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.
'We are expected to grow at above 28 per cent this year, higher than the industry.'
The issue also underscores the growing scrutiny by investors and voting advisory firms of the performance of board members.
'Das is friendly, but he finally does what he does. The quality of engagement is very good.'
During 2023, the Indian real estate sector - both housing and commercial - witnessed buoyancy fuelled by demand, supply, and absorption, and the sector is banking on the upcoming Budget to keep the momentum going. Mumbai-based Sattva Group wants the government to focus on the critical pillars for long-term growth. The company emphasised on the infrastructure boom with increased allocation, lower goods and services tax (GST) rates, incentives for affordable housing and single-window clearance to fast-track projects and support liquidity.
There was no smooth surge in middle class prosperity for foreign businesses to tap into because of the Indian economy was mismanaged, argues Debashis Basu.
New business premium (NBP) growth of life insurers in March is expected to be weak owing to the high base effect in the year-ago period due to revision in taxation norms for high-value policies, insurers said. In the Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed that insurance policies (excluding unit-linked insurance plans or Ulips) with an aggregate premium exceeding Rs 5 lakh would be taxed. This rule came into effect on April 1, 2023. In March 2023, the NBP of life insurance companies witnessed a strong growth after the tax announcement. Premiums rose by 14.45 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 59,608.83 crore in March 2023 from Rs 52,081.12 crore.
rediffGURU Ramalingam Kalirajan answers your personal finance queries.
"We will raise Rs 300 crore via bonds of two-, three- and five-year tenures. This will be our maiden bond issuance and is part of our effort to widen funding sources," says Vimal Bhandari, executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Arka Fincap. The firm, a subsidiary of Kirloskar Oil, is only five years old and small (assets of around Rs 5,000 crore with an "AA" rating), but the response to this float will be closely watched: It would be the first by a non-banking finance company (NBFC) after Mint Road upped the risk weights on bank exposures to them by 25 percentage points. The move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has caught NBFCs off guard even though the issue had been flagged by Governor Shaktikanta Das with their corner-room occupants (and that of banks) in July and August 2023 - on consumer credit and the dependency on bank borrowings.
'This segment has performed very well for us and this is reflected in our bounce rate which is about three to four per cent.'
rediffGURU Vivek Lala answers your income tax and personal finance queries.
For non-banks, the IL&FS crisis was nothing short of India's Lehman moment, which has for a foreseeable future reset the sector on multiple grounds.
For long-term financial security, millennials must not only provide social security for their young families but also ensure that their financial burdens are not passed down to their families, says Casparus Kromhout.
'The rising cost of construction, the cost of doing business, high compliance, and inflation/interest rates going up have already reduced returns to single digits.'
Investors need to evaluate how they stack up against other high credit quality fixed-income options before putting money in them.
But the industry's chief executives remain confident of the long-term growth potential of NBFCs in India, given their specialised lending on the asset side, last-mile reach, and a well-capitalised balance sheet. "Over the years, NBFCs have faced many crises.
The Reserve Bank of India's rate-setting panel on Wednesday began its three-day deliberations on the next bi-monthly monetary policy amid expectations of at least a 35-basis-point hike in the interest rate to check high inflation. If raised, it will be the third consecutive hike in the repo rate -- the short-term rate at which the RBI lends money to banks. The central bank has already announced to gradually withdraw its accommodative monetary policy stance.
The average top executive monthly compensation is Rs 1 crore. The median employee salary is now Rs 820,000.
'But we are much better than what we all had expected and planned, and what all the prophets of doom had predicted.'
Consolidation has begun, due to which some are trying to trim the business and others are seeking an exit. The situation would worsen after August 31.
Average overall sales which used to be around 8,000 units a year ago has dropped to 7,000-7,500 units in a month. A lot of government projects have been announced but these are yet to translate to boost CV sales.
Since the beginning of 2020, i-bankers have collected nearly Rs 1,800 crore by way of IPO fees. Interestingly, the India fees this year form just 1 per cent of the global fee pool of $13.7 billion from IPOs.
The primary market is set for a bumper Rs 80,000-crore bonanza with 30 companies already filing IPO papers to raise Rs 55,000 crore, while around 10 more are lined up for this month itself, seeking to mop up another Rs 25,000 crore, say investment bankers. The market has been on a non-stop rally, hitting new records almost every week, on the back of an influx of investors -- a vast majority of them first-timers -- coupled with a flood of liquidity. Foreign funds alone had pumped in a record $35 billion into the market in FY21, while the trend has continued this fiscal as well. Domestic institutions led by LIC have also infused trillions of rupees, helping woo retail investors in troves -- the year saw over 20 million new investors coming to the market.
Raamdeo's base argument is that India's stock market merely mirrors the national economy, which is poised for big things.
Real estate will prosper, small developers won't.
Analysts believe that new companies getting into banking space will look at acquiring old private banks. Following this view, there has been a significant rally in banking stocks.
Licence winners are expected to be announced by the first quarter of 2014.
Gold loan is currently the fastest-growing loan category (among the various types disbursed to individuals). On February 26, 2021, the outstanding loan against gold jewellery stood at Rs 56,596 crore. By February 25, 2022, it had risen to Rs 71,408 crore, a year-on-year growth of 26.2 per cent, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) data. Several factors are driving the demand for gold loans.
Announcement of India's first woman bank with Rs 1,000 crore capital is a great initiative.
The buzz in the IPO market continues with four companies launching their initial share sales this week to raise over Rs 14,628 crore collectively. This comes after four companies -- Devyani International, Krsnaa Diagnostics, Windlas Biotech and Exxaro Tiles-- launched their initial share-sales last week to mobilise Rs 3,614 crore. So far in the current fiscal, 16 companies have raised Rs 30,666 crore through IPOs against Rs 31,277 crore by 30 firms in the entire 2020-21. Going forward, market analysts expect the IPO environment to remain buzzing during the entire 2021-22.
The spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has made Indian companies persist with their policy of banning overseas trips and allowing only essential travel within India. The IT services firms, which had planned to ask their employees to return to the workplace, are also waiting and watching the Covid-19 situation before fully opening up their offices. Large conglomerates like the Tatas, Birla, JSW and Reliance are continuing with the mandatory social distancing and masking policies within their office premises.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
On November 12, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to ring in uniformity in asset classification and income recognition across all lending institutions. Shadow banks, or non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), like commercial banks, are to test non-performing assets (NPAs) on a daily basis and upgrade them to "standard assets" only when interest and principal arrears are settled by borrowers. This is going to create all manner of headaches for shadow banks and their clientele. Says Y S Chakravarti, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), Shriram City Union Finance: "NPA levels will go up, especially of small borrowers.
Ajay Piramal bets highly on infrastructure, realty
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Drivezy is helping people share their vehicles.
With liquidity crunch hitting operations, many finance companies have put the brakes on sanctions in the third quarter in the aftermath of the IL&FS crisis.
When you start taking feedback seriously that's when you become a better human being, says Ravi Subramanian.
Amid fears of a third wave of coronavirus pandemic and hardening of retail inflation, the Reserve Bank is likely to maintain status quo on interest rate and watch the developing macroeconomic situation for some more time before taking any decisive action on monetary policy. The RBI is scheduled to announce its bi-monthly monetary policy review on August 6 at the end of the three-day meeting -- August 4-6 -- of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The RBI Governor-headed six-member MPC decides on the key policy rates.
Some of the top indebted companies likely to face financial headwinds in the coming quarters include NTPC, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, Adani Power, JSW Steel, UPL, and Steel Authority of India. Together these 201 companies owed Rs 14.9 trillion to their lenders at the end of September 30, 2019, up 4.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) during the first half of FY20.
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