19 August, 2013

Facebook secures $6.5 bn revolving credit from JPMorgan

Social networking giant Facebook has tied up with JPMorgan Chase Bank for a revolving credit facility worth up to $6.5 billion, which will be utilised towards capital expenditure and general corporate purposes.

In a revolving credit facility, the bank guarantees an amount that can be lend to consumer or corporates. The borrower is required to pay a commitment fee besides incurring some other expenses related to the facility.

Diageo's Indian-origin CEO Ivan Menezes to get up to Rs. 105-cr pay package

The world's largest spirits maker Diageo Plc has proposed an annual pay package of up to 10.9 million British pound (about Rs. 105 crore) for its newly appointed, Indian-origin CEO Ivan Menezes.

Menezes, who has been with UK-headquartered Diageo for about 13 years, was paid total remuneration of 7.8 million pounds (Rs 75 crore) in the last financial year ended June 30, 2013 when he served as Chief Operating Officer.

Upon his promotion as CEO with effect from July 1, he has been given an 8.6% hike in base salary to one million pounds (about Rs. 9.6 crore) and would be entitled to further benefits totalling up to 9.9 million pounds (Rs 95 crore) a year, Diageo said in its latest annual regulatory filing.

Mahindra & Mahindra Q1 net up 13%

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd on Tuesday reported a 13.5% year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs. 1,164.6 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, from Rs. 1,026.4 crore on the year-ago period, riding on good performance of its farm equipment segment and cost control measures.

The company’s consolidated income increased to Rs. 19,356.03 crore from Rs. 17,670.81 crore during the same period last year.

The company’s revenue from its automotive segment stood at Rs. 5,860.98 crore as against Rs. 5,822.52 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The farm segment registered revenue of Rs. 3,899.52 crore as against Rs. 3,078.29 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

“The good growth in the rofits of the entity in the quarter is due to a very good volume performance by the farm equipment sector and tight control on expenses,” the company said in a statement.

Tractor sales in the domestic market stood at 71,696 units, up 26.1%, against 56,861 units for the same period last fiscal.

Indian economy destroyed by mindless consumption

In his Independence Day address, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the rupee is down because of the global economic crisis. A look at the events of the last decade reveals otherwise. When the global economy was doing well between 2002 and 2008, the rupee was stable at about Rs. 45 to a dollar. When the global crisis erupted in 2008 and continued until 2012, the rupee held stable at Rs. 45.
It started to decline only in 2012 just as the global economy was beginning to look up. The United States is now on the growth path and Europe too has emerged from the recession. The rupee is falling while the global economy is looking up; not when it is engulfed in crisis. Clearly, the reasons for the decline of the rupee lie elsewhere.

World's fastest man Bolt does it time and again, wins 'golden triple'

Usain Bolt equalled the record for the number of world golds won when he anchored the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to victory at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday. It was the Jamaican's eighth world gold medal after winning the 100 and 200m at the Berlin worlds in 2009, the 200m in Daegu in 2011, the 100 and 200m in Moscow this week, as well as golds as part of the winning Jamaican 4x100m relay squads in both 2009, 2011 and now 2013.

Third consecutive pole for Narain in Auto GP

Indian racer Narain Karthikeyan clinched his third consecutive pole position as his side, Super Nova International, locked the front row for the Nurburgring race in the Auto GP World Series, in Nurburgring, Germany.

Narain secured pole position with a lap time of 1:18.330, while his Italian teammate Vittorio Ghirelli was two-tenths behind at the Nurburgring Circuit.