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The stocks of DB Realty and Unitech rose after top executives of these companies were granted bail in the 2G scam case. The DB Realty stock has risen 40%, while Unitech gained 4%. However, some of the intrinsic problems which plague these companies, and uncertainty over the outcome of the 2G scam case may prevent any major appreciation in the stock.

Scrapping of projects involving the government, delayed execution and difficulty in securing approvals for new projects – DB Realty has seen it all. The company did not launch any new projects in the September quarter and sold around 50-75% of its existing seven projects. Even the analyst community has washed its hands of the stock with most brokerages discontinuing their coverage on the stock.

The company’s net sales for the first half year ended September are down by 36%, while its net profit dropped by 76% during the same period. However, the company is extinguishing its debt by selling non-core assets.

At the end of the September quarter, the company managed to reduce its debt from Rs600 crore a year ago to Rs 230 crore. It is sitting on a substantial pileup of TDR (transfer of development rights), which can be realised to further boost cash flows of the company. However, the outcome of the 2G scam case on its promoters will weigh heavily on the business prospects of the company which has its projects predominantly in Mumbai.

Unitech is the second big real estate company to be impacted because of the alleged involvement of its top deck in the 2G scam. Besides the problems associated with all real estate companies, there are other challenges.

For instance, the company was at the receiving end of shareholders’ ire at its annual general meeting as they refused to approve a resolution to pay dividend on equity shares for the fiscal 2011. The company’s net sales and earnings have dropped by 17% and 45% respectively for the first half of this fiscal.
However, the business model continues to remain strong. Unitech has a presence in the affordable and mid-income housing segment which enables it to generate cash flows. It has been launching new projects, although the scale of execution is slow. Despite lower revenue recognition, it has managed to lower its debt through internal cash accruals.

It has an outstanding net debt of Rs 5,144 crore and a land bank of close to 7,000 acres with an average cost of acquisition of land of around Rs 250 per square feet. Despite strong fundamentals, the loss of credibility and uncertainty over the 2G probe will restrict any major upside in the stock. The stock continues to trade at a significant discount to its land value that analysts estimate to be at Rs 60.

MUMBAI: Alfa Laval (India), a subsidiary of Sweden-based Alfa Laval Corporate AB, today said its parent firm has raised the delisting offer price to Rs 2,850 a share.

In a filing with the BSE, Alfa Laval India said its parent company increased the delisting offer price after “considering the prevailing market conditions and with a view to reward shareholders”.

However, the company further said, “Offer price should in no way be construed as a ceiling or maximum price for the purpose of the reverse book-building process and the public shareholders are free to tender their equity shares at any price higher than the indicative offer price.”

Reacting to the news, the company’s shares surged by 14.40 per cent to close at Rs 2,710.85 a piece on the BSE. In the intra-day trade, the stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,742.

The entity that offers heat transfer, separation and fluid handling technologies would be delisted from the BSE and the National Stock Exchange.

In September 2011, the company’s board had accepted the delisting proposal and in October fixed a floor price of Rs 2,045 a share to buy out the outstanding public float.
Alfa Laval (India) had said the promoter firm would make a delisting offer to acquire up to 2,040,202 shares, accounting for 11.23 per cent stake in the domestic entity.

At present, the promoter company holds 88.77 per cent stake in Alfa Laval (India).

KOLKATA: Hundreds of worried fans of ailing Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan today performed a yagna here to pray for his speedy recovery.

“We are using the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivratri to pray to Lord Shiva to help him recover painlessly from his health problems,” Sourav Banerjee of Amitabh Bachchan Fans Association of Kolkata, told.

Dressed in traditional attires, hundreds of fans carrying the actor’s posters thronged the Ekdaliya Evergreen Park in the afternoon for the hour-long yagna.

Ever since the news of Big B’s health problems broke, his admirers here, who have also built a temple for him in south Kolkata, have been a worried lot.

“We have been praying for his health and well-being ever since and are constantly monitoring media reports on his health,” Banerjee said.

Another of his fan blamed the actor’s “workaholic nature” for his medical condition.
“He has delivered hits after hits all his career and at this age of his life his body needs rest,” said 32-year-old Goutam Basak adding that they are planning a gala celebration when the superstar returns home from hospital. On February 11, 69-year-old Bachchan underwent an abdominal surgery but after he complained of acute pain, his stay at the hospital had to be extended.

Currently recuperating at the Seven Hills hospital, Big B’s health is now said to be improving.

In the slides, Fifa’s central argument was that football does not raise enough cash in relation to its fan base, that “Fifa has been under-monetised versus other leagues” and so “global football development gets squeezed”.

It did this with reference to a comparative chart showing annual revenue as well as revenue per fan for Fifa, the Uefa Champions League, Premier League, US baseball and NFL American football.

On the face of it, Fifa is the poorer cousin at just $1 per global fan, compared to NFL’s $52.8. But this measure is rather suspect.

The World Cup is not an annual competition; it happens once every four years. If instead this was done on revenue per World Cup 2026 match, Fifa makes multiples of the Premier League, perhaps more than three times as much.

As important, football is decentralised globally, so more of the revenues go to individual leagues, such as the Premier League or Champions League. Fifa was effectively arguing it wanted to keep more of that overall football pie.

Football’s fans are also spread across the globe, in rich and poor countries alike. NFL has a much smaller base concentrated in the US and is pretty much the whole of American Football.

Finally, about half of NFL’s revenues are paid out as wages. Fifa does not pay Erling Haaland or Lionel Messi or Vozinha. Profits would have yielded a rather different result than the chart’s focus on revenues.

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