The July-September quarter (Q2) results for 2024-25 (FY25) from the largest listed consumer electrical solutions companies, Havells India and Polycab India, followed similar trends, demonstrating robust revenue growth while falling short of profitability expectations. Both companies witnessed overall growth in the 16-30 per cent range, but margins declined by 130-290 basis points (bps) year-on-year (Y-o-Y). Although brokerages are bullish on long-term prospects and have raised revenue projections, earnings forecasts have been revised downward due to margin pressures.
Haryana has done well in terms of economic growth over the last couple of decades. For it to continue to lead the growth ladder, the new government has to work hard on multiple dimensions, recommend Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva.
Consumer goods firms and auto companies are witnessing an upturn in rural demand, which had been lagging for most of FY24. Expectations of a bumper rabi crop harvest have helped turn the tide. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Monetary Policy Committee kept the repo rate unchanged last week, noting that as rural demand catches up, consumption is expected to support economic growth in 2024-25.
'If weak indicators persist, there is a risk that India could slip into a prolonged slowdown similar to the one experienced between 2014 and 2019,' warns Debashis Basu.
Amazon Pay UPI has crossed 100 million customers, with the online platform used mainly for e-commerce transactions, utility bill payments and mobile recharges, the company announced on Monday.
Leading automakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors reported decline in wholesales in August as the companies curtailed vehicle dispatches amid drop in demand and to cut inventories at dealer level. Market leader Maruti Suzuki India said its total domestic passenger vehicle wholesales were at 143,075 units last month as compared to 156,114 units in the year-ago month, registering a dip of 8 per cent. Sales of mini segment cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, declined to 10,648 units last month as against 12,209 units a year ago.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) plans to open new Arena Satellite showrooms as the country's largest carmaker aims to tap small towns and new markets, said a senior company executive, amid signs of recovery in rural demand and an approaching festival season. Senior executive officer for marketing and sales MSIL, Partho Banerjee, told Business Standard the company was aiming to penetrate deeper into markets and reach closer to its customers. "We have already had a concept of mobile showrooms in the Arena channel.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk thanked Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for not agreeing with Indian tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal on auctioning spectrum for satellite services, saying he is looking forward to serving Indians. Reacting to Scindia's statement that satellite spectrum will not be auctioned, Musk, in a post on X, said, "much appreciated! We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink".
'I tell young entrepreneurs if you don't have a great idea, if you don't have a good business model, don't think of a start-up.'
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
Sharing details about the decision, tourism minister Jaivir Singh said the tourism department would provide the company land for the international-level museum on a 90-year lease for a token amount of Re 1.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies anticipate sustained volume pressures in the January-March quarter (Q4) coupled with sluggish rural growth during the period. Brokerages estimate top-line growth to be in low single digits in the quarter. Also, the late onset of winter had an impact on demand for winter products which range from moisturisers to hot beverages.
Bengaluru-based Sunny Gupta had been searching for a laptop for months. In August, while sitting at a coffee shop, he decided to order an Acer Predator laptop - typically priced between Rs 95,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh - through the quick-commerce (q-com) platform Flipkart Minutes. "It took exactly 13 minutes from payment to receiving it at the Starbucks I ordered it to," he wrote in a now-viral post on social media platform X.
'The customer is fast changing, and she demands newer experiences that wealth can buy.'
'In the case of corporate credit, especially to AAA borrowers, lenders will have to take a fresh look at pricing.'
There is and will be plenty written about Shirish's achievements, his awards, his writing, his talks, the mark he left on this city he knew and understood so well. I know much of that, certainly. All of it speaks of the man he was, and what he meant to so many. Dilip D'Souza pays tributes to Shirish Patel, the legendary urban planner, who passed into the ages last week.
Tata Motors is looking to consolidate its position in the SUV segment as it marks its entry into the highly competitive mid-size space which is currently dominated by South Korean and Japanese carmakers. The Mumbai-based auto major on Monday launched midsize SUV coupe Curvv with petrol and diesel powertrains with a price starting at Rs 9.99 lakh. The company has already unveiled the electric version of the model in August.
The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector has underperformed the Nifty over the past year as its 20 per cent return is trumped by 29 per cent of the benchmark index. The FMCG index saw a 2.2 per cent drop in the last session, while the Nifty lost 1 per cent. FMCG is seen as a defensive segment. The demand for staples like personal care products, groceries and snacks tend to be stable. FMCG companies are consistent dividend-payers.
Nearly 13.04 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 am on Wednesday in 43 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand where voting is underway in the first phase, officials said.
'There was hardly any recruitment after the second wave.' 'Now, there is a huge demand for manpower.'
Another trend: A preference for coloured diamonds among brides, who are pairing them with their groom's birthstone. So, along with yellow or white diamonds, they are choosing pink, green, blue sapphires, emeralds or red rubies.
The two-wheeler segment has shown signs of recovery in the first half (H1) of calendar year (CY) 2024, largely driven by improving performance in rural areas. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations, rural contribution to two-wheeler sales surged by 57-60 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2024-25, indicating a rising demand in these regions. Experts believe that this trend will continue, supported by a favourable monsoon season and government initiatives aimed at rural development.
'They think quick fixes like internship in the private sector will help. 'In fact, internships have been going on for the last one decade.' 'In 2014-2015 itself, we had a ministry of skill development. None of the programmes have yielded results, still they are continuing with such schemes under some other name.' 'We don't see any seriousness on the part of the government to attack the problem of unemployment.'
'The quality of a leader should be such that even if the leader is not there, the institution carries on.'
Amid the heavy downpour in Bengaluru, residents of many flood-affected areas have taken to social media to pour out their woes ranging from waterlogging to complaining about "crumbling" infrastructure.
'We are very quickly going to announce the timeline of our launches, which should start giving us the turnaround'
'Food inflation is important and if that is controlled, then consumption will go up.'
'Although currently, urban areas contribute more to growth than rural, there is no reason why rural areas should not contribute.'
As Indians increasingly take to yoga, apparel brands are seeking to cash in on the opportunity to make a few bucks.
In two years, the start-up Overqualified Housewives has helped over 6,000 women across India find flexible-job roles across India from salaries ranging between Rs 8,000 to Rs 80,000, making them financially independent.
Could the MPCE survey results be used as a basis of reconstructing the Consumer Price Index with new weights, asks Madan Sabnavis.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Monday held a performance review meeting with heads of public sector banks and asked them to make concerted efforts to garner deposits. Deposits have been growing 300-400 basis points lower than the credit growth in the last few months, creating an asset-liability mismatch for banks. During deliberations on the deposit mobilisation, she said that while the credit growth has picked up, mobilisation of deposits could further be improved to fund the credit growth sustainably, and asked banks to make concerted efforts to garner deposits by conducting special drives.
Lamborghini has sold 10,112 cars worldwide -- so India's 100 is certainly a big deal for them. But how big a deal is it for us to peg our consumption theories around, asks Rama Bijapurkar.
Emotions run high more than usual on OTT this week.
Britannia Industries reported revenue growth of 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q1FY25 and volume growth of 8 per cent implying price trends were adverse. Other operating income jumped 195 per cent, due to the incentive received for the Ranjangaon plant. The non-biscuit portfolio (rusk, cake, bread) remained key to growth and contributed 25 per cent of the total revenue.
As of March 2023, the share of accounts belonging to women stood at 36.4 per cent (917.7 million) of the total 2.52 billion individual accounts.
The Budget proposals are expected to boost the fortunes of consumer goods and fast-moving consumer goods companies, which have been struggling with poor consumer demand for more than a year. The Budget announcements, such as the increase in standard deduction by Rs 25,000 for income-tax payers and slab revisions, will put more money in their hands, boosting consumer demand. Private consumption is also likely to benefit from a new scheme to offer internships to 10 million youths in the country's top 500 companies.
Since 2000, per capita GDP has grown faster in India's rural areas than in its urban centres. Rural incomes are growing, and consumers are buying discretionary goods and lifestyle products, including mobile phones, television sets and two-wheelers, says Sanjay Dawar, MD, Management Consulting, Accenture, India.
Since 2000, per capita GDP has grown faster in India's rural areas than in its urban centres. Rural incomes are growing, and consumers are buying discretionary goods and lifestyle products, including mobile phones, television sets and two-wheelers, says Sanjay Dawar, MD, Management Consulting, Accenture, India.
The Fiat Urban Cross brings the 'Urban' back into the small hatchback with some beefed-up looks and quintessential Italian flair and quirks, writes Indian automobile website MotorBeam.
