Coca-Cola to set up 3 new plants in China

BEIJING: US soft-drink giant Coca-Cola will set up three new plants in China this year with an investment of $2 billion, the company said.

Two bottling plants will be opened in South China's Guangdong Province and Hohhot, in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive officer of Coca-Cola.

"We will also construct a new facility, which will be one of the largest plants we have in this country, in central China's Henan Province this year," said Kent.

The 42-billion investment package is for the period 2008 to 2011. Last year, Coca-Cola inaugurated three new factories, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, east China's Jiangxi Province and central China's Hubei Province.

"We will also increase the capacity of some existing factories here, equipping them with new production lines as well as new trucks, warehouses and coolers," Kent was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Besides production, Kent said that his company will make significant investment in marketing, distribution, logistics and brand innovation.

With a business roadmap to 2020, Kent said China's actual non-alcoholic ready-to-drink market is probably the second largest in the world today.

"I think China will overtake the US to become the world's largest non-alcoholic ready-to-drink market in a fairly short period of time," Kent said. "It's not a question of if, but only a question of when."

Iconix is new owner of comic strip Peanuts

CHICAGO: The iconic comic strip Peanuts and its characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown now have a new owner, with the E W Scripps Company selling the brand to Iconix Brand Group for USD 175 million.

Media enterprise firm E W Scripps has signed an agreement to sell its unit United Media Licensing, which owned Peanuts' licensing rights, to Iconix in an all-cash transaction expected to close by end of the second quarter.

As part of the transaction, Iconix will also acquire the licensing and character representation business of United Media Licensing, which, in addition to Peanuts, represents a number of character brands, including Dilbert and Fancy Nancy.

The Peanuts brand and other acquired assets will be purchased through a newly formed subsidiary, which will be owned 80 per cent by Iconix and 20 per cent by the family of the late Charles Schulz, who created the Peanuts characters.

Iconix expects Peanuts to generate approximately USD 75 million in annual royalty revenue.

"We are putting our characters in good hands at Iconix. This is the right move for all involved as we go our separate ways in recognition of changing times and new strategies," The E W Scripps Company president and CEO Rich Boehne said in a statement.

The cast of Peanuts includes well known characters such as Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Sally, Schroeder, Peppermint Patty and Woodstock.

Peanuts has a strong diversified global licensing platform with over 1,200 licensing agreements including association with MetLife, Hallmark, Universal Studios, Warner Bros, Cedar Fair, H&M, Benetton, Old Navy, CVS and Walgreens.

The Peanuts brand is licensed in over 40 countries and generates annual retail sales of over two billion dollars, Iconix said.

"Owning the Peanuts business moves Iconix well beyond fashion into a true global brand management entity with a wide variety of agreements that range from theme parks to media to financial institutions," Iconix Brand Group, Chairman and CEO Neil Cole said.

United Media Licensing is one of the largest independent licensing agencies in the world, working with more than 1,250 licensees in approximately 40 countries.

New York-based Iconix Brand is a brand management company that engages in licensing and marketing for a portfolio of owned consumer brands, including Candie's, Bongo, Joe Boxer, Ed Hardy and Ecko.

Barcode-enabled ATMs from SBI

KOLKATA: If you are not tech savvy and have to stand in the long queue to pay bills, then you have a reason to smile. SBI is introducing barcode-enabled ATM throughout the country for seamless bill payment facility. The facility will be available in phases to over 5 crore SBI customers across the country.

An official from SBI said that this specialised ATM will take care of all the bills which has a barcode. "This can be used to pay mobile, electricity, credit card as well as civic authority bills," he said.

According to him, the first such ATM will be rolled out in West Bengal's Mursidabad district, which houses the constituency of FM Pranab Mukherjee. In the first phase, the state will have three such ATM machines. Later, 13 more barcode-enabled ATMs will be rolled out. The official added that it has already tied up with Airtel and Vodafone.

Panel to help with public expenditure

NEW DELHI: Planning Commission on Tuesday set up a high-level expert committee headed by PM's Economic Advisory Council chairman C Rangarajan to suggest measures for efficient management of public expenditure.

The committee is mandated to suggest an action plan to abolish the present system of classifying expenditure into plan and non-plan.

The 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12) document has discussed at length the various anomalies and inconsistencies that arise out of the present classification of expenditure into plan and non-plan categories.

Bharti Airtel Q4 net dips 8%; revenue crosses Rs 10k cr

NEW DELHI: The country's top telecom company, Bharti Airtel, today reported a decline of 8 per cent in consolidated net income at Rs 2,055 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010.

The company had a net income of Rs 2,239 crore for the quarter ended March 2008-09, as per the US accounting standards, Bharti Airtel said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

During the quarter, the company's total revenues crossed the Rs 10,000-crore mark for the first time, the filing added.

Total revenues of the company rose to Rs 10,056 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009-10, up 2 per cent from Rs 9,825 crore in the same period last fiscal.

"Bharti Airtel continues to be strongly positioned in India despite a hyper competitive market," Bharti Airtel Ltd Chairman & Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

The board of the company has proposed a dividend of Rs 1 per share on the face value of Rs 5 per share for the financial year 2009-10.

For the year ended March 31, 2010, the company has posted a consolidated net income of Rs 9,103 crore, a growth of 7 per cent from Rs 8,470 crore in the same period last year.

Total revenues of the company rose to Rs 39,615 crore for the year ended March 31, from Rs 36,962 crore in the same period previous fiscal.

Bharti has 137.6 mn customers, as on March 31, 2010, across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Bharti's customers increased 41 per cent over last year.

"We are confident of repeating our success story in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by winning the hearts of customers in these countries," Mittal added.

Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading at Rs 295.50 on BSE, down 0.92 per cent from the previous close.

Sensex tanks 229 pts in early trade

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell over 229 points in early trade today on weak global cues as investors worldwide feared about the eurozone's economic stability.

The 30-share index, which had lost over 54 points in the previous sessions, fell further by 229.27 points, or 1.29 per cent to 17,461.35.

All the sectoral indices, led by metal, realty, consumer durable and oil and gas, were trading in the negative zone, with losses up to 1.81 per cent.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also dipped 74.00 points, or 1.39 per cent to 5,234.35.

Stock brokers said sentiment on the domestic bourses was dampened as US stocks tumbled overnight after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the ratings for Greece and Portugal, raising doubts about euro-zone economic stability.

Besides, tomorrow's monthly expiry in the derivatives segment too had a negative impact as participants were seen off-loading their pending positions, they added.

Reliance Industries fell by 1.96 per cent to Rs 1,040.35,Infosys Technologies by 1.05 per cent to Rs 2,712.90, Tata Steel by 2.24 per cent to Rs 632.95, Sterlite Industries by 1.81 per cent to Rs 814.20, Maruti Suzuki by 1.08 per cent to Rs 1,269.30 and State Bank of India by 0.59 per cent to Rs 2,203.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.99 per cent down in yesterday's trading, while Japan's Nikkei plunged 2.47 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 1.46 per cent in the morning trade today.

Rupee gains 13 paise to 44.30 a dollar

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee appreciated by 13 paise to 44.30 a dollar in early trade on Monday on the back of continued capital inflows by foreign funds into equities.

The domestic currency had closed 11 paise higher at 44.43/44 in the previous session.

Forex dealers said the rupee strengthened against the US currency largely on increased capital inflows by foreign funds into equities and selling of dollar by banks, but gains were limited due to dollar's gains overseas.

Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex continued its winning-streak for the fifth straight session and shot up by another 132.28 points, or 0.74 per cent, at 17,826.48 points in the opening trade today.