The headline for corporate profit growth has been very encouraging in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), with the combined net profit of listed companies up by 38 per cent year-on-year. However, the earnings distribution has been very lopsided, with most of the growth coming from public-sector oil-marketing companies (OMCs), banks, non-bank lenders, automobile (auto) companies, and cement producers. By comparison, companies from information technology services, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and consumer durables were disappointed, experiencing a sharp slowdown in net sales growth and a relatively muted increase in reported net profit.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam coordinator O Panneerselvam on Wednesday appeared to have resigned himself to the fact that the odds are stacked against him and his followers, ahead of the June 23 party meeting which is expected to take up the sole leadership question.
Jayalalithaa was the third chief minister in Tamil Nadu to die in office, after her mentor M G Ramachandran (1987) and before that his mentor C N Annadurai (1969). The state government should have evolved protocols for the medical care of the incumbent, and institutional memory should have guided the government and officials in the matter, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
Excerpted from Sahara: The Untold Story by Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Shares of ICICI Bank may outperform those of HDFC Bank in the near-term, analysts said recently, after the Sandeep Bakhshi-led private sector lender reported a strong set of numbers for the July to September quarter (Q2) of financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The result, they said, reiterated that ICICI Bank is maintaining a sustainable and prudent growth led by tech-driven initiatives as against HDFC Bank, which is facing merger related challenges. According to analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher, ICICI Bank is valued at par with HDFC Bank at 2.2x/1.9x on FY25/26E core adjusted book value (ABV) basis.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday appeared to be warming up to the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that "a new chapter has to begin to control looters" as he targeted the Congress government alleging corruption.
Markets watchdog Sebi has disposed of adjudication proceedings without imposing any penalty on Reliance Industries Ltd in a matter related to alleged incorrect disclosure of diluted earnings per share in its financial results more than 13 years ago. Sebi decided not to impose any penalty for the alleged violations mainly on two grounds, including that the amendment to the relevant law that made incorrect disclosure of information by a listed company punishable came into force prospectively from March 2019. Besides, the regulator mentioned about its pending appeal before the Supreme Court against a Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) order.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
The markets have given a thumbs down to Jubilant FoodWorks results for the April-June quarter (Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24). The company, which owns and operates Domino's Pizza and Popeyes chain of stores, reported a (standalone) net profit of Rs 75.2 crore in Q1 of FY24 - a drop of 25.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from Rs 101 crore, but a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) rise from Rs 47.5 crore. What's worrying the Street is the likelihood of a dismal Q2FY24 performance, which it feels will be marred by soaring milk, cheese and vegetable prices.
The AIADMK is convinced that the BJP will remain an electoral burden for a long time to come, beginning the Lok Sabha polls next year, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
Raveendranath, the party's Lok Sabha member from Theni constituency and Jeyapradeep, both sons of Panneerselvam and a former Minister, Vellamandi N Natarajan were expelled.
One of the lawyers representing the two Youth Congress workers confirmed that the court of judicial first class magistrate in Thiruvananthapuram directed the Valiyathura police to register an FIR.
In a disciplinary action, three other functionaries, also belonging to Theni party district like Raja were dismissed.
'You have to fight your own battles and I fought mine.'
Soon after the HC greenflag on Monday, the AIADMK Executive Council meet went underway at a wedding hall, while the General Council set to follow.
The 55 basis point (bps) spike in the US 10-year bond yield, triggered by a combination of FOMC's hawkish commentary and BOJ's relaxation of the yield control curve (YCC) has made analysts cautious on Asian equities and expect them to trade sideways in the short-to-medium term.
'OPS is the first person in history to ransack his own party office.'
The twin announcements have virutally cleared the decks for the merger of the two factions.
BofA Securities has revised its year-end Nifty target from its earlier projection of 16,000 to 14,500 now - down over 6 per cent from the current levels. Fast tightening monetary conditions, slowing growth/fears of US recession and the likely Nifty EPS (earnings per share) cuts, BofA Securities said, are the key headwinds for the markets in the near-term. However, clarity on macro and monetary policy outlook in the US/India, it said, is the silver lining that could see markets bottom out by August/September 2022.
A court of chief judicial magistrate granted the police 60 days to carry out the probe and directed it to provide progress reports every three weeks, public prosecutor K Balachandra Menon said.
The AIADMK's staying power is not in question, but it has to regain the winning streak. That will require its leaders and leadership to re-wire themselves, to be able to re-think situations in ways different from what they had been accustomed to, suggests Sathiya Moorthy.
With the unanticipated floods across Tamil Nadu catching the unprepared administration unawares, Stalin finds that some of the early positives that had rubbed on his initiatives have been lost, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The AIADMK gets votes from all sections of the minorities.' 'By aligning with the BJP the AIADMK stands to lose that vote'
Aseem Chhabra rates the movies he's watched in 2023, and tells you where you can watch them!
'As China's reopening euphoria fizzled out on the back of some disappointing economic data, we saw inflows coming back to India with full force in the past 3-4 months.'
'Tamil Nadu presents a challenge to the BJP and its politics.' 'DMK is making all efforts to resist the BJP.'
'He has to listen to his body and his mind and he decided to leave politics.'
State Bank of India's earnings growth may turn lacklustre in the near-term, warn analysts. This, they said, could be due to margin compression and likely lower fee income over the next one year. "While the cost of deposits is repricing sharply across the system, there will be relatively lower yield expansion going ahead as most of the back-book has been repriced and there is a high competitive pressure on yields.
Sources in the military establishment also said the present global scenario "necessitates a flexible and adaptive approach" to tackle defence and national security challenges.
'Like all long-term bull markets, the Indian stock market will continue to climb the proverbial wall of worry.'
The bickering between allies All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu over late Dravidian stalwart C N Annadurai peaked on Monday with the regional party snapping ties with the saffron organisation, saying it cannot tolerate any affront to the late chief minister and its other leaders.
A total of 16 resolutions were passed in the crucial All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general council meeting held in Chennai on Monday in which Edappadi K Palaniswami was appointed as the party's interim general secretary and O Paneerselvam was expelled for "anti-party" activities.
Even as the grand old party seeks to promote opposition unity ahead of the hustings next year, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, however, would be conspicuous by her absence at the event at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
With the merger between HDFC Bank and HDFC Ltd complete, analysts said the next key monitorable for the Street would be successful resolution of merger-related hiccups, including employee-related churn and roll out of complete banking services across branches. At the bourses, they expect the stock to perform in-line with the benchmark indices in the near-term. "There's usually an initial period of consolidation after a merger as the entities work towards integration.
The recent sell-off in IT stocks such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has resulted in a sharp decline in the IT sector weighting in the Nifty50 index. The sector's weighting in the index has slipped to a five-year low of 12.2 per cent, down from the 17.7 per cent at the end of March 2022. The top IT companies - TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Tech Mahindra - accounted for 13.6 per cent of the index at the end of March this year.
He appealed to Kerala to extend cooperation to store full water in the Mullaiperiyar dam.
'My wife, family members as well as members of the workers will be trustees.' 'The trust will take all decisions -- no family member can individually take any decision.'
On the face of it, the first round has gone to Edappadi K Palaniswami. Not only has he been named chief ministerial candidate, that too by his one-time bete noire Panneerselvam, he also gets one member more in the steering committee than OPS. He can now hope to wean away one or more members of the OPS team in the steering committee just as he had done with other leaders in the latter's camp, post-reunification. That was also OPS's concern, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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