SAJJAD PURVEZ - Sensex Rises 1.3% on Higher Corporate Advance Tax Payment

Stocks in Mumbai closed higher following gains in Asian markets and a rebound in sentiment ahead of the rate decision tomorrow. The ten largest companies by market cap paid 25% more advance tax for the current quarter.

Mar 16, 2011 – SAJJAD PURVEZ - 5:00 PM Mumbai – Stocks in Mumbai closed higher following gains in Asian markets and a rebound in sentiment ahead of the rate decision tomorrow. The ten largest companies by market cap paid 25% more advance tax for the current quarter.

The Sensex in Mumbai rebounded tracking the gains in Asia after the Nikkei index in Japan soared 6%.

The Sensex closed up 191.05 or 1.1% to 18,358.69 and Nifty index added 62 to 5,511.

Of the stocks traded on the BSE, 1,821 increased and 1,106 declined and 95 were unchanged. Among the 30 stocks in the Sensex index, 24 increased and 6 closed lower.

Investors were also in the buying mood after the ten largest companies by market cap reportedly paid 25% higher advance tax for the current quarter.

Banks and real estate companies closed higher ahead of interest rate review by the Reserve Bank of India tomorrow. Investors have factored in an increase of 25 basis points but credit demand remains strong.

Stock Movers

Reliance Industries added 0.8% to 1,044.50 on the news that the energy and petrochemical conglomerate paid 34% higher tax of Rs 1,054 crore.

Reliance Capital gained 1.3% extending two-day surge to 11% after it agreed to sell 26% stake in its life insurance subsidiary to Nippon Life.

Reliance Communications soared 1.7% after analysts estimated that the new loan with Chinese consortium of banks will save company as much as Rs 500 crore in interest cost.

TCS gained 3% after the software outsourcing company announced a contract of several million dollars from Holland based Royal Haskoning.

State Bank of India increased 3.5% after its advanced tax payment for the fiscal fourth quarter declined almost 20% to Rs 1,500 crore from Rs 1,900 crore.

HDFC increased 0.2% after the mortgage lender paid in advance fiscal fourth quarter tax payment of Rs 340 crore, an increase of 42% from a year ago quarter.

Auto stocks gained. Tata Motors increased 1.9% after its advanced fiscal fourth quarter tax payment declined to Rs 50 crore from Rs 115 crore.

Bajaj Auto increased 0.6% after its fourth quarter advance tax payment increased 43% to Rs 250 crore.

Hindustan Unilever decreased 1.3% after its advance tax payment for the current quarter declined to Rs 150 crore from Rs 170 crore.

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SAJJAD PURVEZ - Google’s Quest to Build a Better Boss

Laszlo Bock of Google says its study found that a boss’s technical expertise was less important than “being accessible.

IN early 2009, statisticians inside the Googleplex here embarked on a plan code-named Project Oxygen.

Their mission was to devise something far more important to the future of Google Inc. than its next search algorithm or app.

They wanted to build better bosses.

So, as only a data-mining giant like Google can do, it began analyzing performance reviews, feedback surveys and nominations for top-manager awards. They correlated phrases, words, praise and complaints.

Later that year, the “people analytics” teams at the company produced what might be called the Eight Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers.

Now, brace yourself. Because the directives might seem so forehead-slappingly obvious — so, well, duh — it’s hard to believe that it took the mighty Google so long to figure them out:

“Have a clear vision and strategy for the team.”

“Help your employees with career development.”

“Don’t be a sissy: Be productive and results-oriented.”

The list goes on, reading like a whiteboard gag from an episode of “The Office.”

“My first reaction was, that’s it?” says Laszlo Bock, Google’s vice president for “people operations,” which is Googlespeak for human resources.

But then, Mr. Bock and his team began ranking those eight directives by importance. And this is where Project Oxygen gets interesting.

For much of its 13-year history, particularly the early years, Google has taken a pretty simple approach to management: Leave people alone. Let the engineers do their stuff. If they become stuck, they’ll ask their bosses, whose deep technical expertise propelled them into management in the first place.

But Mr. Bock’s group found was that technical expertise — the ability, say, to write computer code in your sleep — ranked dead last among Google’s big eight. What employees valued most were even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees’ lives and careers.

“In the Google context, we’d always believed that to be a manager, particularly on the engineering side, you need to be as deep or deeper a technical expert than the people who work for you,” Mr. Bock says. “It turns out that that’s absolutely the least important thing. It’s important, but pales in comparison. Much more important is just making that connection and being accessible.”

Project Oxygen doesn’t fit neatly into the usual Google story line of hits (like its search engine) and misses (like the start last year of Buzz, its stab at social networking). Management is much squishier to analyze, after all, and the topic often feels a bit like golf. You can find thousands of tips and rules for how to become a better golfer, and just as many for how to become a better manager. Most of them seem to make perfect sense.

Problems start when you try to keep all those rules in your head at the same time — thus the golf cliché, “paralysis by analysis.” In management, as in golf, the greats make it all look effortless, which only adds to the sense of mystery and frustration for those who struggle to get better.

That caveat aside, Project Oxygen is noteworthy for a few reasons, according to academics and experts in this field.

H.R. has long run on gut instincts more than hard data. But a growing number of companies are trying to apply a data-driven approach to the unpredictable world of human interactions.

“Google is really at the leading edge of that,” says Todd Safferstone, managing director of the Corporate Leadership Council of the Corporate Executive Board, who has a good perch to see what H.R. executives at more than 1,000 big companies are up to.

Project Oxygen is also unusual, Mr. Safferstone says, because it is based on Google’s own data, which means that it will feel more valid to those Google employees who like to scoff at conventional wisdom.

Many companies, he explained, adopt generic management models that tell people the roughly 20 things they should do as managers, without ranking those traits by importance. Those models often suffer “a lot of organ rejection” in companies, he added, because they are not presented with any evidence that they will make a difference, nor do they prioritize what matters.

“Most companies are better at exhorting you to be a great manager, rather than telling you how to be a great manager,” Mr. Safferstone says.

courtesy: http://www.nytimes.com

SAJJAD PURVEZ - AUDI GROUP: BEST RESULT IN CORPORATE HISTORY

The Audi Group has concluded the 2010 fiscal year with a record result. "The operating profit of EUR3.34 billion shows how profitable Audi is. We are growing not only in China, but in many regions around the world. The Audi brand has outpaced the growth of the overall market, especially in the United States," said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. "We've started the year off well and we're targeting more than 1.2 million deliveries to customers for the total year," Stadler said. 

For Audi, 2010 was the best year for sales in the Company's history. Deliveries of Audi brand automobiles on worldwide markets rose last year by 15 percent to 1,092,411. Revenue rose during the 2010 financial year by a disproportionately high rate to EUR35,441 million (29,840 million)* - an increase of 18.8 percent. 

The Audi Group significantly increased its operating profit by 108.2 percent to EUR3,340 million (1,604 million). The profit before tax, at EUR3,634 million (1,928 million) was 88.5 percent above that of the previous year. Profit after tax rose by 95.2 percent to EUR2,630 million (1,347 million). 

The Company increased its operating return on sales to 9.4 percent (5.4 percent). Return on investment also reached a new peak, at 24.7 percent (11.5 percent). 

Net liquidity increased by 25.5 percent to EUR13,383 million (10,665 million). 

Record results for deliveries in more than 40 markets 

In the past year Audi handed over 1,092,411 (949,729) automobiles to its customers worldwide. Sales thus rose 15.0 percent compared with the previous year. Deliveries in the Asia-Pacific sales region developed favorably. The brand with the four rings also grew in Western Europe (including Germany), and especially in the United States. 

New hires total 1,200; largest investment program in company history 

The Audi Group plans to invest more than EUR11 billion between 2011 and 2015 - with about EUR9.5 billion going to the development of new products and to hybrid and electromobility. More than EUR5 billion will be invested in the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites in Germany. 

Audi plans to continue the enlargement of its model range in the coming years at an unslowed pace. "Our attention remains particularly focused on the subject of sustainability. At Audi we believe this includes not only increasing the efficiency of our cars and the development of electric and hybrid models, but also the sustainable handling of resources," Stadler said. The brand with the four rings already offers 54 model and engine variants with CO2 emissions below 140 g/km (225.31 g/mile) - of which 17 emit less than 120 g/km (193.12 g/mile). 

Highest employee profit-sharing payment in company history 

AUDI AG has shared the success of the 2010 fiscal year with its employees: each of the roughly 42,500 pay-scale employees at the German sites received a profit-sharing payment averaging EUR6,513. This corresponds to roughly one and a half times the average monthly wage and is the highest payment since this profit-sharing plan came into existence. 

Outlook for 2011: more than 1.2 million deliveries to customers; operating return on sales at the high level of the previous year 

"The signs for 2011 are good, after a year which ended better than we expected back in January 2010. We expect continued growth in the overall economy this year, even if there is a slight weakening in comparison with the previous year," Stadler said. "Nonetheless, we have to remain alert, since the unpredictability of the financial and raw materials markets still carry a risk." 

Audi has started off 2011 successfully, selling about 186,850 automobiles worldwide between January and February of this year - 21.6 percent more than during the same period of the previous year. The European markets have been exhibiting strong momentum; sales here grew by 17.5 percent to around 106,600 units (90,686). In the German domestic market alone, Audi delivered 32,290 cars to customers in the first two months of the year and thereby achieved a significant increase of 18.3 percent compared with the previous year (27,304). 

Between January and February, 41,122 Chinese customers (31,906) chose Audi - 28.9 percent more than during the same period in 2010. The brand also continued to grow sharply in the United States. Deliveries here climbed by 22.3 percent to 15,565 (12,726) compared with the same period last year. 

"We want to deliver more than 1.2 million Audi cars to customers worldwide during the current year, and thus build upon the success of the record year in 2010 without interruption," Stadler emphasized. "We are growing sustainably and are targeting an operating return on sales at the same high level as the previous year," Strotbek added. 

- Cross reference: Picture is available via epa european pressphoto
      agency and can be downloaded free of charge at:
      http://www.presseportal.de/pm/6730/audi_ag/?keygroup=bild -
    - Cross reference: The long version of this press release can be
      downloaded free of charge at:
      http://www.presseportal.de/pm/6730/audi_ag/?keygroup=dokument -


    - A total of 1,092,411 Audi brand automobiles delivered during the 2010
      fiscal year; EUR35.4 billion in revenue, EUR3.34 billion operating 
      profit; operating return on sales of 9.4 percent
    - Audi CEO Rupert Stadler: "Audi is growing profitably and across the
      board."
    - Cash flow from operating activities significantly higher than previous
      year at EUR5,797 million (4,119 million)
    - Highest employee profit-sharing payment in history: average of EUR6,513
      for each pay-scale employee
    - Outlook for 2011: more than 1.2 million deliveries of Audi brand
      automobiles planned
    - Audi CFO Axel Strotbek: "We want to grow sustainably and are targeting
      an operating return on sales at the same high level as the previous 
      year."

source: AUDI CG

SAJJAD PURVEZ - Fed: Stocks gains boosted Americans' wealth last quarter; corporate cash reaches new high

SAJJAD PURVEZ - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Albany, New York, United States of America March 10, 2011 -- 
WASHINGTON — Americans' wealth grew 3.8 percent in the final three months of 2010, boosted by gains in stock portfolios. Companies, meanwhile, added to their cash stockpiles, which reached their highest point in more than a half-century. 

The Federal Reserve says household net worth rose to $56.8 trillion in the October-December quarter, even though the value of real-estate holdings fell. The gain last quarter exceeded the 2.6 percent increase in net worth in the July-September period. 

So far this year, stocks have risen more than 3 percent. 

Net worth is the value of assets such as homes, checking accounts and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards. 

Americans' net worth still would have to rise an additional 16 percent to reach its pre-recession peak of $66 trillion. 

Courtesy: http://www.therepublic.com