M&As are back on the radar for Indian companies, but with two vital changes. First, the average size of the deals are much smaller compared to the earlier years; and second, overseas acquisitions have taken a backseat.
The last four years, the best for corporate profits in a long time, have not been as impressive for corporate capital expenditure. The combined net profits of India's top listed companies excluding banks, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.4 per cent since FY20, a sharp jump from the 7.4 per cent in corporate earnings between FY14 and FY19.
The government's plan to cut the corporation tax rate while phasing out exemptions may be sound, but it may not mean a reduced tax burden for India Inc.
If financials and oil sectors were removed, India Inc has done quite well.
Talking corporate heads are a barometer of the business community's engagement with the economy. If they have nothing to say now there should be cause for concern.
Private credit is fast emerging as a major source of finance for projects in India as several entrepreneurs are looking for short-term debt to bridge the funding gap due to difference in pricing for equity dilution, top officials at PwC India said. They said while new private equity (PE) investments during the past two years have declined, several public market exits by PEs were observed during that period. Several companies are likely to approach capital markets in the near future to provide liquidity to PE fund investors.
The net sales growth declines 4.4% in September quarter, the second worst in eight years.
Hitting back, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate posted a picture of Afridi with BJP leader Anurag Thakur to say that the ruling party should be ashamed for asking questions from the Congress while it itself maintain ties with them.
In 2020-21, Indian firms offered to buy back shares worth Rs 39,295 crore, or 97% more than Rs 19,972 cr proposed in the previous financial year.
The immediate concern for all companies is to prepare themselves - and their vendors and suppliers - for the new GST return filing mechanism, being test piloted from April 1.
The earlier government was blamed for non-performance, the current one will be rightfully blamed for mismanagement
Corporates understand that the PMO drives all key decisions in this government.
Aided by the $57.8-billion merger of HDFC Bank and HDFC, India Inc reported its highest ever mergers and acquisitions in calendar 2022 at $171 billion as against deals worth $145 billion announced last year. The acquisition by the Adani group across cement, media and ports dominated the headlines with the conglomerate making its foray into the cement sector by buying Swiss materials firm Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cements for $6.5 billion. The Adani family's additional $4-billion open offer for Ambuja did not get a response because shareholders preferred to stay invested with the new owner.
Over the weekend, many companies stepped in to ease the bottleneck in supply and transportation of oxygen, as demand ran high with the surge in cases.
The earnings of India Inc hit a record high in the 2022-23 (FY23) January-March quarter (fourth quarter, or Q4), compared with their poor showing in the previous two quarters of the financial year. The rise in earnings, however, is exclusively led by banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) companies. A better-than-expected showing by banks and non-bank lenders in Q4FY23 more than compensated for the earnings contraction in the non-BFSI space.
India Inc is seeking at least quarterly interactions with senior government representatives to establish a channel of communication and help change the opinion at the highest level.
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) , the country's largest domestic institutional investor (DII), has seen a Rs 46,000 crore erosion in the value of its equity holdings amid market downturns in July. The benchmark indices, Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex, have slipped 2.6 per cent from their June 2025-end level to 24,837 and 81,463.09 respectively.
Many firms have asked those joining on April 1 to delay their on-boarding by 2-3 months. The outlook for the airline, tourism, hotel, and media industries is bleak too.
As Covid-19 cases recede, India Inc is once again tweaking work rules. Big tech companies such as TCS, Wipro and Infosys have either begun or are in the process of calling employees back to office in a staggered manner. A survey by Aon, a global professional services firm, has found that 60 per cent of tech firms now expect every second employee to come to office. More than half of the employees working in engineering and manufacturing firms are also being asked to return to work.
Profitability and cash reserves have halved since the global financial crisis.
Companies put in strict disclosure, job switch clauses in HR policies.
No business delegation has been cleared yet for Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's visit to America from Friday.
Just before the 2008 financial crisis made headlines, Indian companies were on a global buying spree. In the fifth part of the series, Dev Chatterjee and Krishna Kant discuss how the crisis came as a black swan event for some, changing the mood from exuberance to despair.
The decision by the Reserve Bank of India to introduce a unified regulatory framework on connected lending for all the regulated entities (RE) is expected to reduce the influence of business conglomerates in the Indian lending space, said bankers and experts. "Connected lending pertains to lending to related parties within the same business group. "While the RBI might appear more agreeable to allowing business conglomerates to own banking licenses, it deems it crucial to bolster regulations that would prevent conglomerate-owned banks from gaming the system," said Shivaji Thapliyal, head of research and lead analyst, YES Securities.
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.
'If you really love your work and are good at it, it does not matter what is work and life.'
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Net profit grew 25.4% in Q4 but revenue growth, lower at 8.5%, suggests lack of volume expansion.
Last fortnight, State Bank of India Chairman C S Setty lifted the veil on a subject long spoken of in corporate corridors: Why can't our banks finance mergers and acquisitions (M&As)? Change is in the air: Indian Banks' Association (of which Setty is the chairman) is to "make a formal request" to Mint Road to make way for it. Thus far the exclusive turf of foreign banks even though its funding remains offshore - as in, it's not on these entities rupee-book (and a few select shadow banks) - a most lucrative segment in the investment banking suite, M&As, will be homeward-bound.
The government has unleashed a slew of reforms to attract greater investments including higher foreign direct investment in defence and opening up the railways infrastructure sector, relaxed labour laws, launched campaigns like the Make in India for re-invigorating manufacturing, Clean India and Digital India, among others.
The one-time restructuring of loans will help every firm and prevent cost-cutting measures such as lay-offs.
The mandate will help further the development agenda in these states, with good governance and policy reforms taking centrestage
In a move towards gender inclusion, Tamil Nadu has partnered Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) to offer a 5 per cent job reservation for LGBTQAI+ and people with disabilities at GCPL's upcoming fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing unit in Thiruporur in Chengalpattu district. According to industry experts and activists, while companies acknowledge transgender communities, this is the first time the entire spectrum of gender minorities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (one's sexual or gender identity), asexual and intersex, is receiving such a notable share of job participation in the private sector while signing memoranda of understanding with states.
Gadgets and gizmos that the big bosses of the business world are hoping to lay their hands on this gifting season.
There, however, has been an improvement in operating margins.
Several leading industrialists, including Reliance Industries CMD Mukesh Ambani, Vedanta Resources Limited executive chairman Anil Agarwal, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Welspun Group chairman and Assocham president B K Goenka, attended the swearing-in ceremony.
This was reflected in India Inc's lackadaisical attitude towards sensitising employees on fraud prevention.
RBI is expecting the rupee to stay close to Rs 75 to a dollar, as COVID-19 forces foreign funds to withdraw from emerging markets.
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