Vodafone rises on report of AT&T takeover interest

LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in Vodafone Group rose on Friday after a media report that U.S. mobile operator AT&T was exploring strategies for a potential takeover of the British telecoms firm.

AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson has said there is a "huge opportunity" to invest in mobile broadband in Europe and he would buy wireless assets if they were available at the right price.

AT&T is the second-largest mobile provider in the United States after Verizon Wireless. But it is not adding new customers in its home market as fast as Verizon, and it is also ceding market share to much smaller rival T-Mobile US .

Vodafone sold its stake in Verizon Wireless to its joint venture partner Verizon Communications Inc for $130 billion in September, leaving it with a pan-European business spanning Britain to Romania and operations in the Middle East and Africa.

AT&T has been eyeing Europe since the beginning of the year and has considered options including Vodafone and Britain's largest mobile carrier EE, a joint venture of Orange and Deutsche Telekom , sector bankers have previously told Reuters.

A Bloomberg report on Thursday, citing people familiar with the situation, said AT&T was examining how it could divide Vodafone up after a deal, keeping some assets and disposing of others. The companies have not entered formal negotiations, the report said.

Shares in Vodafone were up 2.9 percent to 231 pence at 1104 GMT, the biggest gainers on the FTSE 100 <.ftse> index of blue-chip stocks.

Espirito Santo analyst Robert Grindle said it was logical for AT&T to consider its options regarding Vodafone, following its U.S. exit.

"What we don't have full clarity on is how ambitious AT&T is," he said. "(The report) is short on substance but long on plausibility."

Vodafone and AT&T declined to comment.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle and Sarah Young; Editing by Erica Billingham)

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Wall St rises, buoyed by results, manufacturing data

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday, rebounding following two days of losses as solar companies jumped on results and strong data on manufacturing.

Equities have been pressured since Wednesday, when a Federal Reserve statement raised concerns about when the central bank would begin to scale back its stimulus program, which has contributed to the S&P 500's advance of 23 percent this year. Some investors interpreted comments in the statement as suggesting the Fed would begin tapering stimulus earlier than expected.

The rally has taken the Dow and S&P repeatedly to record highs, leading some analysts to call for a pullback, especially in the wake of some signs of slowing growth, like weak economic data and an earnings season marked by tepid revenue.

"I'm not comfortable with the market at all-time highs, especially with earnings being mediocre, but the manufacturing report was better than expected, and where else can you go with the Fed putting so much liquidity into the system?" said Mark Grant, managing director at Southwest Securities in Fort Lauderdale.

The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in 2-1/2 years last month, a rate that was stronger than expected, according to the Institute for Supply Management's survey, which followed the similarly strong Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index on Thursday.

Chevron Corp was the latest company to disappoint on results as its third-quarter revenue came in below expectations. That sent shares of the Dow component down 2 percent to $117.55.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 81.91 points, or 0.53 percent, at 15,627.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.79 points, or 0.39 percent, at 1,763.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 11.75 points, or 0.30 percent, at 3,931.46.

For the week thus far, the Dow is up 0.4 percent, the S&P is up 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq is down 0.2 percent. Both the Dow and S&P are on track for their fourth straight week of gains.

American International Group Inc fell 6.3 percent to $48.41 as the S&P's biggest decliner a day after reporting third-quarter earnings that slightly beat expectations, though analysts had expected better results in the insurer's consumer lines business.

First Solar Inc soared 13 percent to $56.76 after its results beat expectations and the company raised its full-year profit outlook. Among its peers, Yingli Green Energy climbed 5.3 percent to $6.32 and Canadian Solar was up 7.2 percent to $24.62.

With about 71 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported, 68.2 percent have topped Wall Street's expectations, above the long-term average of 63 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. However, only 53.6 percent have topped revenue forecasts, below the 61 percent average since 2002.

In company news, Ford Motor Co shares rose 0.6 percent to $17.21 after the company reported October sales growth of 14 percent.

Container Store Group Inc shares jumped 93 percent to $34.63 in their trading debut after the company priced its initial public offering at the top end of an increased price range.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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Sensex rises above 21,000 for first time since Nov 2010

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rose above the 21,000 level for the first time in nearly 3 years, led by gains in banking and reality stocks ahead of the central bank's policy review next week while robust foreign investment flows aided.

Foreign funds have bought $1.7 billion in Indian equities so far this month, taking their total purchases for the year to $15.35 billion.

The BSE Sensex rose over 1 percent to 21,002.50, marking it highest intraday level since November 2010, while the broader Nifty gained more than 1 percent to 6,243.90.

(Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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Hero MotoCorp Q2 net profit rises 9 percent

New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS) Two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp Wednesday reported a 9.07 percent increase in its second quarter net profit which stood at Rs.481 crore from Rs.441 crore in the corresponding quarter of the 2012-13.

The company's turnover which includes proceeds from net sales and other operating income rose by 10.39 percent to Rs.5,726 crore from Rs.5,187 crore reported in the second quarter of last fiscal.

The firm's EBIDTA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margin stood at 14.5 percent. Sales during the quarter under review stood at 1,416,276 units.

"With our performance in the second quarter, we have clearly demonstrated that we can have good margins even as we strengthen our market leadership," said Pawan Munjal, managing director and chief executive, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement.

"Rupee depreciation has pulled up the costs of essential commodities. Going forward, these higher input prices, combined with increasing labour costs, are likely to put a lot of pressure on margins in the industry."

The company said that it is hopeful of achieving healthy sales during the ongoing festive season.

"Sentiments are positive and there is a momentum for us in the market, and we are definitely looking at demonstrating our leadership by record dispatch and retail sales during the festive period," Munjal added.

Recently, the two-wheeler manufacturer unveiled 15 new models of its motorcycles and scooters which will be launched during the current fiscal.

The company is also trying to spur up its in-house technology development at its research and development (R&D) centre and has also tied up with three international companies for technology alliances.

Hero MotoCorp can use erstwhile partner Honda's technology inputs till 2014. Both the companies ended there 27-year-old joint venture two years ago.

The two-wheeler major which is currently on an international expansion drive after ending its JV with Honda, hopes to enter markets in Turkey and Egypt soon.

In the short-term, the company plans to launch its brand of products in 10 more international markets by the end of this year.

In the long term, the company envisions an annual production capacity of 12 million units per year manufactured in over 20 facilities across the globe.

The company also aims to have a turnover of Rs.60,000 crore per annum by 2020 from last fiscal's turnover of around Rs.25,000 crore.

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Hero MotoCorp Q2 profit rises 9 pct, beats estimates

By Aradhana Aravindan

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Hero MotoCorp Ltd , which posted its first profit gain in five quarters, aims to sell motorcycles in eight more overseas markets by March to ramp up its export earnings in response to an increasingly combative home market.

Hero, like rival Bajaj Auto Ltd , has been pushing sales abroad to make up for shrinking market share in India. It plans for exports to account for 10 percent of sales in the next four to five years.

"Now we are in 10 overseas markets, and we are getting into a rapid launch phase in the second half and we plan to add eight more markets in the next six months," Anil Dua, senior vice president of sales and marketing, told Reuters. "We expect (exports) to be flat in the second half. In the next year we expect them to really start growing."

India's largest maker of two-wheeled vehicles reported on Wednesday net profit of 4.81 billion rupees for the fiscal second quarter ended September 30. That compared with 4.41 billion rupees a year earlier, and the 4.63 billion rupees mean estimate of 14 analysts according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 11 percent to 57 billion rupees, matching analyst estimates. In volume terms, sales rose 6 percent from a year earlier, when the company reduced production to adjust its inventory.

The company attributed the gain primarily to a low comparison base and increased shipments ahead of the September-December festive season when many Indians consider it auspicious to buy big-ticket items such as vehicles.

"The sentiments are positive and there is a momentum for us in the market," CEO Pawan Munjal said in a statement, adding that rising input and labour costs could pressure margins in the auto industry.

OVERSEAS PRESENCE

Hero's overseas presence pales in comparison to Bajaj, India's biggest motorcycle exporter.

So far in the fiscal year started April, Hero's overseas two-wheeler sales were about one-tenth those of Bajaj, or 2 percent of total sales compared with 37 percent for Bajaj, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) shows.

Hero started selling vehicles in Kenya, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast in July. It has since launched operations in Peru.

The two-wheeler market comprises motorcycles and scooters which are often used in India as family vehicles. Hero's market share was 41.5 percent at September-end from 42.7 percent a year earlier, while Honda Motor Co Ltd's local unit had a 22.7 percent share, up from 19.0 percent, according to SIAM. Bajaj, which does not make scooters, accounts for 15.4 percent.

Last week, Bajaj reported profit which beat analyst estimates as a weaker rupee gave its export earnings a boost.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan in Mumbai; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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HDFC profit rises 10 percent to Rs.1,266 crore

Mumbai, Oct 21 (IANS) India's largest mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Monday said its net profit rose by 10 percent to Rs.1,266.33 crore in July-September quarter.

The company's total income rose to Rs.5,953.98 crore for the quarter ended Sep 30, as compared to Rs.5,277.2 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter of last year.

HDFC's income from main business of home loans to individuals and builders jumped by 13 percent. This was the main driver of the company's profitability and income.

HDFC share price Monday rose 0.23 percent to Rs.820.45 at the Bombay Stock Exchange.

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