IT services firms' revenue growth in the fourth quarter will be affected by macro-driven headwinds, lower working-days, and the fact of the three-month period being low season. Analysts are expecting FY24 growth to be muted. Revenue growth will decline 600-700 basis points to 10-12 per cent for FY24, said a CRISIL Ratings report. The 10-12 per cent growth rate is a fall from the 18-20 per cent expected in FY23 and around 19 per cent growth in FY22, the highest in eight years, said the CRISIL Ratings report.
Despite markets turning volatile, share sale activity at India Inc has surged to its highest level in five months. So far in March, promoters, strategic investors and other large shareholders have been able to offload shares worth more than Rs 33,000 crore-the most since November-defying uncertain market conditions. Both the Sensex and the Nifty are on course to post their fourth straight monthly loss amid headwinds, such as interest rate tightening by the US Federal Reserve and the global banking crisis.
The filing of offer documents with the capital markets regulator - Securities and Exchange Board of India - has more than halved this financial year (2022-23, or FY23) as the outlook for new share sales has worsened, following correction in the secondary market. So far in FY23, 66 companies filed their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), as opposed to 144 in the preceding financial year (2021-22, or FY22).
Fintech and venture capital firms such as Recur Club, Razorpay and Trifecta Capital have come to the aid of homegrown start-ups caught in the crossfire of the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco. Alternative funding platform Recur Club said it was allocating $15 million to all Indian founders affected by the crisis. It will not charge any platform fee for the same.
"Humble", "kind", and "spiritual" are some adjectives used to describe K Krithivasan, chief executive officer designate and global head of banking, financial services, and insurance business, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), where he is an old stager. Krithivasan, based out of Chennai, has been part of the global technology sector for over 34 years. He joined TCS in 1989. During his long tenure at the company, he has held leadership roles in delivery, customer relationship management, large programme management, and sales.
Heightened volatility and lacklustre returns continue to make a dent in retail participation in the equities cash market segment. The percentage of retail participation in the average daily turnover in the National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) cash segment has come down to 40.8 per cent in February 2023, from 52 per cent a year ago. At the peak, retail investors accounted for nearly two-thirds of cash market volumes in July 2020.
Financial services and consumer durable companies accounted for most of the selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in the last fortnight of February. FPIs sold finance stocks worth Rs 2,263 crore and consumer durable stocks worth Rs 1,111 crore, according to data collated by Prime Infobase. Information technology (selling worth Rs 708 crore), metals and mining (Rs 694 crore), and power (Rs 497 crore) were the other sectors where overseas funds sold shares.
'The skilling gap is a serious issue.' 'We partner with the government on skilling, but as a company we have several skilling programmes, and we work closely with the partner ecosystem.
N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, blamed the venture capitalist community for inculcating a culture among entrepreneurs to chase growth at all costs. He said the VC model of investment looked like a ponzi scheme. "I would hold venture capitalists responsible who propounded the theory that only the top-line is important and not the bottom-line. "I think that is completely wrong. In many ways it looks like a ponzi scheme.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) proposal to re-introduce "hard underwriting" is seen as step to boost India's moribund initial public offering (IPO) markets. The regulator has proposed that in case an IPO fails to garner full subscription, the investment banker or a third-party can buy the unsubscribed shares. This practice was common during fixed-price issues prior to 1999. However, under the new book building regime, underwriting is allowed only to the extent of shortfall due to technical rejection of bids - this is referred to as "soft underwriting" and is rarely invoked.
There seems to be no respite for Adani Group companies from the market carnage. All 10 stocks belonging to the conglomerate came under a fresh bout of intense selling pressure on Wednesday as the group's debt levels and repayment capabilities continued to plague investors. Analysts said investors are also concerned about whether the group will be able to maintain its pace of growth, given the current turmoil that has wiped out over Rs 12 trillion in market capitalisation (m-cap) since the start of the year.
Information technology major Wipro has asked candidates who have successfully completed their training and who were offered Rs 6.5 lakh per annum earlier whether they would be willing to take up projects for an annual compensation of Rs 3.5 lakh. Wipro told Business Standard that it had to adjust its onboarding plans "in the light of the changing macro environment and, as a result, our business needs". "Like others in our industry, we continue to assess global economies and customer needs, which factor in our hiring plans.
Industry players said IT hiring was not as strong as it was in 2022. One reason is the high bench IT firms have due to earlier hiring.
78% Indians were unable to tell the difference between a love letter written by ChatGPT and one by a human being.
The rout in Adani Group stocks after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research released a report on January 24 has sparked a rebound in trading activity this month. The average daily trading volume (ADTV) for the cash segment (both NSE and BSE combined) so far in February stands at Rs 59,346 crore, and is around 15 per cent more than the previous month's tally of Rs 51,844 crore, which was the lowest in six months. The ADTV for the futures and options (F&O) segment rose to a record Rs 204 trillion (notional turnover) against Rs 202 trillion in January.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed Uber to apply for a licence within three weeks to operate in Maharashtra, stressing that cab aggregators cannot function without one. A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud said that an earlier interim order by the Supreme Court that had allowed Uber to operate in the state would not provide legal cover, since an aggregator cannot operate without a licence. It ordered Uber to apply for a licence by March 6, said a report by Bar and Bench.
'Winning a deal is one aspect, making sure that we are able to execute it profitably is also important' says Rajesh Nambiar.
Manisha Sharma (name changed) was always among the high achievers in her company. She was recognised and rewarded for those efforts as well. Mid-December 2022, however, she received a jolt: an email informing her that she had been laid off - along with several of her colleagues. Sharma worked for a big tech firm, which had decided to downsize. And just like that, she was asked to go. "It did come as a shock," she says. "I did not take calls for the first two days, but then realised there is no point in beating oneself up for a situation that's not in your hand. "I thought let this be an opportunity to take a break. I'll now start looking for a job," she adds.
Reminiscent of the past two years, the market has made positive strides ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24 (FY24). The benchmark National Stock Exchange Nifty has gained 1.8 per cent in the last month. Typically, markets tend to gain ahead of the Budget as investors build in optimism.
SoftBank-backed Inmobi has fired about 50-70 people on performance metrics. According to a source, the employees impacted are from Inmobi and the firm's lock screen-based content provider Glance. This comes even as the company announced that it will skip increments for CY23 and also undertake recruitment only when required. The Inmobi group has a total headcount of 2,600.