Akshay Kumar.

What do you do when you have half the premium market in the bag? You climb down into the mass market, that's what. TI Cycles, a part of the Chennai-based Tube Investments Ltd, is now eyeing the segment for standard roadsters, which constitutes 60 per cent of the overall cycle market.

Currently, TI has only 16 per cent of this huge market, with Hero accounting for 45 per cent and Atlas 30 per cent.

The company's problem is that it could never match the aggressive pricing of Hero's Jet and Atlas Goldine.

Not anymore, however. By outsourcing most non-core activities (other than painting, welding and design), TI is now able to compete with the mass players on price.

In fact, as G. Hari, President, TI Cycles, points out: "The Standard is cheaper, with value additions." The company has roped in filmstar Akshay Kumar as the roadster's brand ambassador. Ok, now bring in the villains.

-Nitya Varadarajan