India's top technology companies will witness a tepid revenue expansion in the third quarter (October - December) of the current financial year (Q3FY24) - along expected lines - on the back of furloughs and no blockbuster deals, even as the momentum gained from Generative AI (GenAI) is likely to take centre stage. IT services and consulting firm Accenture's first quarter numbers in FY24 showed a significant pick up in GenAI spending. It signed new bookings to the tune of $450 million in this space, a surge from the $300 million signed in the whole of FY23.
From spending a little less than three hours on making voice calls, Indians are spending well over 5 hours. So, while people make more calls, they are spending less than ever, reports Romita Majumdar.
'Today's engineering graduates have to learn the skills to solve problems which is actually a higher order skill.'
The 1984-batch IRS officer was otherwise to remain in office till November 18, 2023, according to the notification issued by the government.
According to an Andhra government statement, Naidu 'reposed confidence' in the PM's leadership.
'We added a significant number of freshers in Q1. You will see a good number of hiring in Q2 as well.'
In the results announced Friday, April 5, as many as 759 candidates including 577 men and 182 women have been selected.
The Supreme Court on Thursday disagreed with the Centre's submission that petitions challenging the amended law allowing extension of the Enforcement Directorate director's tenure up to five years should not be entertained as they have been filed by political entities facing serious money laundering charges.
From its lows this month, the stock of Bharti Airtel is up 14 per cent. The gains for the telco have come on the back of expectations that market share consolidation, tariff hike and lower capex should boost margins and profits. While the company is a key player in the Indian market, it also has a leadership position in major markets of Africa.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 27 per cent jump in its September quarter net profit as earnings from the oil and gas business rebounded, and a pick-up in fashion and grocery helped boost retail revenues. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit of Rs 17,394 crore, or Rs 25.71 per share, in July-September - the second quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal - was 27.3 per cent higher than Rs 13,656 crore, or Rs 19.92 a share, earning a year back, the company said in a statement. The net profit was also higher quarter-on-quarter compared to Rs 16,011 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended June 30.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
However, the second quarter of FY24 is expected to be muted, and, with that, the hope of double-digit growth is now being pushed to FY25. However, analysts are expecting the momentum in the closure of record total contract values (TCVs) will continue, as has been the case over the last two quarters.
'The whole narrative will change from TV is dying to TV-plus-digital is the future.'
A group comprising top tech startups and unicorns has raised several "serious concerns" over a platform-based gig workers Bill proposed by the Karnataka government, saying it would hurt the ease of doing business. They told the state government the Bill in its current form would hamper operations and increase regulatory and compliance burden on the nascent gig and startup economy, according to sources.
Hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare's plans to sell its Gulf business may run into rough weather with voting advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) raising concerns over the transaction. Recommending an 'against' vote on the resolution, IiAS has said there is no clarity on how Aster DM will utilise the proceeds that it will obtain by selling the unit, which contributes to bulk of its revenues. In November, Aster DM had announced its plans to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary Affinity Holdings, which conducts business in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, to Alpha GCC for $1 billion.
Its success script: Investing more in local content ecosystem; growing its partnership footprint.
The combined net profit of "early bird" companies, those that have declared their quarterly results, rose for the third consecutive quarter in July-September 2023 (Q2FY24). But the figures suggest a continued slowdown in revenue growth and stagnation in earnings over recent quarters. This slowdown is severe for companies in the manufacturing and non-financial service sectors.
The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index rose sharply from 34.2 in July to 41.8 in August, the highest since March, before the escalation of the pandemic.
Analysts factor in 200-300-bps impact on sales in FY16
The SET's findings have now been taken on record by the Central Bureau of Investigation which recently raided the 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service officer after it filed an FIR against him for corruption and alleged violation of rules in the raids that took place at the Cordelia cruise berthed at the Mumbai coast on October 2, 2021.
The consistently heavy downpour of films, shows, events, videos and whatnot is causing economic disruption.
'Many do not have robust business models, and their prospects of survival and long-term growth are poor.'
India's second largest IT services company Infosys on Thursday reported a 3.1 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 6,215 crore for the September 2023 quarter. The earnings (before minority interest) of the Bengaluru-based company stood at Rs 6,026 crore in the year-ago period. The company - which competes in the IT services market with TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies and others - saw its revenue rising 6.7 per cent to Rs 38,994 crore for the just-ended September quarter.
S&P Global Ratings on Thursday said about half of the Indian companies that it rates are getting a boost in their core profitability from rupee depreciation. "Much of our rated India corporate portfolio has sizable US-dollar linked revenue and, therefore, is not exposed to rupee depreciation. "This encompasses entities in the IT, metals, and chemicals sectors. About half of the firms we rate are getting an EBITDA boost from currency weakening," the US-based rating agency said in a report.
'This move rendered the chiefs of important investigative agencies to the status of daily wage earners. It undermined the autonomy and independence of the agencies.'
The company's growth was driven by a decline in total expenses, lower finance cost and higher other income.
Apollo HealthCo Ltd (AHL), a subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (AHEL), on Friday entered into a binding agreement to raise equity capital of Rs 2,475 crore from Advent International (Advent), one of the world's largest private equity (PE) players. The transaction will also see the merger of two units under Apollo Healthco - its wholesale pharma distribution unit Keimed Pvt Ltd and online healthcare business Apollo 24'7. The merger will take place in a phased manner over the next 24-30 months.
Trouble started brewing after Cognizant announced that Ravi Kumar, former Infosys president, would take over as the Nasdaq-listed company's CEO.
The Indian IT-BPO sector, both in exports and domestic business, is expected to register a growth of 28 per cent in 2006-07 and revenues are likely to exceed $47.8 billion, nearly a 10-fold increase over the aggregate revenue in 1998.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has maintained its highest ranking among Indian corporates in the latest Fortune Global 500 list, jumping 16 places to rank at number 88. Reliance was ranked at number 104 in the 2022 ranking and in the 2023 ranking it is placed at number 88, according to the publication. The company has gained a whopping 67 places in the last two years from number 155 in 2021.
Morgan Stanley has increased the target prices of certain information technology (IT) stocks by as much as 29 per cent, anticipating an improvement in earnings in the near future. Within the IT and engineering research and development (ER&D) services sector, it is now more optimistic about growth and margin estimates for 2024-25 (FY25).
'If creative jobs can get disrupted, then left brain jobs like coding are easily disrupted. We are going through the journey of huge disruption.'
Sources said the action was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort when he said some black sheep in the tax administration may have misused their powers and harassed taxpayers, either by targeting honest assesses or by taking excessive action for minor or procedural violations.
S Venkatramani, who will head the Indian operations, is already bullish about the opportunity the domestic market offers. Venkatramani takes over after the recent rejig announced by TCS in its organisational structure.
The defence budget was on Thursday increased to Rs 6.21 lakh crore for 2024-25 in a modest hike of 4.72 per cent from last year's allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore amid India's continuing border row with China in eastern Ladakh as well as concerns over evolving security situation in the strategic waterways.
'If such a practice were feasible, every state would seek additional funds, posing a significant risk to the overall health of the economy.'
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the rescue mission in the landslide-hit Mundakkai region of Wayanad could take a few more days, and appointed a cabinet sub-committee of four ministers to coordinate the rescue efforts.
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The agency has booked Sisodia, a 1992-batch IRS officer Sukesh Kumar Jain who was then secretary of vigilance, retired CISF DIG Rakesh Kumar Sinha who was working as special advisor to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and joint director in the Feedback Unit, they said.
The three-year-old US law seeks to improve tax compliance involving foreign financial assets and offshore accounts.
