India's trade deficit with Russia continued to widen for the second consecutive year to $57 billion in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), with Moscow becoming New Delhi's largest source of crude oil imports. All eyes will now be on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia during July 8-9, where he is set to meet President Vladimir Putin. This will be Modi's first visit to the Kremlin since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began over two years ago.
Motor insurance is one place where it is easier to avail discounts - on account of your/driver's profile, car model, city, age and low claim history.
Indian imports of Russian crude oil may stabilise or even decline in 2024 from record 2023 levels amid shrinking discounts, lower output, and a rebound in West Asian supplies, according to the ship-tracking data and industry executives. This may impact the billions of dollars in annual savings that India made last year. Imports of Russian oil jumped by a record 140 per cent in calendar 2023 to 1.79 million barrels a day (b/d) from 740,400 b/d in 2022, when Russia marched into Ukraine in February, and from just 102,000 b/d in 2021, according to the data from Paris-based market intelligence agency Kpler.
Shares of Avenue Supermarts (DMart) have gained about 5 per cent over the past week on better than expected June quarter (Q1FY25) performance, hopes of a recovery in discretionary demand, and margin gains going ahead. The key takeaway from the results was the robust gross margin performance. Riding on improving mix, DMart posted a 34 basis point year-on-year (Y-o-Y) improvement in gross margins to 14.9 per cent.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (Irdai), the regulator for insurance companies, is set to allow the insurers to offer wellness programmes along with life insurance policies that can earn reward points for the policyholders. These reward points can be redeemed for getting a discount during renewal. The insurance regulator has circulated draft guidelines to insurance companies for feedback before issuing the final guidelines, as is the norm.
Raising toast to 25 successful years, India's largest wine maker Sula Vineyard is eyeing a sustained double-digit growth in revenue over the next five years, buoyed by growth in the premium and elite categories and expansion of its new ranges. It was during Covid that the vineyards shifted focus to its own brands and pivoted towards growing the premium and elite segment of the market.
While most analysts are expecting poor results from oil marketing companies (OMCs) in the first quarter of 2024-25 (Q1FY25) and even in the first half (H1) of FY25, GAIL (India) could be an outlier. Upstream producers, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL) could do well due to strong crude and gas prices, but refiners are likely to see weak margins and the impact of frozen prices during the election period will also be negative.
As quick-commerce players find their foothold among consumers, brands are all set to step up their presence on these platforms.
Besides malls and high-street stores, there's a rush of discounts while you are flying or holidaying in fancy hotels.
As regular promotional discounts and offers rolled out by well-funded apps determine the demand trend, online hospitality aggregators face growing discontent from restaurants and hotels over commissions and pricing power.
Low-cost carrier IndiGo, too, has slashed fares to match Air India's levels, but has not announced any scheme.
Brand Factory clocked in Rs 1,045 crores worth of sales in FY17, accounting for 27 per cent of the total revenues earned by Future Lifestyle Fashions Retail. But what about the future?
India's smartphone shipment grew by 11.5 per cent in the first quarter of calendar year (CY) 2024 on a year-on-year basis to 34 million units. This is the third consecutive quarter of growth in shipments, International Data Corporation's (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker said.
The discount will be by way of cash back which will be credited to the buyer's account in three days from the transaction
The CCB scholarship amount ranges between Rs 60,000 to Rs 2,50,000 per annum, depending on the course and its duration.
The stock of commercial vehicle (CV) company Ashok Leyland is up 46 per cent in the past three months, gaining despite worries about a slowdown in sales volume. Brokerages have a mixed view on the country's second-largest medium and heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer. The company reported steady March quarter results and its valuation, focus on growth and medium-term prospects are positive, but some brokerages are cautious, given near-term demand concerns and the risk of competition increasing in the industry.
Since the last nine years, gold investors have made money each year, while gains in silver have been consistent only in the last five years.
Total vehicle retail sales in India rose 27 per cent year-on-year to 22,06,070 units in April as all segments, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, witnessed growth, industry body FADA said on Wednesday. The overall vehicle registrations stood at 17,40,649 units in April 2023. Passenger vehicle retail sales rose 16 per cent to 335,123 units last month as compared to 289,056 units in the same month last year.
HDFC Bank's January-March quarter result, which came in-line with expectations, failed to enthuse investors. The reason? The management's decision to abstain from providing any specific growth guidance, and analysts' expectations of an arduous road to recovery. Analysts believe the path to normalisation of several growth metrics is unlikely to be a straightforward one, and the road to balance sheet realignment may be long.
Pandemic-hit auto majors are likely to set aside these time-tested strategies for now, and, instead, focus on attractive finance schemes and an enhanced digital experience.
It is still "discounts" that e-commerce players have to rely on to bring in customers, though they might claim otherwise.
It is a true that some developers are unable to sell houses and are offering discounts to lure purchasers. But, recent buyers have also discovered that many of these discounts are only marketing gimmicks.
According to India Retail Report prepared by Images, discount stores are expected to grow 30-40 per cent every year. Of the total organised apparel, footwear and accessory retail market of Rs 26,400 crore (Rs 264 billion), discount retailing already accounts for Rs 11,880 crore (Rs 118.80 billion), or 45 per cent. Analysts said this segment will easily become a Rs 26,000-crore (Rs 260 billion) market in the next three years.
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.
'If the NDA comes to power with 320-330 plus seats, then we could see some correction. We could possibly see a level of 19,500 to 20,000.' 'If the NDA comes to power with a majority of 400-plus, we could see the markets going to about 23,500-24,000 levels.' 'And from there we could see some correction because markets are expensive at this point of time and a correction is overdue.'
Shares of Avenue Supermarts, which owns and operates the DMart stores, hit a two-year high of Rs 4,710.15 as they surged nearly 6 per cent on the BSE in Thursday's (April 4) intraday trade after reporting strong revenue growth in the January-March quarter (Q4) of the previous financial year (FY24). DMart, in the Q4FY24 pre-quarter update, said the company reported 20 per cent growth in standalone revenue from operations at Rs 12,393 crore, as against Rs 10,337 crore in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022-23 (FY23), driven by a 7 per cent growth in revenue per store and a robust 13 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in store additions. In Q3 of 2021-22, the company reported revenue of Rs 8,606 crore and in Q3 of 2020-21, it posted revenue of Rs 7,303 crore.
The Paytm application (app) could potentially face a permanent loss of its integrated mobile wallet feature, currently owned by Paytm Payments Bank (Paytm PB). With the recent crackdown on Paytm PB, sources say getting a fresh wallet licence may get tough for the group. "The Paytm app (One97 Communications) has to apply afresh to the RBI for a licence to operate a prepaid payment instrument (PPI) like a mobile wallet within the Paytm app, as PPI is a regulated entity.
'Arithmetic could decide the Haryana election given the presence of multi-cornered contests.'
Discount retailer DMart (Avenue Supermarts) hit its highest levels in a year and a half last week and is up over 11 per cent in the last one month. The company depends on low operating costs to offer the lowest prices to consumers, which enables sales velocity and scale, further reducing costs. This virtuous feedback loop has helped DMart gain market share in a sector dominated by unorganised stores.
Consumer durables and electronics companies are putting the final touches to their festive period plans.
'A mid-year review makes the end-of-year financial review manageable and less stressful.'
Zerodha co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath on Monday disclosed that he suffered a "mild stroke" six weeks ago. "Around 6 weeks ago, I had a mild stroke out of the blue. "Dad passing away, poor sleep, exhaustion, dehydration, and overworking out -- any of these could be possible reasons," he revealed in a post on X.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Larsen & Toubro, Power Grid, NTPC, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were the biggest laggards. Sun Pharma and Nestle were the only gainers.
From April 1, when we buy insurance for a car or take out a health cover, insurance companies can offer a product totally customised for us.
Budget air-carrier AirAsia has began its three day travel fair, offering 20 per cent discounts on flights across the airline's network.
This is a good opportunity for long-term investors to pick quality small and midcap stocks at reasonable valuations.
'Traders must adopt digital payments as soon as possible within a set timeframe, as the nation is moving rapidly towards digitisation.' 'Ignoring digital systems is not an option for strengthening trade.'
The universe of stocks trading at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 50x or more has swelled by 2.5x to 104, indicating the growing froth in the market. In March 2023, the number of stocks with a P/E of 50x and 100x stood at 41 and 3, respectively, which has now grown to 104 and 9, according to an analysis by Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE).
Brokerages have maintained their ratings and target prices on FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent company of Nykaa, after the fashion and beauty online retailer posted in-line numbers during the October-December quarter (Q3) of financial year 2023-24 (FY24). They have, however, cut earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) estimates after weak demand weighed across line items in Q3. "While revenue growth was healthy at 22 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), gross margins declined 90 basis points (bps), weighed by higher discounting in own brands and lower ad income.