Obviously, with the larger corporations in a bit of a spot, ancillaries and vendors are feeling the pinch; others too are finding the going tough. Over the past five years financial leverage helped earnings; it will now work the other way, says Shobhana Subramanian.
The business model is going through a reality check; expansion plans on hold and manpower rationalisation is on the cards. Checking expenditure is critical now as advertising is already on a downswing, though CEOs insist that the real impact will be felt in the next quarter. On condition of anonymity, an advertising sales executive admits to a 15 to 20 per cent decline in news channel advertising.
An interview with BMR partners and media specialists Nitin Atroley and Vivek Gupta
Such is her faith in ICICI Bank, its joint MD continues to invest all her savings in the bank's stock and remains unfazed by the hammering it has taken.
Even big public sector investors such as LIC that have very large stakes in companies haven't been known to voice their concerns. If institutions came together to air their grievances in public; that would put more pressure on managements to make more disclosures and do things the right way, says Shobhana Subramaniam.
One was a journalist, the other was trying to make a career out of theatre and quizzing. Siddhartha Basu and Anita Kaul Basu are entrepreneurs, who redefined television viewing in India.
Indian companies have done stunning acquisitions in the recent past. It was widely expected that with their frugal managerial practices, they would soon be able to recover the money spent in these acquisitions. While it has worked in several cases, in some cases it hasn't.
With the US economy in a downturn, it could be a while before the Jaguar and Land Rover business turns around. For the first half of 2008, JLR has posted losses of $383 million on sales of $ 7.07 billion, a disclosure that saw the Tata Motors stock fall 5 per cent on September 23.
The challenge has been thrown by Mahesh Prasad Agarwal, brother of the late Dwarka Prasad Agarwal, who claims he owns 30 per cent in Dwarka Prasad Agarwal & Brothers, the company that holds the Dainik Bhaskar title. His son, Sanjay, says, "If D B Corp does not fully own the Dainik Bhaskar title, how can it use the brand name to raise money?" However, D B Corp executives claimed there was no dispute over the title as it had been settled by the Supreme Court order of July 2003.
With advertising a little less robust than last year and television ad rates not showing any sign of climbing up, thanks to viewership fragmentation and increased competition, the Hindi general entertainment channels are tapping non-advertising revenue streams to shore up incomes. This includes content-repurposing, overseas subscription, and licensing and merchandising.
The company, distributed lower volumes of petrochemicals but that was made up with price increases. It was the same for LPG where realisations improved by about 40 per cent on account of higher prices but volumes fell marginally.
A sample of 1,248 companies saw net sales rise a whopping 39 per cent in the quarter ended June 2008 over that a year ago, as compared to 28 per cent in the quarter ending March 2008 and 16 per cent for the quarter ending December 2007.
The proposals to get cable operators to offer digital signals aren't going to work unless the government mandates CAS-systems across the country.
A choppy beginning followed by flashes of good work. Strong pedigree, yet lagging behind peers. That could be actor Abhishek Bachchan or the mobile phone service he endorses, Idea Cellular. The analogy goes further. Just like Amitabh decided to step in and shore up his son's career, Idea's parent, AV Birla Group, has taken the cellular services provider by the scruff in a bid to make it one of the top three in the business.
Few earnings seasons are awaited with such trepidation as the one for the June 2008 quarter. With the markets in turmoil, the Street is looking to India Inc to bail it out.
Last Friday's tumble on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones index falling nearly 400 points, is sure to have its repercussions on the already shaky Indian market. With both the benchmark indices, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty having lost 5 per cent apiece last week, investors are already skittish.
The one with the curious name is the runaway leader, setting benchmarks in programming, standardisation and localisation. It doesn't hurt to be part of a formidable family.
It's a difficult time for banks both at home and abroad. But Sanjay Nayar, Chief Executive Officer, Citi India, shrugs off Citigroup's problems in the US saying they haven't really impacted the Indian operations. Nayar admits there have been a few problems with the consumer finance business but tells Business Standard that Citi's India operations are well-positioned to see double digit growth over the next few years.
The auto maker is on a rough road with demand for both CVs and cars sluggish. With sales of commercial vehicles having barely grown and passenger car volumes dipping in FY08, the street was not expecting much from India's biggest automobile company.
Organised retailers in India today are caught in a bit of a bind: on the one hand, they're raring to roll out new stores so that they can grab space and market share. But, on the other, lease rentals are prohibitive and footfalls don't seem to be getting converted into the kind of buying many thought they would. It's not easy anymore.
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