Sugarsync - Dropbox alternative

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If you are looking for >2GB space given by Dropbox, you've plenty of choices. Google Drive (5GB), SkyDrie (5GB) but I bumped to this service called Sugarsync and the best part of it is the device compatibility. The experience is awesome and right now they have a deal where you forward the invitation to 20 people and you get 2GB absolutely free. Yes, that's right. You'll get it even if your freinds didn't subscribe to sugarsync.

If you need more you can upgrade to 30GB or other options and the prices are much more reasonable too. Give it a try and

Just click here.

SingTel m-Commerce or mCash

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Source: SingTel Website
So there is one more option for people to remit money out of Singapore and this is from SingTel.

It is expected to be launched in a few days time and the first place will be Philippines or Globe GCash. This is a good 'try' to expand in to new business areas. However I am not sure whether this is another 'try' which is going to be short lived.

The market is there and Philippines getting 21 Billion dollars (US) in remittances. In Singapore, I don't have the stats but some what old document shows the estimates to SEA from Singapore are around 4-5 Billion Dollars (Source) in 2005. I'm sure this figure is easily doubled and if I take 10 Billion now and 50% of it going to Philippines it'll be ~ 5 Billion.

Other way is by looking at total number x average remittance. Which is ~100,000 (80,000 FDW + 25,000 other permits) and in an average if they are sending $ 250 / month that would be close to $ 3 Billion / Year.

Question is what % SingTel or other telco's can get from this amount. If it's even 3% that's going to be wonderful for SingTel.

Based on my observation, typical remittances are depending on "other party" or "recipient" rather then the "sender" convenience. If the recipient prefers to use GCash or Gcash channel this might be a success. If the other party prefers to go for normal channel, then this is going to be few weeks/months publicity.

So Globe customer base is approx 30 million and market share is ~ 30-35% in Philippines. Also in rural areas (where I guess the recipients are located) their presence is not as strong as PLDT. So this could be a negative point for them.

Overall if Globe can execute this well, this will bring some additional cash to SingTel bottom line. If Globe fails, this will fail.

Singapore - myth of 'cheap' foreign workforce

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Ok.This is very sensitive topic and I do not want to give any wrong impression. This is my 2c based on my experiences and observations.

I always took the position that companies are hiring foreigners not because they are cheap but they are more flexible. In the end the flexibility doesn't have to result in lower cost. I just saw an article from Jobstreet which is kind of supporting my observations. Just to mention "66 per cent of locals considered the low cost of labour the reason for hiring non-Singaporeans, only 16 per cent of employers cited this as the reason."

The problem is not the 'cost' but it is about the quality and even at times exposure. I've worked with many people from almost all the different categories of folks (i.e. Singaporeans, Almost Singaporeans, new Singaporeans, PR, EP ..) and I can see why $$$ is not the issue. Majority of knowledge workers are certainly making higher than their local counterparts (ofcourse including CPF) but still companies are going for them. Why ?

May be I can try to share my views based on a specific industry. This case my fav Mobile Industry. Mobile industry spans across all kind of trades from Radio to Sales/Front Office. So will try to share my views in detail here.

Experience / Exposure:

Being a tiny country we do not have the opportunity to experience many 'new' stuff and 'legacy' stuff.  For example Microwave is a pretty common backhaul in Asia/rest of the world. But we do not have any idea and if we need to even test the microwave we need to get people from outside.
Another classic case was with prepaid explosion. Few years back no-body used to use Pre-paid. Suddenly due to the foreign worker growth there is a new market for pre-paid and our telco's has no idea how to handle. They needed expert knowledge from outside. So this is considered a legacy but still we haven't had the experience.

For the "new" stuff. Lets take an example of "Green telecom". If we're to try solar base station we do not have any experience. Again we've to look at Indonesia or India.

Regional / Out of Singapore roles:

When SingTel wants to hire a person who need to manage their regional assets (SingTel owns 100% Optus-Australia; strategic stakes in Bharti-India, Telkomsel-Indonesia; AIS-Thailand; Globe-Philippines & couple more in Pakistan, Bangladesh), who would SingTel hire? A person with 3G/LTE/IP knowledge in Singapore market or a person with 2G/3G/IP/TDM knowledge from overseas?

Be it the local regulatory stuff or technologies or for that matter the mechanism of day to day work. We do not really have the skill set. Similarly, if the job requires to spend significant time in western europe or USA (For international sales or consultancy), again no choice but to get a person with real experience from those countries.

Generalist:

This is another area we need to improve. Now the world is changing pretty fast and with automation the jobs are getting simplified (and eliminated at the same time too).However we are still focusing too much on 'specialization' and going to narrow. Imagine if the same job can be done (with google help) by an engineer from vietnam/myanmar why would the employer (profit oriented) would like to pay higher pay to a local engineer?
So we need to differentiate ourselves and this is not a bad thing in my opinion. Government can help with policy/regulatory stuff to have specific % of local people but end of the day 'free markets' are driven by profits.

In a nutshell, 

Asia's 50 best companies to work for. Huawei is only company in top-20

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Source: Universum

Have a look and you'd be quite surprised at the results. No facebook or Yahoo in the list. From Singapore again there is none.

What surprises me is the position of Huawei in the list. I was under the impression that the work life in Huawei is not that great based on my friends feedback. Either my friends expectations are quite high or there is a different picture of Huawei outside of Singapore. In any case Huawei got three notches above Cisco which is one of its competitors. The traditional telecom competitors like Ericsson were ten notches below @ 27.

Interesting survey I'd say.

DealExtreme - Cheap electronic/accessories online and FREE postage to anywhere

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Most of the guys in Singapore(or region) knows DX or DealExtreme. This is a online webstore similar to Amazon but the best part is the delivery is free of charge worldwide. I guess that's their USP . Though there are some complaints I am quite happy with their goods and service so far. If I feedback on a faulty item, the replacement is almost immediate without any questions asked.

You can see a conversation between me & DX recently on a DOA item. I was curious to see how the solar charger works on an iPhone so I placed an order and the item came as DOA. I can see it get's charged for a couple of min (red light on) but it just goes off immed. Connecting to iPhone doesn't work too. So within couple of days the DX service exec clarified with me and offered a replacement..Great job.

Order #:	120903001096xxxxxxx27
Request Type:	DOA (Dead on Arrival) Item
Status:	Closed
Ticket number:	51635xxxxxxxxxxxxD85B8570FAAD3A0798E
Date Received:	9/26/2012 2:39:24 PM (UTC)
Notification E-mail:	xxxxxt*****.*** (masked for privacy)
Defective SKU :	94466
Description:	Hi, This piece doesn't even get charged. There are three small lights at the bottom which supposed to show some activity. I've connected the USB cable to direct power source, laptop power source, and even put it under direct sunlight for 2 hours to see any change or indication. It seems the battery itself is dead.I can't

Solution:

Dear customer， Have a nice day. Thanks for your support with DX. A free replacement 94466 has been processed for you, and we rushed your order, so the items will be shipped immediately. You will receive a notification email once we get it shipped. And it would be much appreciated if you could kindly give a mark for my service. Once we shipped the parcel, you can track the replacement using your existing order number120927-xxxx-xxxx .

Crisil - Best Stock to buy for Long Term Investment

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Crisil - why is this one of the best stocks ?

Crisil - or Credit Rating and Information Services India Limited - assigns ratings to various financial instruments like bonds, debt and even mutual funds. Credit Rating Agencies like CRISIL are important for market efficiency because investors rely on their ratings for risk assessment. For e.g. if you want to buy bonds of a company or say even invest in a mutual fund, it would be very difficult for individual investors to conduct individual study. Crisil is a market leader in India with 60% market share in domestic bond market and 53% market share in bank loan market segment.

Growth prospects and financial info

Crisil is currently trading at a P/E of 25 as I write this post. To check the latest P/E go to moneycontrol.com or BSE PLUS. Crisil sales have been growing at an alarming rate of about 80% in the past five years. Although this amount of growth may not be sustainable in the long term, as more and more companies want to raise capital through bond market, I expect CRISIL to grow at 30% or more. Crisil is a debt free company with operating profit margin of about 50%.



disclosure: I own this stock.

Recent Posts related to the theme "Best Stocks to Buy Now" (2010) Suzlon Energy - Best Wind Energy Stock for 3-5 yr investment. Crisil - Best Stock for Long term Investment Titan Industries - Best Consumer Durables Stock for long term Investment Apollo Hospitals - Good Stock to buy for Long term investment. Godrej Consumer Products - Best FMCG stock to Invest Now Stocks which were "Best Stocks to Invest" for year 2009, but now, the analysis may or may not apply, as prospects for the current year have changed. Best Stocks to buy in 2009. Glaxo - Best Pharma Stock Cipla - Good Pharma Stock Tata Tea- Best FMCG Stock Hero Honda - Best Auto Stock for 2009. Hindustan Unilever - Safe FMCG stock Posts on Investment Basics Understanding the P/E Ratio Return on Equity (ROE), ROCE and Shareholder's Equity Consolidated results vs. Standalone Results. Topline Growth vs Bottomline Growth

How to invest in stock market? - Short Listing stocks

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Stock Market movements and emotions

A typical week for an early investor -

You are new to stock market. The stock market index has recently gained over 10% in the past one month. Being excited about the movement you have a look at top gainers in the past week. You pick one or two stocks and then justify why these stocks are one of the best available, and also why the price is reasonable. You buy them, wait for a day or two. Unfortunately the stock market retreats and you lose over 10% of your invested value. You then start doubting your stock picks and mange to find a flaw. You decide to rearrange your portfolio and sell a portion of it and buy some of the other stocks which have been relatively stable during the recent market fall. But alas, in the coming week, the stock market rebounds and you realize that had you kept your earlier stocks, you could have done better... frustrated, you start searching the internet for investing strategies..

Does this sound familiar? This is what typically happens to new investors in stock market who do not have a fixed investment strategy.

Have a fixed criterion to short list stocks

It is important to have a fixed idea of what is the minimum you expect from a company whose stock you may consider for buying. As an example, I will give the following criterion which I try to follow.

1. The company must be fully functional and shown a positive net profit for at least 5 years.
2. The average topline growth of the company must be at least 15% in the past 5 years.
3. Minimum Operating Profit margin of 10% and ROCE (return on capital employed) of 12%.
4. The current stock price must not be more than 80% of the 52 week high price. (this is to avoid past experiences where I have invested right when the price was at its maximum, and had to pull out when the price plummeted).
   

It is also good to follow other rules of diversification (not putting most of your money in your top favorite stock), always keeping some cash ready to buy more if the price drops further etc. These other strategies will be discussed in later posts.

Apollo Hospitals - Why should stock split result in price jump?

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Announcements

Apollo Hosp - Board to consider Stock Split | 27/05/10 09:50
With reference to the earlier announcement regarding Board Meeting on May 28, 2010, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd has now informed BSE that in the agenda of the Board Meeting scheduled to be held on May 28, 2010, to consider and approve sub-division (Split) of equity shares of the Company and other matters connected therewith.

Apollo hospitals is up 10% today. The only relevant news I found was the above coroporate announcement on BSE.
The company as such does not undergo any change. Why should the price jump 10%? Or am I missing something?

- update - it turns out I was missing something. I checked the price on finance.google.com. THere is some bug there where it is showing a jump of 10% where as the price has jumped only 3.8%.

Understanding ROE, ROCE and Shareholder's Equity

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Return on Equity (Return on Net worth)

Return on Equity (ROE), also called as Return on Net Worth, is one of the key financial ratios which indicates how well the management has been efficient in managing the company's assets. In my early days in the investing world, this is the ratio which confused me the most. Return on Equity is defined by the following formula


What is confusing in the above formula for beginners is the meaning of 'Shareholder's equity'. Shareholder's equity should not be confused with 'total value of all the equities, i.e. shares'. The later is called market capitalization of the company. Shareholder's equity is defined by

Shareholder's equity = Total Assets - Total Liability

In other words, Shareholder's equity is nothing but the amount of money that the company would be worth if it were to go bankrupt at this very moment. This is also called as book value.

How to calculate ROE?

In order to calculate ROE, Return on Equity, lookup any financial portal or the company's annual report for the following

1. EPS - the earning per share of the company.
2. Book Value - The book value of the company per share (i.e. shareholder's equity divided by the number of shares).

Then to calculate ROE you simply divide EPS by Book Value. ROE is typically expressed as a percentage (i.e. multiply by 100 and put a "%" sign).

Example of Return on Equity : Let us say a company earns Rs. 100 per share and the book value of the company is Rs. 300. Then the Return on equity is 33.3%.

Typical values of Return on Equity and what it means

As a general rule of thumb, you should be careful while investing in any company whose ROE is less than 10%. I personally prefer stocks which give a return on equity of at least 20% or more. Obviously return on equity is a direct measure of how well the company is generating cash with the amount of 'shareholder's money' it has. There is one more thing which ROE tells you and which most financial websites don't mention. ROE also tells you how easy it is for the company to profitably expand its business. For example, let us take a situation where the company does not have any debt. Then an ROE of 25% means that the company is producing Rs. 25 for every Rs. 100 of assets it has. Thus if the company were to expand its business, then for every Rs. 100 spent on expansion, it would earn Rs. 25, which is greater than the usual interest rates. If ROE is roughly the same as the bank interest rates, then it means that even if the company expands, it will take a long time for it to make its investments in expansion profitable.

Variations: Return on Average Equity

The Book Value of a company can significantly change during a given year. In these circumstances, one can calculate the average book value (average of the book value in the beginning of the year and at the end of the year) and use it to calculate ROE.

What ROE does not tell you

ROE, like any other financial ratio is very far from being perfect. For example, ROE does not tell you anything about the debt of the company. As explained before it does say something about the potential of the company to expand its business, but does not actually tell you anything about the possible or expected growth of the company. Nevertheless, ROE is a very basic ratio, and used in addition with few other indicators like topline growth and financial ratios like P/E, Debt/Equity and profit margins can give a reasonable good and quick overview of the company.

ROE versus ROCE

A related ratio to Return on Equity is Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) or also called by the name of Return on Capital Invested (ROCI). ROCE is defined to be

ROCE = Operating Profit / Capital Employed.

Operating Profit means profit before tax, depreciation, interest and exceptional items. While Capital Employed is the cash (& assets) that was actually used to do the business in that year. The formula for calculating Capital Employed is

Capital Employed = Total Assets - Current Liabilities

Note that Current Liabilities are those liabilities which the company has to meet immediately (in the coming year). ROCE can sometimes give a slightly accurate picture than ROE, but I have found that overall if you look at the values of ROE for the past 5 years, you get roughly the same picture of the company as you would get by looking at values of ROCE. Moreover, ROE is easier to calculate.

Related Posts on Financial concepts and Investment Basics Understanding the P/E Ratio Return on Equity (ROE), ROCE and Shareholder's Equity Consolidated results vs. Standalone Results. Topline Growth vs Bottomline Growth

What makes 'bad' so hard?

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I enjoyed this quote from the movie 'As Good As It Gets':

Carol(Helen Hunt) - OK, we all have these terrible stories to get over, and you-...

Melvin(Jack Nicholson)- It's not true. Some have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good.

Jack Nicholson was so damn funny in this :)


The take away from this (for me atleast) was that- what others get in life should not be a yardstick to measure what you get.. Lets appreciate that each of us is unique and lets bring out the best that we are capable of!

My website launched!

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I've been sitting on my laptop for 2 days now, neck-deep busy in designing my personal website and the way it is coming out is so exciting. I had bought this domain way back in January 2008. The hassle of setting up hosting, mail, blog etc with different service providers put me off. I wasn't willing to shell out huge bucks to host my site. After all, it is just a simple personal forum.
Couple of days back i bumped across the Google-App service. Man its awesome! It seems this service was launched in April 2008. Lucky Me! This service combines everything into a single package. And the best part if -- its FREE!
The sudden heavy downpour of rain in Chennai, resulting in my staying indoors for 2 days has been most fruitful to this purpose. Sometimes when you sit back and look at the events weaving around you, you'll get a feeling of a preset scheme.. At least I do.

I do realize that I won't be getting any huge number of visitors for this site. Still.. I love owning my OWN corner of the internet. If not anything else... Its a real good SHOW OFF!

What makes 'bad' so hard?

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I enjoyed this quote from the movie 'As Good As It Gets':

Carol(Helen Hunt) - OK, we all have these terrible stories to get over, and you-...

Melvin(Jack Nicholson)- It's not true. Some have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good.

Jack Nicholson was so damn funny in this :)


The take away from this (for me atleast) was that- what others get in life should not be a yardstick to measure what you get.. Lets appreciate that each of us is unique and lets bring out the best that we are capable of!

NO IDLIS please !

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Some people just loooove idlis. Idli-addicts - I'd call them. A mere fleeting sight of its royal presence in the company of its loyal compatriots -sambar and cocunut chutney, makes them drool all over the plate.

Some other people are idly-pacifists. They aren't that ardent lovers of idlis. But nevertheless, wouldn't mind if Mr.Idli paid a visit to their tummy once a while.

And then.. there are those who hate idlies. I repeat - HATE idlis. Got it ? Good. And yes, incase you haven't guessed it already - I fit this bill.

Now, imagine an idly-hater (Yup! Even our lot has got a name!) opening his(Or 'her' for that matter!) snack-pack for breakfast.. And..Wham! He gets hit by the ever-so-innocent gaze, of a bunch of no-gooder idli's, staring right back at him !

Get the picture? Yes, it was me! (Boy! Aren't you brilliant!)

It must be said at this point that an idli-hater's biggest traitor has to be none other than his loving health-conscious mom. (And boy aren't they pro's at tricking ya!) No matter how many times you try to get your 'NO - IDLIS' point across to them , you'll never get across their mind's Pro-Health Firewall!

Sigh... Anyways, so here I am, breaking my head and trying to figure out how to make those idlis go down my oesophagus(Er.. thats what the call your food pipe).

Anybody game to trade snack-packs ?

Wrong room!

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Squueeeeeek!

I wonder if there exists a physics law (with a fancy name ofcourse), that explains the unnatural spike in the acoustic ability of a door-hinge, in the event of your entering a wrong room! While the hinges tend to be mild on occasions that your entering the right room, they do nevertheless hit an insanely high note when you have goofed up. So there I was, standing dumb, facing a room full of we-are-all-so-important people staring right at me.

Those TEN Minutes!

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[A fictional story written by me]

Ten minutes ain't supposed to last any longer than ten minutes.. Unless ofcourse, your seated by the window side with a honey bee on the pane. The pane is shut. And yes - the bee is very much on your side of the pane!

This morning, my rendezvous with Mr.Bee lasted that very ten looooooooong 10 minutes!

Lets begin with the beginning..

When you happen to board the office bus in the wee hours of the morning with a long journey (and I'm using the word L-O-N-G here) ahead of you, you'd have a natural inclination to plop in on the first empty seat and plug yourself back to dreamland. Unless ofcourse, you crashed a production build the previous night and your manager has nice pair of biceps (yes. we all have our share of black eyes!).

So there I was - slouching on the front-row single seater and snoring away when all of a sudden..

Buzzzzzzzzz.. Buzzz.. Buzzzzz

Ugggh.. Now what ? I slowly opened a single eyelid and caught a glimpse of this vague black-and-orange blot, buzzing about on the window pane. Couple of seconds later, when my vision cleared, I finally saw it(need i say it ?) - a bee!!

Yikes! I dropped my jaw.

They say, in the face of an eminent threat the third natural reaction is to shield yourself (the first being - denial of believing the threat's inevitability; and second being - dropping your jaw in shock and acceptance). So, I jerked myself up against the seat and pulled up my bag against my chest (as if it's cover would do me any good).

Right. Now that the defences are all set, I started evaluating the alternatives out of this predicament...

Me-I could open the window and let it find its way out.
Myself-Yeah right! At the speed with which the bus is zooming ahead, opening the window would blow the bee smack on my face.
Me- Ooops.. ok how about I smash it to pulp with my bag?!
Myself- Hmmm.. good idea. But then, it has an inherent risk- you got just 'one' shot. You miss, and you got a pissed off bee thats hell-bent on just one thing...
Me- Yeow.. no way! We'll keep that as the last option.
Myself-How much time to reach the office?
Me-Ten minutes..
Myself-Ok. The way I see it you got two options.One, you jump to your feet and get way away from the sting.. er.. bee, as far as you can.
Me-Huh.. you crazy? I'd draw attention. Wouldn't wan't to be called a scaredy-cat! No way! (When it comes to bugs and bees, we guys have big fat ego of putting up a braver front)
Myself- Ahem.. righ then. That brings me to your second option. Sit tight and don't take your eyes off it. And yes, While your at it...do pray!

Tic toc.. tic toc.. tic toc..

My eyes are glued on to the bee for a while now. Too busy to even check the time. I watch it buzzing about, banging against the pane every now and then, as if hoping to break it open with its fury. (Sigh!.. Of all the bees in the world I had to get this wild one..)

And then it happened..

The worst part of a hitting a speed breaker is the potential of being air-borne! I still recollect that fraction of a second when I was in mid-air grabing on to my hand-rest with one hand, the bag with other and clenching my teeth in fear as I watched the bee swing to my side (I fancy picturing it in matrix style, three dimensional slow motion). It did a 360 maneuver in mid air , half an inch from my nose.. before it swung back to the pane..

Phew! That was close.. I gulped in fear and pulled myself back up to position.

Wiping the sweat beads of my forhead, swearing the driver silently by the side of mouth I went back to my business of wait-and-watch.

[20 minutes later]

As I sipped my cup of coffee at my desk I smile and ponder- how effective a theistic influence, fear can have.. i pause the thought..

i take a deep breath.. place the cup down.. and take time to..

rub the 'bump' on my left cheek.. before completing the thought- ..and how futile 'opportunistic-theism' can tend to be!

The devil stung me on the eleventh minute :(

Why Is Sesa Goa price falling? - 2 quick reasons

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Sesa Goa

Sesa goa was supposed to be an outperformer by many analysts. However past 3 months have seen over 35% erosion of the stock price of Sesa Goa. Sesa Goa's main business consists of mining and exporting iron ore. However apart from iron ore the company is also into production of metallurgical coke.

First main reason for Sesa Goa fall -Falling iron ore prices

Iron ore prices have fallen significantly from their peak prices in the last year. This is one of the main reason for the price drop in Sesa Goa. Read more about How Iron ore prices work.

Second main reason for Sesa Goa Fall - China regulations

China is one of the largest importers of iron ore. Recently, the Chinese Government has banned import of low quality iron ore (one which contains less than 60% of iron). This has direct adverse consequences for Sesa Goa.

Will Sesa Goa stock see some action ?

There can be various speculations and theories regarding this. My personal opinion is that the stock will see some action ( by which I mean about 20%-25% rise once iron ore prices rise. However the following comment from livemint is worth noting about valuations on Sesa goa.

At first, Sesa’s projection of a 20-25% increase in deliveries in fiscal 2011 may seem weak compared with the previous year’s 36% growth. But this higher growth has been mainly achieved due to the contribution of iron ore from its Dempo acquisition. Adjusted for that, sales growth was 12% and 11% in the full year and March quarter, respectively. Dempo’s figures reflect in Sesa’s results from June 2009. The base effect will fade after the June quarter.

Godrej Consumer Products (GPCL) - best FMCG stock

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Godrej Consumer products - best FMCG stock

Godrej consumer products is a leading FMCG company based in India which manufactures soaps, personal and hair care items, and other home care products like insecticide, hand sanitizers, etc. Some of the popular brands of Godrej include Cinthol (soap), Renew (Hair Color), Colour Soft (Hair Color), Hit (insecticide), Goodknight (mosquito repellent - insecticide), Brylcream (hair styling gel), etc.

Godrej 3x3 strategy and recent acquisitions

Godrej Consumer products has been talking about its 3 x 3 strategy - a strategy to spread to 3 continents (Asia, Africa, South America) in 3 areas of Home Care, Personal Care and Hair care. Godrej has been aggressive in its expansion plans to the above mentioned continents (frequently referred to as the emerging markets) and its recent five acquisitions include

• Acquisition of the Issue group (hair color) in Latin America.
• Acquisition of Tura Brand in Nigeria.
• Acquisition of Megasari group in Indonesia.
• Acquisition of the remaining 51% stake in Godrej Sara Lee (a joint venture)
• Acquisition of Argencos (hair styling cream) in Latin America.

Godrej Consumer products - stock price and financials

Godrej consumer products stock is currently (as I write this post) selling at a price of about Rs. 343 which is at about 40 P/E. 40 P/E is very high. It looks likely that godrej will grow at about 20-25% in the coming years, which vaguely speaking justifies a P/E of about 20-30. However, despite the high P/E, the stock seems to be cheap, especially because of its current acquisitions. According to a press release by Godrej, it expects to see revenues of Rs. 4000 crore in the coming financial year as a result of the coming acquisitions. This is more than 3 times its current revenues. This together with the anticipated growth of 20% in the coming years points out about 50% possible upside in this stock. The debt arising from the above acquisitions is not likely to decrease the valuations so much because of a healthy ROCE (of about 30%). Especially because of the acquisition and the current valuations, this stock is likely to provide over 30% returns per annum for the next two years.

Competition with HUL

Hindustan Unilever remains a market leader in several segments (like soap) in India. However HUL seems to be slowly loosing its market share to Godrej, which has slightly less expensive prodcuts. Moreover profit margins of Godrej are significantly higher than those of HUL. This is what makes GodrejCP one of the best FMCG stocks available right now in Indian stock market.

Recent Posts related to the theme "Best Stocks to Buy Now" (2010) Suzlon Energy - Best Wind Energy Stock for 3-5 yr investment. Crisil - Best Stock for Long term Investment Titan Industries - Best Consumer Durables Stock for long term Investment Apollo Hospitals - Good Stock to buy for Long term investment. Godrej Consumer Products - Best FMCG stock to Invest Now Stocks which were "Best Stocks to Invest" for year 2009, but now, the analysis may or may not apply, as prospects for the current year have changed. Best Stocks to buy in 2009. Glaxo - Best Pharma Stock Cipla - Good Pharma Stock Tata Tea- Best FMCG Stock Hero Honda - Best Auto Stock for 2009. Hindustan Unilever - Safe FMCG stock Posts on Investment Basics Understanding the P/E Ratio Return on Equity (ROE), ROCE and Shareholder's Equity Consolidated results vs. Standalone Results. Topline Growth vs Bottomline Growth

How to buy stocks in USA, China or overseas from India?

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Indian Investors looking to invest in stock markets abroad

Have you been looking for investing opportunities beyond the Indian Stock markets (NSE, BSE)? For e.g. investing in Oil ETFs, or other mutual funds exclusively available in select developed countries like United States or Europe, UK, etc? Or thinking of buying stocks in China? Read on.. the answer to these questions is much simpler than what one would have imagined.

RBI allows $25000 foreign investment per annum

RBI has several restrictions on buying and selling rupee. For example, you are still not allowed to trade forex in india, unless it is for hedging purpose. However, fortunately, RBI has allowed every indian to invest up to $25000 overseas. This means you can use this much money to either buy real estate, stocks, mutual funds, or simply put that money in a savings account in USA, China or any other country (this last option does not make economical sense, because interest rates in India are higher). Thus trading in stocks in world markets either in USA, Japan, China, Europe, or any other country is now extremely Easy. All you do is start by registering with an online broker who allows you to trade in world markets of your choice.

Registering with an Online broker

An example of such an online broker is Interactive Brokers. This is just one example. There are several other online brokers which allow you to trade in world wide markets from India. Even ICICI Direct allows you to invest in stocks in USA or other countries. Google a little or keep your eye on advertisements. Good brokers usually advertise aggressively highlighting their plus points. The following things need to be kept in mind.

1. Trading in world markets may require a larger appetite. For example when you open an account with Interactive brokers, you have to start with $5000 for investing in world markets like NYSE.
2. There is a verification procedure when you open your account where you may have to submit/post some documents. The overall approval procedure may take a couple of days or more.
3. The money you invest in foreign stocks is kept in dollars (or other currency). Thus apart from stock market fluctuations you are also exposed to the risk of currency fluctuations.