Shivani Shinde, Ram Prasad Sahu

Stories by Shivani Shinde, Ram Prasad Sahu

Byju Raveendran talks 'struggles', not layoffs

Byju Raveendran talks 'struggles', not layoffs

Rediff.com   30 Jun 2023

After assuring shareholders that Byju's is on a strong footing, Chief Executive Officer Byju Raveendran, after much delay, spoke to employees in a townhall session. In his first-ever address to employees since problems began at Byju's, Raveendran spoke about the resignation of auditors and board members, the Term Loan B dispute, and the future of educational technology (edtech). Raveendran also asked his team to 'rise above the noise' and work with resilience and determination.

Tata Comm to acquire NYSE-listed Kaleyra for $100 mn in all-cash deal

Tata Comm to acquire NYSE-listed Kaleyra for $100 mn in all-cash deal

Rediff.com   29 Jun 2023

Tata Communications on Wednesday announced that it would acquire NYSE-listed Kaleyra, a global omnichannel integrated communication services provider with a set of proprietary platforms offering targeted personalisation through messaging, video, push notification, e-mails and voice-based services, and chatbots. The acquisition is an all cash deal. Tata Communications has agreed to acquire Kaleyra at a price per share of $7.25, for a total consideration to Kaleyra shareholders of approximately $100 million, besides the assumption of all outstanding debt.

8 'gazelles' demoted to 'cheetahs', 19 out of Hurun Unicorn Index 2023

8 'gazelles' demoted to 'cheetahs', 19 out of Hurun Unicorn Index 2023

Rediff.com   28 Jun 2023

With the number of start-ups reaching the unicorn level falling drastically in 2023, the Hurun Unicorn Index said it has demoted eight gazelles - start-ups that were founded in 2000 and have the potential to go to unicorn in three years - to cheetahs.

Why TCS' mega deal with Transamerica came to an end

Why TCS' mega deal with Transamerica came to an end

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2023

India's largest IT services player Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) saw its $2 billion, 10-year deal with Transamerica Life Insurance Company come to an end even before the period was over. Transamerica is the subsidiary of American arm of Dutch insurer Aegon NV. This is not the first time such a long-term deal has been called off. Earlier this year, UK's National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), ended a $1.8-billion deal with French IT services player Atos.

Byju's sacks 1,000 more; count jumps to 3,500

Byju's sacks 1,000 more; count jumps to 3,500

Rediff.com   20 Jun 2023

India's largest edtech firm Byju's will fire 1,000 employees in a fresh round of layoffs across departments. With the latest round, total job cuts at the company have mounted to around 3,500. According to sources, fresh job cuts are an attempt by the company to improve its finances and work towards a path to profitability.

Margins remain a pain point for organised FMCG supply-chain companies

Margins remain a pain point for organised FMCG supply-chain companies

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2023

Jiomart B2B is the latest among organised supply-chain companies to bite the bullet, shutting down its warehouses, and asking its employees to leave. Why are companies finding it difficult to sustain the supply-chain business? Experts point out that gross margins in supplying fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) are very low.

Edtech giant Byju's likely to lay off 1,000 more employees

Edtech giant Byju's likely to lay off 1,000 more employees

Rediff.com   9 Jun 2023

With debt woes and a legal case in the US courts, educational technology (edtech) giant Byju's is expected to be laying off more employees, according to media reports. According to The Morning Context report, Byju's intends to lay off 1,000 employees. This number, however, could not be confirmed by Business Standard independently. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the reports.

India Has Highest Number Of Suspicious E-mails Per Day

India Has Highest Number Of Suspicious E-mails Per Day

Rediff.com   8 Jun 2023

Spear-phishing e-mails typically try to steal sensitive information, such as login credentials or financial information, which is then used to commit fraud, identity theft, and other crimes.

Shift to new norms may hamper growth, margins for Cummins India in FY24

Shift to new norms may hamper growth, margins for Cummins India in FY24

Rediff.com   7 Jun 2023

Over the past three trading sessions, the stock of Cummins India has gained about nine per cent on strong January-March quarter (Q4) results and good near-term prospects. Its Q4 performance was led by a healthy 29 per cent revenue growth over the year ago quarter. This was largely on the back of a 33 per cent jump in domestic revenues while exports witnessed a growth of 17 per cent.

Gains in Delhivery dependent on a sustained improvement in margins

Gains in Delhivery dependent on a sustained improvement in margins

Rediff.com   6 Jun 2023

Logistics services provider Delhivery posted a mixed set of results during the March quarter of the previous financial year (Q4 of FY23). While its operating profit was marginally in the green, its net losses widened as compared to the year-ago quarter. Overall revenues, which were in line with estimates, fell 10 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

India employees ready to delegate more work to AI: Microsoft report

India employees ready to delegate more work to AI: Microsoft report

Rediff.com   2 Jun 2023

As artificial intelligence (AI) threatens to replace jobs, a new report from Microsoft has suggested that Indian employees are caught between a fear of losing jobs and an opportunity to reduce workload by delegating tasks to technology. Microsoft's Work Trend Index 2023 found that while 74 per cent of Indian employees are worried about AI replacing their jobs, 83 per cent would delegate as much work to it as possible, to help lessen their workloads. More than three in four Indian workers would be comfortable using AI not just for administrative tasks (86 per cent), but also for analytical work (88 per cent), and for the creative aspects of their role (87 per cent).

Rajesh Gopinathan bows out as TCS CEO, keeps mum on future plans

Rajesh Gopinathan bows out as TCS CEO, keeps mum on future plans

Rediff.com   31 May 2023

'I am confident that TCS's best years are ahead,' outgoing CEO tells staff in farewell email.

Near-term outlook remains strong for India's listed paint companies

Near-term outlook remains strong for India's listed paint companies

Rediff.com   29 May 2023

The 2022-23 (FY23) January-March quarter performance of the country's largest listed paint companies was better than Street expectations. Asian Paints, Berger Paints, and Kansai Nerolac Paints (Kansai Nerolac) registered double-digit revenue growth, compared with the year-ago quarter, reinforced by strong volume/value growth. Falling raw material prices also helped the paint majors hoist their gross margins.

LIC's Total Wealth Erosion: Over Rs 2 Trillion

LIC's Total Wealth Erosion: Over Rs 2 Trillion

Rediff.com   29 May 2023

The decline in LIC's share price makes it the biggest wealth destroyer among IPOs which hit the market after COVID-19 took hold globally in 2020.

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.

Margin expansion ahead for Colgate; brokerages await demand revival signs

Margin expansion ahead for Colgate; brokerages await demand revival signs

Rediff.com   26 May 2023

The stock of Colgate-Palmolive (India) surged after the company delivered a better than expected operating performance for the March quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23) recently. The stock, however, has given up most of these gains over the last one week as the Street awaits recovery in the core toothpaste segment and sustained recovery in market share. The country's largest listed oral care company posted a gross margin expansion of 100 basis points (bps) on a sequential basis to 66.9 per cent, led by pricing and efficient sourcing.

Varun Beverages part of trillion-rupee club; growth strong across regions

Varun Beverages part of trillion-rupee club; growth strong across regions

Rediff.com   26 May 2023

Since its results, the stock of bottling and beverage distribution company Varun Beverages (VBL) is up 7 per cent on the back of a strong 2022-23 January-March quarter performance, robust outlook, and revision in profit estimates. Given the sharp uptick, it is now part of the trillion-rupee club, with its market capitalisation at Rs 1.01 trillion. The stock is one of the best performers in the consumer space as well as the S&P BSE 200, of which it is a constituent.

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.

Improving JLR outlook, margin expansion targets positives for Tata Motors

Improving JLR outlook, margin expansion targets positives for Tata Motors

Rediff.com   22 May 2023

Tata Motors' 2022-23 (FY23) January-March quarter (fourth quarter, or Q4) results were better than Street estimates, with strong showing across Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), as well as commercial and passenger vehicle businesses in the domestic market. The company posted its highest consolidated top line and operating profit, with growth of 35 per cent and 46.5 per cent, respectively, over the year-ago quarter. While the top line was aided by a 49 per cent growth in the JLR unit, all key segments reported margin expansion.