Leading economists have pencilled in a high 13-15.7 per cent uptick in the economy in the first quarter of 2022-23 with an upward bias. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, the group chief economic adviser at State Bank of India, on Tuesday said he expects the GDP to clip past 15.7 per cent in the first quarter with more chances of the final numbers printing in higher, while Aditi Nayar, the chief economist at the rating agency Icra, said the economy will grow much lower at 13 per cent in the June quarter. The national statistical office will announce the first quarter GDP numbers later next week.
Hospitality and travel-tech firm OYO is looking to launch its initial public offer after September and has written to stock market regulator Sebi, seeking to file updated and restated consolidated financial information. The company, which had filed preliminary papers with Sebi to raise Rs 8,430 crore through an initial share sale in October last year, is now prepared to settle for a lower valuation of around $7-8 billion against the $11 billion it was targeting initially, according to people in the know of the development. OYO's move to launch the IPO after the September quarter is mainly driven by the expectation of improvement in its financial performance and the current volatile nature of the market, they said.
The brokerage believes the economic growth cycle is not fully priced in. It has revised upwards the earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Sensex.
Corporate India's credit quality showed a sharp improvement in the second half of FY22, but high input prices and withdrawal of pandemic-related relief measures can pose pressures in the new year, rating agencies said on Friday. Crisil Ratings, which rates a large number of financial sector entities, reported an improvement in the credit ratio -- the number of upgrades to downgrade -- to 5.04 times in the second half of this financial year, from the 2.96 per cent in the first half of the fiscal. It attributed the improvement to a sustained rebound in demand, which lifted revenues of most sectors to pre-pandemic levels and proactive relief measures by the government that cushioned the pandemic blow.
The government has budgeted for total expenditure of Rs 34.83 lakh crore or 6.8 per cent of GDP. While the net tax revenue rose from Rs 5,75,697 crore in October 2020 to Rs 10,53,135 crore till October 2021, a growth of 82.93 per cent annualized, total expenditure rose only by 9.95 per cent, led by infra spending to Rs 18,26,725 crore from Rs 16,61,454 crore during the same period, the RBI said in the financial stability report.
While most economies contracted in the second quarter of 2020, the Chinese economy grew by 3.2 per cent.
Auto-debit payment bounces have gone up for the second consecutive month in May, emphasising the stress building up due to a halt in economic activities as authorities lock down various parts of the country to stop the spread of the virus in the second wave. According to the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) data, in May, of the 85.7 million transactions initiated, 35.91 per cent, or 30.8 million transactions, failed.
Housing sales mostly declined during the first and the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic but prices did not fall in most of the cities but rather increased in some cities, according to the Economic Survey 2021-22. The pre-Budget document also highlighted that the housing demand recovered after both the waves on the back of pent up demand, low interest rates on home loans and reduction in stamp duty by some states. The survey has analysed the National Housing Bank's data on change in housing transactions in Q1FY21 (first COVID-19 wave) and Q1FY22 (second COVID-19 wave) over the pre-pandemic levels of Q1FY20. It also looked into change in housing prices index during this period.
Gold jewellery demand in India is likely to decline in the second and third quarters of this fiscal due to hike in import duty, high volatility in prices and inflationary pressure, according to a report. While demand is likely to contract by 8 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of FY23, the decline is expected to be higher at 15 per cent in the third quarter due to the exceptionally high base in the same period of FY22, Icra said in a report. According to the report, the exceptional third quarter performance in FY22 was due to the post-Covid reopening of the economy and the substantially high demand in the wedding and festive seasons.
The government's total liabilities rose to Rs 128.41 lakh crore in December quarter from Rs 125.71 lakh crore in the three months ended September 2021, according to the latest public debt management report. The increase reflects a quarter-on-quarter increase of 2.15 per cent in October-December 2021-22. In absolute terms, the total liabilities, including liabilities under the 'Public Account' of the government, jumped to Rs 1,28,41,996 crore at the end of December 2021.
The SME segment has been grappling with lack of liquidity and lacklustre institutional participation.
Highlights of Economic Survey 2020-21, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday.
However, experts caution that investors should not expect the big returns they got from the sector between March and September 2020.
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 rating was downgraded despite 25 per cent held by stronger partner Indian Hotels, which operates the company's seven properties in India.
While analysts remains overweight on financials, property, discretionary, industrials and materials, they maintain a neutral stance on pharma, telecom and energy; and underweight on staples, utilities, and IT services.
Passenger vehicle wholesales in India declined nearly 4 per cent to 279,501 units last month, auto industry body SIAM said on Wednesday. Passenger vehicle (PV) dispatches from factories to dealerships in March 2021 stood at 290,939 units. As per the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheeler sales also fell 21 per cent to 11,84,210 units as compared with 14,96,806 vehicles in March 2021.
The gains came on expectations that the company will post strong growth given its presence in application to peer services and the fast-growing communication platform as a service segment.
According to its DRHP filed in 2010, the company's net worth was just Rs 140 crore. Its total income for the financial year 2009-10 stood at Rs 119 crore and it had a net profit of Rs 16 crore. In sharp contrast, at the end of March 2021, Paytm's networth was Rs 6,535 crore and total income stood at Rs 3,187 crore.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is precariously balancing two opposing objectives - maintaining easy financial condition in the domestic market, while ensuring external stability - and economists have started taking note. They say India is going through the classic trilemma of the 'Impossible Trinity'. The RBI cannot have an independent monetary policy (setting domestic interest rates) in an environment of an open capital account and flexible exchange rates. What is even more complicated for the central bank now is that financial market stability overlays all the other three objectives.
Vodafone Idea will gradually lose market share given its weak balance sheet and limited financial flexibility, says Fitch.
While lenders create a hype around the services offered on digital platforms, customers think otherwise, given that frustration due to the quality of service has only increased, over the years.
IT services major Wipro on Friday said it will give wage hikes to junior employees with effect from September 1, 2021. "Wipro Limited will initiate merit salary increases (MSI) for all eligible employees up to Band B3 (assistant manager and below), effective September 1, 2021. "In January 2021, the company had announced salary hikes for eligible employees in these bands, who form 80 per cent of the company's workforce - this is the second hike in this calendar year," Wipro said in a statement. As announced earlier, all eligible employees above band C1 (managers and above) will receive pay hikes effective June 1, it added.
'Last year (FY21), we had about 1 million intimated claims for Covid.' 'This year (FY22), in six months, we got about 1.6 million claims.'
There is no direct impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on India in terms of bilateral trade but a surge in oil prices poses considerable risk to the economy, an analyst report said on Friday. International oil prices which have surged past $100 per barrel "pose risks to external stability and currency movement," a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report said. Russia has launched military operations against Ukraine, stoking fears of significant disruption in the region, including loss of life. The West is ramping up financial sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine.
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 incremental stress is mainly from sectors including power, infrastructure, constructions, hospitality, iron and steel, telecom, and realty.
Real estate experts say rentals have corrected by 5-10 per cent across formats, including office, retail and housing, with a pick-up expected over the next few quarters as the economy recovers.
The government has limited room to reduce expenditure without further weakening growth, it noted.
However, rural demand continued to remain a concern for FMCG companies during the quarter.
Despite a slowing economy, the Budget does not envisage any major stimulus through the budgeted fiscal deficit figures, said Goldman Sachs.
Without accounting for refunds, however, the collection contracted 5.4 per cent, indicating muted economic activity as the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent curbs paralysed most sectors.
Rising commodity costs, coupled with other marketing-related expenses, could weigh on profitability in the coming quarters.
The government has revised its divestment target downwards from Rs 2.1 trillion, as its ambitious privatisation programme has been deferred to next year.
The flow of deposits from non-resident Indians (NRIs) hit a four-year low in the financial year 2020-21 mainly due to contraction in foreign currency deposits, latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows. Total NRI deposits during FY21 were $7.3 billion as compared to $8.6 billion in FY20 - the lowest since 2016-17, when such deposits had contracted by $12.3 billion. Indian banks have three kinds of deposit accounts where NRIs or PIOs (persons of Indian origin) can park their funds: non-resident external-rupee account (NRE); non-resident ordinary rupee account (NRO); and foreign currency non-resident bank account (FCNR [B]).
Mihir Tanna, Associate Director, S K Patodia & Associates, answers your income tax queries.
Investors are pushing back more often against companies' resolutions on what is paid out to top executives. In the first four months of financial year 2022-23 (FY23), there have already been five such rejections, according to shareholder voting data from tracker Adrian, a platform maintained by the proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services India (IiAS). Two of these have been at multiplex chain PVR and direct-to-home company Dish TV India.
If the government cuts wasteful expenditure as it is trying now, the deficit would at most fall to 8 per cent, not less than that.
A closer look at the data reveals that a lot of the items are not part of this calculation. The notable ones include buffalo meat, marine exports, raw cotton, and plantation crops such as tea, coffee, rubber, etc.
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.