More than a year of Covid-19 has pushed most businesses into gloom but Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) managed to reduce its gross debt 25 per cent, enabling it to turn towards its next phase of capital expenditure that has come in the form of a Rs 75,000-crore plan for green energy and power storage. The company managed to stay afloat during the pandemic because of its large presence in the consumer-centric businesses of retail and telecommunication (see chart: "A new Reliance"). These two businesses constituted 45 per cent of its EBITDA during FY21 from 36 per cent in FY20.
The duo bought additional shares in pharmaceutical companies Lupin and Jubilant Life Sciences, along with Agro Tech Foods and NCC during Q2FY21
Bloomberg estimates revenue at Rs 25,328 crore, up 4.6per cent sequentially and EBITDA margin of 27.2per cent
Airtel CEO said, the 5G ecosystem is yet to develop in India and the prices are very high. Telecom companies including Vodafone Idea (VI) and Reliance Jio have also said that the current prices are exorbitant.
As the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic abates, India's automakers are hopeful of a quick recovery in sales volumes, led by better rural sentiment, low interest rates, improved availability of finance and a gradual uptick in business and economic activity. In fact, companies have started to ramp up production already, encouraged by high order books and the growing preference for private transport in both rural and urban areas as a means to avoid infections. In early April, the industry had been bullish as the sales trend for March showed that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic had been left behind. The total vehicle sales had grown by 77 per cent, albeit on a lower base, and for the past few months, sales had consistently touched 300,000 units per month.
The Aditya Birla group has slammed rating firm Moody's for placing Novelis, the group's aluminium products subsidiary, in line for a possible downgrade to default.
Unlike the race to buy airwaves by telecom companies, airports by infrastructure companies and city gas networks by energy companies, the race to develop super apps by consumer-facing companies in India has not brushed up against any regulatory issues. Officials at the ministry of electronics and information technology and at other regulators are happy they do not have to meddle in who among the Tata group, Reliance Industries Ltd, Flipkart or Paytm will manage to build an app that sweeps in customers. Unlike separate apps a customer uses on her mobile to order groceries, buy food or airline tickets or just make payments, a super app can perform all these functions.
Private hospitals, especially smaller standalone ones, are staring at a crisis that they were not prepared for. Analysts say larger corporate chains have to brace up for at least six months for business to return to normal.
After the hit of the pandemic, India Inc is now worried about the adverse impact of inflation and higher commodity prices on their revenues and margins. The inflation scare is the strongest among manufacturers of consumer goods such as automobiles, consumer durables, and fast-moving capital goods (FMCG). Companies across sectors fear they will not be able to pass on the hike in input costs to their consumers due to weak demand, which, in turn, would lead to a hit on margins and profitability in the forthcoming quarters.
The sale of fresh residential units (in square foot) by listed real estate companies has seen a downward trend in the first half of 2013-14.
Bharti'suarterly revenue run rate continues to be hover around the $1.2 billion mar
The haircare brand, acquired for Rs 330 crore, fetches HUL around Rs 400 cr of revenue annually.
The companies' combined net profit declined by 10.1 per cent y-o-y during June '19 quarter against 26.2 per cent y-o-y growth a year ago.
With two top exits and uncertainty on growth strategy, Jubilant is likely to remain under pressure
Overall, the credit profiles of players will be supported by healthy balance sheets and liquidity. Prudence in capital and development expenditure, efficient working-capital management, and recent equity raising will help sustain credit metrics in FY22.
FY16 saw the highest number of new product launches in a year from Maruti
Tata Steel delivered one of its best financial performances ever in the third quarter of the current financial year, and surpassed its deleveraging target of $1 billion. In an interview, Koushik Chatterjee, executive director and chief financial officer, Tata Steel, tells Ishita Ayan Dutt that the company will continue to focus on deleveraging but profitable and value-added growth will be equally important.
'You have to tear it all down if you want to build something new tomorrow.'
Lancashire County Cricket Club are aiming to win the hearts of Indian fans as they look to build on a record-breaking financial year despite the impending impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Signing Indian players would be an obvious route to popularity and although the IPL Twenty20 league has restricted Indian players from playing in T20 competitions abroad, players can still play in first-class cricket in England.
Tata Steel's domestic operations have been its cash cow.
It would be advisable to look to companies that reported attractive growth during the first quarter, says Mudar Patherya
Indian companies will have to repay overseas debt worth $7.5 billion in the June quarter.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara Technologies is all set to hit the primary market with its Rs 583-crore IPO on Wednesday. The diversified and online gaming firm's three-day issue will run through March 17-19 and will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS). While 5.29 million equity shares will be offloaded via OFS by some of the shareholders, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who owns 3.29 million shares or 11.51 per cent stake in the company as of September 30, 2020, has decided to hold on to his stake. The issue has a price band of Rs 1,100-1,101 and will be available in lots of 13 shares and multiples thereof.
The company, which has a subscriber base of 120 million, also plans to raise funds via a bonds issue. The company's impending 4G launch is also expected in the second half of the current financial year for which it would invest Rs 12,000 crore, partly through bonds.
All real estate developers may not be able to avail the benefit of Reserve Bank of India's one-time restructuring scheme as they might not meet the required financial ratios and have the necessary credit rating, HDFC vice chairman and CEO Keki Mistry said. He was speaking at a real estate and infrastructure investor summit organised by Naredco. "Restructuring may not necessarily help every developer because not too many will be able to meet the criteria laid down in terms of meeting the various ratios and getting credit ratings," Mistry said.
With the profitability of telecom operators declining due to "low tariffs and high costs", GSM industry body COAI Chairman Himanshu Kampania has said the mobile sector cannot sustain future investments with present low margins.
India-focused mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources reported 49 per cent growth in its core profits to $2.562 billion for the half year ended September 30, 2012, buoyed by earnings from subsidiary Cairn India.
The company will raise $1.8 billion for the under construction and contracted portfolio of 12 GW, which includes the country's first manufacturing-linked solar power plant of 8 GW.
The IPO will be sometime in the first half of next year.
A big chunk of RIL's fresh investments worth Rs 150,000 crore will go into refining, petrochemicals and exploration.
'The competition between the two is definitely going to be of great interest to the Indian market.'
Reliance reported record pre-tax profit from its retail and telecom businesses. The two now account for nearly 32 per cent of EBITDA, up from close to 25 per cent previously.
Analysts expect Colgate's overall volume growth to remain in single digits (around 5-6 per cent) for the next two years.
However, in its overall performance, the airline would show losses, the sources said, adding that though Air India was still suffering losses, its performance has improved and it has returned some of the loans taken from banks.
US will remain a growth driver, with launches & existing portfolios set to result in 15% growth for FY15.
If we work together with dedication, concentration and effort, we should be able to achieve our aspirational growth target of double-digits for a very long period of time, suggests K V Kamath.
Though Google's investment is minuscule and will not move the needle, it will attract other investors to the company and be a morale booster. Pursuing Vodafone Idea would potentially pit Google against Facebook and an increasingly dominant Jio.
Telcos have indicated that rates will have to be raised, as higher volumes alone will not suffice to meet the higher costs.
