In a recent clarification, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) provided insights into the goods and services tax (GST) treatment of transactions involving vouchers. According to the CBIC, vouchers can be categorised into two types.
The retail broking industry's top line could more than double over the next five years, according to the estimates of consultancy firm Bain & Company. The industry, which facilitates stock market trading for investors, has already witnessed its revenues double from Rs 14,000 crore during 2018-19 (FY19) to Rs 27,000 crore in 2022-23 (FY23), reflecting an annualised growth rate of 17 per cent. "This growth has been fuelled by the emergence of India's mass-affluent and affluent segments, coupled with increasing financial literacy.
iPhone maker Apple has set an all-time revenue record in India and observed a double-digit growth in iPad sales in the country in the September 2024 quarter, senior officials of the company said on Friday. The company reported an over 6 per cent growth in total net sales to $94.93 billion during the reported period from $89.49 billion a year ago.
Prospects of a bumper kharif harvest are expected to lower food inflation in the coming months, making the country's inflation outlook benign, the Union Ministry of Finance (FinMin) said in its monthly economic report for October released on Monday.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Hyundai posted single-digit growth in domestic sales in June, even as the overall passenger vehicle segment crossed the 20 lakh units sales mark for the first time-ever in the first half this year. Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a double-digit growth in dispatches to dealers, while Kia saw a dip in wholesales last month. MG Motor India also reported a double-digit increase in retail sales in June 2023 compared to the same month last year.
Info Edge (India) topped expectations in its October-December quarter (Q3) results, posting strong revenue and profit growth. Its shares have rallied as much as 6.14 per cent in two days. The technology holding company's revenue rose 15.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 722.3 crore, driven by robust performance across its key verticals, particularly its recruitment business.
Metropolis Healthcare (MHL) has decided to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Gurgaon-based Core Diagnostics for Rs 247 crore. This is about 2.2x FY24 (financial year 2023-24) enterprise value (EV)/sales and estimated 14x FY26 EV/Ebitda for the deal.
Fundraising by Indian corporates through equity and debt reached all-time high in the calendar year 2024, according to primedatabase.com. The overall public equity fundraising stood at Rs 3.7 trillion in 2024, a rise of 159 per cent from Rs 1.4 trillion in 2023. If Rights Issues of Rs 25,973 crore were to be added, the overall equity fundraising would touch nearly Rs 4 trillion in 2024.
Employers in India are planning to outpace global adoption in certain future technologies as companies operating in the country are heavily investing in technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), energy technologies, robotics, and autonomous systems, said the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its latest "Future of Jobs" report released on Wednesday. The report, released days before the WEF annual meeting in Davos from January 20-25, notes that 35 per cent employers in India think that adopting semiconductors and computing technologies (compared to 20 per cent globally) will transform their operations while 21 per cent employers think that adopting quantum and encryption technologies (compared to 12 per cent globally) will also transform their operations.
Major two-wheeler (2W) manufacturers in India witnessed a single-digit decline in domestic sales in November after dispatches had picked up in October for the festive season when wholesales went up by 14 per cent and retail also grew by 36 per cent.
The company plans to strengthen the offerings of its digital platform, Adtech, which it launched a few months back.
Uber Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dara Khosrowshahi sees India as one of the toughest markets and a standard to succeed in any other part of the world. One of the biggest challenges for the ride-hailing firm, according to Khosrowshahi, is the expectation of Indian consumers for more services at lower spending. "India is one of the toughest markets out there.
Gland Pharma beat muted expectations for Q2FY25. There was increased Ebitda (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) loss at Cenexi, the CRAM subsidiary. However, overall Ebitda margin was better than expectations at 21.1 per cent. But given two years of earnings decline in FY23 and FY24, the business may have bottomed and upper-teens EPS (earnings per share) growth looks possible over next two financial years.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are expected to witness pressure on volumes in the October-December quarter. However, price hikes will help push up revenues, said brokerages.For India's largest engineering firm, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), the analysts expect a 20 per cent growth in consolidated revenue, and an 8.1 per cent core business Ebitda margin, up 40 bps from a year ago.
Domestic passenger vehicle wholesales rose 14 per cent year-on-year to 393,074 units last month, the best-ever figure for January, amid robust demand for utility vehicles, industry body SIAM said on Wednesday. As per the latest data issued by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), dispatches of passenger vehicle from manufacturers to dealers stood at 346,080 units in January 2023.
For the first time in history, the luxury car market is poised to cross the sales mark of 50,000 units in 2024, with Mercedes leading the way
'Investors should consider small and midcaps only if they can handle volatility and have a longer investment horizon.'
The good news is that salary hikes are expected, though it is uncertain when they will be implemented.
'...similar to the 2008 global financial crisis, the 2012 taper tantrum, or the 2018 midcap crash.' 'This could lead to a substantial decline in activity and revenues for the broking industry.' 'When this will happen is uncertain, but as brokers, we must be prepared for such a downturn.'
Analysts are expecting pharmaceutical companies to post sales growth of 10-11 per cent in the second quarter this financial year while the Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) margins are anticipated to improve by about 110 basis points. Ebitda improvement will be led by lower input costs because prices of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are 5-15 per cent lower year-on-year (Y-o-Y). Axis Capital said sales growth would be around 10 per cent, of which growth in the India market would be 11 per cent or so.
As quick commerce gains ground, emerging direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are betting big on digital channels to drive growth. According to Aman Gupta, co-founder of wearables brand BoAt, new-age brands in India have been expanding at a much faster pace than expected, driven by digital channels like quick-commerce. "Investors doubted the potential of D2C brands when we started, but today there are multiple brands in the startup market that are growing on the shoulders of these digital channels," Gupta said while addressing a session at Razorpay's D2C and Retail Summit recently.
Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) raised Rs 8,315 crore from anchor investors on Monday, setting the stage for the country's biggest-ever maiden share sale. The Indian arm of the South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) allotted 42.4 million shares to 225 funds at Rs 1,960 apiece, the higher end of its price band. Among the investors receiving allotments were the Singapore government's sovereign wealth fund (GIC), New World Fund, and Fidelity.
India's first digital rupee pilot project will commence on Tuesday with nine banks, including SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, issuing the virtual currency for transactions in government securities. "...the first pilot in the digital rupee - Wholesale segment shall commence on November 1, 2022," the RBI said in a statement on 'Operationalisation of Central Bank Digital Currency-Wholesale (e?-W) Pilot'. It also announced that the first pilot in digital rupee - Retail segment is planned for launch within a month in select locations in closed user groups comprising customers and merchants.
He said the transformation brought about by the fintech sector in India is not just limited to technology, but its social impact is far-reaching. He also stressed that fintech has dented the parallel economy and is bridging the gap between villages and cities on the financial services front. The prime minister also said that in the last 10 years, the fintech space has attracted investments of more than $31 billion and fintech startups have grown by 500 per cent.
'The race is now on for Indian IT firms to develop their AI prowess and focus on a software-first approach to services as the people element becomes more complicated with Trump's expected new regulations.'
'Spending by the middle class is limited with a focus on savings. However, there is buoyancy at the top-end.'
Double-digits salary hikes are making a post-pandemic comeback on the back of a buoyant business outlook in 2023, according to global professional services firm Aon. Aon's latest "Salary Increase Survey in India" has not only projected a 10.4 per cent average hike across sectors for 2023, but also identified actual hikes in 2022 at 10.6 per cent as against its previous projection of 9.9 per cent in February. The figure of 10.6 per cent is the highest since 2012, whereas the 10.4 per cent levels projected for 2023 were last seen in 2015.
After a strong show during the September quarter (Q2FY25) and favourable demand conditions, going ahead, the country's largest player in the room air conditioner segment, Voltas is well placed to improve its market share. Expectations of record volumes in FY25 for the sector and the company's strategy of prioritising market share over margins could help the leader expand share in the room AC segment.
Do away with the grey, and let us have it in black and white. That's the message the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has for digital media influencers. ASCI has brought out draft guidelines for "influencer advertising on digital media", an expanding and so far unmonitored landscape where the lines between personal and promotional content is often blurred. The self-regulatory body wants social media influencers to disclose upfront - through labels or in the case of audio media, by way of an announcement at the beginning and the end of the audio - that the content is promotional and paid for.
'It has remained around 38 per cent over the past four to five quarters.'
Private consumption is back driven by festive spending, and the medium-term economic outlook remains bullish as the innate strength of the macro-fundamentals reasserts itself, the Reserve Bank Bulletin said on Wednesday. Global economic activity remained resilient during Q4:2024 amidst fragile confidence and rising protectionism, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in the November Bulletin.
The interim report highlights key competition issues in the e-commerce space like deep discounting, the imposition of unfair terms and conditions, the growing dependence of brick and mortar establishments on online platforms, and opaqueness in search rankings.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India have crossed the $1 trillion milestone in the April 2000-September 2024 period, firmly establishing the country's reputation as a safe and key investment destination globally. According to data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the cumulative amount of FDI, including equity, reinvested earnings and other capital, stood at $1,033.40 billion during the said period.
A single security lapse could lead to complete wipe out of your crypto assets in seconds, with no recovery in sight, warns Nikhil Sethi.
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.
'We need people who can position a product digitally and craft the journey for customers, by improving user interface and user experience.'
On the exports front, Bajaj is under pressure in Bangladesh and Africa. On the domestic front, it could ride improvement in rural demand and new launches but it also has to cope with competitive intensity and a high base. The management projects 7-8 per cent volume growth in domestic 2W in financial year 2025 (FY25) with moderation in H2FY25 due to a high base Y-o-Y.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday reported a 5 per cent fall in the net profit for the July-September quarter, as weak oil refining and petrochemical business hurt operational performance.
Hero MotoCorp, India's largest two-wheeler maker, has seen a decline in its market share in rural areas since 2018, losing ground to major competitors such as TVS Motor Company, Bajaj Auto, and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), according to data from JATO Dynamics reviewed by Business Standard. Hero's share of rural two-wheeler sales in India has dropped from 40.4 per cent in 2018 to 33.3 per cent in 2023. In contrast, Bajaj's share increased from 12.7 per cent in 2018 to 13.9 per cent, HMSI's from 21.8 per cent to 22.2 per cent, and TVS' from 15.5 per cent to 17.8 per cent. Suzuki Motorcycle India has also seen its share rise from 1.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
Starting November 12, Vistara aircraft will be operated under the Air India banner, to be identified by a special four-digit flight code beginning with "2".