The weak April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) results of the largest listed specialty chemical maker, SRF, and multiple global headwinds for the sector are expected to weigh on the prospects of Indian specialty chemical companies in 2023-24 (FY24). Stocks in the sector (down 7-18 per cent) have underperformed the benchmarks (up over 10 per cent) in the past three months, and given the multiple challenges, the trend is likely to continue. Kotak Institutional Equities expects a very weak quarter (Q1FY24) for the sector due to destocking, demand weakness across certain critical end-use industries, and price erosion amid intense competition from Chinese suppliers.
Car sales are likely to grow further in November.
Cement manufacturers' show during the June 2023-ended quarter (Q1FY24) has indicated an intensified slugfest for market share. For instance, Dalmia Bharat (Cement) said it has lost market share in eastern India owing to lack of price discipline. Industry analysts also said that the seasonal weakness in cement prices for Q1 is showing up earlier than usual.
Indian Railways has managed to improve its freight volumes each year since the pandemic. However, its inability to add new industries and goods will pose a challenge for the national transporter in the wake of it setting an ambitious target of 45 per cent share in the national logistics by 2030. According to officials, the ministry of railways achieved 114 million tonnes (mt) of miscellaneous goods (classified as balance and other goods) in 2023-24.
According to the report, export-oriented sectors like IT services, pharmaceuticals and textiles will, in aggregate, report EBITDA margin expansion of nearly 100 bps, while margin is likely to decline by about 50 bps for other sectors during this period.
Sales of apparel were a mixed bag this festive season while those of consumer durables saw an uptick with mobiles, laptops, and air conditioners being in demand. In apparel, Tier-2 and -3 markets did better for some brands, because these have been witnessing an uptick for the past 18-20 months compared to metros. "The past two weeks have been good, and we saw a 13 per cent increase in value sales, and volume sales have also been similar," Manish Kapoor, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Pepe Jeans
The sharp fall in the rupee's value against the dollar during the July-September quarter, it turns out, has come as a boon for corporate earnings.
Logistics services provider Delhivery posted a mixed set of results during the March quarter of the previous financial year (Q4 of FY23). While its operating profit was marginally in the green, its net losses widened as compared to the year-ago quarter. Overall revenues, which were in line with estimates, fell 10 per cent year-on-year (YoY).
Passenger vehicle majors like Hyundai, Tata Motors, M&M, Toyota Kirloskar and Honda on Wednesday reported growth in domestic sales in August riding on festive sentiments, although market leader Maruti Suzuki posted a decline amid a semiconductor shortage affecting the industry. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) reported domestic sales at 110,080 units, as compared to 116,704 units in the same month last year, down 6 per cent. "Sales volume of the company in August 2021 was affected due to electronic components shortage.
The board of Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Tuesday approved a proposal to issue shares worth Rs 12,841 crore to parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) for acquiring Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG). The Gujarat manufacturing plant - with an annual capacity of 750,000 units - is owned by SMG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SMC. The shares issued to SMC will raise its ownership in MSIL from 56.48 per cent to 58.19 per cent--India's largest carmaker stated in a notice to BSE.
IT services firm Infosys on Thursday reported an 11 per cent rise in consolidated net profit in June quarter at Rs 5,945 crore, but lowered full year growth outlook to 1-3.5 per cent amid macro uncertainties. The net profit (before minority interest) during the same period previous year stood at Rs 5,362 crore.
Layoffs, corporate restructuring, governance and most importantly profitability: The 14 Indian startups that plan IPOs this year are pulling out all the stops to ensure successful market debuts.
UPL, the country's largest agrochemical company, had a weak July-September quarter (Q2), reporting a sharp fall in revenues across geographies. Overall, the revenues were down 19 per cent on the back of lower agrochemical prices and inventory destocking. While the overall volumes were down 7 per cent, prices fell by 15 per cent. Volume decline in the European market was on the back of high channel inventory and product bans while in India the fall by 27 per cent was on account of muted demand for segments such as cotton and pulses.
'Due to rural stress, volumes continue to remain an issue for the industry, and we are yet to see any revival in demand.'
Poor earnings show in the September quarter (Q2FY24), with hints of likely weakness in asset quality going ahead, forced analysts to cut earnings estimates of SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Card). On the bourses, shares of the State bank of India arm tumbled 7.4 per cent to Rs 732 apiece on the BSE in the intraday trade as investors factord in near-term concerns. Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, for instance, slashed SBI Card earnings by 8 per cent and 10 per cent for FY24 and FY25, respectively, as they expect the company to face pesistent magin pressure.
'Favourable product mix, sales recovery, and cost saving initiatives are expected to support margins going ahead while focus on debt reduction (target of debt free by FY24) will aid balance sheet strength'
'We have focused on it quarter after quarter and started to build the pipeline.'
Coal India Limited's (CIL) October-December quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q3FY24) results have beaten the Street's estimates. Revenue rose 3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 36,200 crore, led by higher volumes and better realisation from Fuel-Supply Agreement (FSA) coal. The blended average selling price (ASP) was down 6 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,727 per tonne, and the FSA ASP was up 3 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,532 per tonne.
Even though Bharat Forge's performance in the July-September quarter broadly met Street estimates and defence orders are on the rise, the subdued outlook for its global business has prompted some brokerages to adopt a cautious stance on the company. Analysts have reduced the company's earnings per share (EPS) estimates to account for the slow recovery of its overseas subsidiaries. Valuations are also trading at long-term averages, which could limit potential upsides.
Revenue share from India has inched up to nearly 0.8 per cent of its global sales. The revenue growth rate is in stark contrast to the firm's performance in volume terms.
S&P Global Ratings has upgraded its long-term ratings on Tata Motors to speculative grade 'BB' with stable outlook on earnings improvements and potential deleveraging. The ratings agency had earlier placed Tata Motors in 'BB-'. As per S&P ratings, a BB grade is less vulnerable in the near-term but faces major ongoing uncertainties to adverse business, financial and economic conditions.
'A weak monsoon always spells disaster. But it's too early to have a pessimistic view.'
Recent RBI data indicates net addition of credit cards is running strong at 18 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), but growth in credit card limits is ahead of loans outstanding. Growth in lower limit cards is decelerating fastest. The West and South have more usage and online transactions are more popular than offline, with metros leading growth.
After being underweight on domestic agrochemical companies and preferring global plays, brokerages believe that the former may perform better in the quarters ahead. Domestic crop protection companies have faced multiple headwinds over the past year and a half, given high inventory costs, pricing pressures, lower realisations in the generic segment, increased stocks due to lower infestations, and demand-led hits to volumes. Some of the overhang from previous quarters was reflected in the April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24) as well, with aggregate revenues and operating profit for the sector down 12 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively.
Currency volatility to have negative impact of 275 bps
During the quarter, Coke rolled out its fruit juice brand Minute Maid in select locations such as Mumbai. It also introduced variants of Schweppes tonic in the city. The brands will be rolled out in other metros shortly.
India's equity markets are on a roller-coaster ride, after delivering spectacular returns for two consecutive years - in 2020 and 2021. The benchmark National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) Nifty50 is down 1.5 per cent in the first nine months of the current calendar year 2022 (CY22) as foreign portfolio investors sold Indian stocks due to rising bond yields in the US and across global markets, including India. The sell-off in the Indian equity markets has, however, not been broad-based and largely limited to sectors facing earnings headwinds from rising interest rates, lower commodity and energy prices, and likely economic recession in advanced economies.
As imports reduced, Eveready clocked significant volume growth in batteries.
Insurance falls from 14 position in 2013; insurance penetration falls to 3.9%.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 9 per cent rise in its December quarter net profit as a planned maintenance-induced weakness in oil business earnings was offset by stability in retail and telecom verticals. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit of Rs 17,265 crore, or Rs 25.52 per share, in October-December - the third quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal - was 9.3 per cent higher than Rs 15,792 crore, or Rs 23.19 a share, earning a year back, according to a company statement. Quarter-on-quarter, the profit was lower when compared to Rs 17,394 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended September 30.
The government will formulate a strategy to make India self-reliant in edible oils by boosting domestic output of oilseeds and launch a comprehensive programme to support dairy farmers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Thursday. India imports a large quantity of edible oils to meet the domestic demand. During the 2022-23 marketing year (November-October), the country imported nearly 165 lakh tonnes of cooking oils, valuing a whopping Rs 1.38 lakh crore.
There was an uptick in clients' spends in the digital segment.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (IPru) is struggling to generate growth in the value of new business (VNB). This is due to a combination of weak growth through the parent bank's channels, a shifting product mix in favour of unit-linked life insurance policies (ULIPS), and higher payouts to third-party channels. Leverage from current investments, a further reduction in contributions from ICICI Bank, and a pick-up in non-participating policies from the end of the year is key for this metric in the near to medium term.
Worldwide air transport volumes are set to double within 15 years, given the average annual growth of 4.5 percent, and by the year 2050 they will have increased six-fold, to around 3 billion tonne-kilometres transported.
The airline industry is projected to register a net profit of $25.7 billion in 2024 as more normal growth is expected in both passenger and cargo segments, global grouping IATA said on Wednesday. For 2023, the net profit is estimated at $23.3 billion, significantly higher than the $9.8 billion projected by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in June this year. IATA has more than 300 airlines as members.
Growth numbers for the large players in the sector, though, improved during the quarter.
The supply chain for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies is seeing congestion due to persistently low demand. This has led to an increase in inventory days, with stocks accumulating at distributors and compelling them to extend higher credit periods to retailers. Distributors, Business Standard spoke to, revealed that demand inventory days have more than doubled in some cases, forcing them to offer credit terms as long as 45 days to retailers, as consumer offtake continues to face pressure.
While Emami is still struggling to push growth, given weak rural demand, the sale of the group's stake in AMRI Hospitals should ease investor concerns about stake pledges by promoters. It has also carried a series of stake acquisitions which should enable the expansion of its brand portfolio. The Q2 results are likely to see flat volumes and low revenue growth alongside some gross margin expansion.
Capital goods companies are likely to report double-digit growth in sales and profit for the first quarter of the 2023-24 financial year (Q1FY24), according to analysts. The performance will ride on lower raw-material costs and healthy execution of orders. Sales by capital goods companies are likely to increase 13-20 per cent year-on-year (YoY), five domestic brokerage firms said.
The message is clear: The 60-year-old wise uncles need to handhold the 40-year-old entrepreneurs when, obsessed with ambition and greed for growth, they become a victim of hubris, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
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