Jet in talks with Etihad for stake sale

MUMBAI: The first investment by a foreign carrier in an Indian airline could be on the anvil with Jet Airways today announcing it was in talks with Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad for a possible stake sale.

"Jet and Etihad are in a discussion regarding a potential investment by the latter in the former... these discussions have commenced recently pursuant to the liberalised FDI policy which permitted foreign investment in the shares of an Indian airline," Jet Airways informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

"The discussions are in progress but no terms have been firmed up at present. Various structures are being explored by the legal and commercial teams," it said in its filing.

Recipe: Bell pepper, corn and kebab salad

Recipe: Bell pepper, corn and kebab salad

It might sound like a bizarre mix for a salad, but then again what is conventional about salad making.

Salads are a much personalised item on the menu, and can be as off-the-wall as they can be predictable with our choice of ingredients. In this one, the citrus nature of the bell peppers lends itself very well with the strong, spicy texture of the seekh kebab along with the crunchiness of baby corn.

This salad recipe is a refreshing break from the typical vegetable and chicken salads we stir up every time, as it is a lot more colourful, and has a unique balance of flavours. Simple to put together, you'll have fun mixing it and even enjoying with your morning toast.

Bell pepper, corn and kebab salad
Ingredients:
2 bell peppers (try to use only one colour)
2 seekh kebabs
200gm baby corn cobs
Sliced black olives
1 lemon
Feta cheese or butter
Oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:
Slice the bell peppers, and slice the baby corn cobs into small diagonal pieces, and boil them for a few minutes. Make sure you don't overcook the bell peppers as they won't taste good soggy. Further on, slice the seekh kebabs and fry them in olive oil by adding some salt and chilli powder.

Drain the water from the bell peppers and baby corn. In a large bowl, add the bell peppers, baby corn and kebabs and squeeze one full lemon into it.

Then add the black olives to the mix and drizzle olive oil over it. At the same time you can add the feta cheese or butter (depending on what you prefer), oregano and the sweet chilli sauce from the top.

Toss the mix properly so that the olive oil and the sauces nicely coat the core ingredients: seekh kebabs, baby corn and bell peppers. You can sprinkle some salt if you still feel the need, and finally garnish you salad with fresh coriander leaves.

Serve with a slice of garlic bread, or enjoy it with a bowl of clear soup.

Luxury auto maker Jaguar Land Rover may set up Saudi Arabia plant

Luxury auto maker Jaguar Land Rover may set up Saudi Arabia plant

Tata Motors Ltd.

BSE

276.45

-1.60 (-0.58%)

Vol:776422 shares traded

NSE

276.50

-1.60 (-0.58%)

Vol:7634409 shares traded

Prices|Financials|Company Info|Reports

NEW DELHI: Luxury auto maker Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India's Tata Motors, said Tuesday it was looking at setting up a plant in Saudi Arabia as it seeks to tap into growing regional demand.
Britain-based JLR said it signed a letter of intent with a Saudi government body to consider opening the plant but that no detailed discussions had been held between the two sides.
"This is an exciting project that could enable Jaguar Land Rover to establish a joint venture partnership in a part of the world where luxury vehicle sales are expected to rise," JLR chief executive Ralf Speth said in a statement.
The announcement comes after JLR said last month it would construct a plant with leading Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co to make vehicles at a new plant near Shanghai to tap surging Chinese demand for luxury autos.
JLR and Saudi Arabia's National Industrial Clusters Development Program will now conduct "a detailed feasibility study together to determine the viability of setting up an automotive facility," JLR said.
Saudi Arabia "is an attractive potential development option," Speth said, adding JLR was committed to new international partnerships to meet demand.
The agreement "is clearly exploratory at this stage," a JLR spokesman told AFP.
But JLR said it has already identified opportunities in Saudi Arabia in aluminium parts production.
The preliminary plans call for the JLR plant to be built next to the world's largest aluminium complex, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Co and Alcoa of the United States, due to start production in 2014.
JLR's expansion plans follow a sharp rise in sales to emerging markets. In this calendar year, sales in the Middle East and North Africa have increased by more than nine percent.
Tata MotorsBSE -0.58 % bought JLR from Ford in 2008 for $2.3 billion as part of plans to expand beyond Asia and the company accounted for 63 percent of the Indian firm's revenues in the last financial year.

Kingfisher Airlines may fly past Jet Airways in the race for alliance with Etihad Airways

Kingfisher in stake sale talks with Etihad

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.

BSE

16.45

0.78 (4.98%)

Vol:1954902 shares traded

NSE

16.35

0.75 (4.81%)

Vol:2773007 shares traded

Prices|Financials|Company Info|Reports

Sources within Kingfisher said that there is no finality on the structure of the deal as yet and that decision would depend on Etihad deciding which airline it wants to invest in

MUMBAI: Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher AirlinesBSE 4.98 % has emerged as the dark horse in the race for a strategic alliance with Etihad Airways as the possible deal between Naresh Goyal's Jet AirwaysBSE 4.66 % and the Abu Dhabi-based airline may flounder on valuations.
There were reports on Tuesday in certain section of the media that Etihad would pay Rs 3,000 crore for a 48% stake in Kingfisher. That values the airline at Rs 5,600 crore, almost four-and-a-half times more then its existing market cap of Rs 1,261 crore.

Sources within KingfisherBSE 4.98 % said that there is no finality on the structure of the deal as yet and that decision would depend on Etihad deciding which airline it wants to invest in.

Etihad CEO James Hogan in a recent interview to a TV channel had said the airline is in talks with two Indian carriers. After the government opened up the foreign direct investment in aviation to foreign participants, Hogan said every Indian airline has approached Etihad. "All Indian carriers have approached us" for the possibility of buying stake, Hogan told local media in October.

In his recent address in an aviation conference, Hogan said that Etihad has emerged as one of the fastest growing airline in the world and its growth has primarily come from its 'game-changing' strategy, gaining footholds in key regions across the world with targeted airline partnerships and equity investments.

Etihad has equity stake in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus and flew 10 million passengers with a fleet of 68 aircraft in first two quarters of the current fiscal.



As a report in a tabloid of a Kingfisher-Etihad deal gained credence, Jet Airways issued a statement announcing "enhanced code-sharing" with Etihad. The timing was interesting, as Goyal is expected to go the whole hog to get Etihad on his side.

In the stock bourses, the investors did not have a clear favourite. Jet Airways leapt 4.18% or Rs 21.55, to end Monday at Rs 537.60 a share while Kingfisher gained 4.96% or 74 paise to Rs 15.67 a share.

For the first time, the Chennai-based conservative Rane Group is looking beyond Indian shores to expand into. V. Ganesan of The Hindu caught up with Mr. L. Ganesh, the group's Chairman, for a talk on this and other issues. Watch on. Read the story here: http://travelwithconfident.blogspot.com

Why is Apple stock turning bitter?

• 
  AP Apple’s abrupt descent is fuelling a debate among market watchers. File Photo
• 

This holiday season is shaping up to be a record-breaking period for Apple as shoppers snap up iPhones and iPads. So, why is the world’s most valuable company losing its lustre with investors?

Apple began selling the iPhone 5 on Sept. 21, the same day the company’s stock hit an all-time peak of $705.07 per share. Since then, the stock has plunged more than 20 per cent, trimming the company’s market value by more than $150 billion. On Friday last, shares were trading at around $534.

The sell-off has had broad impact. It has reached beyond Apple’s own stockholders because the company is the largest component in the Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq composite index.

Apple’s abrupt descent is fuelling a debate among market watchers. Is the stock now a bargain, as some would argue? Or, is the recent markdown in Apple’s value justified because the company has entered a phase of less innovation and slower revenue growth?

The iPhone’s early lead in the smartphone market already has been surrendered to the more than 500 million devices running on the Android software. By comparison, as of the end of September, Apple had shipped 271 million iPhones since the gadget’s 2007 debut.

Nokia phones running on the recently released Windows 8 system from Microsoft Corp. pose a new threat, especially in China, where Nokia has struck a deal with that country’s largest wireless carrier.

Now, there are signs the competition is putting pressure on Apple in the booming tablet computer industry that it launched in 2010 with the release of the iPad.

In a report that likely contributed to Wednesday’s steep drop in Apple’s stock, research firm IDC predicted the iPad’s share of the worldwide tablet market this year would decline to 54 percent from 56 percent in 2011 and would dip below 50 percent by 2016. Meanwhile, the market share of tablets powered by Android, including Google’s Nexus line and Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire, has climbed from 40 percent last year to 43 percent his year, according to IDC.

The iPad mini, which was launched as a result of the company being forced to respond to competition, has undoubtedly diverted some sales away from full-sized iPads, which sell at prices ranging from $399 to $829. That is one of the reasons BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis expects the iPad’s average selling price to fall by about $50 in the current quarter, which ends this month. That would be a 9 percent decline from the iPad’s average price of $535 during the July through September period.

Innovation contraction

Since Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away, the company has mostly been fine-tuning products that were created under his visionary leadership. Some investors are starting to wonder if Apple can conjure up another revolutionary product to catapult the company on another multiyear stretch of breakneck sales growth.

Smartphones and tablets “are starting to become more like commodities,” Gillis said. “And how much upside is left if you are stuck in a commodities business?” The question is- What is going to get Apple going again?” Most analysts believe Apple’s next breakthrough will be a television that shares the same operating system as the iPhone and iPad. An Apple TV would give the company a prized perch on the biggest screen in most households and open up an array of new business opportunities.

Fiscal cliff factor

Under laws set to expire Dec. 31, profits on stocks owned for at least a year are taxed at a 15 percent rate less than the same rate for ordinary income. If Congress and President Obama are unable to reach agreement that preserves that long-term capital gains rate, investors’ tax bills will be substantially higher next year.

Gillis, though, points out that savvy investors probably wouldn’t be selling their Apple stock just to save some money on taxes if they truly believed the stock is destined to soar higher and make them even richer a year from now.

“When you get to be as big as Apple, any shift in sentiment can have a material impact on the share price,” he said.