Weighed down by the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business, Reliance Industries (RIL) results for the April-June quarter (Q1) of 2024-25 (FY25) missed Street estimates. A 14 per cent fall in the O2C segment's operating profit compared to the year-ago quarter and a 22 per cent sequential decline pulled down the consolidated performance. The O2C segment accounts for a third of the overall operating profit and about 60 per cent of the attributable consolidated profit.
As milk prices rise, analysts have an optimistic view on dairy stocks such as Heritage Foods and Dodla Dairy, hoping the companies' margins will grow in the near to medium term. From a long-term perspective, they believe that a growing population, increasing disposable income and health consciousness will strengthen dairy consumption in India.
Tata Power saw a big sell-off, with the stock falling almost 8 per cent after declaring disappointing results for the October-December quarter (Q3) of 2023-24 (FY24) on Friday evening. The company reported net consolidated revenue of Rs 14,650 crore, up 4.4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) of Rs 2,607 crore, up 2 per cent Y-o-Y, in the quarter, led by higher sales across Odisha distribution companies (discoms) and capacity addition in renewables. This was well below consensus estimates.
Two-wheeler exports from India have decreased by 20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 1.69 million units in the first half (H1) of 2023-24 (FY24) due to a challenging geopolitical situation and foreign exchange (forex) crises in key markets such as South Asia, industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said on Monday. On the other hand, passenger vehicle (PV) exports in H1FY24 increased by 5 per cent to 336,754 units because the key markets are much more diversified worldwide, Vinod Aggarwal, president, Siam, told reporters during a press conference. The Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February 2022, has brought significant instability to global fuel prices.
Following in Apple's footsteps, Alphabet - Google's parent company - is in advanced talks with Foxconn to manufacture Pixel smartphones in Tamil Nadu, an industrial state which will also double up as drone-manufacturing hub for the US tech giant soon. According to a state government release, officials from Google will soon visit Chennai to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to hold discussion on manufacturing of Google Pixel near Chennai.
Discount retailer DMart (Avenue Supermarts) hit its highest levels in a year and a half last week and is up over 11 per cent in the last one month. The company depends on low operating costs to offer the lowest prices to consumers, which enables sales velocity and scale, further reducing costs. This virtuous feedback loop has helped DMart gain market share in a sector dominated by unorganised stores.
'There has been a huge shift. Consumer needs and requirements have changed, and differ from city to city.'
'As on August 25, 94,753 Govindas have been insured.' 'This number is expected to rise further, as proposals for 5,000 to 8,000 Govindas are received daily.'
Shares of Avenue Supermarts, which owns and operates the DMart stores, hit a two-year high of Rs 4,710.15 as they surged nearly 6 per cent on the BSE in Thursday's (April 4) intraday trade after reporting strong revenue growth in the January-March quarter (Q4) of the previous financial year (FY24). DMart, in the Q4FY24 pre-quarter update, said the company reported 20 per cent growth in standalone revenue from operations at Rs 12,393 crore, as against Rs 10,337 crore in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022-23 (FY23), driven by a 7 per cent growth in revenue per store and a robust 13 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in store additions. In Q3 of 2021-22, the company reported revenue of Rs 8,606 crore and in Q3 of 2020-21, it posted revenue of Rs 7,303 crore.
Despite the robust growth in this country, Apple's India share in its overall global sales remained modest -- constituting 1.5 per cent of its overall turnover of $389 billion in FY23.
Crude and gas supply concerns have eased amid reports that Israel and Hamas have struck a peace deal. The International Energy Agency estimates oil demand may drop slightly in calendar 24 but Opec probably has enough pricing power to maintain $80/ barrel Brent prices. Russia's share of India's crude imports remained strong at about 35 per cent in September 2023.
Defence exports grew 33 per cent in the calendar year 2023 (CY23) to around Rs 21,083 crore while domestic defence orders serviced by listed companies were Rs 48,000 crore. The sector is poised for steady growth. Budgeted domestic capex is likely to hit Rs 3 trillion per annum, and exports could reach $6 billion by FY29.
Dr Nagesh Kumar, one of the three new MPC members, wanted the MPC to reduce the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%.
Many individual states experienced higher inflation than the all-India figures during the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Retail inflation figures in Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have been higher than national numbers every month of this financial year, shows a Business Standard analysis of state-wise figures, after the March inflation data was released on Friday. Experts noted that persistent high food inflation along with differences in the weights of rural and urban indices plays into the regional variation in inflation rates.
Partha Pratim Sengupta, who will be taking charge as the MD & CEO of Bandhan Bank in early November, has his task cut out. The Kolkata-based lender, which converted itself from a microfinance institution to a universal bank, is in its 10th year of operation. The bank was able to cut down the share of the micro loan book over these years.
ITC, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies and IndusInd Bank were the other big laggards. NTPC, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the gainers.
India's corporate sector is likely to report a slowdown in revenue growth and earnings for the July-September 2023 period (Q2FY24), according to earnings estimates by brokerages, after the country's top listed companies posted higher than expected profits for the first quarter. The combined net profit of Nifty50 companies, based on brokerage estimates, is expected to have grown by 19.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 1.75 trillion in Q2FY24 - a sharp deceleration from 37.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth in the combined earnings of index companies in the April-June 2023 period. According to estimates, the combined earnings in the second quarter would be down 8.8 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis and the lowest in the past three quarters.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday reported a 5 per cent fall in the net profit for the July-September quarter, as weak oil refining and petrochemical business hurt operational performance.
Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani on Thursday said his oil-to-telecom-and-retail conglomerate is not seeking short-term profit but is in the business of creating wealth for the nation. Speaking at the company's annual shareholder meeting, he said all businesses of Reliance Industries Ltd continue to be key drivers of the Indian economy and have become a success story. "We are not in the business of pursuing short-term profit and hoarding wealth. "We are in the business of creating wealth for India," he said.
Reliance Industries Ltd invested over $125 billion in the last ten years as it undertook massive expansion in hydrocarbon and telecom businesses, a report said, estimating that the conglomerate's investments in the next three years would be in relatively less capex-heavy retail and upstream new energy. Reliance is coming out of a series of long and intensive capex cycles (hydrocarbons and telecom).
A year after a Hamas attack against Israel on October 7 and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, India's trade with most West Asian countries has largely escaped any major disruption, except with countries like Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. However, repeated flare-ups of geopolitical tensions in the region continue to drive up shipping and logistics costs.
What is digital house arrest? It is a tactic cybercriminals use to confine victims to their homes and scam them, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Grasim Industries has announced a rights issue of around Rs 4,000 crore with the promoters committed to fully subscribing to their entitlements and to covering any unsubscribed portion. This is to part-fund capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 10,000 crore in a new foray into the paints business. The company has already invested Rs 3,640 crore in the paints business (by Q1FY24). The management has outlined a capex of Rs 5,700 crore for FY24, which includes Rs 4,280 crore allocated for the paints business, of which Rs 1,050 crore has already been spent in Q1FY24.
Textiles and fabric manufacturer Raymond Ltd on Thursday said its shareholders have approved the reappointment of Gautam Hari Singhania as chairman & managing director for a term of five years effective from July 1, 2024, along with his proposed remuneration. "The shareholders of the company at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) held today (June 27) have approved the re-appointment of Singhania. "The AGM commenced at 3 pm and concluded at 4:05 pm," Raymond Ltd said in a regulatory filing.
The first quarter results (Q1FY25) of Indian IT services hint towards better fiscal growth than the preceding year, but as the management commentary said, "there is still some time for the industry to be firing on all cylinders." Among the majors-Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro-it is the Bengaluru-based Infosys that has performed better, which was also evident in its full-year revenue guidance.
Bharat Forge, the Pune-based automotive component maker, has been one of the top-performing companies in its segment. The company's stock price is up 39.3 per cent since the beginning of the 2023 calendar year, surpassing other leading automotive component makers such as Bosch and Samvardhana Motherson International. The stock also outperformed the benchmark BSE Sensex, which is up 17.3 per cent year to date so far.
From its highs over the past month, the stock of Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Healthcare fell 7 per cent before recovering this week. The stock has been an underperformer over the last year and has traded flat over this period.
The combined net profit of "early bird" companies, those that have declared their quarterly results, rose for the third consecutive quarter in July-September 2023 (Q2FY24). But the figures suggest a continued slowdown in revenue growth and stagnation in earnings over recent quarters. This slowdown is severe for companies in the manufacturing and non-financial service sectors.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has made the most of the stock market boom by reducing stakes in all its top conglomerates during the financial year 2023-2024 (FY24). However, even after reducing exposure, the value of its remaining stake has gone up substantially across all groups, according to data collated from stock exchange filings.
Coal India looks set to achieve its 2024-25 (FY25) production targets. If it can achieve its aim of ramping up Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) and e-auction volumes, along with cost-saving, evacuation and infrastructure-improvement projects, the company could maintain its momentum as a critical infrastructure and core industry performer. Analysts estimate e-auction volumes of 108 million tonnes (MT) in FY25 and 120 MT for FY26, which is encouraging given the premium of e-auction prices which are consistently over 50 per cent higher than FSA.
A 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in budget allocation towards the roads sector for FY24 has led to renewed interest among investors. However, a combination of escalating costs for Bharatmala and unseasonal rains to some extent have impacted progress. Bharatmala's cost has nearly doubled from Rs 5.35 trillion to Rs 10.6 trillion and the finance ministry has asked MoRTH to go slow until Cabinet approval is received.
The growth in personal loans for fintech major Paytm may remain muted in the future and not replicate a three-digit year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth that it recorded in the previous years, a person familiar with the matter said. Sources said the personal loans book may grow in the range of 30 to 40 per cent Y-o-Y on its current base. On a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis, the number of personal loans the Noida-based fintech company disbursed has dropped 20 per cent from 0.3 million in the first quarter of this financial year (Q1FY24) to 0.24 million in Q2FY24, according to regulatory filings.
Companies in the banking, finance sector and insurance (BFSI) sector have underperformed on the bourses despite leading the earnings growth charts in the post-pandemic period. This has created a dichotomy between their earnings and share prices. BFSI companies have never been less expensive than the rest of the equity market.
On the exports front, Bajaj is under pressure in Bangladesh and Africa. On the domestic front, it could ride improvement in rural demand and new launches but it also has to cope with competitive intensity and a high base. The management projects 7-8 per cent volume growth in domestic 2W in financial year 2025 (FY25) with moderation in H2FY25 due to a high base Y-o-Y.
The spike in volatility, amid election uncertainty, has done little to dent the confidence of retail investors, shows demat account addition and equity mutual fund (MF) investment data. In May, investors opened a net 3.6 million demat accounts, taking the total to 158 million. MF data released on Monday pegged the net inflows into equity schemes and SIP investments at new record highs of Rs 34,697 crore and Rs 20,904 crore, respectively.
The number of dematerialised (demat) accounts - required to hold shares and other securities in electronics format - crossed the 150-million mark for the first time in March. In March, 3.12 million new demat accounts were added despite a spike in market volatility, taking the total count to 151.4 million. The milestone has come 19 months after the total number of demat accounts hit the 100-million mark, a sign that more domestic households are taking to direct equity investing.
Kajaria Ceramics, the country's leading listed tile manufacturer, has seen its stock fall by 7 per cent over the past month amid concerns about rising input costs and sluggish domestic demand. Other listed stocks also experienced weakness in September, although there was some recovery in October. While strong exports are expected to help stabilise domestic market prices, the surge in gas prices over the past couple of months may have impacted margins in the second half of FY24.
In previews of Q2FY25 and beyond, industry analysts are expecting a turnaround for IT services. High teens earnings per share or EPS growth is expected for the next two-three financial years. The hopes are backed by deal wins of above $100 billion as at Q1FY25, up 16.6 per cent year-on-year ( Y-o-Y).
While SGBs are a sound investment, they aren't worth buying at any price. The interest income you earn from them will not justify paying a high premium.
The government is considering the option of handing over operations of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to BSNL through an agreement, instead of pursuing a merger route, a source privy to the development said. A final call on this is likely to be taken in a month's time. The source said the option of handing over debt-laden MTNL's operations to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) through an agreement is being looked into.
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