Operating margins have been the primary driver of corporate earnings in India in recent quarters, despite revenue growth suffering from weak consumer demand. Companies across sectors have reported a sharp improvement in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margins over the past two years, benefiting from lower commodity and energy prices. Higher margins more than compensated for slower revenue growth, resulting in double-digit growth in net profit for five consecutive quarters.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought details about lenders' exposures to the Adani Group, banking sources said, a day after the conglomerate withdrew the Rs 20,000-crore follow on public offer (FPO) of its flagship firm Adani Enterprises amid the steep fall in its stock prices. On Wednesday, Swiss lender Credit Suisse stopped accepting bonds by Adani group companies as collaterals for margin lending. The going has been tough for the diversified conglomerate over the past week ever since US-based short seller Hindenburg Research levelled a slew of allegations about the group's operations, calling it the biggest corporate con ever.
The rating agency revised the outlook for EXIM, SBI, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Baroda (New Zealand), Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank while affirming their ratings. At the same time, Fitch has affirmed IDBI Bank Ltd's (IDBI) rating, while maintaining the outlook at negative.
According to analysts, this is the highest premium paid by a foreign insurer to a domestic partner.
As a step to protect its interest as a lender, SBI will look at the financial stability and corporate governance practices in companies where it has exposure.
These schemes came into force from June 1.
The issue has a AAA rating from India Ratings, the domestic services of Fitch, reflecting the unconditional guarantee extended by the government.
'The impact of CEO transition is fairly even for stocks, with about half (53 per cent) of the events not producing any change in the relative performance of the stock.'
The country's largest insurer LIC is the fifth most valuable company in the country with a market capitalisation of about Rs 5.54 lakh crore. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) made a tepid stock market debut on Tuesday following a mega IPO which fetched Rs 20,557 crore to the exchequer. The shares listed on stock exchanges at over 8 per cent discount over its issue price of Rs 949 apiece.
Our focus around technology, cost efficiency, persistency and effective distribution channel will continue, says the ICICI Bank MD and CEO.
Four of the 10 most valued domestic firms together added a whopping Rs 231,320.37 crore in market valuation last week, with market heavyweight Reliance Industries contributing the most to the overall gains. Last week, the Sensex jumped 884.57 points or 1.61 per cent. While TCS, Infosys and ICICI Bank were the other gainers from the top-10 pack, HDFC Bank, HUL, LIC, SBI, HDFC and Bharti Airtel faced erosion from their market valuation.
After the success of the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI's) first infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) with foreign institutional investors, the Centre is working on a proposal to launch a fresh InvIT for national highways, where domestic retail investors can hold units of the trust
Foreign investment cap in insurance sector raised to 49 per cent.
The government has appointed 10 merchant bankers including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India, and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities India to manage the mega initial public offering of country's largest insurer LIC. Other selected bankers include SBI Capital Market, JM Financial, Axis Capital, BofA Securities, JP Morgan India, ICICI Securities, and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co Ltd, a circular on the divestment department website said. "Government has finalised the book running lead managers and some other advisors for the IPO of LIC," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. The divestment department had invited applications for the appointment of merchant bankers on July 15.
According to the plan made by the lenders and RIL, all Future group listed companies will be merged into Future Enterprises. RIL will then invest Rs 8,500 crore in the merged entity which will include the retail business.
Mop-up misses target as big FIIs skip issue.
The combined market valuation of three of the 10 most valued domestic firms eroded by Rs 73,630.56 crore last week, with Reliance Industries Limited taking the biggest hit. While HUL and ICICI Bank were the other laggards from the top-10 pack, TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, LIC, SBI, HDFC and Bharti Airtel were the gainers. However, the combined gain of the seven firms at Rs 49,441.05 crore was less than the total loss suffered by the three companies.
'When buying a term insurance plan, you need to visualise today what could happen to your family tomorrow in your absence,' suggests Mahavir Chopra, director-health, Coverfox.com.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Nearly 90 per cent of the stocks comprising the National Stock Exchange Nifty 500 Index and 49 of the 50 stocks that make up the Nifty50 are trading above their respective 200-day moving averages (DMAs). The 200-DMA is considered one of the most relevant trend indicators by investors and traders. They believe that stocks and indices trading above this key level exhibit strength and are likely to rally, while those trading below this level are viewed as bearish, with the stock/index expected to see a selloff.
While Paytm (One97 Communications) is not completely past regulatory hurdles, its share price has gained in the last month or two. The Paytm handle migration is complete along with FDI clearance necessary for the Payment Aggregator (PA) license. UPI consumer data indicates stable market share, and expansion in partner networks in financial distribution. All this implies Paytm could be set to meet guidance of turning Adjusted Ebitda breakeven by Q4FY25 (ex of UPI-incentives).
The third-quarter financials didn't excite market watchers. But equity investors can still make money if they invest in the right stocks.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
You will be much better off buying the required plans directly from life and general insurers, experts tell Chirag Madia
Blackstone, KKR, and Bain Capital, among others, are in the race for its general insurance arm, and Bandhan Bank, Bain, and Dabur Investments have shown interest for RCap's 51 per cent stake in the life insurance business.
The telecom regulator on Friday released a list of 40 "defaulter" principal entities, including large banks like HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank, that are not fulfilling the regulatory norms on bulk commercial messages despite repeated reminders. Hardening its stance on the issue, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) warned that defaulting entities should comply with the stipulated requirements by March 31, 2021 "to avoid any disruption in the communication with customers" from April 1, 2021. "As sufficient opportunity has been given to principal entities/ telemarketers to comply with the regulatory requirements and that the consumers cannot be deprived of the benefits of the regulatory provisions any further, therefore it has been decided that from April 1, 2021, any message failing in the scrubbing process due to non-compliance of regulatory requirements will be rejected" by the system, TRAI said in a statement.
Visa and 20 insurance companies in India have joined forces to make paying life and general insurance premiums "faster and easier" through a range of new payment options for Visa cardholders
Jio Financial Services, the demerged financial services unit of Reliance Industries, will be listed on bourses on August 21, according to an exchange notification. Jio Financial Services Ltd (JFSL) demerged from Reliance last month and is currently listed under a dummy ticker after its price discovery at Rs 261.85 but there is no trading happening in the scrip. The listing on BSE and NSE has been scheduled a day before FTSE Russell plans to drop JFSL from its indices.
Seven public sector entities including the Life Insurance Corporation and State Bank of India on Friday submitted expressions of interest to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
After a stellar November that saw companies mop up over Rs 36,000 crore from the primary market via initial public offers (IPOs) and offers for sale (OFS), the current month, analysts said, will test investor's willingness to stay on with their investments as the one-month mandatory lock-in period for anchor investors begins to loosen. A note by Edelweiss Alternative Research suggests that in calendar year 2021 (CY21), 51 companies went public. Of these, 41 issuances' anchor selling dates are already over.
In the June quarter of FY24, 51 per cent of consumers who took small-ticket personal loans already had more than four credit products at the time of accessing yet another new loan, compared with just 17 per cent in the June quarter of FY20, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
SBI, LIC and HDFC, have showed double digit growth.
Sixteen merchant banks are in the fray to act as book running lead managers (BRLM) for the initial public offering of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). These merchant banks will have to make a presentation before the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on August 24-25. The shortlisted banks are BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets India, BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets(India), J.P. Morgan India, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India), Axis Capital, DAM Capital Advisors, HDFC Bank, ICICI Securities, IIFL Securities, JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra Capital, SBI Capital Market, and Yes Securities India.
Sanjay Kumar Singh tells you what to watch out for when buying insurance and investing in MFs online.
A fresh PIL was filed on Thursday in the Supreme Court seeking a probe by multiple central government agencies under the supervision of a panel or a former apex court judge against the Adani Group of companies following allegations of fraud and share price manipulation made by the US-based Hindenburg Research.
The government will launch the mega public offer of LIC by March and file draft papers with market regulator Sebi by the end of this month, an official said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last week reviewed the progress of the initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in a meeting with top officials of the ministry. The official said the September 2021 quarter financials of LIC are getting finalised as well as fund bifurcation is in progress.
The IL&FS management is also talking to its second-largest shareholder, Orix Corporation of Japan, to infuse more funds into the company - in case any shareholder backs out during the rights issue.
'The overall stress on asset quality is indeed coming down.'