Bharti Airtel is expected to see its highest revenue growth, and subscriber addition during the third quarter (October-December) of FY25 among telcos, said analysts. The telco's top line in Q3 may see the fastest sequential growth at 5 per cent compared to 3 per cent for Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi). Airtel's annual mobile revenue growth would rise to 16 per cent, IIFL Capital said in an analyst note.
Expansion of its development portfolio, brokerage upgrades, and strong outlook have led to a 15 per cent gain for the stock of real estate major Godrej Properties (GPL) in six trading sessions. The company recently acquired a 53-acre land parcel in Joka, Kolkata with an estimated development potential of 1.3 million square feet of saleable area with an estimated revenue potential of Rs 500 crore.
UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents.
Government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has seen substantial gains from its investments in Adani group shares, which have experienced a significant recovery over the past year. The value of LIC's stake in Adani group companies surged by 51.6 per cent, or Rs 22,591 crore, reaching Rs 66,388 crore as of Friday's close. This compares to Rs 43,797 crore on May 31 last year, according to stock exchange data.
Fintech firm One97 Communications, which owns the Paytm brand, on Wednesday said its loss in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24 has widened to Rs 550 crore following the ban imposed by the RBI on transactions related to its payments bank. The company had posted a loss of Rs 167.5 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. "Our fourth quarter FY24 results were impacted by temporary disruption on account of UPI transition etc. and permanent disruption because of the PPBL embargo.
New Delhi-based pharmaceutical major Mankind Pharma is poised to take pole position in women's health portfolio in the India Pharma Market (IPM) after completing the Rs 13,630 crore deal to acquire Bharat Serums and Vaccines (BSV), senior company officials said. The deal potentially opens doors for Mankind Pharma to the overseas markets, which currently draws 92 per cent of its revenues from India. The combined entity will draw around 13 per cent revenues from the international market, with the remaining coming from the domestic market.
The recent blip in housing sales on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis should not worry investors as the long-term prospects of real estate stocks remain on a strong foundation, according to analysts. In the first half of the calendar year 2024 (H1CY24), realty stocks surged up to 104 per cent. This sharp run should be used to book partial profit in related stocks, suggested Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.
Strong performance by its US subsidiary Novelis and better returns in the copper business helped Hindalco Industries post consolidated revenue growth of 2 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) to Rs 54,100 crore in the July-September quarter of 2023-23 (Q2FY24). Novelis' Flat Rolled Products (FRP) volumes grew 6 per cent Q-o-Q to 933,000 tonnes (down 5.2 per cent Y-o-Y) on better North American and European volumes. The consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) declined 2 per cent Q-o-Q to Rs 5,610 crore despite lower input costs in India and better Novelis performance.
India's leading steel companies hope the Modi 3.0 Budget will continue the massive capital expenditure currently underway, focusing on infrastructure development, manufacturing, and fair trade. The infrastructure segment is the largest steel user, and the government's focus has fuelled steel consumption even as international markets have underperformed. According to provisional statistics, steel consumption grew 13.6 per cent in FY24, reaching 136 million tonnes (mt), according to a CRISIL report.
The pharmaceuticals sector is expected to post a revenue growth of around 13.5 per cent and a net profit growth of 30.3 per cent for the third quarter of 2023-24 (FY24), riding on the approval for niche drugs in the US market, fall in raw material prices and correction in shipping rates. In the healthcare segment, hospitals are expected to post revenue growth of 13 per cent during the coverage, while net profit growth would be around 37 per cent, ICICI Securities said in a note. However, the performance may not be comparable on a sequential basis due to the offset of the festive season in Q3FY24, the analysts noted.
PVR-Inox is in an inherently fickle business. If there is a string of flops, the box office collections will be weak. Conversely, Q2FY24, which witnessed several hits, has brought about an upside in revenues. However, the merger has led to market share gains and synergies that helped bring breakeven down to approximately 20 per cent occupancy.
Coal India's (CIL's) revenue for the first quarter of 2024-25 (Q1FY25) came in at Rs 36,500 crore, up 1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and down 3 per cent sequentially, which was in line with consensus. The blended average selling price was Rs 1,687/tonne, down 5 per cent Y-o-Y and down 1 per cent Q-o-Q, which was below estimates. The adjusted operating profit (excluding overburden removal or OBR costs) stood at Rs 11,500 crore up 3 per cent Y-o-Y and up 17 per cent Q-o-Q, which beat the street. This was due to lower operating expenses.
Hero MotoCorp (HMCL) saw strong volume performance in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY25), but margins disappointed due to weak spare part sales and negative electric vehicle (EV) margins. The company hopes for a strong festive season due to better rural sentiment. Revenue grew 16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 10,140 crore, operating profit was up 21 per cent to Rs 1,460 crore, and adjusted net profit grew 19 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,120 crore.
NMDC reported a strong standalone revenue at Rs 5,410 crore, rising 45 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and 35 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-q) in line with consensus. Iron ore sales at about 11.4 million tonnes (MT) grew 18.9 per cent Y-o-Y (19 per cent Q-o-Q). Realisation stood at Rs 4,679 per tonne, higher by 22 per cent Y-o-Y (12.9 per cent Q-o-Q).
Any reduction in the customs duty on smartphone parts in the forthcoming budget will harm India's developing component ecosystem, discourage investment, increase imports, and make local firms uncompetitive, potentially resulting in job losses, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. India's smartphone industry is a 'Make in India' success story, with 2023-24 production reaching $49.2 billion and exports at $15.6 billion, making smartphones the fourth-largest export after diesel, aviation fuel, and polished diamonds.
Ola Electric is conducting an restructuring exercise which is expected to affect over 500 employees across various roles within the organisation, according to sources. This would be over 12 per cent of staff at the firm which has about 4,000 people. "This is a restructuring exercise ongoing for the last few months and is expected to conclude by next month," said a person familiar with the development.
In FY24, loans given out by such firms had topped a whopping Rs 146,517 crore, up by 49 per cent year-on-year and spread over 10.19 million accounts (up 35 per cent).
Tata Motors reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 17,483 crore (adjusted for exceptional gains and losses) for Q4FY24, surpassing TCS' consolidated net earnings of Rs 12,434 crore. For the automotive major, this marked a 213.7 per cent year-on-year increase in the bottom line, from Rs 5,573.8 crore a year ago. In contrast, India's biggest IT firm saw a more modest Y-o-Y growth of 9.1 per cent in net profit, from Rs 11,392 crore.
Recent documents by NITI Aayog and periodic labour force surveys on employment show that the importance of agriculture is rising in the Indian economy.
Power Grid Corporation of India's (PWGR's) Q3FY25 revenue declined 3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 11,200 crore, with operating profit falling 7 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 9,500 crore and margin contracting to 85 per cent from 91 per cent Y-o-Y. Other income surged 89 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 500 crore, but regulatory income dropped 62 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 42.5 crore.
'We are not incentivising the old tax scheme. These taxpayers will also shift to the new regime after comparison.'
Out of 3,871 recovery certificates issued by the regulator in various cases, 807 have been certified as difficult to recover.
The government on Friday doubled the limit of Mudra loan amount under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh under a new 'Tarun Plus' category to promote entrepreneurship in the country.
The unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above in urban areas dipped to 6.4 per cent in the July-September quarter, according to the National Sample Survey Survey (NSSO). Joblessness, or unemployment rate, is defined as the percentage of unemployed people in the labour force. The unemployment rate in the September quarter of FY24 was 6.6 per cent.
Public sector banks (PSBs) have delivered significant outperformance over the past three years and the sector has been re-rated. Given the growth and profitability expectations of an 18 per cent return on equity (RoE) over FY24-26, there is still a case for buying at the current levels. While the net interest margins or NIMs may remain range-bound or have a downward bias, there's optimism about possibly better opex ratios and lower non-performing assets (NPAs), plus scope for further credit cost reduction, and healthy treasury performances as interest rates trend down.
Auto manufacturers have focused on launching CNG variants of their popular models to meet consumer demand for vehicles with lower running costs.
Analysts and economists have hailed the fiscal projections in the interim Budget, saying the lower fiscal deficit forecast shows that the government, even in an election year, is serious about fiscal consolidation and that the numbers look achievable. According to Devendra Kumar Pant, the chief economist at India Ratings, the two broad themes of the interim Budget are fiscal consolidation and stepping up focus on agriculture/rural to course correct, to some extent, the differential benefits of the ongoing economic growth that's tilted in favour of upper-income bracket/urban households. The projected fiscal deficit numbers for FY24 and FY25 suggest that the government is serious about achieving the fiscal consolidation path of 4.5 per cent fiscal deficit by FY26, and given the nominal GDP growth assumption and revenue buoyancy, the target appears plausible, Pant said in a note.
Recovering from an order dry-up and change in market conditions, Gurgaon-based Rites is looking to bid aggressively in global export and consultancy tenders and run with a volume-led approach, its chairman and managing director (CMD) Rahul Mithal said. Rites is a railway consultancy public sector undertaking (PSU) under the aegis of the Ministry of Railways. "We started the year with two huge challenges - the export order book, where no new orders had happened, and the opening up of Indian Railways quality assurance works to four players.
From its lows over the past month, the stock of footwear major Campus Activewear gained 13 per cent to Rs 280.4 a share. The gains came on the back of better than expected operating profit margins in Q4, reduction of debt and expectations of market share improvement. The company expects volume growth, which has thus far missed expectations, to recover going ahead on the back of multiple triggers.
Mumbai-based developers Macrotech Developers (Lodha) and Oberoi Realty have emerged as top gainers among largecap realty stocks over the past month, with gains ranging from 29 per cent to 33 per cent. Strong ongoing sales trends in Mumbai's core market, record bookings in the January-March quarter, and healthy guidance for 2024-25 (FY25) have propelled these companies, which derive the majority of their revenues from India's financial capital.
In a sign of the expanding Apple supplier ecosystem in India, American multinational Jabil Inc will set up an electronics manufacturing facility in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore. Jabil is one of the 14 Apple suppliers in India, of around 200 globally, while another 14 have reportedly received preliminary clearance to form joint ventures with Indian companies to set up facilities. Interestingly, of the 14 existing manufacturing units in the Apple supply chain, seven are already in Tamil Nadu.
GAIL India's second quarter (Q2FY25) performance met expectations.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (APH) delivered an in-line performance for the April-June quarter of the financial year 2024-2025 (Q1FY25)with growth in the number of patients. AHLL (Apollo Health & Lifestyle), a subsidiary, posted sales growth and profitability. APH also reduced operational costs at Healthco.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years in Governor Sanjay Malhotra's first monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on Wednesday. The meeting of the six-member MPC, which will culminate on Friday, aims to boost sluggish economic growth, which is seen falling to a four-year low. Malhotra took charge as the 26th RBI governor in December last year.
Shares of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) rose nearly 1 per cent on Tuesday, hitting an intraday high of Rs 2,986.05 per share, after most brokerages reacted positively to the company's March quarter (Q4FY24) results. The bullish outlook stems from Reliance Jio's potential tariff hikes, given the competitive landscape, along with slow but steady improvement in the oil-to-chemical (O2C) vertical.
Most lenders that have reported their April-June business update posted slower growth in deposits sequentially as compared to the loan growth in the April-June quarter of 2024-25 (FY25). Current and savings account (CASA) deposits continue to face pressure. Private-sector lenders YES Bank, Bandhan Bank, and RBL Bank saw their deposit growth contract by 0.5 per cent, 1.5 per cent, and 2 per cent, respectively.
The good news is that salary hikes are expected, though it is uncertain when they will be implemented.
Raymond Limited's real estate arm, Raymond Realty, plans to get listed during the second quarter of the next financial year (Q2FY26), according to Harmohan Sahni, chief executive officer (CEO), Raymond Realty. "We are expecting the order by June-July 2025 as far as the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is concerned.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Friday reported a 9 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 12,434 crore in January-March quarter of FY24, helped by improved margin and strong performance of its India business. The largest software services exporter had reported a post tax profit of Rs 11,392 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal. In the entire FY24, the company's net profit surged 9 per cent to Rs 45,908 crore, while the revenue rose to Rs 2,40,893 crore from Rs 2,25,458 crore registered in FY23.
'The Budget needs to focus more on social welfare schemes.'
