In the July to September quarter of 2023-24 (Q2FY24), Voltas' revenues grew by 29.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), but the adjusted net profit was down by 63 per cent Y-o-Y. The revenues hit Rs 2,290 crore, led by growth in the Unitary Cooling Products segment (up 15.4 per cent Y-o-Y, and in the EMP (Electromechanical project) business (up 66.8 per cent Y-o-Y). The UCP revenue rose to Rs 1,200 crore in Q2FY24, driven by volume growth despite weak consumer spending - the three-year annual growth is 18 per cent.
The lower sales growth rate is on account of single-digit growth in sales by Reliance Industries (6.3 per cent), Reliance Energy (9.53 per cent), Hero Honda (5.48 per cent) and Biocon (7.52 per cent). Companies that posted a decline in sales included two-wheeler giant Bajaj Auto (- 3.03 per cent), pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy (-4.79 per cent) and Madras Aluminium (-11.13 per cent).
India Inc has reported a muted start to the financial year 2024-25, with a decline in net earnings and a modest single-digit uptick in revenues. An analysis of 488 companies that have released their results for the June 2024 quarter reveals a 1.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) drop in combined net profit -- the weakest performance in the past seven quarters. In stark contrast, the combined net profit of these companies experienced a 13.6 per cent Y-o-Y increase in the previous quarter (Q4FY24) and a 65.2 per cent Y-o-Y rise in Q1FY24.
A weaker-than-expected sales performance, concerns about higher competitive intensity in the current year, and earning cuts by some brokerages have weighed on the stock of the country's largest paint maker, Asian Paints. While the Q3 volume show was slightly below expectations, the company's operational and bottom line beat estimates, benefiting from the falling raw material costs. The stock ended the day with a decline of over 2 per cent at Rs 3,175 apiece.
'A lot of players such as Maruti and Hyundai are entering the market in the first and the second quarters of 2025.'
'With NPA under control, we should be able to post better profits.'
While Maruti leads with 30% volume growth, Hyundai sold 18,337 vehicles in rural markets during April-June
India's manufacturing sector growth fell to 18-month low in December amid softer increase in factory orders and output, despite minimal inflation, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI survey, conducted by S&P Global, showed that there were softer, albeit sharp, increase in factory orders and output, while business confidence towards the year-ahead outlook strengthened. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell from 56 in November to an 18-month low of 54.9 in December.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'It has remained around 38 per cent over the past four to five quarters.'
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
DIIs owned equities worth Rs 73.5 trillion, just 1.9 per cent less than FPIs. This marks a significant change from a decade ago.
More than 50 per cent of SIP accounts come from semi-urban and rural areas.
This will be the first full-year Budget of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government since it came to power for a third consecutive term in July last year.
The Cyberster is currently sold in the UK for about Rs 63 lakh and is expected to be priced between Rs 65 lakh and Rs 70 lakhs.
Sales of 137 firms up 29.7%, but operating margins dip.
Hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare's plans to sell its Gulf business may run into rough weather with voting advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) raising concerns over the transaction. Recommending an 'against' vote on the resolution, IiAS has said there is no clarity on how Aster DM will utilise the proceeds that it will obtain by selling the unit, which contributes to bulk of its revenues. In November, Aster DM had announced its plans to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary Affinity Holdings, which conducts business in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, to Alpha GCC for $1 billion.
Shares of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the Indian arm of South Korean automaker Hyundai, on Tuesday made a muted market debut and further fell by nearly 6 per cent against the issue price of Rs 1,960. The stock listed at Rs 1,931, reflecting a decline of 1.47 per cent from the issue price on the BSE. Later, the stock made some recovery and hit a high of Rs 1,968.80, up 0.44 per cent.
A robust margin performance in the September quarter (Q2FY25) led to a 12 per cent rise in the stock of defence major Bharat Electronics (BEL). While the stock has given up most of those gains in the recent market correction, analysts are positive on the company due to its strong order book, new order inflows, and margin trajectory. The near-term trigger has been the operating performance in Q2FY25.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma) reported a turnaround in the January-March quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23), declaring a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1,984 crore versus a loss of Rs 2,277 crore in Q4FY22. However, that loss in FY22 was due to several exceptional one-time items -- with Rs 3,723.15 crore allocated to settlement of lawsuits in the US and other Exceptional Items adding up to Rs 3,935.75 crore. Adjusted for exceptional items, PAT in Q4FY22 amounts to Rs 2,155 crore, which is a year-on-year (YoY) growth of about 36 per cent.
GAIL India's second quarter (Q2FY25) performance met expectations.
The filing of Swiggy's DRHP has led to direct comparisons with Zomato, which is a direct competitor in food delivery and the fast-growing quick-commerce segment where Blinkit (owned by Zomato) faces off against Instamart (and Zepto). In Q-commerce, Flipkart, Amazon, Reliance and Big Basket are all entering the space. All of them have deep pockets, hence competitive intensity will rise going forward.
The growth momentum that started during the festival season is likely to sustain in the new year, reports Arindam Majumder.
Passenger vehicle wholesales in India declined 2.5 per cent year-on-year to 341,510 units in July, impacted by high base effect as well as companies reducing vehicle dispatches to dealers amid moderation in demand. The overall passenger vehicle (PV) dispatches from companies to dealers stood at 350,355 units in July 2023, automobile industry body Siam said on Wednesday.
India's services sector activity fell to a 10-month low in September as new businesses, international sales and output growth moderated, a monthly survey said on Friday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Business Activity Index fell from 60.9 in August to 57.7 in September, indicating that though the output registered an increase, the pace of growth was the slowest since November 2023. In the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
With nearly 100 launches and unveils, the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, held in Delhi from January 17 to 22, made one thing clear to automobile enthusiasts: Electric vehicles (EVs) are the way ahead for the Indian auto market for years to come.
'We do not believe in fire sale. We don't do it.'
Small and midcaps are leading the charge in the latest market rebound. Since November 21, when the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty hit their recent lows and slipped into correction territory, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index has risen by 8 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 has gained 5.7 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 index has risen by 4.7 per cent during this period.
Food delivery app Swiggy on Wednesday launched a Rs 11,330-crore initial share sale, asking investors to take a pie of Indian middle class' rising propensity of online ordering. The company, which is present in over 650 cities and towns of the country, is launching the initial public offering (IPO) amid heightened concerns on urban demand slump, and the management stressed that it is unaffected by the broader trends in the economy. "We are also reading about it, but we are not seeing that yet in the business... So far, we have not seen the impact of demand on our business," its chief financial officer Rahul Bothra said.
'Everything can be resolved, but my husband's legacy is not up for sale.'
Domestic commercial vehicle sales volume is expected to grow 9-11 per cent in FY24 driven by medium and heavy commercial vehicles and an estimated economic growth of around 6 per cent, rating agency CRISIL said on Monday. Besides, an increased allocation to infrastructure spending in the Union Budget for next fiscal year will support demand, it said. This would be the third consecutive year of growth in the domestic CV industry, according to CRISIL.
The Nifty IT Index, the gauge for the performance of information technology (IT) stocks, was the worst performer on the stock exchanges on July 29, a day after Infosys posted lower-than-expected earnings growth for the June quarter and sharply cut its revenue growth guidance for 2023-24 (FY24). The IT index was down 4.1 per cent, its biggest one-day fall in three months. The decline was led by Infosys, with its shares plunging nearly 8 per cent, followed by HCLTech (-3.2 per cent), Wipro (-3.0 per cent), and TCS (-2.7 per cent).
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.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) State of the Economy report for October acknowledged a slowdown in some high-frequency indicators but expressed confidence in a recovery, aided by consumption demand during the festival season. "In India, aggregate demand is poised to shrug off the temporary slowdown in momentum in the second quarter of 2024-25 as festival demand picks up pace and consumer confidence improves," said the report released on Monday.
Automobile dealers' body FADA on Thursday said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in March witnessed a year-on-year growth of 28.39 per cent to 279,745 units, as compared to the year-ago period which saw disruptions in the market due to COVID-19 led lockdown. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which collected vehicle registration data from 1,277 out of the 1,482 regional transport offices (RTOs), PV sales stood at 217,879 units in March 2020. Two-wheeler sales, however, declined 35.26 per cent to 11,95,445 units last month, as compared to 18,46,613 units in March 2020. Commercial vehicle sales also declined 42.2 per cent to 67,372 units, as against 116,559 units a year ago.
Information Technology (IT) major Infosys escalated the legal tussle with Cognizant by filing a countersuit in a US court, accusing the Nasdaq-listed firm and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ravi Kumar of anticompetitive practices by maintaining its monopoly. Infosys has also alleged that Kumar misused sensitive information that slowed the launch of the company's health care platform Helix.
Unprecedented bribery charges, farewells, separation, failed union, monumental mergers and record-breaking IPOs, along with a healthy dose of online happenings in the form of spat and lessons in customer care, corporate India saw it all in 2024.
Titan posted better than expected revenue growth in the March quarter of the financial year 2022-23 (Q4FY23), powered by strong demand trends in the jewellery and watch segment. Standalone jewellery sales for the firm were up 24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) on a slightly lower base and aided by like-to-like growth of 19 per cent. The company highlighted that new buyer growth was at 15 per cent while average ticket size was up 8 per cent.
The rise of startups and a thriving entrepreneurial culture in Tier-II and Tier-III cities is contributing to the increasing sales of high-end cars.
With another quarter of steady growth in demand, cement companies are expected to report strong year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in earnings, according to analysts. The September quarter (Q2FY24) also witnessed a resumption of price hikes in certain markets. UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement producer, reported a 15 per cent Y-o-Y increase in cement sales in the country for the quarter under review.
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