It may be a little early to cheer the recovery in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) space as a deceleration in discretionary demand, after the festival season, may offset fragile rural recovery, analysts have cautioned. "The overall demand environment for staples remains muted, while discretionary demand trends have seen some deceleration after the festival season. "We believe margins in staples have bottomed out, but we expect only a gradual uptick with the ongoing softening in raw material prices.
'For our traditional membership base, it would be an access to disruptive ideas,' FICCI President Subhrakant Panda tells Asit Mishra/Business Standard.
Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 575 points on Thursday, tracking heavy losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, TCS and Reliance Industries amid a weak trend in global markets. Declining for the third straight day, the 30-share Sensex slumped 575.46 points or 0.97 per cent to settle at 59,034.95. During the day, it tanked 633.06 points or 1.06 per cent to 58,977.35. The broader Nifty-50 also declined 168.10 points or 0.94 per cent to close at 17,639.55.
Consumer stocks remain the biggest laggard on the bourses. The Nify50 weighting of FMCG stocks declined to a decade low of 9.9 per cent at the end of March this year, down 150 basis points from 11.4 per cent a year ago. At their peak in March 2013, major FMCG stocks, such as Hindustan Unilever, ITC, and Asian Paints, together accounted for 15 per cent of the Nifty50. But now together with automobile stocks, the consumer goods sector accounts for only 14.7 per cent of the index, down 200 basis points in the past 12 months and 37 per cent from the record high weighting of 23.4 per cent at the end of March 2014.
Indian consumers are likely to get respite from rising prices just before the festival season. Some consumer companies, including automakers, have indicated that they are planning to pause price hikes just before demand picks up in August, while keeping a close eye on volatile raw material prices.
Key stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined over 1 per cent at close on Monday due to heavy selling in banking, auto and FMCG shares amid weak global market trends and continued foreign fund outflows. Reversing its previous session's gains, benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled 638.11 points or 1.11 per cent to settle at 56,788.81. During the day, it tanked 743.52 points or 1.29 per cent to 56,683.40. The broader NSE Nifty fell by 207 points or 1.21 per cent to end at 16,887.35 as 42 of its constituents declined.
'There will always be a challenge to maintain a fine balance to ensure that the growth keeps happening and inflation is contained.'
Benchmark indices started the trade on a weak note on Wednesday with the Sensex falling 564.77 points, following feeble global market trends and persistent foreign capital outflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 564.77 points lower at 52,612.68. The NSE Nifty dipped 162.4 points to 15,687.80. Among the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance were the major laggards in early trade.
Manufacturing companies have been outperformers on the bourses in the current year, leading to a rise in their weighting in the benchmark index. Companies in sectors such as FMCG, automobile, pharmaceuticals, metals, cement, and agrochemicals now account for 25.43 per cent of the Nifty 50 index, up 88 basis points from 24.55 per cent at the end of December last year and a record low of 23.1 per cent at the end of CY20. The manufacturing sector is now dominated by FMCG majors such as Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Asian Paints, Nestle, and Britannia, accounting for 45 per cent of the combined market cap of all manufacturing companies in the index.
Other Health Food Drinks brands of GSK -- Boost, Maltova and Viva -- would come to HUL's portfolio by virtue of the merger, making it a leading player in the segment.
Continuing its decline for the third day on Friday, the BSE gauge plummeted 1,214.96 points or 2.20 per cent to 53,887.72 during the day. It settled at 54,333.81, a decline of 768.87 points or 1.40 per cent.
Mihir Tanna, Associate Director, S K Patodia & Associates, answers your tax queries.
The market capitalisation of Reliance Industries plummeted by Rs 43,491.37 crore to reach Rs 17,26,714.05 crore.
ITC has been one of the best performing large-cap stock at the bourses thus far in calendar year 2022 (CY22), rallying nearly 52 per cent during this period and outperforming the sector benchmark - the S&P BSE FMCG index - by a wide margin that moved up around 17 per cent during this period. However, the counter has lost over 5 per cent from its recent high of Rs 346.25 hit on September 23, 2022 and has underperformed the S&P BSE Sensex, which has lost nearly 2 per cent since then. So, is the rally in the stock coming to an end, and is this a good time to book profit?
The Sensex came under fag-end selling pressure to close in the red for the sixth straight session on Friday as risk-off sentiment prevailed amid unabated selling by foreign institutional investors and concerns over inflation. The 30-share BSE benchmark pared all intra-day gains and declined 136.69 points or 0.26 per cent to end at 52,793.62. During the day, it had rallied 855.4 points or 1.61 per cent to 53,785.71. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 25.85 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 15,782.15.
Equity indices made an emphatic comeback on Friday after falling for seven straight sessions after the RBI hiked interest rates by 50 basis points on expected lines and projected inflation coming under control from January next year. A strong recovery in the rupee added to the momentum, traders said. Overcoming a wobbly start, the 30-share BSE Sensex soared 1,016.96 points or 1.80 per cent to settle at 57,426.92. During the day, it rallied 1,312.67 points or 2.32 per cent to 57,722.63.
Murty, daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, held 3.89 crore shares, or 0.93 per cent, of Infosys at the end of September, according to company filings with the stock exchanges.
"Taking forward the brand's journey towards a more inclusive vision of beauty, the company will stop using the word 'Fair' in the brand name 'Fair & Lovely'. The new name is awaiting regulatory approvals and we expect to change the name in the next few months," Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) said in a statement. As part of the rebranding, the company will also be announcing the new name for the 'Fair & Lovely' Foundation, set up in 2003 to offer scholarships to women to help them pursue their education.
Companies from Unilever to Proctor & Gamble, Nestl, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have all alluded to lockdown challenges in India and the globe as well as the impact it will have on April-June as well as full-year numbers.
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded from early lows to close over 1 per cent higher on Tuesday, helped by heavy buying in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, Infosys and TCS amid gains in global equities. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed up by 696.81 points or 1.22 per cent at 57,989.30. It touched a high of 58,052.87 and a low of 56,930.30 in intra-day trade.
Private equity player Everstone Capital has sold Modern Foods, which it had taken over in early 2016 from Hindustan Unilever, to Mexican baking major Grupo Bimbo for an undisclosed sum.
Equity benchmark Sensex rallied 936 points on Monday, helped by heavy buying in banking and IT counters along with decline in oil prices amid hopes of headway in renewed diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine. A fresh round of talks is expected on Monday between Ukrainian and Russian officials. Rising for the fifth straight session, the BSE Sensex jumped 935.72 points or 1.68 per cent to settle at 56,486.02.
Nine of the top-10 most valued companies together lost a whopping Rs 309,178.44 crore in market valuation last week as selloffs continued. In a holiday-shortened past week, the 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 1,836.95 points or 3.11 per cent amid geopolitical tensions, global sell-off triggered by a hawkish US Federal Reserve and unabated foreign fund outflows. From the top-10 list, State Bank of India was the lone gainer as its valuation jumped Rs 18,340.07 crore to reach Rs 467,069.54 crore.
Six of the top 10 most valued Indian firms added a cumulative Rs 86,683.71 crore in market valuation last week, with HDFC twins emerging as the biggest gainers. On the top 10 chart, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel and HCL Technologies were gainers. While, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) and Infosys saw erosion in their market valuation.
Eight of the top-10 most valued companies suffered a combined erosion of Rs 2,61,812.14 crore in market valuation last week, with Reliance Industries emerging as the biggest laggard. In the top-10 list, Infosys and Wipro were the only gainers. During the last week, the BSE benchmark slumped 1,774.93 points or 3.01 per cent.
Equity market capitalisation dropped to a seven-month low in February, with the top 10 companies losing a whopping Rs 3,33,307.62 crore in market valuation last week. The total equity market capitalisation (m-cap) in February 2022 stood at Rs 2,49,97,053.39 crore. The previous low was in July 2021, when the m-cap of BSE-listed companies was at Rs 2,35,49,748.9 crore. In January, the m-cap stood at Rs 2,64,41,207.18 crore.
While Unilever has been aggressive, both organically and inorganically in the country, P&G's approach has been about achieving 'balanced growth' in terms of top line and bottom line.
All nine Adani stocks saw a rise in their share price in H1FY23, ranging from 6.1% in case of Adani Ports to 102% in case of Adani Power.
Consumer-focused companies have been left with few options but to increase the prices of their products as input costs mount because of various factors, including supply chain disruptions. This has been affecting monthly household budgets. Prices of scores of items -- from spices to soaps to rice -- have increased in the past year.
The stock market's momentum will be guided by the ongoing quarterly earnings season, with Reliance Industries, HUL and Bajaj Finance among those scheduled to announce their results this week, analysts said. Focus would also remain on the COVID situation, global stock markets, investment pattern of foreign institutional investors (FIIs), rupee-dollar trend and Brent crude, they added. "The earnings season would gain pace this week and participants will be closely eyeing the results of some of the top names like Reliance, Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Auto, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever among others. "Before that, markets will first react to the earnings of two heavyweights -- HCL Technologies and HDFC Bank in early trade on Monday," said Ajit Mishra, VP Research, Religare Broking.
Global investment firm Blackstone-sponsored Nexus Select Trust has filed the draft paper with market regulator Sebi to launch India's first public issue of retail REIT to raise around $500 million (about Rs 4,000 crore), sources said. Nexus Select Trust has a portfolio of 17 operational shopping malls across 14 major cities, covering about 10 million square feet of area valued at around $3 billion. As per the sources, Nexus Select Trust has on Thursday filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and is looking to hit the capital market with India's first retail REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) public issue in the first half of the 2023 calendar year.
The combined market valuation of eight of the top-10 most valued companies zoomed Rs 190,571.55 crore last week, with Bajaj Finance emerging as the biggest gainer, reflecting bullish investor sentiment. While Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) witnessed erosion in their market capitalisation, rest of the eight companies including Hindustan Unilever Limited, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel emerged as gainers. The market valuation of Bajaj Finance jumped Rs 35,878.56 crore to Rs 2,63,538.56 crore, becoming the biggest gainer among the top-10 most valued firms.
Ajit Balakrishnan offers lessons from another tech revolution not so long ago.
Even as raw material prices start cooling off from their peaks, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies' margins are expected to remain under pressure at least in the next quarter. This is because commodity prices continue to remain high year-on-year (YoY). Consumer companies will also continue to increase rates as they have been taking price hikes in a staggered manner. They have not yet passed the entire price increase of raw materials to consumers.
Reliance Industries Limited was leading the chart of the top-10 valued domestic companies, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever Limited, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India and Bajaj Finance Limited.
Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved Ltd will sell its food retail business to group firm Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd for Rs 690 crore as part of its strategy to focus on non-food, traditional medicine and wellness business.
'The classic thing we need as a country is the virtuous cycle where you have robust demand which leads to more capital spending which in turn leads to more job creation and more money in the hands of people.'
'Devika is a people's person, who simply loves what she does. This reflects in her work; the insights she brings to the table and the way she interacts with people and clients. She has the demeanour of a good captain. Her success is well-deserved.'
Equity benchmarks mustered gains for the first time this week on Thursday as investors piled into the recently-battered metal, bank and IT stocks amid expiry of monthly derivative contracts. Snapping its three-session losing streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 503.27 points or 0.94 per cent to settle at 54,252.53. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty gained 144.35 points or 0.90 per cent to end at 16,170.15.
Is winning a glamour contest, a beauty parade, a bigger achievement than getting to run one of the world's best known luxury brands or the IMF? asks Sandeep Goyal.
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