FII investments surge to Rs 500 cr: FII investments have surged to about Rs 500 crore since the beginning of the year. In the last five trading sessions, the total net FII investments crossed the Rs 200-crore mark. The country has gained a fourth of what had flown out of foreign portfolion investments in the last calendar. Over Rs 1,900 crore had flown out of the stock markets after the nuclear tests last May.

Nalco capital recast: The union cabinet on Thursday approved capital restructuring of the public-sector Nalco. The decision involves converting 50 per cent of the existing paid-up capital of Rs 1,288.62crore into debt of Rs 644.31 crore at 14.5 per cent interest per annum.

Nalco Q3 net falls 72%: The state-owned Nalco said its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 1998, plummetted 71.86 per cent to Rs 34.70 crore, from Rs 123.32 crore posted in the corresponding period last year. The net profit for the first nine months of the current fiscal also fell 55.69 per cent to Rs 162.07 crore (Rs 365.77 crore), it said.

Indo Gulf Q3 net inches up to Rs 46.5 cr: Aditya Birla group company Indo Gulf Corporation said it posted a mere 3.49 per cent jump in profit after tax for the third quarter of the current fiscal to Rs 46.5 crore, compared with Rs 44.93 crore in the same period last year. For the nine months, the PAT has gone up marginally to Rs 13.73 crore, from Rs 13.38 crore last year, it said.

CESC posts Rs 4cr net in Q3: RP Goenka's power utility CESC Ltd said on Thursday it had pulled out of the red in the third quarter to December 31, 1998, with a net profit of Rs 4 crorethat was powered mainly by an other income of Rs 20 crore and a tariff hike of 20-22 per cent. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 138 crore in the first six months to September 30, 1998.

Pentafour posts Rs 3cr net in Q3: The Chennai-based Pentafour Communications said on Thursday it posted a net profit of Rs 2.73 crore on sales of Rs 15.74 crore for the third quarter ended December 1998. The company's turnover rose 53.9 per cent, it said.

General Motors: General Motors India has adopted direct marketing as the key strategy to hawk its premium range of Opel Astra cars in the country. At the heart of this strategy is the concept of the "Opel Club", which has now gone international with the company tying up with Hilton.