In a first step towards succession plan, Chennai-based fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major CavinKare on Monday announced the restructuring of its businesses and also roped in the generation next giving charges of separate business verticals. Announcing the restructuring on Monday, CK Ranganathan, chairman and managing director of CavinKare indicated that the business will be split into mainly four different streams - FMCG, ecommerce, retail and research and development.
E-commerce major Amazon on Wednesday said it will acquire Prione Business Services - its joint venture firm with Catamaran, subject to requisite regulatory approvals. Prione Business Services was formed in 2014 and was coming up for renewal on May 19, 2022. In August this year, Amazon and NR Narayana Murthy's Catamaran announced that they will not continue their JV beyond May 2022. The two parties had not disclosed the reason behind the decision.
Slowing growth and execution challenges for Cognizant (CTSH) may well allow Infosys to overtake the former after a decade. Cognizant had marched ahead of Infosys in terms of revenue in the first quarter of financial year 2012-13. The Nasdaq-listed IT services firm's performance in Q3 and the guidance for Q4 and full-year 2022 suggest that it could take time for Cognizant to see the expected improvement in performance from its decision to restructure.
Ten years after Kingfisher Airlines was grounded, its former employees continue to wait for their dues. On Monday, the Supreme Court awarded a four-month sentence to the grounded airline's flamboyant owner Vijay Mallya in a contempt case. The apex court also ordered him to deposit $40 million plus interest in four weeks to avoid attachment of his properties.
UK-headquartered consumer goods giant Unilever on Tuesday announced a major organisational shakeup to make the company leaner, which involves some of its Indian-origin executives, and plans to lay off 1,500 staff as part of the wider restructuring of its global operations. Sanjiv Mehta retains executive leadership of Mumbai-headquartered subsidiary Hindustan Unilever, while Unilever chief operating officer (COO) Nitin Paranjpe will take on a new role as chief transformation officer & chief people officer, leading the business transformation and heading the HR function for the transformed organisation. The company said Sunny Jain, president of beauty & personal care, has decided to leave Unilever to set up an "investment fund in technology megatrends".
Larger firms feel that the smaller players have muddied the waters for the IBC process, leading to excessive regulation of resolution Professionals.
More people working in India's technology industry have lost their jobs in the first six months of 2023 than in the corresponding period in 2022.
The country's largest two wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp and Harley-Davidson on Tuesday announced a wide ranging partnership for the Indian market, days after the US cult bike manufacturer announced its exit from the country. As part of the deal, Hero MotoCorp will develop and sell a range of premium motorcycles under the Harley-Davidson brand name in the country. Besides, it will take care of service and parts requirements for the Harley bikes.
The focus of the meeting will be on enabling businesses and households to avail of the revival framework on the basis of viability, necessary steps like finalising bank policies and identifying borrowers, and discussing issues that require addressing for smooth and speedy implementation.
For Billie Jean King, her leading role in the foundation of the WTA half a century ago ranks above the many successes she enjoyed on court.
UBS stepping in to save Credit Suisse with a $3.2-billion acquisition has provided the beleaguered Swiss bank's India employees a glimmer of hope. The surprise deal - engineered by the Swiss government - has triggered optimism of fewer job losses at Credit Suisse's India unit and better synergies at key verticals, such as wealth management and investment banking. "UBS is a much stronger hand. Coming within its fold will give Credit Suisse's wealth management and investment banking divisions a good home.
Ford dealers in India are staring at huge losses with the automaker deciding to shut production in the country with immediate effect, automobile dealers' body FADA said on Thursday. Terming the company decision as shocking, the industry body noted that the dealers have invested over Rs 2,000 crore in creating sales infrastructure while employing around 40,000 people across the country. "The auto retail fraternity is really shocked to hear another Ford India's announcement where it has said that it will shut down production with immediate effect," FADA president Vinkesh Gulati said in a statement.
US auto major Ford Motor Co will shut its two manufacturing plants in India and will sell only imported vehicles in the country as part of a restructuring exercise, according to people aware of the development. The company, which invested about USD 2.5 billion at its Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Sanand (Gujarat) plants, will stop selling vehicles such as the EcoSport, Figo and Aspire which are produced from these plants. Going ahead, it would only sell imported vehicles like Mustang in the country.
The report said the moratorium for three more months will imply that companies need not pay till August 31, 2020, and this means that there is almost minimal possibility of companies being able to service their interest liabilities then in September.
SoftBank-backed internet commerce firm Meesho has downsized its grocery vertical Meesho SuperStore (formerly Farmiso) in an attempt to drive efficiency. The Bengaluru-based firm did not reveal the number of laid-off employees. However, the company officials said that about 150 employees have been laid off.
'India has the potential to do a lot more to take advantage of the time today where we stand to gain, geopolitically and in terms of market attractiveness.'
India's stiff labour laws were one key issue that Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed with Prime Minister Modi on his recent visit.
As large-scale layoffs begin at Facebook's parent company Meta, employees on work visas such as H-1Bs are now faced with uncertainty over their immigration status, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledging "this is especially difficult if you're here on a visa" and offering support to those impacted. Meta announced that it is laying off 11,000 employees or 13 per cent of its workforce, with Zuckerberg describing it as "some of the most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history." US-based technology companies hire a large amount of H-1B workers, the majority of whom come from countries such as India.
The club will relocate to the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic due to renovation work.
The electric Chetak has already sold close to 25,000 units in India, and the European version will be based on the same platform.
Future group promoter Kishore Biyani's stake fell consistently across group companies since December 2019 after American retail major Amazon infused funds in a Future group promoter entity and the group companies started showing signs of financial distress due to closure of stores due to Covid-19 pandemic. As lenders take Future group companies to the bankruptcy courts to recover their dues under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the shareholders of Future group companies are staring at complete wipeout of their investments as secured lenders get top priority in any potential recovery, say lawyers. "The fate of all Future group shareholders is now sealed with them looking at a complete loss.
State Bank of India's earnings growth may turn lacklustre in the near-term, warn analysts. This, they said, could be due to margin compression and likely lower fee income over the next one year. "While the cost of deposits is repricing sharply across the system, there will be relatively lower yield expansion going ahead as most of the back-book has been repriced and there is a high competitive pressure on yields.
The one-time restructuring of loans will help every firm and prevent cost-cutting measures such as lay-offs.
'The approach towards Mallya is not right because his unit could have been turned around earlier with additional funds from his side and the bank's side.'
Banks are in the process of getting a board-approved restructuring framework in line with the RBI's framework and eligibility defined by the central bank.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Monday said its loss-making South Korean arm SsangYong Motor Company (SYMC) has filed for bankruptcy. The SYMC has filed an application for commencement of rehabilitation procedure with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court under the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act of South Korea, M&M said in a regulatory filing. The troubled automaker has also applied for an autonomous restructuring support (ARS) programme which is a court designed process, it added.
Converts part of fixed salary component into variable one
This was the companies' highest loss in two years.
Ratan Tata, the octogenarian chairman of Tata Trusts that have controlling stake in Tata Sons, separately said he was extremely disappointed over reports speculating a major revamp in the leadership structure at the group. "I would like to state that no leadership structural changes are on the anvil," Chandrasekaran said in a brief statement. The statement came in relation to a Bloomberg report that said Tata Sons was considering a "historic revamp of its leadership structure by creating a chief executive officer's role to help improve corporate governance."
The GoM is likely to submit an interim report to the Council on pruning the list of items that at present do not attract the levy.
The major beneficiaries of loan recasting will be sub-Rs 500 crore corporate exposures and retail exposures, which were earlier expected to see the highest increase in NPAs in percentage terms.
The three options are - a one-time settlement, restructuring of loans and of course go to IBC.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are likely to seek from the finance ministry a six-month extension of the date for complying with the amendments to the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), citing implementation challenges. Sources said FPIs, through their custodians, were planning to approach the ministry, highlighting key concerns and seeking more clarification. The ministry, through a notification on March 7, lowered the threshold for reporting ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) for non-profit organisations and politically exposed persons to 10 per cent from 25 per cent.
Automobile dealers' body FADA has urged the government to formulate a task force to monitor the compensation structure being worked out by Ford India for its dealer partners across the country. In a letter to Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, FADA president Vinkesh Gulati also requested the government to instruct Ford India to keep the industry body in the loop regarding the compensation structure for the dealerships. "We humbly request your Ministry's intervention... Create a task force which takes day-to-day updates from Ford India to monitor the compensation plan for automobile dealers and dealership employees," Gulati said in the letter.
Gross bad loans of banks may rise from 6.9 per cent in September 2021 to 8.1-9.5 per cent by September 2022 if the Omicron variant strikes the economy hard, as per the financial stability report of the Reserve Bank released on Wednesday. The report also said that the rising stress level in the retail loan portfolio of banks -- the mainstay of bank credit for many years now -- was led by home loans, which grew in double-digits so far this fiscal. While asset quality improved, with gross non-performing assets (GNPA) and net NPA (NNPA) ratios declining to 6.9 and 2.3 per cent, respectively, in September 2021, the slippage ratio inched up during the same period as private sector banks showed a higher rate of deterioration in asset quality, as per the report.
The Centre is looking to continue maintaining an arms length in financial sector appointments.
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.
From the beginning of 2021 Wipro has moved on to a new organisational structure. Analyst tracking the company are now wondering if CEO Thierry Delaporte's attempt to bolster Wipro's presence in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) space by acquiring Capco for $1.45 billion is a step taken too early. Though many agree that Capco as a target may be good, but Wipro, which has been the most aggressive player in acquiring firms compared to its Indian players, does not have much to show in terms of performance as it continues to lag peers.
Apple is hoping to assemble in India 25 per cent of all iPhones produced globally to reduce its heavy dependence on China.
Seeking to guard investor returns from excessive exchange rate movements, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Thursday said a move towards an inflation target of 4 per cent will help contain the currency market volatility.
