Over the past few months, RIL and TCS are competing with each other to claim the number one position in terms of market capitalisation.
The changes in the domestic and global economy following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic are altering the corporate profit league table in India. Reliance Industries (RIL), which topped the India Inc profit chart for more than a decade, lost out to State Bank of India (SBI) in the 2023-24 (FY24) April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1). India's biggest lender reported a consolidated net profit (adjusted for exceptional gains and losses) of Rs 66,860 crore during the trailing 12-month (TTM) ended in June this year, ahead of RIL's TTM adjusted net profit of Rs 64,758 crore in the quarter.
Proxy advisory firm IiAS has recommended that institutional investors should vote against the appointment of Anant Ambani on Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL's) board, citing his age as the reason. The firm has, however, given its green light to the appointment of Anant's elder siblings - Akash and Isha. In its recommendation note, IiAS said, "At 28 years of age, his appointment as a non-executive, non-independent director does not align with our voting guidelines."
M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, RIL, Titan and Bajaj Auto. On the other hand, ONGC, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, Infosys and Kotak Bank were among the laggards.
Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday raised the rating outlook for 18 Indian corporates and banks, including Reliance Industries, Infosys, SBI and Axis Bank, to 'stable' from 'negative'. This follows the upgrade by the US-based rating agency in India's sovereign rating outlook to 'stable' from 'negative' on Tuesday. The agency had affirmed the sovereign rating at 'Baa3'.
India's first $1 trillion company by market capitalisation (mcap) is achievable by 2032 and HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries (RIL) are seen as lead contenders, ICICI Securities said in a note on Monday. To achieve this, the shares of both the firms will have to appreciate at least 20 per cent annually for the next decade. ICICI Securities believes this is possible if India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerates to 9 per cent per annum and corporate profitability cycle peaks. "Our calculations suggest that India's first $1 trillion mcap stock could emerge by 2032.
RIL subsidiary Reliance New Energy Solar, Ola Electric, Hyundai Global Motors Company and Rajesh Exports have been approved for receiving incentives under the Rs 18,100 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for battery manufacturing in India, sources said on Thursday. "The ministry had received bids from 10 companies with a capacity of 130 GWh. Reliance, Ola Electric, Hyundai and Rajesh Exports have qualified for ACC batteries," a source said. Other companies which had applied for the PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) batteries were Lucas-TVS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Amara Raja Batteries, Exide Industries, Larsen & Toubro and India Power Corporation Limited.
Despite a massive underperformance at the bourses since the last six months, analysts are turning optimistic on Reliance Industries (RIL). Those at Jefferies, for instance, say that the company is a proxy play for India's consumption growth story. The key catalysts for the stock, according to a Jeffries note, include faster-than-expected market share gain in retail, oil-to-chemicals (O2C) stake sale, recovery in gross refining margins (GRM), potential public listing of Jio and even a possible banking licence going ahead. That apart, analysts feel any tariff hike in Reliance Jio (RJio) - its telecom venture - will also aid performance. With balance sheet adequately de-levered, proceeds from a strategic stake sale in the O2C business will create a sizeable war chest for the company, analysts say.
Three leading domestic voting advisory firms are not on the same page over the proposed demerger and separate listing of ITC's hotel business, ITC Hotels. Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) has recommended a vote "against" the resolution, while InGovern and Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES) have advised their clients to vote in favour. Voting on the resolution is currently underway.
From the Sensex pack, Jio Financial Services fell the most by 4.99 per cent. Reliance Industries, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Steel, HCL Technologies, NTPC, Tata Steel, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC Bank also declined. IndusInd Bank, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Nestle and Axis Bank were among the gainers.
From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries jumped the most by 3.78 per cent. Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors were the other biggest gainers. Titan, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank and Nestle were among the major laggards.
Shares of RIL on Monday opened at Rs 1,206.50, then gained further ground and touched its 52-week high level of Rs 1,238.05, up 2.87 per cent over its previous closing price.
Given the fragmented nature of the domestic cable TV market and the need for last-mile connectivity, RIL, said sources, would have to do more to achieve its target of reaching 20 million homes and 15 million business establishments with its broadband services across 1,600 towns in the next few years.
According to the plan made by the lenders and RIL, all Future group listed companies will be merged into Future Enterprises. RIL will then invest Rs 8,500 crore in the merged entity which will include the retail business.
Stocks of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) have more headroom left despite the sharp run in the last few weeks, suggests a recent report from Morgan Stanley. Stocks of these oil refining and marketing companies (OMCs), it believes, are seeing multiples re-rate as investors reassess long-term growth prospects. "IOCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.2x, 19 per cent below +1 standard deviation (SD); BPCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.5x, near historical averages; HPCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.5x, near +1SD," Morgan Stanley said.
The IT major is followed by RIL (Rs 795,628.55 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 624,362.11 crore), Hindustan Unilever (Rs 367,880.69 crore) and ITC (Rs 367,513.78 crore).
BSE benchmark Sensex plummeted over 388 points to close at 58,576.37 on Tuesday, tracking weakness in index majors Wipro, RIL and Bharti Airtel amid a weak trend in global markets. Investors also remained cautious ahead of crucial macroeconomic data announcements -- industrial production for February and inflation rate for March -- post trading hours. The Sensex declined 388.20 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 58,576.37. During the day, the benchmark tanked 666 points or 1.12 per cent to 58,298.57.
Aramco also plans to invest in building India's largest oil refinery on the country's west coast.
Banking sources said the debt recast is actually 'Plan B' to help the nation's largest retailer stay afloat.
RIL is setting up infrastructure for a full-fledged horizontal e-commerce offering - internally called the New Commerce - to simultaneously launch pan-India by October-November.
Reliance Industries shareholders will have to pay only 25 per cent for subscribing to the company's mega Rs 53,125-crore rights issue, and the balance will have to be paid in two instalments in May and November next year, the company said.
Refining major optimistic on planned investment of $16 bn for expansion and new technology to post healthy margins
Jio Financial Services, a unit of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL), got valued at Rs 1.66 trillion ($20 billion) following an hour-long special trading session conducted by stock exchanges on Thursday. Shares of RIL's unit got priced at Rs 261.85 apiece - higher than analysts' expectations of Rs 134-224 per share. The price was arrived at after calculating the difference between RIL's Wednesday (July 19) close of Rs 2,840 and Rs 2,580, the price discovered during the first-of-its-kind pre-trade session.
In the domestic m-cap ranking, TCS was at number one position followed by RIL, HDFC Bank (Rs 666,533.49 crore), HUL (Rs 400,325.83 crore) and HDFC (Rs 378,236.52 crore).
In the list of top-five domestic firms, RIL was placed at the top of the pack followed by TCS, HDFC Bank (Rs 6,50,136.04 crore), HDFC (Rs 3,85,207.96 crore) and HUL (Rs 3,76,545.49 crore).
Mukesh Ambani's Jio Financial Services (JFS) is set to seek shareholders' approval for its leasing subsidiary to acquire telecom equipment and devices worth Rs 36,000 crore ($4.33 billion) from Reliance Retail. Jio Leasing Services Limited (JLSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of JFS, plans to enter the device leasing business, and the equipment will be deployed in broadband wireless connectivity and other services.
JSW Steel was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 2.68 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Titan, ITC, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro. In contrast, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Asian Paints and Axis Bank were major laggards.
Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel and Titan were among the other major gainers. Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and NTPC were the laggards.
The ruling was made by the Securities Appellate Tribunal, an independent quasi-judicial body that rules on appeals against orders passed by the Sebi.
The Bombay high court has modified the interim order on the sale of KG basin gas by Reliance Industries.
Dispute resolution provisions in the production sharing contract remained unimplemented, while the regulator faltered, points out Jyoti Mukul.
Reliance Industries chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday announced an additional Rs 20,000-crore investment for West Bengal over the next three years. Ambani said the fresh investment will be in the areas of digital life solutions, retail and bio-energy.
TCS had replaced RIL as the most valued firm more than four years ago but a sharp rally in the shares of the Mukesh Ambani-led firm in the recent past has helped the company close the gap.
The rights issue price has been set at Rs 1,257 a share, a discount of nearly 14 per cent to the last closing price of Rs 1,459. The company had set May 14 as the record date for the rights issue, which meant shareholders as on that day would be eligible to apply. Shareholders will be able to apply for one share for every 15 shares held.
RIL's stake in Network18 would reduce to 64 per cent, from 75%, following the merger
Bajaj Auto was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling around 6 per cent, followed by M&M, Reliance Industries (RIL), Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, SBI, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. NSE Nifty tumbled 162.60 points or 1.36 per cent to 11,767.75.
Proxy advisory firm IiAS has recommended that institutional investors should vote against Anant Ambani's appointment on the Reliance Industries board, citing his age as the reason. Is that why Anant and his dad, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, worshipped at the Dwarkadhish temple in Devbhumi Dwarka district, Gujarat, on Tuesday?
While lower gas output led to earnings cuts, price rises with regular ramp-ups in output will lead to earnings upgrades
Ambani now holds 80.52 lakh shares or 0.12 per cent of RIL, up from 75 lakh shares held before the rights issue. His wife Nita and children Isha, Akash, and Anant too got 5.52 lakh shares each after they subscribed to the rights offering. They, too, hold 0.12 per cent each in the firm.
Amazon has asked Sebi to suspend its review of the Rs 24,713 crore Future-Reliance deal and not grant a no objection certification on the ground that its challenge to the agreement was before the Delhi high court. E-commerce major Amazon has written to Sebi again, this time apprising it about the admission of its appeal before the division of the Delhi high court and urged the market regulator to suspend the review of the Future-Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) deal. This is the eighth letter by Amazon to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman Ajay Tyagi since late October. Amazon has been opposing Future group's pact with billionaire Mukesh Ambani's RIL that was signed in August last year.