'Like every Budget, this time, too, there is chatter around tinkering with the long-term capital gains tax.' 'Investors may not want to jump into the markets until there is clarity on this front.'
Is India headed there again? questions Ajit Balakrishnan
As many as 86 per cent of senior business executives have deployed artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance revenue streams or create new ones, said a report by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday. As many as 69 per cent of businesses are more focused on using AI for innovation and increasing revenue than on improving productivity and optimising cost, said the 'TCS AI for Business Study'.
The stock of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (AHEL), India's largest listed health care services company, fell 4.6 per cent on Monday (April 29) and slipped another 0.34 per cent to close at Rs 5,946.20 on Tuesday (April 30). The share declined due to a lower valuation for subsidiary Apollo HealthCo (AHL) and an aggressive valuation for Keimed, a promoter-owned drug wholesaler that is merging with AHL.
While the current headcount reduction has more to do with slowing demand, the rise of artificial intelligence will impact jobs in the future.
The services sector growth in India moderated in February amid softer expansions in business activity, sales and jobs, a monthly survey said on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Business Activity Index registered 60.6 in February, down from 61.8 in January. In Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
The market could not make a clear assessment of Tech Mahindra with the stock swinging wildly in the last two sessions. The results on Thursday were expected to be weak but the stock dropped slightly. However, investors reviewed the three-year turnaround plan and decided the stock had been oversold and the price recovered 7.5 per cent.
The Nifty IT index, data shows, has outperformed the markets in each of the last four election years post the result. announcement.
The brokerage earnings estimate for the January-March 2024 quarter (Q4FY24) for Nifty 50 companies hints at a slowdown in corporate profit growth while revenue increase is likely to be in low single digits as in the previous two quarters. According to various brokerage estimates, the companies' combined net profits are expected to grow 3.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q4FY24, the slowest in the last five quarters. For comparison, the index companies' combined net profits were up 8.2 per cent Y-o-Y in Q3FY24 and 3.4 per cent Y-o-Y in Q4FY23.
Indian IT services company Infosys on Thursday said all its employees in Israel are safe. Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, Infosys CEO and MD Salil Parekh said its employees in Israel are primarily locals but declined to comment on the exact staff strength there. The company further said it is "saddened" by the situation unfolding in the region.
The services sector growth in India fell to a one-year low in November on softer expansions in new work intakes and output, despite receding price pressures, a monthly survey said on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services Business Activity Index fell from 58.4 in October to a one-year low of 56.9 in November. Despite witnessing a month-on-month decline, the rate of expansion was stronger than its long-run average.
'Such steps would be a barrier and something people do not want.'
Indian IT major Wipro on Saturday announced the resignation of its CEO Thierry Delaporte and named Srinivas Pallia as the new chief executive officer effective immediately. Wipro's Board noted the resignation of Delaporte with effect from April 6, 2024, the company said in a BSE filing, and added he will be relieved from the employment of the company with effect from the close of business hours on May 31, 2024.
'By integrating data, research, and new insights, we are designing work environments that foster innovation, collaboration, and wellbeing.'
The country's largest IT services company TCS on Wednesday said it has 250 staffers in Israel and stressed that the ongoing conflict will not have any major impact on its business. The company said it is in constant touch with all staffers, and at present, the focus is their safety and to look at how they help the communities they live in. It has initiated business continuity plans wherever necessary to ensure that the customers do not get impacted, TCS chief operating officer N Ganapathy Subramaniam told reporters, adding that it does not expect any major impact of the war on its business.
'MNCs now recognise India's capacity for innovation and its pivotal role in substantive contributions to global product development.'
Banks, the biggest component of the Indian equity market, are now trading at a big discount to the benchmark indicesThe BSE Bankex index, which tracks the share price of the 10 top listed banks, is trading at a trailing price to earnings (P/E) multiple of 15.3X, nearly a 40 per cent discount to the BSE Sensex current P/E of 24.37X. This is the biggest valuation gap between the two indices in at least 10 years. Similarly, the BSE Bankex price to book ratio (P/B) of 2.22X is 40 per cent lower than the current Sensex P/B ratio of 3.61X.
Corporate India reported high double-digit growth in net profit for the fourth consecutive quarter in October-December 2023 (Q3FY24), driven by margin gains from lower prices of raw material and energy.
Corporate earnings got a big boost from the fall in commodity and energy prices in July-September 2023 (Q2FY24) despite a slowdown in revenue growth during the quarter. The combined net profits of 3,123 firms that have declared their results so far were up 38 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 3.07 trillion in Q2FY24, up from Rs 2.24 trillion a year ago. Earnings were, however, down 3.5 per cent on a sequential basis from Rs 3.18 trillion in April-June (Q1) FY24.
The combined net profit of "early bird" companies, those that have declared their quarterly results, rose for the third consecutive quarter in July-September 2023 (Q2FY24). But the figures suggest a continued slowdown in revenue growth and stagnation in earnings over recent quarters. This slowdown is severe for companies in the manufacturing and non-financial service sectors.
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.
Disappointing quarterly earnings numbers and revenue forecast from IT services company Wipro also weighed on investor sentiments. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 247.78 points or 0.38 per cent to settle at 65,629.24 points. During the day, it plunged 533.52 points or 0.80 per cent to 65,343.50 points.
rediffGURU Chocko Valliappa offers advice on how to upskill yourself to advance in your career.
In 2024 so far, 20 startups have already visited the campus with 80 placements.
Byju Raveendran, the founder and chief executive officer of the beleaguered edtech firm Byju's, said the company credited all pending January salaries to employees over the past few days. This was communicated to the employees in another letter sent on February 4. Byju's has about 15,000 employees. "I know you were told that you would get your salaries by Monday.
The Nifty IT index rose by 5.14 per cent on Friday (January 12), marking its best performance in a day since July 2020, followed by another 1.9 per cent rally on Monday. With this, the index, which tracks the share prices of India's 10 biggest information technology (IT) services companies, has increased 7.1 per cent in the past two sessions. However, the substantial rally in the index occurred at a time when India's four largest IT companies reported their worst quarterly performance in over five years.
Even as the slowdown in the information technology (IT) services sector deepens, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), as well as oil and gas companies, emerge as the primary drivers of corporate earnings in the country. The IT services sector's share in corporate earnings declined to a five-year low of 17.4 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), whereas banks and finance companies accounted for 46.5 per cent, and oil and gas firms contributed 16.8 per cent. At their peak, IT services firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro represented just over a third of the combined net profit of all listed companies in the Business Standard sample.
Indian IT services sector's revenue growth will slow down to 3 per cent in the current fiscal from 9.2 per cent in the previous financial year, a domestic ratings company said on Tuesday. Icra Ratings said the profitability will also take a beating in this financial year and the operating profit margin will narrow by up to 1 percentage point to 20-21 per cent. The topline growth will come down to 3-5 per cent in FY24 from the 9.2 per cent posted in FY23, the agency said, attributing the slowdown to softening demand.
'GenAI has democratised the AI conversation. I do not know of a single client who is not interested in that conversation.'
More and more women are making their presence felt in jobs related to sciences, technology, and engineering across organisations.
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, which was passed by a voice vote after a short debate, also allows the Centre to take possession of a telecom network in case of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety.
Trouble started brewing after Cognizant announced that Ravi Kumar, former Infosys president, would take over as the Nasdaq-listed company's CEO.
The Burman family, which runs Dabur Group, has denied any involvement or role in an illegal cricket-betting app as alleged by the Mumbai police in a complaint filed last week. The family said vested interests were behind the police complaint and they wanted to scuttle their (Dabur's) move to acquire Religare Enterprises, a financial services company. "We have not received any formal communication on any such FIR
Fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday cleared the proposed merger of Credit Suisse Group AG with UBS Group AG. Both Credit Suisse Group AG (Credit Suisse) and UBS Group AG (UBS) are multinational investment banks and financial services companies founded and based in Switzerland.
'AI may perform tasks, but deep expertise and specialisation remain uniquely human.'
IT services company Wipro on Thursday reported a 12 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to about Rs 2,870 crore for the June 2023 quarter. It had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,563.6 crore in the year-ago period (Q1FY23). Wipro's income from operations in the June quarter increased 6 per cent to Rs 22,831 crore.
The board of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) has rallied behind its embattled chairperson Rashmi Saluja, saying she had turned around the financial services company whose market cap has increased to about a billion dollars from under $100 million in March 2018. The board -- which is fending off an Rs 2,200 crore open offer by the Burman family -- said accusations had not only targeted Saluja but the entire Religare management that has made Religare debt free. "Our story has been one of resurgence under the guidance of the Board of Directors led by Saluja, executive chairman.
The Burman family, which had made an open offer in September to acquire Religare Enterprises' control, in a statement said: "We are surprised and disappointed at these allegations." Burmans said it will move towards closing the transaction "expeditiously", working with all the regulators.
The National Association of Software Services Companies (Nasscom) on Tuesday launched the Talent Connect portal to bridge the gap between recruiters and digitally skilled and certified candidates. The portal, which has been in the work for the last 28 months has 100,000 candidates and companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra and Salesforce recruiting from it. The platform, for the first time, is also making an attempt to bridge the gap of skill-based talent to employers, rather than the current practice of academic focused talent base.
The company -- the first major IT services firms to announce such a move -- has asked its workforce to return to offices because of the need to deepen the value systems and a belief in productivity gains coming from co-working, TCS chief human resources officer Milind Lakkad told reporters.
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