BPL Comm CEO likely to pull himself back - Sify.com

BPL Comm CEO likely to pull himself back - Sify.com: "BPL Comm CEO likely to pull himself back


Tuesday, 14 June , 2005, 07:38

Bangalore: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Chairman and CEO of BPL Communications Ltd, which manages cellular operations across four circles in the country, is likely to pull himself back from the daily operational management of the mobile telephone business once it inducts a foreign partner during the current financial year."

"At least three foreign players with whom we are in talks have made it a condition that I stay back for them to invest in a joint venture. But I plan to step back a bit and let the operations be managed by a professional team," Chandrasekhar told Business Line.
"Management is not a big issue here (in the wake of stake sale to a partner). I have demonstrated it twice before in my career in telecom. In 1999-2000, I did step aside after assuming the role of Chairman, and later when BPL Mobile negotiated the failed merger with Batata (Birla-Tata-AT&T combine), I did not harp on a management role," he said.
The 41-year-old Chandrasekhar returned to head the operational management as CEO after a small hiatus in 2002 when his cellular business was bogged down by a host of problems, including a failed merger plan, a WLL imbroglio, a ruckus with the financial partners and the sullying of the BPL brand name as other family concerns started faltering.
"People said Rajeev will die, Rajeev is dying, and Rajeev is dead. We added over a million subscribers last year, and plan to add 1.5 million subscribers in the current year.
"The year 2004-05 was the best in our decade-long existence. Revenues grew by 40 per cent and EBITDA jumped 35 per cent," he added.
Chandrasekhar's Rs 1,012-crore telecom business functions through two operational companies - BPL Mobile Communications Ltd in Mumbai and BPL Mobile Cellular Ltd in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
He is in talks with a host of prospective partners, mostly foreign and a few Indian, for equity dilution to spur the future expansion of the cellular operations.
"We need to tie up with a partner in time for the next financial year when we have expansion plans either in the form of adding new businesses such as Wi-Fi or entering new geographies like Gujarat and Karnataka," he added.
It is learnt that Chandrasekhar, with a substantial stake holding in the flagship and the two operational companies, would prefer the potential partner to initially pick up 49 per cent equity, and going up to 74 per cent subsequently.
"Frankly, we have not yet really decided on the structuring of the deal," he said.
The interested foreign partners include Vodafone, DoCoMo and STT, while Essar Holdings is the domestic interest in the fray, even as AirTel and Hutchison had looked at the possibility of a 100 per cent buyout earlier, informed sources said.
However, Chandrasekhar needs to patch up a dispute with his father-in-law, T.P.G. Nambiar, the patriarch of BPL group, over equity holding before he firms up with the partner, though it may not come in the way of a deal straightaway.
"I will not make statements on the family dispute, as there are other people involved in it," he said.
The sources said the telecom business would jettison the BPL brand once it brings in a foreign partner, as it would like to free itself from certain constraints and help its future expansion."

Air NZ starts global search for new CEO - Breaking News - Business - Breaking News

Air NZ starts global search for new CEO - Breaking News - Business - Breaking News: "Air NZ starts global search for new CEO
June 14, 2005 - 12:59PM

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Air New Zealand Ltd began a global search for a new chief executive following the decision by Ralph Norris to resign and return to Australia.
Air NZ chairman John Palmer said the airline was well positioned and that the new CEO would take the airline forward in a tough and highly competitive market.
'Now is an appropriate time for the company to be seeking a new CEO to drive the business in what continues to be a very challenging and highly competitive environment,' Mr Palmer said.
As the search for the new CEO begins, analysts said Air New Zealand's headhunters would find it easier to attract overseas executives because the company faces less risk than it did three years ago.
'It's a global search but internal candidates will have the opportunity to take part,' an airline spokesman said.
One potential candidate is former Air New Zealand executive Ray Webster who last month announced he would stand down as chief executive of UK low cost carrier EasyJet after 10 years."

Mr Webster, who helped lead EasyJet through a period of intense growth, plans to remains on the board until his successor is appointed, which is expected before November 2006.
Outgoing British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington, who was given a knighthood by the Queen last weekend, has been all but ruled out because of his statement earlier this year that he did not plan to again lead an Australian airline.
Inside Air New Zealand, potential candidates include chief financial officer Rob McDonald, group general manager airlines Rob Fyfe, group general manager ventures Craig Sinclair and group general manager sales and marketing Norm Thomson.
Mr Sinclair and Mr Fyfe are seen as weak candidates given that both have been at the airline for less than three years.
Mr McDonald, who has 10-years at Air New Zealand but less than a year as CFO, is viewed as a slight stronger candidate than Mr Thomson who, although having spent 30 years at Air New Zealand, is perceived to lack operational experience.
"There are thin pickings in terms of experience," said one analyst who asked not to be named.
But another name being mentioned was that of Roger France, the airline's deputy chairman and a former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner.
Mr France was appointed as the airline underwent a recapitalisation a few years ago and would have the financial and strategy skills to make the short list, one analyst said.
Mr Norris has a six-month notice provision in his contract and his actual departure date is to be determined.
Aviation analysts said the news that Mr Norris was heading to Commonwealth Bank was a surprise.
But they agreed he was leaving the airline in better shape than it was, although it still had to work to increase profitability.
"A lot has been achieved," chief executive officer of the Centre for Asian Pacific Aviation Andrew Miller said.
"But the profitability of the organisation has been flat over the past two years."
Air New Zealand shares were unchanged at $1.29 on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Chicago Tribune news : Business

Chicago Tribune news : Business: "Goldman Sachs CEO Subpoenaed Over Deal

By MARK JEWELL
AP Business Writer
Published June 13, 2005, 4:33 PM CDT


BOSTON -- The state's top securities regulator on Monday sought sworn testimony from Goldman Sachs CEO Henry M. Paulson Jr. in an investigation of advice Gillette Co. received in its pending acquisition by Procter & Gamble Co.

Paulson, whose company was one of two Wall Street investment banks to advise Gillette on the deal's fairness, was subpoenaed to appear at Secretary of State William Galvin's offices June 23 for oral testimony.

Also subpoenaed to testify within two weeks were William Mostyn, a former Gillette corporate governance officer and secretary, and Eric Derheimer, an official at UBS Securities, which served as an adviser to Gillette along with Goldman Sachs.

Gillette chairman and chief executive James Kilts testified under oath for more than five hours on June 1.

Paulson, who is Goldman Sachs' chairman and chief executive, is the only other CEO or chairman among the more than 10 officials Galvin's office has called in to testify since he began looking into the deal after it was announced Jan. 28.

'He (Paulson) was intimately involved in the negotiations to put this deal back together when it was falling apart,' Galvin said in a phone interview.

Goldman Sachs spokeswoman Andrea Rachman declined to comment.

Galvin has questioned whether the $57 billion P&G is paying for Gillette is too low, a contention the companies dispute. Galvin is investigating the accuracy and objectivity of opinions that Goldman Sachs and UBS provided Gillette on the deal's fairness.

On Friday, Galvin also issu"

Morsels in Miniature

Morsels in Miniature: "Morsels in Miniature
Bite-Size Treats a Growing Portion of Bakery Sales
By Margaret Webb Pressler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 14, 2005; Page D01
At Wegmans, the mini muffins baked at the chain's main bakery in Rochester, N.Y., have become so popular that last month the company stopped shipping packs of full-size muffins to stores.
At Giant, the two-bite replicas of bigger bakery offerings are among the department's best sellers, so the chain keeps adding more varieties."

At Balducci's (formerly Sutton Place Gourmet), about 40 percent of the muffins and danish the chain sells are of the tiny variety -- up from just 5 percent two years ago.
To walk through a store bakery today is to witness the explosion of mini mouthfuls -- bagels, muffins, brownies, cupcakes, croissants, doughnuts, scones, desserts and bread. And even where things aren't being shrunk down to the point of cuteness, there appears to be some portion control creeping into baked goods: Caribou Coffee Co. and Panera Bread Co. are two national chains set to roll out baked goods that are about 20 percent smaller than what's on the menu today.
"We're not doing six-ounce muffins any more," said Michael J. Coles, chief executive of Caribou Coffee, the fast-growing Minneapolis-based coffee chain with 310 stores. "People don't want that, I think because it's an overcommitment."
Coles and others say the downsizing of so many sweets is in part the result of consumers wanting portable, eat-on-the-run food and in part a function of rising awareness of nutrition and portion control. Portion has become a big buzzword among food manufacturers, which have been repackaging popular snack foods in smaller sizes, such as Nabisco's 100-Calorie Packs.
"We're really trying to push retailers to focus on portion size and to help consumers better understand what is a portion size," said Mary Kay O'Connor, director of education for the International Deli, Dairy and Bakery Association. "What some people have considered to be a muffin serving was like 800 calories."
Some bakers point out that there is a built-in roadblock to this trend: It's often more profitable to sell a monster muffin simply because it can carry a higher price. Bakers say there is still plenty of demand for big portions in restaurants and from wholesale bakeries that serve hotels, convention centers and stadiums, where the meager profit margin on a mini muffin usually means it doesn't get made.
"The hotel chains . . . want to spend the least amount for the most volume, the thing that takes up the most room on the plate," said Theodore Kairys, president of Gourmet Pacific, an institutional baker in California. "If you have a dessert or pastry, little bite-sized cutesy ones, people aren't going to want to pay for that."
But in stores, a growing number of shoppers tell a different story.
"I would rather have smaller, special bites of something wonderful than have more than I need," said Wendy Lubic, a D.C. mother of two teenage daughters who was lunching outside Eatzi's food store in Rockville on a recent weekday afternoon. "If you care about health and care about your weight, you don't want to be stuffing needless calories."
Lubic had just bought her kids some mini rice cakes and, for herself, a mini chocolate cake -- the smallest of the three sizes offered in Eatzi's bakery case.
Some manufacturers and bakers say bite-size and downsized products are especially popular among mothers concerned about the portions they serve to their children. But they are also reaching consumers who might pass on buying something larger because it's too big.
When national baked goods manufacturer Uncle Wally's introduced its line of two-ounce mini muffins last year, the company viewed it as "a way for us to expand the customer base we're reaching," said Jerry Ceccio, vice president of sales and marketing. The line has been so successful, he said, that the company is formulating a new business strategy aimed at mini-munching consumers.
"From now on, when we introduce items, we will be bringing smaller-sized products to market, there's no question," Ceccio said. "Not to say that there isn't a place for indulgence, but by and large, we see the market moving toward smaller portions."
It's not just size that seems to appeal to customers, it's also variety: The smaller the treat, the more kinds you can try. At Vie de France, a national foodservice bakery, some store managers have used the chain's regular scone batter to make mini scones, said Jennifer Sharp, senior product manager for the company's wholesale operations -- and they've ended up selling more because customers like to buy one of each kind rather than a single, big scone.
"That would be me -- I'm all about variety," said Rachel Devlin, visiting from New York and lunching recently at Panera in Friendship Heights. She said any time she has a choice of a few smaller things or one big item, she'll go for the petite portions. "I just like to try different things."
Panera is working on a new line of pastries designed to be smaller and of higher quality. Tom Gumpel, the chain's director of research and development, said he is moving beyond the days of "cinnamon buns the size of a Frisbee" to focus instead on products using better ingredients, such as creamier, European-style butter and slightly downsized proportions.
"Everything's been so super-sized, but the portions we're looking at, with the quality they carry, are really the appropriate size," he said.
The super-sizing phenomenon has been driven by profit. A fast-food restaurant can charge 25 cents more for a larger portion of french fries though the food itself costs just pennies more, so most of that added 25 cents is pure profit. The same is true of muffins and other baked goods.
"The wholesale cost on a large danish might be a dollar, and on a smaller one, 65 to 70 cents," said Mike McCloud, owner of Uptown Bakers, a local wholesale bakery. "The labor drives most of the cost of it. The ingredient cost difference is very, very small."
So when a cafe buys Uptown's danishes, it might be able to charge $2.45 for the large one but only $1.45 for the small one, McCloud said. "You're making a dollar on the large and 75 cents on the small for the same sale," he said.
For many large-scale wholesale buyers, that lost profit makes a big difference. But in retail settings, consumers seem to be driving the change, even if it costs more per bite. At Giant, mini baked goods never used to sell much because shoppers wanted everything big, said Ben Klautz, bake shop marketing manager for Giant Food LLC.
"Now they're willing to pay a little more for something that's a little healthier, a little smaller," Klautz said. "The small stuff sells really well."

FT.com / Companies - HP to separate printer and PC groups

FT.com / Companies - HP to separate printer and PC groups: "HP to separate printer and PC groups
By Scott Morrison in San Francisco
Published: June 13 2005 23:00 | Last updated: June 13 2005 23:00

Hewlett-Packard on Monday said it was splitting its personal computer and printer groups into separate business units, just five months after the US company combined the two operations in a bid to accelerate growth and strengthen its market position.
The move was among the first major changes made by Mark Hurd, who was appointed chief executive on April 1. He replaced Carly Fiorina, who made the decision to combine the two business units less than one month before she was fired in February. "

Under Pressure, Morgan Stanley Chief Steps Down

Under Pressure, Morgan Stanley Chief Steps Down: "Under Pressure, Morgan Stanley Chief Steps Down
By Ben White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 14, 2005; Page D03
NEW YORK, June 13 -- Morgan Stanley chief executive Philip J. Purcell, under pressure from shareholders over poor financial performance and beset by high-level defections from the storied Wall Street firm, said Monday that he would retire as soon as a successor is found.
The announcement came after Purcell waged a bitter battle with eight disgruntled former executives and with top managers inside the firm who thought he had neglected Morgan Stanley's historic core businesses of investment banking and equity trading in favor of less productive retail brokerage and credit card services.

Through most of the fight, Purcell retained the unwavering support of a board filled with loyalists. But that support cracked after a team of revenue-producing sales and trading executives quit Friday to join Wachovia and the company prepared to announce Monday morning that second-quarter earnings would be down 15 to 20 percent from last year.
'It has become clear that in light of the continuing personal attacks on me, and the unprecedented level of negative attention our firm -- and each of you -- has had to endure, that this is the best thing I can do"