American Express Bank on Thursday announced a bold gambit in the retail banking market by offering customers of any loan product a balance transfer facility. Under the facility, customers with loan outstandings can transfer their existing loans to Amex at interest savings of "up to 50 per cent".

Cadbury Q1 net up 88 per cent

Cadbury India said on Thursday it posted a whopping 88.41 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 9.27 crore in the first quarter ended March 31, 1999. Its net sales for the period rose 16.54 per cent to Rs 116.05 crore, the company said. New product initiatives and a good growth in chocolates have been the key to Cadbury's performance, say industry analysts.

Wockhardt nine-month net falls 10%

Wockhardt Ltd said it registered a 10 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 46.8 crore for the nine months ended March 31, 1999, against Rs 51.8 crore posted in the corresponding period the previous year. Sales for the period increased by 19 percent from Rs 300.1 crore to Rs 355.9 crore, it said.

Archies net up 86%

Archies Greetings & Gifts has reported an 86 per cent growth in its net profit of Rs 8.82 crore in 1998-99, compared with Rs 4.75 crore the previous year. Its turnover rose 31 per cent to touch Rs 60.27 crore (Rs 46.05 crore), the company said.

VSNL CMD post

A whopping 90 top professionals from the public and private sectors have thrown their hat in the ring for the post of chairman-cum-managing director of the state-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. People in the know of the matter say that two present directors Vinoo Goyal and Rajneesh Gupta have applied for the post.

Metal Box revival

Metal Box India Ltd's revival hit a roadblock again as one of its bankers, State Bank of India, withheld its approval before the Delhi high court on Wednesday raising objections on certain aspects of the scheme. The court has directed another hearing on the matter on May 18.

GE Capital Consulting

The US-basedMetamor Worldwide Inc will acquire GE Capital Consulting, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GE Capital Corporation. An agreement to this effect has been signed between GE Capital Consulting and Metamor. The US software company has its largest subsidiary in Metamor Global Solutions in India.

Thomas Cook opens office at Hi-Tech City

Thomas Cook (India), the leading travel and foreign exchange company, opened a new branch office at the Hi-Tech City in Hyderabad on Thursday. This is the company's second office in the city and takes the total office strength to 45 in the country.

CAG raps state

The Comptroller & Auditor General of India has castigated the Maharashtra government for non-recovery of various tax dues worth Rs 4,264.87 crore, including sales tax worth Rs 3,325.17 crore at the end of 1997-98. The CAG has also rapped the government for revenue loss worth Rs 268.68 crore owing to under-assessment of sales tax in 3,569 cases.