NEW DELHI: the Mahindra Group willrestructure its top management by inducting several fresh faces into its keydecision-making body to reflect the $6.7-billion conglomerate’s expandingbusiness interests.

as part of the restructuring process, it willdismantle its Group Management Board (GMB), which comprised sector presidentsand group vice-chairman Anand Mahindra, the group has announced internally. Itwill be replaced by a Group Executive Board (GEB) from the next financial year.Under the new structure, 15 new faces will be added to the top managementbody.

the new structure coincides with the retirement of two topexecutives of the group — Arun Nanda, who heads the infrastructurevertical, and Anjanikumar Choudhari, who heads the tractor vertical. the choiceof the new names gives an indication of the businesses that are likely to be thegrowth drivers for the group such as retail, infrastructure and hospitality,apart from automobiles, IT and tractors.

the GEB will have a bunch of40-something senior managers who have been groomed since 2004 to take the topjobs across the group’s nine business verticals. In an internal notecirculated on Monday, M&M vice-chairman Anand Mahindra explained the logicbehind what he called “the clean sheetredesign”.

“Since 1997 (when the GMB was set up), thegroup has grown exponentially so that a strong need was felt to enhance andupdate the GMB concept. with wider participation in this board, we will set inmotion a process more suited to creating alignment and exploiting synergies atboth strategic and operational levels, thus creating business value in a vastlyexpanded set of businesses,” he said.

the new names in the GEBroster include VS Parthasarathy, executive vice-president, finance, M&a andcorporate IT; Zhooben Bhiwandiwala, executive vice-president and managingpartner of Mahindra Partners; Anita Arjundas, CEO & MD of Mahindra LifespaceDevelopers and CEO real estate sector; Ramesh Ramanathan, MD, Mahindra Holidaysand CEO hospitality sector; Sanjay Kalra, CEO of Tech Mahindra; Harsh Kumar, MD,Mahindra Intertrade; CP Gurnani, CEO, Mahindra Satyam and Ramesh Iyer, MD,Mahindra Financial Services.

these young stars of the group will joinsector presidents who were earlier part of the GEB such as group CFO BharatDoshi, president of auto and tractor sectors Pawan Goenka, HR president RajeevDubey, Anoop Mathur, president, two-wheeler sector, Systech president HemantLuthra, IT sector president Ulhas Yargop and Uday Phadke, president, finance,legal and financial services.

the overall restructuring process alsoincludes several top level changes within the group. according to anotherinternal note, the business of two sectors — auto and tractors — isbeing reorganised into three profit centres and two integrated keyprocesses.

Each of these is headed by a CEO. the profit centres arethe Swaraj division of the farm equipment sector headed by current CEOBishwambhar Mishra, the tractor division headed by newly minted CEO GautamNagwekar and the auto division headed by also newly appointed CEO RajeshJejurikar. both mr Jejurikar and Nagwekar are currently COOs of their respectiveverticals.

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Talks were on with Chinese vendors, said Anoop Mathur, president of M&M’s two-wheeler division. China is the largest two-wheeler market in the world; India is next. M&M has three 125-cc scooters —two power scooters, Mahindra Rodeo and Duro, and Mahindra Flyte. It plans to launch a motorcycle next year.

The three scooters are priced between Rs 38,300 and Rs 41,300 (ex-showroom, Ahmedabad). Though priced in the same range as Hero Honda Pleasure and TVS Scooty Pep, these are 5-6 per cent cheaper than market leader Honda Activa and have an engine that is 12-18 per cent larger. These are also 8-12 per cent cheaper than Suzuki Access. The company feels the pricing is strategic and sustainable. While Mathur declined to give details, he said sourcing components from China could give M&M an advantage in pricing.

As for the existing Kinetic models that Mahindra now markets, including Nova, Kine and 4S, the company is yet to take a decision on whether to phase out these in the long run. Mahindra had acquired assets of Kinetic Motors in 2008. Kinetic had launched Flyte, with a 125-cc engine, in 2007.

“We want to be present as an end-to-end player in the two-wheeler space and will take a call on these Kinetic models depending on the market feedback. We are looking at positioning our products uniquely,” Mathur said. Currently, it is targeting the adult stylish male for the Rodeo, while the Duro is targeted at the entire family. The Flyte is for the woman commuter.

“In the 40 days since our launch, we have sold around 7,000 units on an average per month”, said Sanjay Mittal, vice-president, sales and customer care, Mahindra two-wheelers. The company has an annual manufacturing capacity of 500,000 two-wheelers at Pithampur, near Indore, in Madhya Pradesh.

Mahindra’s two-wheelers have 325 dealers. The plan is to take this to 375 by the end of the financial year. “Around 200 Kinetic dealers came in and the rest are our existing tractor and utility vehicle dealers,” Mittal said.

The two-wheeler market has been clocking a 15 per cent growth this financial year. The scooters segment is dominated by Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India, which have a 53 per cent share, followed by TVS & Hero Honda with 21 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, and Suzuki with 8 per cent.

A park bench in Redhouse Park, Birmingham, after heavy rain. this month has been one of the wettest since reocrds began. Photograph: David Jones/PA

Britain was drenched by one of the wettest Novembers, the Met Office said today.

The month has had the fifth-highest amount of rainfall on record and is likely to climb further up the rankings when figures for the last week are added tomorrow.

Cumbria’s 58-year November record of 267 mm (10.5 ins) was broken in 24 hours this month, with the total exceeding 316.7mm. Eskdalemuir, in Dumfries and Galloway, also had its wettest month. Up to 24 November, 422 mm of rain had fallen, beating the previous high of 402 mm from February 1997.

A Met Office spokesman said November could be the UK’s third or fourth wettest since records began in 1914.

He said: “There’s been a lot of rain in parts of the country over the past few days and it’s possible it could end up being the third or fourth wettest November on record when the figures are averaged out tomorrow.”

The high of 193.6mm was set during the floods of 1951. the second wettest November was in 1940 (190.4mm), the third (188mm) in 1929 and fourth (182.2mm) in 1954. Figures for up to 24 November show 176.2mm of rain has fallen so far this month, putting it in fifth place.

Temperatures across the country are expected to plummet to -5C (23F) over the next two days, with northern England and Scotland braced for a blanket of snow.

Among the areas that could experience up to 5cm of snowfall are those around Cockermouth in Cumbria, which was submerged just over a week ago after more than 304mm of rainfall in 24 hours.

the larger model of the DSi, the Nintendo DSi LL, launched in Japan today, Saturday 21st November, and from the lengthy queues being formed to pick up the fancy new model, it looks like it could well be a far greater success than Sony’s PSP-Go.

The Nintendo DSi LL has two whopping 4.2-inch screens and has the following dimensions: 161.0mm / 91.4mm / 21.2mm (comparatively the DS is 148.7mm/84.7mm/28.9mm, the DS Lite is 133.0mm/73.9mm/21.5mm and the standard DSi is 137.0mm/74.9mm/18.9mm). the Japanese model comes in three colours, Wine Red, Dark Brown, Natural White, and also has applications like ‘A little Bit of Brain Training’ and ‘Flipnote Studio’ pre-installed.

According to sources in Japan, the initial shipment is 150,000 units, the same amount that Sony shipped for the PSP-Go. the difference is that Sony is currently struggling to sell more than a third of that shipment so far, whilst Nintendo could be looking at a first weekend sell-out, despite the system selling for 20,000, the equivalent of a Wii in Japan!

Some comparison screens can be seen here.

MUMBAI:Indices were on a firm foot on Wednesday as buying activity resumed across theboard ahead of November series expiry. However volatility later in the daycan’t be ruled out.

At 12:29 pm, Bombay StockExchange’s Sensex was at 17269.62, up 138.54 points or 0.81 per cent. The30-share index hit an intra-day high of 17284.30 and low of 17124.15.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 5123.25, up 32.05 points or0.70 per cent.

“Nifty depicted signs of weakness on shortterm charts with formation of distributive patterns. Short term oscillators havebeen depicting sign of weakness for some time. Despite the divergence the indexso far continued to form higher peaks and troughs. Failure to rally past 5110would lead to increasing weakness in the index. Short term supports are placedat 5050 and below that at 5020 while 5110 remain crucial supply zone. Trenddecider level remains at 4900 and 5185 which may lead for unfolding of a biggermove,” said Edelweiss report.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.77 percent and BSE Smallcap Index gained 0.93 per cent.

amongst thesectoral indices, BSE Oil&gas Index was up 1.76 per cent, BSE Metal Indexmoved 1.33 per cent higher and BSE Auto Index gained 1.10 per cent. BSE RealtyIndex was down 0.22 per cent.

Reliance Industries (1.90%), Mahindra& Mahindra (1.75%), Hero Honda (1.66%), Maruti Suzuki (1.61%) and ITC(1.46%) were amongst the top Sensex gainers.

DLF (-0.86%), NTPC(-0.46%), ICICI Bank (-0.42%), Tata Power (-0.34%) and Wipro (-0.14%) wereamongst the top losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with1608 advances and 913 declines.

SAN FRANCISCO – (Business Wire) Fitch Ratings assigns an ‘AA+’ rating to $9.6 million City of Santa Monica Public Financing Authority, California’s lease revenue refunding bonds, series 2009 (public safety facility project).

In addition, Fitch affirms the following ratings at ‘AA+’:

–$9.4 million lease revenue bonds, series 1999 (public safety facility) (to be refunded);

–$12.3 million lease revenue bonds, series 2002A (public safety facility);

–$36.4 million lease revenue bonds, series 2004 (civic center parking).

Fitch also affirms the ‘AAA’ rating on the city’s $16.7 million in outstanding general obligation (GO) bonds. the Rating Outlook is Stable.

the lease revenue bonds are expected to sell via negotiation during the week of Nov. 30, 2009. Bond proceeds will be used to refund for savings the city’s outstanding lease revenue bonds, series 1999.

the ‘AAA’ GO rating reflects the city’s strong and mature economic base, a tax structure that captures much of the city’s economic activity but also presents vulnerability to economic cycles, sound financial position as characterized by high financial reserves, affordable debt burden, and effective financial management. the city has a solid business base, with prominent retail locations and waterfront hotels; however, two of the city’s main revenue sources, sales and transient occupancy taxes, currently are demonstrating their sensitivity to economic downturns. To date the city has been able to control spending and maintain fiscal balance, but the city will need to continue to closely monitor these economically sensitive revenues as well as manage spending pressures to maintain balance.

the ‘AA+’ lease rating reflects the factors above as well as all lease transactions’ strong legal structure. Lease features include the city’s covenant to budget and appropriate sufficiently for lease rental payments, and a requirement for rental interruption insurance.

Santa Monica is a mature, stable, and wealthy coastal community covering about eight square miles west of Los Angeles. With a population of about 92,000 it is almost entirely developed. Major taxpayers include retail, office, and high-end hotels. After several years of very low unemployment, the city’s jobless rate increased sharply to 10.5% in September 2009 but remains considerably lower than the rate of the county and state. Income levels are very high with a median household income of $67,581 in 2006, compared to Los Angeles County’s median of $55,192. Taxable value is also very high, at approximately $260,000 per capita.

City finances benefit from a diverse revenue stream, led by property taxes (14% of general fund revenues in fiscal 2009) and followed by sales, utility, hotel and business license taxes each comprising 11%-12% of general fund revenues. While sales and transient occupancy taxes are particularly sensitive to economic downturns, the economic impact on property, business and utility taxes is less immediate, giving the city’s experienced financial management team time to respond appropriately. the city maintains sizable financial reserves, with a total general fund balance of $196.6 million according to unaudited fiscal 2009 information. this totals a high 72.5% of general fund spending including transfers out. In fiscal 2009, the city was able to transfer in to the general fund $56 million which had been restricted in connection with environmental clean-up litigation. In fiscal 2009, a sizeable $159 million of the fund balance is unreserved, equal to about 57.4% of spending, up from 25% of spending in fiscal 2008 due to the transfer.

While fiscal 2009 revenues came in under budget by about $5.2 million, through mid-year cuts and a hiring freeze the city was able to generate an operating surplus in fiscal 2009. Fiscal 2010 budgeted revenues are about flat and receipts are about $6 million below budget. the city is continuing to respond to the revenue picture by adjusting its spending to retain fiscal balance. for fiscal 2010, the city budgeted a $7.8 operating surplus which, although more than offset by $25 million in capital spending still results in high fund balances.

Santa Monica’s direct debt burden is low, just $915 per capita and 0.4% of market value, but including overlapping entities, the per capita debt is moderate to high at $4,498 but a low 1.5% of market value.

Additional information is available at ‘fitchratings.com’.

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY’S PUBLIC WEBSITE ‘WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM’. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH’S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE ‘CODE OF CONDUCT’ SECTION OF THIS SITE.

Fitch Ratings
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And there is no sign of any prolonged dry weather on the horizon.

For the first 15 days of November 214.9mm of rain fell in Fermanagh – but the long-term average rainfall for the entire month in the county is only 121.5mm.

A Met Office spokesman said none of the daily Fermanagh rainfall totals of the past month are of themselves in any way extreme or unusual for the time of year.

“It appears to be the consistently wet weather which has resulted in cumulative flooding,” he said.

“Since mid-October there have been only two entirely dry days in the county.”

For the first half of November, rainfall across Northern Ireland is running at 172.6 mm or 159 per cent of the long term average – so far the third wettest in the series back to 1914.

Since mid-October until now rainfall at St Angelo in Enniskillen has been measured at 287.2mm.

The Met Office said that it was simply the type of weather coming in from the Atlantic over Fermanagh that was responsible and that there would continue to be “an unsettled theme” for the rest of the month with “no prolonged dry weather” yet visible in forecasts.

Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew, who has responsibility for the Rivers Agency, visited Erneside Shopping Centre yesterday to witness the flooding.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP said that Rivers Agency has been working with the Electricity Supply Board to ensure that lough levels were drawn down to the lowest permissible level in October 2009, to provide maximum storage during the winter months.

And she said that since November 5 the outflow channel has also been operating at maximum capacity.

However, in spite of this proactive management, the sheer amount of rainfall has resulted in the highest lough levels on record, she said, adding that all government authorities remain on “high alert”.

“My thoughts are with everyone affected and my heart goes out to those whose day-to-day business has been upset, particularly local schoolchildren whose education has been disrupted,” she said.

The minister said it will take time for water levels to fall and that a speedy review of the flooding incident will take place.

“The combined efforts of the emergency services, my own Rivers Agency staff, Roads Service, local councils and NI Water to assist those affected are a credit and I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of them,” she said.

She had spoken with Finance Minister Sammy Wilson to ensure the matter was kept an Executive priority, she added.

DUP Assembly Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Arlene Foster, said the recent heavy rainfall and associated flooding has had a major impact in Fermanagh.

“Traffic delays are a significant problem in Enniskillen. there is widespread public concern that in the run-up to Christmas, traffic chaos in the town could get much worse,” she said.

For flooding information see nidirect.gov.uk or call the Emergency Flooding Incident Line on 0300 2000 100.

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fitch Ratings corrects the bond description on the recently rated Bloomington, Minnesota’s unlimited tax bonds. The bonds originally named general obligation (GO) permanent improvement revolving fund bonds of 2009, series 43 are now named taxable GO permanent improvement revolving fund bonds of 2009, series 43 (Build America Bonds- Direct Pay). The city chose to issue taxable Build America Bonds because of market conditions. The par amount of about $7.835 million and the rating of ‘AAA’ with a Stable Outlook remain the same.

The unlimited taxing power of most local government general obligation pledges is the broadest security a U.S. local government can provide to the repayment of its long-term borrowing, and therefore is the best indicator of its overall credit quality. The average local government GO rating is ‘AA-’ with approximately 56% rated at or above ‘AA-’ and 7% rated ‘BBB+’ or below. The relatively high ratings reflect local governments’ inherent strengths: the authority to levy property taxes, nonpayment of which can result in property foreclosures; additional taxing power that can include sales, utility, and income taxes; and essentiality of and lack of competition for services provided by local governments. those with low investment-grade or below-investment-grade ratings generally have a combination of a limited or highly volatile economic base, high levels of long-term liabilities including debt and post-employment benefits, and/or unusually limited financial flexibility. for additional information on these ratings, see U.S. Local Government General Obligation Rating Guidelines dated March 22, 2007.

for further information, see the press release dated Nov. 12, 2009.

Additional information is available at fitchratings.com.

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY’S PUBLIC WEBSITE ‘WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM’. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH’S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE ‘CODE OF CONDUCT’ SECTION OF THIS SITE.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) may increase prices for its products in the coming months due to rising input costs. this was stated by Dr Pawan Goenka, President (Automotive Sector), on the sidelines of SIAMs Environmentally Friendly Vehicles summit on Monday.

We will try and not increase prices in the third quarter, while absorbing increases in the input costs. But if they go up as much as last year, we will have to pass it on to the consumers, he said.

Though he declined to comment on the timing or the magnitude of the possible price hike, Dr Goenka said, Yes, we are feeling the pressure and all companies are feeling it.

Dr Goenka added that in the second quarter, the company had posted margins which have been one of the best in many years, but said it would be difficult to maintain the same kind of margins in the third and fourth quarters because of the increase in prices of rubber and sheet metals.

July-September quarter was our best in terms of profit margins. it would be difficult though to maintain them at that current level, he said. if nothing changes like the excise duty or the commodity prices, I see double-digit growth for the industry in the next six months. However, if stimulus is withdrawn the growth will be lower, said Dr Goenka. M&M had posted a profit margin of 18.2% in July-September quarter.

Dr Goenka, who is also the President of SIAM, added that the industry association was working with four-five companies on developing hydrogen-CNG dual fuel technology for commercial vehicles such as autos and similar three-wheelers. this project is in the pilot stage and it will lead to development of a more efficient fuel. this will have 15% hydrogen, he said.

When asked about the market for electric vehicles (EVs), he said that the main problem was the development of supporting infrastructure. I dont see EVs being popular in the short-term, he said.

Pilot project

M&M is also running a pilot project with an NGO called Earth100, for the development of vehicles running on 100% biodiesel.

The programme, which started two-three years ago, has 8-10 Scorpios under testing.

Taken from Business Line

Renault has no intentions of upsetting the applecart with Mahindra & Mahindra on the Logan project.

The Logan will continue to be developed with M&M, Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renault-Nissan, told Business Line during his recent India visit.

However, it is still not clear if there will be any change in the retail strategy for the car. At present, it is showcased with M&Ms Scorpio sport-utility vehicle in the companys showrooms. Renault is clear, though, that it is working on an independent retail strategy for its future India products and it remains to be seen if the Logan will be part of this revised plan.

The only thing that has to be clarified for Renault is how to market and sell our products. this is not an issue with our partner, Nissan because its retail plan is in place. Renault is working on something and is clear about an exclusive identity in the form of showrooms, advertising campaigns and so on, Ghosn said.

M&M and Renault entered into a 51:49 partnership three years ago to manufacture the Logan sedan. the car promised plenty but monthly sales have been at the sub-500 unit level for sometime now and losses last fiscal totalled nearly Rs 500 crore. the Nashik plant has been planned with an installed capacity of 50,000 cars annually.

M&M believes that the way forward is to reduce the length of the Logan to four metres so that it qualifies as a small car in the Indian context and can avail of the lower eight per cent excise duty (instead of the current level of 20 per cent). this is applicable to any car up to four metres long whose engine capacities do not exceed 1.2 litres for petrol and 1.5 litres in the case of diesel.

The excise duty is an issue in India but we need to continue to work on the Logan to adapt it to local tastes. we also need to do it quickly and with a good knowledge of what customers want, Ghosn said.

According to him, the other solution lay in localisation of components which would play a key role in bringing down costs. It now remains to be seen which of these options would be exercised though he was categorical that both parties would work jointly on finding an answer.

We need to do it with M&M as they have shared responsibility on the car and also possess knowledge of the Indian market. we need to decide the solution together, mr Ghosn said.

It now looks as if the partners are working overtime to get it right. hopefully, before the Delhi Auto Show kick of in January next year, you could see many things becoming clear in these small, grey areas, he added. It will be interesting to see if some of these initiatives include a new product line-up for the Nashik plant.

Trimming the Logan will help reduce its price tag by at least Rs 50,000 but dealers are not entirely certain if that alone would suffice especially when substantial discounts are already being offered on the car to keep it moving off the shelves.

Ghosn said that the Indian customer is value-driven and wants everything in his car which seems to indicate that Renault may even work on some internal aspects of the Logan in terms of offering more goodies at the same price, or even lower if its length is also reduced. the car, he added, has been a huge success in Russia, Europe, North Africa and Brazil.

We are surprised that it could not be replicated in India. the Logan is important for Renaults future because it is the first product from us in this country, Ghosn said.

Taken from Business Line