Shivani Shinde &Amp; Krishna Kant

Stories by Shivani Shinde &Amp; Krishna Kant

Third round of layoffs: Meta's senior India executives get pink slips

Third round of layoffs: Meta's senior India executives get pink slips

Rediff.com   27 May 2023

With the third and final round of layoffs implemented by Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms, Inc. in process globally, India, too, has seen its impact, with some senior executives being asked to leave. Some of the executives to have been impacted are Avinash Pant, India's director of marketing; Saket Jha Sourabh, director and head of media partnerships; and Amrita Mukherjee, one of the directors on the legal team. An email sent to the company did not elicit any comment on the development until the time of going to press.

Wipro chairman Rishad Premji's compensation down 50% as profits fall

Wipro chairman Rishad Premji's compensation down 50% as profits fall

Rediff.com   27 May 2023

Rishad Premji, chairman of IT services major Wipro, saw his compensation for FY23 decline by almost 50 per cent year-on-year, due to a fall in the firm's profit. According to the Form 20-F, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by Wipro, Premji's compensation for FY23 was $951,353, down 50 per cent from $1,819,022 in FY22. "Rishad A Premji is entitled to a commission at the rate of 0.35 per cent on incremental consolidated net profits of Wipro Limited over the previous fiscal year. However, in light of the fact that the incremental consolidated net profits for fiscal year 2023 was negative, the Company determined that no commission was payable for fiscal year 2023 to Mr Rishad A. Premji," said the company in the filing.

Indian IT firms to see revenue decelerate by 5%: S&P Global Ratings

Indian IT firms to see revenue decelerate by 5%: S&P Global Ratings

Rediff.com   25 May 2023

Macroeconomic (macro) concerns, along with a cautious approach towards discretionary information technology (IT) spending, will see the revenue for Indian IT firms decelerate by 5 per cent through 2024-25 (FY25), from the highs of 12-18 per cent in 2022-23, said analysts from S&P Global Ratings. "The reason behind this slow growth is a macro slowdown. "Customers are cutting their discretionary IT spending, especially on projects that take longer to deliver quantifiable outcomes. "We also acknowledge that there are still strong economic headwinds for the next few years," said Spencer Ng, associate director, corporate ratings, S&P Global Ratings, over a call in a media briefing.

Tata Sons set to earn record dividend worth nearly Rs 33,350 cr in FY23

Tata Sons set to earn record dividend worth nearly Rs 33,350 cr in FY23

Rediff.com   24 May 2023

Thanks to a big payout by the group's cash cow, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Sons is set to earn a record-high equity dividend worth nearly Rs 33,350 crore from the group's listed companies for FY23, up 130 per cent from Rs 14,529 crore in FY22. Nearly 90 per cent of this, or around Rs 30,500 crore, is estimated to accrue to Tata Sons while the rest will show up in its profit & loss account for FY24. This is because nearly 80 per cent of the dividend payout by TCS for FY23 was done before the end of the financial year through three quarterly interim instalments and a special one in January this year.

TCS, HZL, CIL boost India Inc's dividend payout to record Rs 2.3 trillion

TCS, HZL, CIL boost India Inc's dividend payout to record Rs 2.3 trillion

Rediff.com   18 May 2023

Corporate India continues to be generous in rewarding its shareholders with big dividend payouts. This is especially true for shareholders of companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hindustan Zinc (HZL), and Coal India (CIL) which are seen as cash cows of large business groups and the government. Boosted by a big payout by these three companies, the combined equity dividend payout by listed companies was up 38 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to a record high of Rs 2.27 trillion in 2022-23 (FY23), compared with Rs 1.65 trillion in 2021-22 (FY22).

Vedanta's record dividend to parent strains company's balance sheet

Vedanta's record dividend to parent strains company's balance sheet

Rediff.com   15 May 2023

Vedanta Limited (Vedanta) helping its parent and group holding company Vedanta Resources to deleverage its balance sheet has started to strain its balance sheet. Vedanta's gross debt (consolidated) was up 24.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in FY23 and reached a six-year high of Rs 66,628 crore by the end of March. Similarly, its net debt went up 20.3 per cent YoY to Rs 45,706 crore at the end of FY23, up from Rs 38,228 crore a year ago; it was the highest since FY20.

Go First Losses Hurt Wadia Group

Go First Losses Hurt Wadia Group

Rediff.com   12 May 2023

The growing mismatch between Go First's losses and other group companies' profits was making it tough for the group to fund the losses of the airline venture.

IT Campus Hires May Be At 70% of Pre-Covid Levels

IT Campus Hires May Be At 70% of Pre-Covid Levels

Rediff.com   5 May 2023

The hiring scenario is for the batch that passes out in 2024. These are graduates who will be impacted, given 2022 graduates are not fully absorbed and 2023 onboarding still incomplete.

How a Kanpur-born Indian-origin CEO is a chip off the old block

How a Kanpur-born Indian-origin CEO is a chip off the old block

Rediff.com   3 May 2023

In the technology (tech) world, especially storage, Sanjay Mehrotra is a well-known name. Co-founder of SanDisk, a flash memory storage company in 1988, it was eventually acquired by Western Digital in 2016 for a whopping $19 billion. For a boy from Kanpur, who went on to pursue higher studies in the US, becoming the chief executive officer of Micron Technology, Inc - one of America's largest memory chip makers - and now setting up the company's first plant in India, it has been quite a ride.

Made-In-India Relationship Apps Woo You

Made-In-India Relationship Apps Woo You

Rediff.com   2 May 2023

Made-in-India apps -- the likes of QuackQuack, TrulyMadly, and Aisle -- are wooing Internet users in smaller towns. Indian consumers spent close to $10 million in 2022 on dating and friendship apps.

'I don't want to think of challenges, but tasks before us'

'I don't want to think of challenges, but tasks before us'

Rediff.com   2 May 2023

'Every time a new tech comes in, there are a set of people who will predict that this will be the end of Indian IT and every time the Indian IT industry and overall technology providers have proven to be resilient.'

Earnings boost lifts early bird results; profit up 15.2% in March quarter

Earnings boost lifts early bird results; profit up 15.2% in March quarter

Rediff.com   1 May 2023

The early bird results for the January-March quarter of 2022-23 (Q4FY23) show a pick-up in earnings growth, despite a slowdown in revenue growth, thanks to a decline in input costs and lower provisioning for bad loans by banks. The combined net profit of 66 companies that have, so far, declared their quarterly results was up 15.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q4FY23, an improvement from 4.3 per cent YoY growth in Q3. Net sales growth of these companies, however, slowed down to 11.5 per cent YoY in January-March 2023, the slowest rate in eight quarters.

'Once we make an offer to a person, we honour it'

'Once we make an offer to a person, we honour it'

Rediff.com   24 Apr 2023

'Even during the pandemic we did it.' 'We think it's our responsibility to make sure that we manage the uncertainty.'

Wipro to consider buyback proposal

Wipro to consider buyback proposal

Rediff.com   24 Apr 2023

IT services major Wipro is reconsidering a proposal of buy back of equity shares, said the company in a regulatory filing. A final decision on this will be taken during the board meeting to be held on April 26-27. The outcome of the board meeting will be communicated to the stock exchanges soon after conclusion on April 27.

IT sector weighting in Nifty50 at 5-year low of 12.2%

IT sector weighting in Nifty50 at 5-year low of 12.2%

Rediff.com   22 Apr 2023

The recent sell-off in IT stocks such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has resulted in a sharp decline in the IT sector weighting in the Nifty50 index. The sector's weighting in the index has slipped to a five-year low of 12.2 per cent, down from the 17.7 per cent at the end of March 2022. The top IT companies - TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Tech Mahindra - accounted for 13.6 per cent of the index at the end of March this year.

Wipro asks freshers to take new test or get terminated

Wipro asks freshers to take new test or get terminated

Rediff.com   20 Apr 2023

Wipro is in the news, again. The information technology (IT) services company has mandated freshers, who had opted for a lower salary package of Rs 3.5 lakh per annum, instead of Rs 6.5 lakh per annum, clear a new training module titled Project Readiness Program (PRP) and score at least 60 per cent or stand terminated. Wipro is not the only company to have implemented such a programme.

Results preview: India Inc likely to report highly profitable Q4

Results preview: India Inc likely to report highly profitable Q4

Rediff.com   18 Apr 2023

Brokerages expect India Inc to report an upturn in earnings for the March quarter of 2022-23, after a relatively muted showing in the previous two quarters. This growth is expected to be led by banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies, FMCG firms, and automobile makers. The combined net profit of the Nifty50 companies (excluding Adani Enterprises) is expected to have grown 15.6 per cent to Rs 1.77 trillion in Q4FY23, from Rs 1.53 trillion a year ago.

Tata Neu 2.0 Plans Better Experience

Tata Neu 2.0 Plans Better Experience

Rediff.com   17 Apr 2023

'With this revamp the anonymous journey of the user will begin wherein he will not have to sign in every time he accesses the app.'

Infosys headcount reduces in fourth quarter of FY23 even as attrition slows

Infosys headcount reduces in fourth quarter of FY23 even as attrition slows

Rediff.com   14 Apr 2023

With revenue growth impacted and uncertainty deepening in major markets, India's second largest IT services firm, Infosys, saw a net reduction in its headcount in the fourth quarter of financial year 2022-23 (Q4FY23). Infosys' workforce saw a net reduction of 3,611 employees, bringing its total headcount to 343,234. This was also the first time in many years that the company did not provide a hiring target for the next fiscal.

10 Stocks To Invest For The Long Term

10 Stocks To Invest For The Long Term

Rediff.com   11 Apr 2023

The third-quarter financials didn't excite market watchers. But equity investors can still make money if they invest in the right stocks.