Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday flagged concerns about possible cartelisation in markets and stressed on the need to look into the causes of short supply of commodities. Speaking at the 13th annual day function of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the minister also said that the regulator needs to have a "proactive understanding" of mergers and acquisitions. "Cartelisation is going to be a challenge...," the minister said.
The 2022-23 (FY23) January-March quarter performance of the country's largest listed paint companies was better than Street expectations. Asian Paints, Berger Paints, and Kansai Nerolac Paints (Kansai Nerolac) registered double-digit revenue growth, compared with the year-ago quarter, reinforced by strong volume/value growth. Falling raw material prices also helped the paint majors hoist their gross margins.
'This market is very expensive in some pockets, dirt cheap in some, and the belly of the market is reasonably valued.'
Analysts have turned cautious on Cipla, as the recently issued form 483 by the US FDA with eight observations to its Pithampur (Indore) plant is expected to delay the launch of the company's key generic - Advair - in the US. The Indore plant contributes around 5 per cent of Cipla's revenues, as per analysts' estimates. While the respiratory product, which is used to treat asthma, had cleared the pre-approval inspection of the regulator at the Indore unit; the final approval could be unlikely until the company clears the recent US FDA observations, analysts say.
'However, we have seen weakness in our active pharmaceutical ingredients business.'
Not only do you need an effective and independent regulator, you also need competition to flourish.
In the India-US sector, for instance, Air India operates 15 stopover flights between Mumbai and Chicago, and Mumbai and New York
Officials from State-run refiners contend that savings from purchase of Russian oil are used to offset a part of the losses in revenues from selling transport fuels and LPG at State-set rates.
The official data on April-June GDP will be released on August 31.
'In terms of ticket sales, Hindi is at 50-60 per cent while the South markets are at 80-90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.' The patchy performance of Hindi, the largest segment of the business is the nub of what is bothering Indian cinema.
In 2015, India's domestic aviation market clocked 81 million flights.
Ola Electric, India's largest maker of electric scooters, launched its most affordable ride on Tuesday, in an attempt to woo more customers and expand its electric two-wheeler lineup.
Henry Kravis, co-Chairman and co-CEO of private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR), which has over $195 billion assets under management and a balance sheet of $16 billion visited Mumbai recently for a closed conference where he shared his views on the new governor at RBI, what India needs to fix, and PE's prospects for the long term.
'The potential headwind is that the Indian economy is likely to see a slowdown in growth rates over the next two years.'
RBI might not cut rate on June 2 but will surely cut soon.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
'If the South starts shooting on IMAX more, it will be beneficial. And likewise, it will benefit Bollywood directors.'
India's services sector lost momentum in July as demand was curtailed by competitive pressures, elevated inflation and unfavourable weather, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 59.2 in June to 55.5 in July, pointing to the slowest rate of growth in four months. For the 12th straight month, the services sector witnessed an expansion in output. In Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
The headline for corporate profit growth has been very encouraging in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), with the combined net profit of listed companies up by 38 per cent year-on-year. However, the earnings distribution has been very lopsided, with most of the growth coming from public-sector oil-marketing companies (OMCs), banks, non-bank lenders, automobile (auto) companies, and cement producers. By comparison, companies from information technology services, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and consumer durables were disappointed, experiencing a sharp slowdown in net sales growth and a relatively muted increase in reported net profit.
'The recent US jobs report has eased fears of a hike in the Fed meeting.'
SBI Q3FY24 result review: A higher-than-factored weakness in the October-to-December quarter (Q3) results of State Bank of India (SBI), for financial year 2023-24 (FY24), has prompted brokerages to cut earnings estimates for the ongoing financial year. They, however, have maintained 'Buy' ratings on the stock, revising target price upwards in some cases, owing to the stock's recent underperformance relative to its peers.
Any transaction where the value of Indian assets exceeds 50% of the FTC would attract taxes in India.
Analysts cautious on outlook, expect earnings to remain under pressure over medium term.
State-backed Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) recorded strong growth in the value of new business (VNB) margin in the third quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q3FY24) while major listed private life insurers reported a weak performance. VNB refers to the profit that an insurer is likely to garner from new business, which comes from policies sold in a particular period. VNB margin is the profit margin of the insurer.
The Maruti Celerio diesel is a peppy car to drive with the right ergonomics.
'Now that we are a pure-play India business, many investors are open to investing.'
Reason behind for the change in his stance: gas price increase.
The company has capacity to manufacture 310,000 units annually.
In this industry, a company's strategy needs to be adaptable in order to keep up with the pace of change.
Wadia Group-owned Go First Airways' (Go First) insolvency plea could trigger a 'momentum rally' in shares of rival airlines, Interglobe Aviation (parent company of IndiGo) and SpiceJet, as they look to gain bankrupt airline's market share, said analysts. On the bourses, shares of InterGlobe Aviation hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,235.95, surging 8 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade, before settling 4.5 per cent higher at Rs 2,164 apiece. Those of SpiceJet and Jet Airways, meanwhile, rallied up to 6 per cent in the intra-day trade, and ended 1 per cent and 5 per cent higher, respectively, following the development, which was announced post market hours on Tuesday.
By the end of 2017, the Chinese firm had emerged as the fastest growing brand after posting 343 per cent growth with 19 per cent market share for the full year.
'India needs to adopt a more proactive policy of triggering exports to China.'
Power plant load factors are at historic lows of around 60 per cent.
RBML - the joint venture of Reliance Industries Ltd and supermajor BP - has told the government that fuel retailing for the private sector in India has become unsustainable after market-controlling public sector firms frequently froze petrol and diesel prices at rates way below the cost, sources said. Despite a surge in oil prices, state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) first froze petrol and diesel rates for a record 137 days beginning early November 2021 when five states including Uttar Pradesh went to the polls, and last month again went into a hiatus that is now 47 days old. "They (Reliance BP Mobility Ltd) has written to the petroleum ministry over the fuel pricing issue," a highly placed source in the government, who didn't want to be quoted, told reporters.
The conversion of interest into equity stake for the government in Vodafone Idea (Vi) will be decided after the telecommunications (telecom) company's stock price stabilises above Rs 10, India's largest mobile tower installation company Indus Towers has said in its second-quarter report. The board of Vi had, in January, approved the conversion of Rs 16,130 crore worth of interest on adjusted gross revenue dues into equity for the government. This will give the government around 33 per cent stake in Vi.
The new series claims GDP grew at seven per cent between April and June 2015, while gross value added (GVA) grew at 7.1 per cent.
IHS said low regulated gas prices have precipitated a supply shortfall in India, but proposed that reforms to the pricing formula could yield higher domestic production and boost India's economy.
Pushing a barrel of oil back to around $100 would require a reduction of production of about two million barrels a day - a cut that would fall predominantly on Saudi Arabia.
HDFC Bank Q4 review: HDFC Bank's January-March quarter (Q4) results, for financial year 2022-23 (FY23), brought no cheer to investors as elevated costs, and merger-related uncertainties continue to dent the sentiment. Moreover, analysts fear that merger-related costs may put pressure on margins and cost to income ratio in the near-term, while the return on equity could moderate owing to low leverage of the parent. Analysts, therefore, opine that the stock's re-rating may be some time away. "While the risk of a de-rating on a standalone basis appears to be quite low given that the business performance is holding up well, we believe a re-rating in the stock would happen as and when more clarity emerges on the smooth transition (merger)," said a report by Sharekhan.
'The fact still remains that we will have to deliver, so the pressure is now on us to make sure we get our resources, our supplies lined up at acceptable costs.'
