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As net debt piles up to $7 bn, Reliance Communication faces key test MUMBAI: The clock is ticking and costs are seen rising for Reliance Communications Ltd as it struggles to reduce a $7 billion mountain of debt ahead of a major bond redemption next year. Shares in India's No. 2 mobile carrier, controlled by Anil Ambani , who ranked 36th on last year's Forbes global rich list, dropped to a record low this week leaving the company valued at $4.3 billion. Six straight quarters of falling profits as a tough telecoms market squeezes margins and failed attempts to raise cash are eroding investor confidence in the company, which faces tests with $1.2 billion in convertible debt falling due. "The competitive landscape for telecoms firms in India is very tough and that's a problem for Reliance as well," said Lars Hemmingsen, a Copenhagen-based portfolio manager at Nordea Intia, which manages $260 million worth of Indian shares. "What makes the matter worse for them is huge debt on the balance sheet and weak cash flow. You also have these negative news headlines hitting investor confidence in the firm," said Hemmingsen, who does not hold Reliance Communications shares. In February, Ambani became the highest-profile executive to be questioned by federal police investigating a telecoms fraud that state auditors say cost the government $39 billion in lost revenues. No executives from Reliance Communications have been charged and the company has denied any wrongdoing. Last year, Reliance Communications attempted to sell a 26 percent stake in itself to pare debt. But it found no takers. A plan to float its tower unit in an initial public offering also failed to take off and a deal to merge its tower arm with a rival collapsed. Reliance Communications is battling a fast-growing but ferociously competitive Indian cellular market in which call charges have fallen and operational costs have risen, triggering declines in margins, while regulatory worries have also increased. The shares have fallen about 35 percent this year, making them the eighth worst performer globally among large capitalised firms. On Feb 9 alone, shares in six companies of Reliance ADA, Ambani's conglomerate, dropped suddenly to wipe $2.5 billion off its market value. The billionaire blamed "baseless and motivated rumours" for the drop. DEBT TEST The cost of insuring against debt default in Reliance Communications through credit default swaps (CDS) has risen 90 basis points this year to 525 basis points. That's an insurance premium of $525,000 for every $10 million of debt and has risen as markets focused on about $1.2 billion of convertible bonds in Reliance Communications that will mature by March 2012. "If you look globally, the appetite for new issues is pretty low and this company has so many problems. I think the terms of refinancing would be stiff because the company's cash flow continues to be very weak," said Thorsten Vetter, a portfolio manager at Flossbach & Von Storch in Cologne, Germany, who last year sold Reliance Communications bonds maturing in 2012. Two convertible bonds are due over the next 12 months but investors are unlikely to convert their holdings into equity following the fall in the share price to 93 rupees. A $297 million bond due in May has a conversion price of Rs 475. A $925 million bond maturing in March 2012 has a conversion price of Rs 654. Since the bonds are out of the money at current prices, the firm is likely to have to shell out about $374 million for the 2011 bond and $1.2 billion for the 2012 debt. The 2011 convertible bonds are bid at 122-123 in secondary markets versus the redemption price of 125.84, while investors are more cautious about the 2012s, which are bid at 114.25-114.75 versus their 127.69 redemption price. A Reliance Communications spokesman declined to comment on the company's plan to reduce its debt burden. During an analysts call in February, Satish Seth, group managing director of Reliance ADA Group, said the company was evaluating several options. WEAKENING CASH FLOWS, HIGH DEBT Reliance Communication's net debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) is seen at 4.8 times in the year ending March 31, Thomson Reuters data show. This compares to just under 3 times at bigger rival Bharti Airtel and 2.8 times at Idea Cellular . "It doesn't make sense to lend to this company any more. It needs a serious equity injection," said a senior Singapore-based loans banker who covers Indian deals, who was not authorised to speak to the media on the record. An equity issue, however, would be painfully dilutive, given that Reliance Communications shares have tumbled nearly 90 percent from their 2008 peak . JPMorgan recently slashed the company's share price target for December by 49 percent to 82 rupees, citing concern about high leverage and the cost of a possible refinancing of $1.2 billion of bonds maturing by March 2012. "First they will have to set their house in order before they start looking for strategic investors," Hemmingsen of Nordea Intia said. "There is always a buyer for a right price and transactions do happen despite a lot of headwinds." Despite the troubles, some banks are not shying away from lending to the company, Reliance Communications signed a deal with China Development Bank in December for a $1.93 billion 10-year, syndicated loan. Courtesy: ET

There you have it, folks. Apple has just announced the iPad 2, the successor to the portable device that paved the way for all slates to follow. The iPad 2 features a mighty dual-core A5 chipset clocked at 1GHz and with a 33% thinner body The tablet will hit shelves of the US market on March 11, while another 26 countries will get it on March 25th. In the meantime take a look at the breakdown of the specs of the iPad 2 on the left and the original iPad on the right! The iPad 2 (on the left) brings a dual-core chipset and is noticeably thinner than the original iPad (on the right) The second-gen iPad's body measures at the razing sharp 0.34 inches (8.8mm) of depth, significantly less than the original iPad's 13.4mm. Yes, it's even thinner than the iPhone 4 and it will weigh only 601grams! Courtesy : PCWorld, phonearena and Apple

Samsung Bundled Offer Prepaid Plan: Total benefit up to Rs.750 spread over 3 months. 1st month – 200 Local minutes T2T + 200 local minutes to other network + 200 SMS (Local & National) 2nd month - 150 Local minutes T2T + 150 local minutes to other network + 150 SMS (Local & National) 3rd month - 150 Local minutes T2T + 150 local minutes to other network + 150 SMS (Local & National) Postpaid Plan: Total benefit up to Rs.750 spread equally over 6 months. Enjoy a 50% rental discount for 6 month on the 249 PPS plan. Rental discount to be credited from 4th month’s bill onwards. SMS TTLSMG to 12524 to avail the offer This offer is available with following Samsung CDMA mobiles: Samsung Mpower Muzik216 Samsung Guru559 Samsung Duos169 Samsung Duos259 Terms & Conditions: Prepaid The offer shall be given on ESN MDN tracking The transfer of first month benefit within 24 hrs of ESN check, 2nd month benefit after 30 days of first benefit transfer date & 3rd month benefit after 30 days of 2nd month benefit transfer date. Benefit validity – 30 days from the date of transfer Off net & On-net minutes applicable only for local calls and applicable for both local & national. Not applicable for ILD & VAS services. This offer is applicable for both new & existing customers. To complete the activation process new customer need to do an FRC of any amount. Customer should SMS TTLSMG to 12424 to avail this offer. Confirmatory SMS will be sent to the customers. If the handset is changed at any point during the offer period no further benefit would be passed to customers from then onwards Offer period – all activations done on or before 30th April 2011 The offer is valid for a limited period & can be modified or withdrawn at the sole discretion of Tata Teleservices Ltd. In case of problem in the transfer, contact our customer care on 12524 Postpaid Rental discount would be credited from the 4th months bill onwards This offer is valid for new customers only No other offer can be clubbed with this offer. If the handset is changed at any point during the offer period no further benefit would be passed to customers from then onwards Offer period – all activations done on or before 30th April 2011 The offer is valid for a limited period & can be modified or withdrawn at the sole discretion of Tata Teleservices Ltd. Check it out at the official Tata Indicom website

Who is Winning the U.S. Smartphone Battle? March 3, 2011. nielsenwire. The answer depends on whether you're looking at operating systems or manufacturers. The battle for the hearts and minds of consumer smartphone owners continues to be a heated one according to data just released by The Nielsen Company. When it comes to consumer marketshare by operating system, Android (29%) appears to be pulling ahead of RIM Blackberry (27%) and Apple iOS (27%). But an analysis by manufacturer shows RIM and Apple to be the winners compared to other device makers since they are the only ones creating and selling smartphones with their respective operating systems. HTC follows with 12 percent of consumer smartphone owners having an HTC Android device and 7 percent owning an HTC device running a Microsoft OS. Ten percent of consumer smartphone owners had a Motorola Android device and one percent owned a Motorola device running a Microsoft OS. Finally, of the three most popular smartphone operating systems, Android seems to attract more young consumers.

^ How about this Olympus one (T10 10mp) for 2995/-? http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260737975735&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

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