O Panneerselvam should not be surprised if the current controversy that he has kicked off is used to rid him of the party coordinator's post, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The board of Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Tuesday approved a proposal to issue shares worth Rs 12,841 crore to parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) for acquiring Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG). The Gujarat manufacturing plant - with an annual capacity of 750,000 units - is owned by SMG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SMC. The shares issued to SMC will raise its ownership in MSIL from 56.48 per cent to 58.19 per cent--India's largest carmaker stated in a notice to BSE.
Analystsare showing optimism in Sensex EPS growth after double digit growth in the second quarter of current year.
Amid cooling raw material prices, the crude-oil linked companies, which includes paint and tyre firms, have been on a roll over the past one year. Shares of related companies have gained up to 84 per cent, as against a 14 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Analysts, however, believe stretched valuations in both these sectors could trigger a de-rating.
'We are not worried about raids. We have nothing to hide.'
Crude and gas supply concerns have eased amid reports that Israel and Hamas have struck a peace deal. The International Energy Agency estimates oil demand may drop slightly in calendar 24 but Opec probably has enough pricing power to maintain $80/ barrel Brent prices. Russia's share of India's crude imports remained strong at about 35 per cent in September 2023.
The order passed by Justice G Jayachandran on Wednesday, in effect held invalid the July 11 GC meeting.
Large Indian IT services companies are expected to report "muted" sequential show in a traditionally strong second quarter, as macroeconomic challenges continue to weigh on global discretionary spending, say market watchers. The big earnings week for tech heavyweights is up ahead, with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) scheduled to announce its results on October 11, and both Infosys and HCL Technologies on October 12. Wipro is slated to declare its Q2FY24 results next week, on October 18.
The Madras high court on Thursday ruled that no unannounced resolutions could be taken up at the meeting of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general and executive councils in Chennai, restraining the camp led by joint co-ordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) from initiating any such move over the possible single leadership issue.
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
For now, the DMK can be expected to sound the bugle for Opposition unity at the national level, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The PM is seen as slipping up in confidence levels as aired by his 'exposure' of the BRS on a crucial issue as alliance negotiations, which is not done under normal circumstances, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
AIADMK insiders see the very idea of an NDA conclave as a measure of the BJP's current electoral assessment, stemming from relative weakness in 2024 compared to 2014 and 2019. In their reckoning, the BJP now needs allies more than the other way round, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The headline for corporate profit growth has been very encouraging in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), with the combined net profit of listed companies up by 38 per cent year-on-year. However, the earnings distribution has been very lopsided, with most of the growth coming from public-sector oil-marketing companies (OMCs), banks, non-bank lenders, automobile (auto) companies, and cement producers. By comparison, companies from information technology services, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and consumer durables were disappointed, experiencing a sharp slowdown in net sales growth and a relatively muted increase in reported net profit.
India's biggest non-bank finance company, Bajaj Finance (BAF), is set to raise capital after a gap of four years. On October 5, the board of directors will meet to approve the fund raise by way of preferential issue and/or qualified institutional placement (QIP) subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. The move, analysts said, comes ahead of expectations, and could be in the wake of simmering competition in the consumer lending space, especially with the launch of Jio Financial Services (Jio Fin). "While we still do not have finer details on the game-plan of Jio Financial, it has plans to initially foray into consumer and merchant lending.
Even as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's general council meeting got underway in Chennai on Monday morning, endorsing Edappadi K Palaniswami as the interim general secretary, the rival O Panneerselvam faction staged a well-planned coup at the party headquarters in Royapettah, central Chennai.
Analysts have turned cautious on Cipla, as the recently issued form 483 by the US FDA with eight observations to its Pithampur (Indore) plant is expected to delay the launch of the company's key generic - Advair - in the US. The Indore plant contributes around 5 per cent of Cipla's revenues, as per analysts' estimates. While the respiratory product, which is used to treat asthma, had cleared the pre-approval inspection of the regulator at the Indore unit; the final approval could be unlikely until the company clears the recent US FDA observations, analysts say.
With both the factions pledging their support, the BJP believes that the natural corollary is for them to now merge and retain the two-leaves election symbol, a view shared by the prime minister as well.
Grasim Industries has announced a rights issue of around Rs 4,000 crore with the promoters committed to fully subscribing to their entitlements and to covering any unsubscribed portion. This is to part-fund capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 10,000 crore in a new foray into the paints business. The company has already invested Rs 3,640 crore in the paints business (by Q1FY24). The management has outlined a capex of Rs 5,700 crore for FY24, which includes Rs 4,280 crore allocated for the paints business, of which Rs 1,050 crore has already been spent in Q1FY24.
Excerpted from Sahara: The Untold Story by Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Shares of ICICI Bank may outperform those of HDFC Bank in the near-term, analysts said recently, after the Sandeep Bakhshi-led private sector lender reported a strong set of numbers for the July to September quarter (Q2) of financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The result, they said, reiterated that ICICI Bank is maintaining a sustainable and prudent growth led by tech-driven initiatives as against HDFC Bank, which is facing merger related challenges. According to analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher, ICICI Bank is valued at par with HDFC Bank at 2.2x/1.9x on FY25/26E core adjusted book value (ABV) basis.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday appeared to be warming up to the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that "a new chapter has to begin to control looters" as he targeted the Congress government alleging corruption.
Jayalalithaa was the third chief minister in Tamil Nadu to die in office, after her mentor M G Ramachandran (1987) and before that his mentor C N Annadurai (1969). The state government should have evolved protocols for the medical care of the incumbent, and institutional memory should have guided the government and officials in the matter, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam coordinator O Panneerselvam on Wednesday appeared to have resigned himself to the fact that the odds are stacked against him and his followers, ahead of the June 23 party meeting which is expected to take up the sole leadership question.
It should not surprise anyone if either of the contending parties in the 'TN speaker's case' comes up with a submission for referring the matter of 'speaker's powers' to a Constitution Bench. In political terms it could buy more time for the Edappadi camp, to settle down and stabilise itself, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'You have to fight your own battles and I fought mine.'
The markets have given a thumbs down to Jubilant FoodWorks results for the April-June quarter (Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24). The company, which owns and operates Domino's Pizza and Popeyes chain of stores, reported a (standalone) net profit of Rs 75.2 crore in Q1 of FY24 - a drop of 25.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from Rs 101 crore, but a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) rise from Rs 47.5 crore. What's worrying the Street is the likelihood of a dismal Q2FY24 performance, which it feels will be marred by soaring milk, cheese and vegetable prices.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
The 55 basis point (bps) spike in the US 10-year bond yield, triggered by a combination of FOMC's hawkish commentary and BOJ's relaxation of the yield control curve (YCC) has made analysts cautious on Asian equities and expect them to trade sideways in the short-to-medium term.
Markets watchdog Sebi has disposed of adjudication proceedings without imposing any penalty on Reliance Industries Ltd in a matter related to alleged incorrect disclosure of diluted earnings per share in its financial results more than 13 years ago. Sebi decided not to impose any penalty for the alleged violations mainly on two grounds, including that the amendment to the relevant law that made incorrect disclosure of information by a listed company punishable came into force prospectively from March 2019. Besides, the regulator mentioned about its pending appeal before the Supreme Court against a Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) order.
The AIADMK is convinced that the BJP will remain an electoral burden for a long time to come, beginning the Lok Sabha polls next year, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
Raveendranath, the party's Lok Sabha member from Theni constituency and Jeyapradeep, both sons of Panneerselvam and a former Minister, Vellamandi N Natarajan were expelled.
One of the lawyers representing the two Youth Congress workers confirmed that the court of judicial first class magistrate in Thiruvananthapuram directed the Valiyathura police to register an FIR.
Soon after the HC greenflag on Monday, the AIADMK Executive Council meet went underway at a wedding hall, while the General Council set to follow.
A court of chief judicial magistrate granted the police 60 days to carry out the probe and directed it to provide progress reports every three weeks, public prosecutor K Balachandra Menon said.
In a disciplinary action, three other functionaries, also belonging to Theni party district like Raja were dismissed.
'OPS is the first person in history to ransack his own party office.'
BofA Securities has revised its year-end Nifty target from its earlier projection of 16,000 to 14,500 now - down over 6 per cent from the current levels. Fast tightening monetary conditions, slowing growth/fears of US recession and the likely Nifty EPS (earnings per share) cuts, BofA Securities said, are the key headwinds for the markets in the near-term. However, clarity on macro and monetary policy outlook in the US/India, it said, is the silver lining that could see markets bottom out by August/September 2022.
Aseem Chhabra rates the movies he's watched in 2023, and tells you where you can watch them!