A piece of slightly negative news can cause a serious setback, warns Debashis Basu.
The country's current account deficit is likely to hit a three-year high of 1.8 per cent or $43.81 billion in FY22, as against a surplus of 0.9 per cent or $23.91 billion in FY21, a report said on Thursday. According to an assessment by India Ratings, the Current Account Deficit (CAD) has moderated to $17.3 billion or 1.96 per cent of GDP in the fourth quarter of FY22 as against $8.2 billion or 1.03 per cent in the year-ago period, and massively down from $23.02 billion or 2.74 per cent in Q3, which was a 13-quarter high. The improvement in the key numbers are due to the remarkable improvement in merchandise exports in FY22, when it grew 42.4 per cent as against a negative 7.5 per cent in the pandemic-hit FY121.
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.
Beauty and Personal Care (BPC) e-retailer Honasa Consumer's initial public offering (IPO) has failed to find backing from analysts due to the company's weak financial track record and expensive valuation. T Manish, research analyst at Samco Securities suggests avoiding the IPO as the company's financial performance does not inspire confidence. "The profit has been inconsistent and advertising and marketing expenses are incredibly high at around 40 per cent of the revenues.
It is 10 years since Bandhan Financial Services became the first microfinance institution (MFI) to receive the universal bank licence. A year later, in 2015, it started operations. Bandhan's entry into banking was seen as a vote of confidence by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the country's microfinance sector. Subsequently, the RBI awarded small finance bank licences to nine MFIs.
Pakistan's current account deficit (CAD) increased to a 4-year high of $17.4 billion in the fiscal year of 2021-22, indicating more troubles for the ailing economy of the cash-strapped country. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday reported that the country recorded a CAD of $17.406 billion in FY22 compared to a gap of just $2.82 billion in FY21. According to Dawn newspaper, the massive CAD speaks a lot about the severe problem of the balance of payments.
The Reserve Bank on Friday superseded the board of the city-based Abhyudaya Cooperative Bank on concerns emanating from "poor governance" and appointed an administrator to manage the affairs of the lender. In what can be seen as a step that should allay depositors' concerns, the central bank did not put any restrictions or moratorium on deposit withdrawals because of the comfort it gets on the bank's finances, according to people in the know. "(The) action is necessitated due to certain material concerns emanating from poor governance standards observed in the bank.
Earnings growth, attractive valuations and change in FPI flows from negative to positive over the next 12 months are some of the key triggers for an upside. "A poor monsoon, high inflation and further rate hike are some of the key risks
While Emami is still struggling to push growth, given weak rural demand, the sale of the group's stake in AMRI Hospitals should ease investor concerns about stake pledges by promoters. It has also carried a series of stake acquisitions which should enable the expansion of its brand portfolio. The Q2 results are likely to see flat volumes and low revenue growth alongside some gross margin expansion.
The Union government's revenue from securities transaction tax (STT) is on track to exceed its Budget projection for the current fiscal year, with the mop-up already surpassing 50 per cent of the annual estimate. Provisional figures reveal that the Centre has collected approximately Rs 14,000 crore in the first half of this fiscal year up to September, according to a government official. This amount exceeds half of the full-year target of Rs 27,625 crore set for FY24.
A likely easing in inflationary pressures in the forthcoming months will reopen the window for the RBI to once again prioritise growth and ease its interest rates.
Trouble started brewing after Cognizant announced that Ravi Kumar, former Infosys president, would take over as the Nasdaq-listed company's CEO.
This is the first Budget in Amrit Kaal, she said.
'We are expected to grow at above 28 per cent this year, higher than the industry.'
The cement industry continues to present a puzzle to investors.
The past 18 months have seen a resurgence in the real estate industry, with developers regaining the ground lost to the Covid-19 pandemic. But it is once again adding inventory at a pace faster than sales. The industry's inventory rose by 28 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in H1FY24, com-pared to a 25.5 per cent year-on-year increase in net sales during the same period.
Logistics services provider Delhivery is likely to launch its downsized initial public offering (IPO) this week, said people in the know. The Softbank-backed firm may trim its issue size from Rs 7,460 crore to Rs 5,500 crore to align with the volatile market conditions, sources said. Sources added the fresh issue component of the IPO could be reduced to Rs 4,500 crore and the OFS component to Rs 1,000 crore.
Many CEOs said they plan to give special leave to women employees so as to encourage their participation in the workforce.
'Now that we are a pure-play India business, many investors are open to investing.'
Private equity (PE) investment in real estate declined 5 per cent year-on-year in April-June to $1.9 billion because of high interest rates, according to Anarock. PE inflows stood at $2 billion in the year-ago period. Real estate consultant Anarock has come out with a report titled 'FLUX Q1 FY24 Market Monitor for Capital Flows in Indian Real Estate'.
Kaizad Bharucha, executive director of HDFC Bank, emerged the highest earning banker for 2021-22 (FY22). This was revealed in a remuneration assessment of the country's top bankers, according to annual reports. Bharucha, who oversees wholesale banking at HDFC Bank, received Rs 10.64 crore remuneration in FY22, mainly due to Rs 4.46 crore as performance bonus. Although earned between 2017-18 and 2020-21 (FY21), the bonus payout was partly paid in FY22.
Edtech major Byju's founders Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath are planning to increase their stake in the company to about 40 per cent and have initiated discussion with investors, sources aware of the development said on Wednesday. The founders jointly hold around 25 per cent stake in the company at present. "There is an intention of Byju's founders to double their stake in the company.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its partners, such as Russia, collectively termed Opec+, have decided to cut crude oil production by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from October onwards, at a meeting on Monday. In a step that may increase prices in India, the group has decided to reduce output quotas for October, after a fall in global oil demand outlook. The cut in output is equal to 0.1 per cent of global supply.
Together with its share buyback worth Rs 16,000 crore completed in January this year, TCS shareholders will receive a record Rs 30,250 crore from their company in FY21.
Households may be feeling the pinch of higher inflation but corporate India is enjoying record high margins and profits. The combined quarterly net profit of listed companies scaled a new high in the April-June 2023 quarter owing to a sharp rise in operating and net profit. The expansion in margins more than compensated for the slowdown in revenue growth, which slipped into single digits in Q1FY24 after a gap of nine quarters.
The earnings are, however, expected to be down around 2 per cent on a sequential basis due to pent-up demand getting exhausted and the adverse impact of rising metals and energy prices on consumer goods and manufacturing companies.
Byju's is planning to raise $500-600 million from Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds and existing investors, according to sources, as the start-up world is facing a funding freeze. The educational technology (edtech) giant targets profitability by March next year. "There is no change in Byju's valuation. The new fundraising process is still going on," said a person familiar with the matter. "Any new valuation would be determined in the futureByju's is planning to raise $500-600 million from Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds and existing investors, according to sources, as the start-up world is facing a funding freeze. The educational technology (edtech) giant targets profitability by March next year. "There is no change in Byju's valuation. The new fundraising process is still going on," said a person familiar with the matter. "Any new valuation would be determined in the future as it is very tough for investors to do that in this environment." as it is very tough for investors to do that in this environment."
Out of all the reported digital payment frauds in India, over half (55 per cent) were United Payments Interface (UPI)-related, a new report released on Tuesday revealed. Another 18 per cent are card related, 12 per cent are related to internet banking and nine per cent are from phishing calls. Most of the UPI-related frauds, however, have a low ticket size.
The stellar rise in corporate earnings in financial year 2021-22 (FY21) and FY22 did not result in a corresponding boom in capital expenditure (capex), with listed companies' investment in fixed assets rising just 2.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in FY22, growing at the slowest pace in the last six years. In comparison, the firms' combined net profit jumped 63.5 per cent YoY in FY22, while net sales increased 31.1 per cent - the fastest pace in over a decade. The 955 non-financial companies in Business Standard's sample reported combined net profit of Rs 7.18 trillion in FY22, compared with Rs 4.39 trillion in FY21 and Rs 2.59 trillion in FY20.
Byju's, India's most-valued startup, has decided to put two of its key assets -- Epic and Great Learning -- on the block to generate $800 million-$1 billion in cash, with an aim to meet the edtech firm's various commitments, including repaying the entire $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) within six months, according to sources. The cash-strapped company has proposed repaying $300 million of the $1.2 billion loan in the next three months, depending on whether the lenders accept Byju's amendment proposal, said the people familiar with the development. "This loan repayment proposal has been submitted to the lenders and conversations are going in the right direction," said a person in the know.
TVS Motor Company has been one of the best-performing two-wheeler stocks in the current financial year (FY24), enriching investors with gains of 24 per cent. Among listed two-wheeler stocks, only Hero MotoCorp has done better in this period. New launches, market share gains, steady margins and expectations that its performance will continue in FY24 are expected to support TVS Motor's stock.
Earnings growth in the early-bird sample has been driven by banks and iron & steel companies.
Top companies have grabbed a bigger pie of their sectors in the pandemic period, leading to a further rise in market concentration in many industries as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). The HHI score, which indicates competitive intensity in an industry (or a lack of it), reached a new high in FY21 as bigger firms raised their revenue market shares either organically or through mergers and acquisitions. A higher HHI score indicates a rise in market concentration in favour of a few firms while a lower score means that the industry's revenue is more evenly divided among many companies
Starting with the third quarter of financial year 2020-21 (Q3FY21), we have seen "unlock" trades at various times. Whenever lockdowns have been eased, traders have taken long positions in consumer-facing businesses. Let's look at the logic. Since March 2020, sectors like retail, personal vehicles, hospitality, aviation, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), multiplexes, etc., have been under severe pressure. As a result, there's been a low base effect. Every company in these spaces has suffered top line contraction. Many suffered losses, especially in the first half of FY21.
Maruti Suzuki says it has sold at least one car in 418,000 villages.
Corporate India is more dependent than before on exporters of IT services such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and Wipro for earning foreign exchange. Such companies account for nearly 43 per cent of the forex revenues of listed firms, up from 22 per cent a decade ago. The listed IT services companies earned nearly Rs 4.2 trillion through exports in FY22, up 15 per cent from the Rs 3.65 trillion a year earlier. In comparison, the forex revenues or exports of the rest of the BSE500 companies were down 11.9 per cent to Rs 5.6 trillion last financial year.
Overall, Tata Steel becomes the seventh non-financial firm, including four oil PSUs to report quarterly revenues of Rs 50,000 crore.
The combined net sales of 42 listed construction and capital goods companies that have declared their third-quarter results so far were down 2.3 per cent year-on-year in Q3FY21 while core operating profit was up just 4.9 per cent YoY during the quarter.
The duo bought additional shares in pharmaceutical companies Lupin and Jubilant Life Sciences, along with Agro Tech Foods and NCC during Q2FY21
Overlooked yet capable candidates will now have the opportunity to apply for TCS open requirements.
