Consolidated earnings for oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) may report sequential weakness, and modest year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in the June 2024 quarter (Q1FY25), said analysts. Lower refining margins are expected to moderate gains made from other businesses. RIL is slated to report its financial performance for Q1FY25 on July 19.
Fresh order wins for capital goods and industrial companies may have seen a major slump due to Lok Sabha polls in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY25). At the same time, revenue and profit growth trajectory is expected to have stayed the course, according to brokerage firms. Elara Capital, Motilal Oswal, and InCred Equities expect this sector universe to report a 12- 21 per cent growth in revenue, 21 -36 per cent growth in Ebitda and 24-38 per cent growth in profit on a year-on-year (Y-oY) basis.
Severe skilled, unskilled shortage threatens to pull emergency brakes on India's industrial engine.
In seeking visa approvals for engineers from China, the company has reasoned that India lacks the expertise to set up such a solar facility.
Thanks to a booming market, India now has more than 300 family offices, up from 45 in 2018, according to a PwC report. The number is expected to grow rapidly, with promoters establishing more businesses in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Family businesses play a crucial role in India's booming economy, spanning manufacturing, retail, real estate, healthcare, and finance.
'As the city grows, so do its fire incidents.'
Shareholders of industry giants Adani Enterprises, Reliance Industries, and Tata Motors - the latter two are part of the Sensex - will decide on combined related-party transactions of more than Rs 2.68 trillion proposed for this financial year and later. Related-party transactions for BSE 500 companies touched at least a six-year high of Rs 42.1 trillion in FY23, the Capitaline data shows. The Rs 42.1 trillion includes related-party transactions both at balance-sheet and profit-and-loss levels.
'If the period between 1991 and 2014 was about laying the foundations and building the runway, the period from 2014 to 2024 has been about the aircraft taking off.'
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada) has raised concerns over the rising inventory levels of four-wheelers at dealerships which have now reached a 60-day stockpile or around 550,000 units. This situation could mean a significant financial burden on dealerships due to the additional interest cost for the extended holding period. These 60-day inventory levels are nearing the 2018-19 levels when inventory days had approached 70 days, leading to the closure of around 282 passenger vehicle dealerships.
As order books gain from India's increased capital outlay, some large capital goods and engineering companies are together spending over Rs 11,500 crore in creating new facilities, data shows. Nine engineering and capital goods companies, where data was available, including Siemens, Larsen & Tourbo (L&T) and KEC International, have a combined capital expenditure (capex) of about Rs 11,500 crore or more. Others such as ABB India and Thermax Global are also adding capacities.
Coal-to-airports conglomerate Adani group is set to make a splash in the tech world. The group is considering the creation of customised artificial intelligence (AI) models for commercial prospects and consolidating digital services on a super app, according to people in the know. The Adani One app, part of its consumer-facing businesses, is reportedly in talks to expand into e-commerce and digital payments, according to a Financial Times report.
As Mumbai's real estate and electric vehicle penetration grows, two of the city's private power distribution companies, Adani Electricity and Tata Power, are eyeing a bigger business pie, particularly betting on high-value customers. Adani Electricity Mumbai (AEML), the subsidiary which houses Adani Energy Solutions' Mumbai distribution business, recorded a six per cent growth in total units sold in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), the company's presentation shows. This gain came at over 13 per cent growth in the year-ago period.
Adani Power, part of the Adani group, plans to add close to 6 gigawatts (Gw) of new power assets in the next five years, according to an investor presentation by the company. That is clearly meant to ride on India's burgeoning power demand. But there is another side to it: All of this new capacity is expected to be thermal power, or power produced from coal.
'China is somewhat disappointing in its recovery, and slow growth, and India is reporting strong growth numbers.'
Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is preparing the ground to begin the commercial sale of electrolysers in September, which would be 50 per cent cheaper than its European counterparts, a senior company executive has said. An electrolyser is a key equipment required for the generation of green hydrogen. Last quarter, L&T manufactured its first electrolyser as a prototype.
'This was earlier driven by industries and the commercial sector.'
Of the top four companies, which collectively hold more than half of India's market share, two have pitted Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Deol against each other.
'The private sector will look to the budget to check whether there are any headwinds or tailwinds.'
Brokerage firms on Wednesday appeared divided in their calls on Larsen & Toubro (L&T) after the company's 2023-24 (FY24) October-December quarter (third quarter, or Q3) performance and guidance for the quarters ahead. While few stayed optimistic about the stock over future order inflow prospects, others saw increasing exposure to West Asia and fixed price contracts as a concern. In Wednesday's trade, L&T's share price closed at Rs 3,480 per piece, 4.22 per cent down from its previous day's close.
Investments worth more than Rs 80 trillion are expected in roads, railways and urban infrastructure between now and FY30 and the supply chains helping to build this core infrastructure are also readying to cash in on the growth. In the first half of the current financial year, orders worth more than Rs 2.6 trillion were tendered in the roads and railways segment alone, according to data sourced from ICRA Ratings and Research. "India's transportation infrastructure sector is in high gear, and we enjoy a sizable share of it," said S V Desai, whole time director and senior executive vice president (Civil Infrastructure) for Larsen & Toubro.