The mood at the Hotel Investment Conference South Asia (HICSA), the annual hospitality industry conference was rather upbeat. But hotel brand operators and owners remain cautiously optimistic of the outlook and are living on a hope that a third wave of the pandemic doesn't become a reality. Having just survived the unprecedented zero revenue situation, the two day confrence organised by consulting firm Hotelivate, was dotted with anecdotes and best practices adopted by the hotels of all hues.
The stock of fast-moving consumer goods major Tata Consumer Products has been reaching new all-time highs on better-than-expected results for the July-September quarter (second quarter, or Q2), strong growth in the food business, and margin gains in the beverage/international business. Most brokerages are positive on the stock, given growth prospects, and believe that rich valuations are justified. The near-term trigger has been the robust operational performance in Q2.
'To the believers of crypto regulations, I have only one question to ask, how will you regulate it?'
'In the larger cities, we can see that 12%-20% of the population making use of the metros. I don't think it is happening in the smaller cities.'
Uncertainty looms over India's export outlook, with the new Covid-19 variant Omicron spreading rapidly across the country's key shipment destinations. With the US and parts of Europe witnessing more than 100,000 Covid-19 cases a day, exporters expect some disruption. However, there may not be an immediate decline in exports from India because the order books remain strong at least for the next few weeks, they said.
Competitors in the health and hygiene soap segment include Lifebuoy, Dettol and Santoor.
The government clarified that the majority of industrial establishments had reported nil production, and cautioned that the numbers should not be compared with those of previous months. "It is not appropriate to compare the IIP of April 2020 with that of earlier months, and users may like to observe the changes in the IIP in the following months," said the ministry of statistics & programme implementation.
The 6-member Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel, in its fifth bi-monthly review, kept the repo rate unchanged at 6 per cent and reverse repo at 5.75 per cent.
A 24-hour control room was set up in the neighbouring district of Wayanad following the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode
'Holding on to superstardom is far more difficult than the struggle to get there.'
'A cutback in hiring and compensation growth by IT companies will have a significant impact on consumer demand, especially in the urban sector of the economy.'
The Sahara group's problems continue, with rating agency CARE cutting its 'BBB' ranking for Sahara Hospitality Ltd's (SHL) long-term bank facility to 'BBB-', due to sub-optimal financial and operational performance.
Foreign brokerage HSBC said emergence of pleasing data and the likelihood of RBI holding its key rate on April 1, should not lead to believing that the rate tightening cycle is over.
The number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in August that involved private equity (PE) funds was the lowest in nearly three years. There were 26 such deals last month, according to data from tracker Refinitiv (part of London Stock Exchange Group). The last time monthly deal numbers were so low in recent times was January 2021 when Covid cases were picking up during the second wave of the pandemic.
United States President Barack Obama's job approval rating has dipped below the 60 per cent-mark for the first time as worried Americans doubted his handling of the recession-hit economy, the deficit and health care issues, a new opinion poll showed on Monday.
Rajan sees banks passing on the benefit of lower rates regime to customers.
The court also ordered that of the total fine amount imposed on the convicts, Rs 12 lakh will be paid to the victim's family.
It believes that RBI will continue with liquidity infusion through CRR cuts and open market operations. Rate cut may happen only in January
'When the right time is there, I will ask him. I know when he has to want to speak, he will. When he does, it'll be extraordinary because no one gives interviews better than Shah Rukh Khan.'
Retail inflation crossed the RBI's comfort level and rose to 5.21 per cent in December on increase in prices of food items.
With the gradual opening up of shops, hotels, restaurants and catering services with limited number of participants, milk consumption has improved by 5-10 per cent from the lowest level.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Planning for the transfer of assets to the next generation is an important aspect of financial and estate planning.'
Titan posted better than expected revenue growth in the March quarter of the financial year 2022-23 (Q4FY23), powered by strong demand trends in the jewellery and watch segment. Standalone jewellery sales for the firm were up 24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) on a slightly lower base and aided by like-to-like growth of 19 per cent. The company highlighted that new buyer growth was at 15 per cent while average ticket size was up 8 per cent.
Officials said in the evening that a six-metre section of a steel pipe had been inserted into the bored passage. Another section was being welded into it. The plan is to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes -- one after the other -- with the help of the giant drill till an escape passage is created for the workers stranded beyond the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel.
After Urjit Patel's appointment as RBI governor-designate, the bond market witnessed a sell-off, as it became evident that there won't be any significant change in stance
'Revision of the base year for both CPI and GDP are long overdue.' 'The basic data that went into the 2011-2012 series were mainly from surveys done in 2011 or earlier.' 'We have since seen the emergence of new sectors like platform-based work and online marketing.' 'The employment surveys and the consumption surveys need to reflect these adequately.'
Praggnanandhaa is on his own at the Azerbaijan capital of Baku as his personal coach RB Ramesh is away in another country.
Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 2 per cent compared to a build up rate of 4.56 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year. Inflation in food articles as a group rose to 11.08 per cent during the month as against 9.80 per cent in the previous month, mainly driven by exorbitantly high onion prices, the rates of which spiked by over 172 per cent from a year-ago. The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index was at 0.16 per cent in October.
If you are one among the millions of existing borrowers who are paying a higher interest rate compared to new borrowers of the same bank, make your shift now, before prepayment charges make it more expensive.
E-commerce major Amazon will host Prime Day - its annual sale event - in India on July 15-16. The company will launch over 45,000 products from over 400 Indian and global brands. The announcement of the Prime Day event in India comes at a time when 900 workers at Amazon UK plan to strike for three days (July 11-13).
IKF Finance Ltd said Credit Analysis and Research Ltd decided to retain 'CARE BBB' rating for its Rs 20 million non convertible debentures programme.
The report, however, said it remains watchful of the upside risks to inflation emanating from pass-through of minimum support prices (MSPs), adverse movement in crude oil prices, volatility in global financial markets, lagged impact of the rupee weakness on input prices, adverse implications from fiscal slippage and staggered impact of HRA increases by states and its second-round impact.
