'Q1 is going to bear the brunt of the second wave, exposing full-year GDP forecasts to downward revisions, unless phase-3 of vaccination is executed quickly.'
Commercial banks in India reported a sixth consecutive year of rise in their net profits in 2023-24 while bad loans continued to fall, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) annual publication "Trends and Progress of Banking in India", released on Thursday. "Banks' profitability rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2023-24 and continued to rise in H1:2024-25 with the return on assets (RoA) at 1.4 per cent and return on equity (RoE) at 14.6 per cent," the report said.
The regulator may float consultation papers for FPIs and private equity funds and the final decision will be taken after taking into account views of all the stakeholders
'If you look at where inflation (headline and core) is today in India and where the rates are, there's clearly room to cut rates.'
Finally, some good news for the Indian startup ecosystem. After four consecutive half-year periods of declining funding since 2022, the first half (H1) of 2024 has shown an upward trend compared to the second half (H2) of 2023. According to the India Tech Semi-Annual Funding Report H1 2024 by Tracxn, Indian technology (tech) startups raised $4.1 billion in H1 2024, marking a 4 per cent increase from $3.96 billion in H2 2023.
Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants are among the IPL franchises who have submitted bids.
Saudi Arabia has submitted a bid for British soccer club Manchester United PLC ahead of Friday's deadline, the Telegraph reported on Thursday.
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.
The Indian diaspora remain bullish despite single-digit equity market returns since May 2014, says Pavan Burugula.
Equity benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled nearly 700 points to sink below the 79,000 level on Tuesday, extending its losses for the second straight day due to selling pressure in HDFC Bank, SBI and ITC amid fresh foreign capital outflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 692.89 points or 0.87 per cent to settle at 78,956.03. During the day, it tanked 759.54 points or 0.95 per cent to 78,889.38.
Hyundai Motor India Limited's (HMIL's) record Rs 27,870 crore initial public offering (IPO) may not have set the primary market alight with sky-high subscription levels, but it has spelled a windfall for the five investment banks steering the share sale. The Indian arm of the South Korean carmaker paid Rs 493 crore - 1.77 per cent of the issue size - in fees and commissions to the book running lead managers (BRLMs), marking the largest-ever payout for an IPO in the country.
Shares of state-owned bank stocks were under pressure on Monday due to muted deposit and credit growth numbers reported by these lenders in the October-December quarter (Q3) of 2024-25 (FY25). The Nifty PSU Bank index was down 4 per cent, with Union Bank of India emerging as the biggest loser as its shares fell 7.5 per cent to close at Rs 114.7, followed by a 5.7 per cent drop in shares of Bank of Baroda (BoB) to Rs 228 and a 4.7 per cent slide in shares of Bank of India to Rs 99.8 on the National Stock Exchange.
According to EY's private equity deal tracker, Brookfield-Reliance Jio's $ 3.7 billion deal is the largest ever PE/VC deal in India, surpassing the $ 2.5 billion investment made by Softbank in Flipkart in 2017.
Private equity investments into domestic companies fell sharply year-on-year by 42 per cent to $23.3 billion in 2022, which is the lowest since 2019, when it was $15.8 billion, according to an industry report. The numbers reflect the overall funding winter that the startup space in particular, and the overall foreign investments in general have been witnessing since the Ukraine war began last February. Private equity investment inflows into the country fell by a sharp 42 per cent in 2022 from last year to $23.3 billion -- the lowest annual inflows since 2019 when it was a low $15.8 billion, but still relatively elevated compared to historical levels, said Elaine Tan, a senior analyst at Refinitiv, the LSEG business arm that provides financial markets data and insights.
Justice BV Nagarathna also partially agreed with the majority verdict but criticised the CJI's views on Justice Iyer's judicial approach in dealing with "material resources" and state's power over them.
Investments totaling over $9.5 billion in Jio Platforms by a clutch of private equity firms, following social media giant Facebook's $5.7 billion mid-April investment in the company, helped overall.
A Competition Commission probe has found that food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy indulged in unfair business practices, including alleged preferential treatment to some restaurant partners, according to sources. The detailed investigation was ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in April 2022 and the probe report was submitted to the regulator earlier this year. Under the norms, CCI director general's report has been shared with the parties concerned and later, they will be called for hearings by the watchdog.
As the market buzzes with news of Cipla promoters exiting the business through a stake sale and Ahmedabad-based Mehta family-led Torrent Pharmaceuticals racing to acquire its rival, Cipla, an analysis reveals that if the deal were to go through, both companies might need to divest as many as 15 brands to comply with Competition Commission of India (CCI) norms. A recent analysis by Bernstein shows that Cipla and Torrent share a presence in 332 products (based on product and molecule data from market research firm IQVIA). Bernstein analysts Nithya Balasubramanian and Parth Shah noted that, while this may appear as a high number, a significant portion of these products lack significance.
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
'Investors should not go for lump-sum investments in infrastructure funds at this point.' 'The SIP route is the best to avoid any major disappointment.'
Global private equity major Blackstone today said Akhil Gupta, who founded and led its operations in India for eight years, will step into a non-executive role.
Have the markets already played out their dynamics before the economy has even properly taken off? Are we now destined for a period of mediocre returns despite a strong economy? asks Akash Prakash.
These 10 stocks represent the best mix of value and growth, offering relatively low price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios, a high return on equity, and sufficiently high potential from current levels.
'We have seen something do very well when the times are good but maybe not as well when the times are bad.'
'Investors looking at the next 6-12 months can be certain that the Fed will maintain its easing cycle, and we expect the overall environment to be conducive for fixed income investments for portfolio diversification.'
'Expectations are high regarding the change in LTCG with respect to equity investments.'
Russian firms expand their footprint in India. And take bigger steps to do business with India's private sector.
Sanjay Kumar Singh suggests key factors investors need to keep an eye on while choosing the direct investment route.
The latest ruling by the Registrar of Companies (RoC) in the LinkedIn Technology Information case for violating significant beneficial ownership (SBO) norms has brought the amended rules into the spotlight. Experts suggest that more entities, particularly multinational companies (MNCs), are expected to face greater scrutiny. "Companies are closely watching this space.
The move will help the LPs save the fee they pay private equity firms and play an active role in these investments.
Close to $18 billion that Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail mopped up from a slew of private equity transactions in 2020 has pushed up the money inflows through this route by 108 per cent to $33.8 billion, according to an industry report. As per the data collated by Refinitiv, private equity investments increased 108 per cent in 2020 over the previous year, with the number of deals jumping from 665 in 2019 to 791 in 2020 at $33.8 billion, despite the pandemic. In 2019, total PE deals stood at $16.2 billion. Most of the fund inflows were in the third quarter, fetching $24 billion, which, however, tapered off in Q4 to just about $4.57 billion, as per the data from the agency that tracks financial transactions at a global level.
Investors attribute the revival to the country's strong public markets, which are boosting confidence in initial public offering (IPO)-bound startups offering viable exit opportunities.
Younger people, who usually have a longer investment horizon which allows them to handle the interim volatility, may go for them.
Online food delivery firm Zomato Ltd on Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 176 crore in the second quarter ended on September 30, 2024. The board of the company, which had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 36 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, also approved the raising of Rs 8,500 crore through qualified institutional placement of equity shares, Zomato Ltd said in a regulatory filing. Zomato's consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,799 crore.
Exporters on Thursday sought a fund of Rs 750 crore for three years to tap USD 25 billion export potential in the US, aiming to seize potential opportunities that may arise as the US President-elect, Donald Trump, has threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods. In its pre-Budget meeting with the finance ministry, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwani Kumar has also demanded extension of the five per cent Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES).
Coffee Day Group, which runs businesses from coffee cafes to wealth management to furniture to logistics, is understood to be readying the stage for a possible $100-million fund raise through the private equity route.
Investments by private equity and venture capital funds in November stood at $6.8 billion across 102 deals, which is double by value when compared with the pandemic-impacted year-ago period but half of the bets in the preceding month of October, as per a report. In November 2020, such high-risk investors had infused $3.9 billion, while in October, the total investments had stood at $13.1 billion, the monthly data shared by industry lobby IVCA and the consultancy EY said. The overall investments in the first 11 months of the year have touched $72.6 billion, which is 53 per cent higher than the all-time high for a year achieved in 2020, it said.
Fund raising expectations have turned more cautious over the past year due to concerns over governance.
Diwali fireworks are expected to continue on Dalal Street next week, with four companies collectively seeking to mobilise over Rs 6,600 crore through initial public offerings (IPOs). In terms of the amount raised, this is poised to be the busiest week of calendar year 2023. Tata Technologies (Tata Tech), a subsidiary of Tata Motors, could lead the charge with an IPO projected to be over Rs 2,900 crore. This will mark the first maiden share sale by a Tata Group firm in nearly two decades.
The tide of startup-funding is turning in India, with a rising trend of overall funding while the deal sizes grow bigger. However, the spotlight now is on late-stage startups, many of which are seen to be headed for initial public offerings (IPOs). Record surge in stock markets and consistently improving performances of listed startups are understood to have turned the sentiment for the better, especially for those that exhibit a clear path to an IPO.
