The slowdown is showing on the balance-sheet. During the quarter ended March 2008, India Inc reported the lowest net profit growth in the last nine quarters, after the state-owned oil marketing and power companies declared poor results.
Companies post the slowest sales growth in four years, profits low, too. The last financial year has been the slowest year in four years for corporate India, according to the financial results for 1,354 companies released so far. Cumulative net sales grew by 18.2 per cent in fiscal 2007-08, in contrast to the 29.3 per cent growth in the previous financial year, 21.1 per cent in FY06 and a rapid 31.5 per cent in FY05.
The tables have turned. Organised retail, which used to cite real estate as its first constraint, is being wooed by developers as there is a sudden surplus created by completion of pending projects and new construction. According to an industry analyst, the rental for a retailer used to constitute 4-5 per cent of its total revenue in the years 2001 and 2002, rising to 7-7.5 per cent in the later years. Industry analysts believe a retailer's profit would get eroded
Numbers collated by the Business Standard Research Bureau show that in the last three years, leading cement manufacturers have multiplied their nine-month profits manifold and mining and paper companies have more than doubled it.
Steep pre-paid tariff cuts at the start of the year in January could mean lower revenue growth for telecom operators in the March 2008 quarter. Moreover, minutes of usage (MOU) are unlikely to be very much higher since industry watchers feel users will take some amount of time to react to the tariff cuts. The operating profit growth these telcos could be in the region of 6-7 per cent. However, net profits may remain flat sequentially due to foreign exchange fluctuations.
Companies disbursing high dividends are good for investors looking for higher returns than bank deposits. High dividend-yield stocks give high dividends & the capital value increases. Dividend-yielding stocks are recommended in volatile markets as they are more stable than growth stocks. These stocks do not fall steeply in a falling market. An investor can even beat the index returns, if he invests in good dividend-yielding stocks & rebalances his portfolio from time to time.
Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is evaluating a plan to set up its third refinery at Jamnagar in an ambitious project to reach a total capacity of 100 million metric tonne per annum, the largest at a single location in the world. The company has appointed a global oil and refinery consultancy firm to evaluate the feasibility of the project, which will help capitalise the increased requirement for global crude distillation capacity.
The big flops of the year -- Reliance Power and Future Capital Holdings -- are currently available at 25 per cent below their issue price. The other major post-listing losers include BGR Energy, Shriram EPC, J Kumar Infraprojects and KNR Constructions. Among the smaller issues, Precision Pipes and Profiles, Manaksia, and Porwal Auto Components are currently available at 50 per cent below their issue prices.
Promoters of mid- and small-cap companies are grabbing the opportunity provided by a falling market to raise their holdings in their respective companies. In most cases, the shares of their companies are trading at over 30 per cent discount to the all-time high market prices.Promoters of 54 small- and mid-size firms acquired 8.3 million equity shares of their companies from the secondary market, between January 10 and February 27 this year.
The Tata Group, one of India's largest business houses, has made summer internship offers to 19 students of five leading US business schools this year
The French retailer, which has been talking to various Indian business houses for a possible partnership to roll out its wholesale operations in the cash- and-carry format, has also recruited around 50 people.
The principal delay is because the defence forces, which are expected to vacate some spectrum for mobile service providers, are yet to identify locations for some sites for an alternative optic fibre network that is being developed for them.
The BSE Sensex bounced back by 14.8 per cent (2,261.65 points) from Tuesday's intra-day low of 15,332.42 to close at 17,594.07 on Wednesday. The index, which lost 5,874.35 points from its all-time high of 21,206.77, has retraced 39 per cent of its total losses.
The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, which is raising Rs 11,700 crore through the public offer of Reliance Power, has seen a value erosion of Rs 48,000 crore in the last seven days.
Aviation stocks - Jet Airways, Deccan Aviation, SpiceJet and Jagson Airlines - closed at their 52-week highs on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday in falling market. All the four stocks gained between 5 per cent and 20 per cent on Tuesday.
The BSE Small-Cap Index (up 34 per cent) and the BSE Mid-Cap Index (up 28 per cent) have outperformed the Sensex (up 16 per cent) in the last two-and-a-half months, while the NSE Junior Nifty (up 25.4 per cent) and the NSE Mid-Cap Index (up 30.2 per cent) have beaten the S&P CNX Nifty (up 20.4 per cent) during the same period.
Forty six new FIIs opened their offices in India during November, which is the highest ever single month registration by foreign investors. The previous highest monthly registrations took place in September 2005, when twenty nine FIIs enrolled with Sebi. The total number of FIIs registered with the regulator has increased to 1,170 from 1,124 at the beginning of the month.
MMTC, the most valuable public sector undertaking (PSU), raced past oil exploration giant Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in the market capitalisation (m-cap) ranking to occupy the number-two slot on Friday. MMTC, with an m-cap of Rs 2,71,103 crore (Rs 2711.03 billion), pushed ONGC (m-cap Rs 2,64,953 crore) down by a slot to the third position in the market cap chart on BSE.
In the first 10 months of CY07, Indian firms received orders worth Rs 128,147 crore.
Till 15 days ago, only two PSUs - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) - ranked amongst the five most valuable companies. But with two more PSUs, Mineral and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC) and National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), seeing sustained rise in the last three months, the number has risen to four.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances