Tuesday, December 13, 2011

India: Digitisation Positive for Cable TV

The cable networks in the four metros will be digitized by the end of June 2012. Currently, the total TV household subscriber base is 135 million out of which close to 110 million are analog subscribers.
The much-awaited Cable TV Networks Regulation Amendment Bill was finally passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday paving the way for the next digital wave in the country.

The move will cheer investors of DTH operators and Multiple System Operators like Den Network and Hathway Cables.
The Bill aims to digitise India's vast cable TV network by the end of 2014.
The cable networks in the four metros will be digitized by the end of June 2012. Currently, the total TV household subscriber base is 135 million out of which close to 110 million are analog subscribers
With this Bill being passed, nearly 80 per cent of the subscribers who are under-declared in the analogue regime will be forced to go digital, translating into higher revenues across the chain.
The move is also expected to benefit broadcasters as it will help derisk their revenue base by increased subscription revenues through advertising revenues. While this move is expected to be a win-win for all stakeholders, it has faced stiff opposition from Local Cable Operators who will be compelled to allign with MSOs.

With digitization, viewers stand to benefit with more number of channels and better quality viewing. But with the capital requirement for digitization estimated at Rs 20,000 crore, it is going to be a cash guzzling task.

SO I RECOMMEND HATHWAY CABLES AT Rs.110 FOR A TARGET OF 240 WITH A ONE YEAR PERSPECTIVE AND DEN NETWORK AT Rs.40 FOR A TARGET OF RS.250 IN COMING YEARS

Infosys topples RIL as most influential stock on bourses

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd has lost its position as the Indian stock market's most influential individual company to IT major Infosys, following a recent plunge in its share price.

Measured in terms of its weightage on the key barometer index of Indian stock market, the Sensex, RIL had been enjoying its position as the most influential stock for many years and the movement in its share price has been crucial for any major fall or rise in this index.

However, RIL has now slipped to second position after Infosys in terms of its Sensex weightage, which is measured by the market value of a company's free-float or non-promoter shares that can be freely traded in the market.

Mumbai: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd has lost its position as the Indian stock market's most influential individual company to IT major Infosys, following a recent plunge in its share price.

Measured in terms of its weightage on the key barometer index of Indian stock market, the Sensex, RIL had been enjoying its position as the most influential stock for many years and the movement in its share price has been crucial for any major fall or rise in this index.

However, RIL has now slipped to second position after Infosys in terms of its Sensex weightage, which is measured by the market value of a company's free-float or non-promoter shares that can be freely traded in the market.
Infosys topples RIL as most influential stock on bourses
Reuters

At the end of Monday's trade, Infosys was the top-weight Sensex stock with a weightage of 10.25 per cent, pushing RIL to second slot with a weightage of 10.08 per cent.

Similarly at the NSE's Nifty index, another barometer of Indian stock market, Infosys was the top-ranked stock with a weightage of 9.13 per cent, followed by RIL's 8.48 per cent.

The weightage of a stock on these two indices changes daily as per the change in the market value of their shares.

According to market analysts, Reliance's replacement has not come as a surprise, the stock has been under-performing the market barometer Sensex for quite sometime.

On a group-basis, RIL had slipped to third slot in June this year, in terms of a corporate group's influence in moving the stock market benchmark Sensex, after HDFC and Tata groups.

HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank together carry a weightage of over 13 per cent in the Sensex, while four Tata group firms on the index (TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Power) command a weightage of close to 11 per cent.

RIL stock has crashed by 31 per cent so far this year, while Infosys' loss has been smaller at 21 per cent in this period. Also, the decline in Infosys has been slightly lower than that of 23 per cent drop in the Sensex so far this year.

As a result, RIL's free-float market value, or the value of RIL shares held by public shareholders, stood at Rs 131,091 crore, which was lower than that of Infosys at Rs 133,305 crore as on Monday.

However, RIL remains bigger than Infosys in terms of the overall market value, including the promoter shares.

RIL's total market value stood at Rs 238,347.37 crore as on Monday, as against Infosys' 156,829.22 crore.

RIL is the country's most valued firm, followed by TCS, ONGC, Coal India and Infosys in the top-five.

Interestingly, another IT giant Wipro, which once occupied the position of the country's most valued company, also moved back into the top-ten league on Tuesday.

Wipro commanded a market cap of Rs 1,02,343 crore in the mid-day trade on Tuesday at the BSE.

At the end of Tuesday's trading session also, Infosys retained its lead over Reliance Industries with a higher weigthage in the Sensex and Nifty.

Infosys commanded a weightage of 10.25 per cent on the Sensex, as against RIL's 10.20 per cent at the close of Tuesday's market hours.

On the Nifty index also, Infosys' weightage stood at 9.1 per cent, higher than RIL's 8.59 per cent.