The combined dividend payout by early-bird companies -- those that have declared their results for FY21 -- is up 8.9 per cent, lower than the 21.9 per cent rise in in FY20 but ahead of the underlying growth in India Inc business last year. Combined net sales of these early birds were down 1.8 per cent last financial year while net profit was up 27.3 per cent in FY21. Some top companies that have stepped up dividend payout in FY21 include Hindustan Unilever, Indus Towers, Tata Steel, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Dabur, Asian Paints, and UPL. In contrast, banks have skipped dividends under an RBI diktat while companies such as Marico, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, and Godrej Consumer are paying lower dividends for FY21.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday directed X Corp and Google Inc to remove prima facie defamatory social media posts against Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) officer and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's daughter Anjali Birla.
Leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have decided to raise the NEET issue in both houses of Parliament on Friday and members will give notices in this regard, sources have said.
Corporate earnings grew in double digits during the April-June 2022 (Q1FY23) quarter but the momentum waned. Overall corporate earnings in the quarter were down sharply from their highs in FY22. The combined net profit of 2,981 listed companies across sectors in the Business Standard sample was up 22.4 per cent YoY to Rs 2.24 trillion in the June quarter, driven by a big jump in the earnings of banks, non-banking lenders, oil & producers, and FMCG companies. Also, earnings in the corresponding quarter a year ago were affected because of the second wave of the Covid pandemic, even though the numbers were a lot better than Q1FY21 when there was a nationwide lockdown.
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.
'His contribution not only elevates our institution but also serves as an inspiring example of how our alumni community continues to drive meaningful change.'
Goods and services tax (GST) collections from mobile device companies, amounting to Rs 1.82 trillion between 2020-21 (FY21) and 2023-24 (FY24), have already generated more than five times the revenue for the government compared to the Rs 34,149 crore allocated under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile devices over six years ending 2025-26 (FY26). Currently, the GST on mobile devices stands at 18 per cent.
There has been a sharp recovery in the headline corporate earnings in the April-June 2023 quarter (Q1FY24), after a dismal showing by early bird companies. The combined net profit of the 983 listed companies that have declared their quarterly results, so far, was up 64.7 per cent year-on-year to record a high of Rs 2.68 trillion in the first quarter, but growth in earnings remained lopsided because most of the incremental gains came from a handful of companies. Moreover, the quarterly numbers showed a continued slowdown in revenue growth.
Third-placed Chelsea will be eager to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat by relegation-threatened West Ham United on Saturday but face a tough test against a Huddersfield side that have won four and drawn two of their eight home league games this season.
Surjewala said the digital platform will air eight hours of live programming from April 24, but will not be on the Satellite or OTT.
The early bird results for the January-March 2022 quarter (Q4FY22) hint at a slowdown in corporate sector growth in the upcoming quarters. The combined net sales of the 81 early bird companies in the Business Standard sample were up 15.1 per cent year-on-year in Q4FY22; this was less than the 15.9 per cent YoY jump reported in Q3FY22. The slowdown could be much stronger for the domestic market-focused companies, including those in the banking, finance, and insurance (BFSI) space.
A group of current and retired faculty members at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) has asked leaders of corporate India to "de-fund" the spread of misinformation and hate speech through news channels and social media.
The Supreme Court has said that commitments made by political parties in their election manifestos will not amount to 'corrupt practice' under the election laws.
According to the Regus business confidence survey, Indian businesses' confidence index decreased 2 points (from 143 to 141) since April 2012.
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said India has lost one of the finest political leaders and a legal luminary.
India Inc is set to post an 18-20 per cent revenue growth for July-September as compared to the year-ago period, domestic rating agency Crisil said on Thursday ahead of the filing of quarterly earnings by companies. The handsome growth in the topline will be driven by both higher volumes and higher commodity prices, the rating agency said. However, the rising input prices may have capped operating profit margin expansion for companies when compared to the preceding quarter, the agency said.
Have you wondered how many days of work -- depending on your net monthly income -- you would have to put in to buy the top-end iPhone 16 Pro?
'Instead of wailing about the absence of tax benefits, the private sector should press for an early implementation of the package of measures,' advises A K Bhattacharya.
In 2020-21, Indian firms offered to buy back shares worth Rs 39,295 crore, or 97% more than Rs 19,972 cr proposed in the previous financial year.
Qualcomm launched its new affordable, India-designed chipset, the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2, on Tuesday. This chipset will enable mobile device makers to sell 5G smartphones operating on a standalone (SA) network for Rs 8,300 or less.
As global economies contract because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the focus of most of the India Inc has now moved back to the home market where demand is expected to pick substantially from the coming festival season.
Apple Inc has requested the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) to give it 18 to 24 months' exemption to comply with the European Union (EU) regulation of putting an USB charging port in all its older smartphones, mainly iPhone 13 and iPhone 14, which are assembled, exported and also sold in the domestic market. Apple's stance is different from that of Samsung, which has been pushing for an immediate implementation of the EU regulation. All smartphones by the South Korean giant already comply with the EU rules.
Indian companies are planning to increase investments in the new year to expand capacity, acquire companies, and go on a hiring spree, a survey of top executives showed. They, however, cited rising costs, weak consumer demand, and increasing interest rates as major concerns for 2023 which may impact their plans.
'India Inc has been afraid to criticise the government of the day for many years now, and it is perhaps unfair to blame the current one alone,' says Shyamal Majumdar.
The opposition parties on Sunday slammed the move to hire public servants through lateral entry, claiming it will snatch reservations from SCs, STs and OBCs, but the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back stating the National Democratic Alliance government was bringing transparency to this mode of recruitment started by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.
While praising the internship scheme announced in the Budget, India Inc wants clarity on how it will be implemented. The scheme is expected to help companies address the skill gap in employment. Dheeraj Hinduja, chairman, auto major Ashok Leyland, said: "We had started an internship programme at our plant in Pantnagar, which we established in 2010 with colleges there.
A strong performance by sectors including banking raised the profits of Indian companies by 28 per cent in the three months ended March 2022. The rate of growth is, however, lower than the 30 per cent seen in December. Growth in net sales was also lower than what was seen in the December quarter for the sample under consideration.
Struggling Premier League side Blackburn Rovers sacked manager Paul Ince on Tuesday, the club said.
As Covid-19 cases recede, India Inc is once again tweaking work rules. Big tech companies such as TCS, Wipro and Infosys have either begun or are in the process of calling employees back to office in a staggered manner. A survey by Aon, a global professional services firm, has found that 60 per cent of tech firms now expect every second employee to come to office. More than half of the employees working in engineering and manufacturing firms are also being asked to return to work.
Aiyar, who has stoked controversies in the past with his comments, made the remarks at the launch of the book Nehru's First Recruits.
'Now it's for India to also make certain decisions. The sky's the limit. You've got to be strategic.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. This was Sitharaman's fourth Budget. While the taxpayers were left in the lurch, once again, was she able to cheer Corporate India?
It seems the financial headroom for India Inc will get worse, given the rising gap between profit growth and interest obligations.
India's top listed companies reported their best-ever quarterly net profit of Rs 2.39 trillion in the September quarter of FY22, up 46.4 per cent year-on-year. The earnings were driven by a big surge in the profitability of banks, non-banking financial companies & insurance (BFSI), oil & gas, and metal & mining firms. The combined net profit of these three cyclical sectors were up 87 per cent YoY to a record high of Rs 1.53 trillion, up from Rs 82,000 crore a year ago and Rs 1.08 trillion in Q1FY22.
Representatives of Citizen and Society Development Welfare, who have given the slogan of Dharavi Banao Andolan, met Srinivas and submitted a memorandum seeking expedition of the survey being conducted in Dharavi.
India Inc's investments abroad in April-June 2015 have once again risen to $1.3 billion.
In a relief to FMCG major Dabur, two of its foreign subsidiaries, Dabur International and Dermoviva Skin Essentials, have been removed as a defendant in multiple lawsuits filed in a US court over allegations that their hair-relaxer products caused ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and other related health issues. However, lawsuits filed against its third international subsidiary Namaste Laboratories LLC, would continue before the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, according to a statement from Dabur on Wednesday. Dabur International and Dermoviva were removed and got relief in the multiple suits due to lack of jurisdiction as they have not either manufactured, marketed, distributed or sold hair relaxer products in the US, it added.
'As a platform, we are saying, if we are told to break encryption, then WhatsApp goes.'
'India has a skill shortage of 56%.' 'This is a very interesting paradox -- the unemployment rate is 6% to 7%, and at the same time 20% of those qualified are unemployed.'
Not surprisingly, equity investors are bidding-up stock prices across sectors and the broader market is now more valuable than pre-Covid levels.
