The debt-equity ratio was as high as 1.4 times the net worth as certificates of deposit and inter-corporate deposits gained popularity.
Jointly organised by the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) and the Europe India Chamber of Commerce, the 'India Calling' conference is a rare effort by Indian industry to brand India at a EU level.
The decision by the Reserve Bank of India to introduce a unified regulatory framework on connected lending for all the regulated entities (RE) is expected to reduce the influence of business conglomerates in the Indian lending space, said bankers and experts. "Connected lending pertains to lending to related parties within the same business group. "While the RBI might appear more agreeable to allowing business conglomerates to own banking licenses, it deems it crucial to bolster regulations that would prevent conglomerate-owned banks from gaming the system," said Shivaji Thapliyal, head of research and lead analyst, YES Securities.
The earnings of India Inc hit a record high in the 2022-23 (FY23) January-March quarter (fourth quarter, or Q4), compared with their poor showing in the previous two quarters of the financial year. The rise in earnings, however, is exclusively led by banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) companies. A better-than-expected showing by banks and non-bank lenders in Q4FY23 more than compensated for the earnings contraction in the non-BFSI space.
Brokerages expect India Inc to report an upturn in earnings for the March quarter of 2022-23, after a relatively muted showing in the previous two quarters. This growth is expected to be led by banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies, FMCG firms, and automobile makers. The combined net profit of the Nifty50 companies (excluding Adani Enterprises) is expected to have grown 15.6 per cent to Rs 1.77 trillion in Q4FY23, from Rs 1.53 trillion a year ago.
Aided by the $57.8-billion merger of HDFC Bank and HDFC, India Inc reported its highest ever mergers and acquisitions in calendar 2022 at $171 billion as against deals worth $145 billion announced last year. The acquisition by the Adani group across cement, media and ports dominated the headlines with the conglomerate making its foray into the cement sector by buying Swiss materials firm Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cements for $6.5 billion. The Adani family's additional $4-billion open offer for Ambuja did not get a response because shareholders preferred to stay invested with the new owner.
India Inc's fund raising spree for expansion and growth plans has pushed up the figure of loans gathered by companies to a record $7.3 billion (about Rs 29,600 crore) so far this year, a latest report says.
Reliance Industries, which sold stake worth $21.7 billion in Jio Platforms, kept the league tables moving in spite of the pandemic.
The immediate concern for all companies is to prepare themselves - and their vendors and suppliers - for the new GST return filing mechanism, being test piloted from April 1.
India's corporate sector is likely to report a slowdown in revenue growth and earnings for the July-September 2023 period (Q2FY24), according to earnings estimates by brokerages, after the country's top listed companies posted higher than expected profits for the first quarter. The combined net profit of Nifty50 companies, based on brokerage estimates, is expected to have grown by 19.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 1.75 trillion in Q2FY24 - a sharp deceleration from 37.6 per cent Y-o-Y growth in the combined earnings of index companies in the April-June 2023 period. According to estimates, the combined earnings in the second quarter would be down 8.8 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis and the lowest in the past three quarters.
Not surprisingly, equity investors are bidding-up stock prices across sectors and the broader market is now more valuable than pre-Covid levels.
The United States has imposed sanctions on at least half a dozen Indian companies accused of trading in Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals as part of broader action targeting 20 entities worldwide.
Q1 results indicate more pain ahead, as slowdown has spread to more sectors, pricing power has come down and rising interest cost is eating into profits.
New government should consider reforming taxation rules.
Profitability and cash reserves have halved since the global financial crisis.
India's top listed companies reported their best-ever quarterly net profit of Rs 2.39 trillion in the September quarter of FY22, up 46.4 per cent year-on-year. The earnings were driven by a big surge in the profitability of banks, non-banking financial companies & insurance (BFSI), oil & gas, and metal & mining firms. The combined net profit of these three cyclical sectors were up 87 per cent YoY to a record high of Rs 1.53 trillion, up from Rs 82,000 crore a year ago and Rs 1.08 trillion in Q1FY22.
Yunus will teach India Inc why and how social business is not charity but business wherein a surplus is passed on to the target group of beneficiaries in the form of lower prices, better service and greater access
India Inc is seeking at least quarterly interactions with senior government representatives to establish a channel of communication and help change the opinion at the highest level.
Many firms have asked those joining on April 1 to delay their on-boarding by 2-3 months. The outlook for the airline, tourism, hotel, and media industries is bleak too.
Equity fundraising through qualified institutional placements (QIPs) has gained traction, thanks to supportive equity markets and the need for fresh fundraising to meet capital expenditure (capex) requirements.
The early bird results for the January-March 2022 quarter (Q4FY22) hint at a slowdown in corporate sector growth in the upcoming quarters. The combined net sales of the 81 early bird companies in the Business Standard sample were up 15.1 per cent year-on-year in Q4FY22; this was less than the 15.9 per cent YoY jump reported in Q3FY22. The slowdown could be much stronger for the domestic market-focused companies, including those in the banking, finance, and insurance (BFSI) space.
Indian corporate are fast tapping the international bonds market to raise funds for their operational expenses even as they reduce their presence in the rupee bond market. As bonds are costlier for companies and investors are more sceptical than the banks, chief financial officers say they are looking at other avenues for raising funds in the coming months as dollar bond rates are lower in the range of 100 to 250 basis points. "For corporate with reasonable credit quality, the Indian bond market has become less of an option from a cost point of view. "In addition, conditions imposed in the Indian bond market by investors post Franklin episode have also become very onerous," said Prabal Banerjee, president-finance of Bajaj group. "Hence very few corporate are looking at the local bond market for resource mobilisation, since both, bank loans and the overseas bond markets are much more attractive," he said.
Business leaders, among others, ask govt to let go of fiscal target, seek stimulus, and direct cash transfer.
Corporate earnings grew in double digits during the April-June 2022 (Q1FY23) quarter but the momentum waned. Overall corporate earnings in the quarter were down sharply from their highs in FY22. The combined net profit of 2,981 listed companies across sectors in the Business Standard sample was up 22.4 per cent YoY to Rs 2.24 trillion in the June quarter, driven by a big jump in the earnings of banks, non-banking lenders, oil & producers, and FMCG companies. Also, earnings in the corresponding quarter a year ago were affected because of the second wave of the Covid pandemic, even though the numbers were a lot better than Q1FY21 when there was a nationwide lockdown.
Capital expenditure by Indian companies is likely to see an uptick in the upcoming quarters as capacity utilisation has surpassed the critical threshold of 75 per cent, and numerous companies have deleveraged their balance sheets, according to analysts. The first quarter of the current financial year has shown improved profitability, driven by a decrease in input prices. This, according to analysts at Care Ratings, should stimulate a revival in the private capex cycle.
India Inc seems to be in top gear when it comes to raising funds from the domestic and overseas markets with plans to accumulate over 10 billion dollars in the month of June alone.
Average global growth prospects for the next 12 months and the next three years are 35 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively.
Just before the 2008 financial crisis made headlines, Indian companies were on a global buying spree. In the fifth part of the series, Dev Chatterjee and Krishna Kant discuss how the crisis came as a black swan event for some, changing the mood from exuberance to despair.
Smartphones, for the first time, emerged as India's largest individual export commodity by value over 10 months of any financial year, during the April-January period of FY25, based on harmonised system (HS) codes. During the period under review, smartphone exports from India reached $18.31 billion, according to data from the Department of Commerce, surpassing automotive diesel fuel exports, which stood at $16.04 billion.
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) elections have been put on hold after conflicting orders from the Delhi and Himachal Pradesh High Courts.
The government has unleashed a slew of reforms to attract greater investments including higher foreign direct investment in defence and opening up the railways infrastructure sector, relaxed labour laws, launched campaigns like the Make in India for re-invigorating manufacturing, Clean India and Digital India, among others.
In peace and at war, firms remain tethered to promoter families in a uniquely Indian way.
India Inc has too much on its plate to ensure double digit growth in FY16.
A strong performance by sectors including banking raised the profits of Indian companies by 28 per cent in the three months ended March 2022. The rate of growth is, however, lower than the 30 per cent seen in December. Growth in net sales was also lower than what was seen in the December quarter for the sample under consideration.
One of India Inc's top demands is the abolishing of the MAT.
Wishlist for new PM includes growth boosters, reining in inflation, faster project clearance and reversal of Land Acquisition Act
Assocham estimates offices are facing staff crunches of 15 to 25 per cent with the various strains of fever.
Narendra Modi has earned a ranking of eight out of 10 in an India Inc survey.