'Corporations that were recruiting 15 or 20 [students] have reduced the number to two or three.'
Even as the slowdown in the information technology (IT) services sector deepens, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), as well as oil and gas companies, emerge as the primary drivers of corporate earnings in the country. The IT services sector's share in corporate earnings declined to a five-year low of 17.4 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), whereas banks and finance companies accounted for 46.5 per cent, and oil and gas firms contributed 16.8 per cent. At their peak, IT services firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro represented just over a third of the combined net profit of all listed companies in the Business Standard sample.
'In the short term you keep your return expectations very, very low; in the medium term be prepared to invest and in the long term growth will come and your returns from stocks will be high.'
If the policy is extended to NBFCs and co-operative banks, they will have to disclose divergence in asset classification and provisioning during RBI inspections in their audited financial reports. Till now, these entities have been exempted from this. At present, there are more than 98,000 co-operative banks and 10,000 NBFCs. Sources said the RBI would concentrate on the top 50 co-operative banks and NBFCs.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will prepay $195 million of debt due in 2024 as the conglomerate helmed by Gautam Adani looks to boost investors' confidence post being targeted by a US short-seller. In a stock exchange filing, APSEZ said it will buy back $195 million of bonds due in 2024 using its cash reserves. Out of the $520 million principal outstanding, $325 million will be left after the buyback, it said.
'I am shocked that the BJP makes so many commitments. What did they deliver as the NDA?'
Its obsession for growth, chasing corporate clients and giving up its original mandate of meeting the needs of local trade and businesses. A quarter of its loan book has gone bad. That's an error of business strategy, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Kapoor and his associate entities owned 10.6 per cent in the bank at the end of June 2019.
The department of investment and public asset management is racing against time to launch the LIC IPO, which could become the largest-ever listing on the Indian bourses. This would lead to some delay in the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank.
The rally in the equity markets in the second half of 2023 has led to a sharp surge in the cutoff for stocks to qualify as largecaps and midcaps. On the latest list put out by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), the smallest largecap stock now has a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 67,000 crore, 35 per cent higher than in July 2023. In the case of midcaps, the cutoff has surged 26 per cent to Rs 22,000 crore.
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.
Of the three major Budget announcements related to the banking sector, privatisation of PSBs is the most audacious, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In numerous instances, family members are unaware of an insurance policy's existence, let alone its details.
The bank is targeting a total network of 3,000 branches and business of Rs. 4 lakh crore in the next three years.
Your promise to protect bankers for their commercial decisions is a huge confidence booster, but how does one define a commercial decision? Are our investigative agencies well equipped to dissect lending decisions of bankers?
'We have now drastically simplified it, primarily to two rates in long-term capital gains: 20% and the applicable rates. Similarly, in short-term capital gains.' 'For listed shares, there is a slight increase, but for unlisted shares, where indexation benefits are removed, there is a reduction in rates, benefiting unlisted companies, venture capital firms, etc.' 'Similarly, in real estate, wherever returns are higher, the new structure is beneficial. In very few cases, returns are lower, and those are more of an exception.'
'We need to be far more careful given the fact that while this is group lending, it's essentially unsecured.'
'We emphasise the importance of not basing investment decisions solely on electoral outcomes.' 'Instead, focusing on investing in high-quality businesses capable of prospering regardless of the political landscape is paramount.'
The Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday cleared a proposal that offers an option of availing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to the state government employees who joined the service after November 2005.
While the economy seems to be on a firm growth path, the fight against inflation is not over yet. Shaktikanta Das seems to be in no hurry. After playing well through a five-year Test match, he doesn't want to get out hit wicket, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'He's at best a holding-CEO. Not one who will re-imagine the bank,' a senior banker and former colleague tells Raghu Mohan about HDFC Bank CEO & MD Sashidhar Jagdishan.
Trading in the forex market was impacted on Friday as one of the platforms suffered an outage. One of the electronic trading platforms suffered an outage around midday during the trading hours due to which players were unable to log into the system, according to sources. Orders dried up as a result of this, they said, adding that this created a heightened uncertainty in the forex market, causing excess volatility in the Indian rupee, which was avoidable.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced income tax relief for the middle class, a Rs 2 lakh crore outlay for job creation schemes over the next five years and a spending splurge for states run by her party's new coalition partners as she unveiled the Modi 3.0 government's first budget after the general elections.
A Europe-like cyber security defence alliance is the need of the hour, say banking technology experts.
Ramoji Rao lived as the interface between business and politics and was an active participant in both for most of his remarkable life.
The country's largest private lender HDFC Bank's bad-loan write-offs doubled to Rs 3,100 crore in the April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) of 2021-22 (FY22), from the level of Rs 1,500 crore in the same quarter of 2020-21 (Q1FY21). It also offloaded its non-performing assets (NPAs) amounting to Rs 1,800 crore in Q1FY22 to maintain a robust asset quality profile. It had jettisoned NPAs worth Rs 1,000 crore in the last quarter. Lenders knock off stress assets from books after making full provisions. Their right to recover dues from delinquent borrowers remains intact after the write-downs.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
In a series of tweets reacting to banks led by State Bank of India taking over management control of troubled Jet Airways, Mallya said, "...Only wish the same was done for Kingfisher".
HDFC Bank on Tuesday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed an external IT firm for carrying out a special audit of its IT infrastructure in the aftermath of repeated service outages at the country's largest private sector lender over the past two years. "RBI has appointed an external professional IT firm for carrying out a special audit of the entire IT infrastructure of the bank under Section 30 (1-B) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949..., at the cost of the Bank under Section 30 (1-C) of the Act.
'Because it is the only public sector company in this sector, currently.'
In the new decade, the scene will change because the banks till recently had been challenged by the fintechs, but the techfins have now entered the arena, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'While Indian markets are indeed not inexpensive, the valuations of largecap stocks are still a considerable distance from being overstretched.'
Bandhan Bank is expecting that a little less than 50 per cent of its portfolio will be dominated by affordable housing loans in the next three to five years.
Locals have witnessed real estate prices skyrocket from a historic low of Rs 6,000 per square yard (in 2020) during Jagan Mohan Reddy's regime to around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 per square yard after elections.
'We are sure FY25 is going to be better...But to call out that all problems are behind us is a bit early.' 'The underlying business sentiment has not changed significantly.'
Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej and his sister Smita Crishna Godrej-controlled Godrej & Boyce will hold the exclusive construction rights over a vast land bank, including a prime 3,000 acre-property in Mumbai, they got as part of the family agreement that split the Godrej empire, as per sources and regulatory filing. According to the agreement reached late Tuesday, the 127-year-oldgets to keep what group will be split into two entities - one led by Adi Godrej and his brother Nadir and the other by their cousins Jamshyd and Smita.
It has Rs 20,500 crore of standard stressed pool outstanding as of June 2018. Thus, the entire stressed book (net NPAs and standard stressed pool) is nearly two times its net worth.
The governor made it clear that the RBI is aware of what's happening and acts accordingly, but doesn't make a noise about that, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
After the income tax department indicated that the Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) did not provide the complete details of transactions worth up to Rs 3,610 crore, sources told Business Standard that this was due to a technical glitch. The bank has now submitted all the required documents in the past few days. According to the Income Tax (I-T) department, TMB had not submitted a statement of financial transactions (SFT) pertaining to cash deposits of around Rs 2,700 crore involving more than 10,000 accounts.
With a potential liability of Rs 750-800 crore, sources say Clix Capital's stand on the matter would be crucial in finalising the merger valuation.
