Business & Market News

Mumbai: The pandemic-led disruption hasn’t affected the campus hiring plans of top companies in FMCG, a sector that is the least affected by the crisis and is making a faster recovery than the rest of the economy. Consumer goods majors are recruiting as many students as last year or more from top colleges, and are adding new campuses to their hiring list, as they seek to get on board youngsters who bring with them fresh ideas and a grasp of new age technology.Procter & Gamble, Dabur India, ITC, Marico and Godrej are among companies that are strengthening their teams with recruits from leading B-schools (like IIMs, ISB and SPJIMR), engineering institutes (IITs, NITs, etc), as well as undergraduate colleges such as St Stephen’s, Lady Shri Ram and Shri Ram College of Commerce. Hiring is done virtually, which is helping the companies connect with a wider population of students.Dabur India will hire 10-20% more from top B-schools and engineering colleges this season compared with last. ...

Mumbai: The pandemic-led disruption hasn’t affected the campus hiring plans of top companies in FMCG, a sector that is the least affected by the crisis and is making a faster recovery than the rest of the economy. Consumer goods majors are recruiting as many students as last year or more from top colleges, and are adding new campuses to their hiring list, as they seek to get on board youngsters who bring with them fresh ideas and a grasp of new age technology.Procter & Gamble, Dabur India, ITC, Marico and Godrej are among companies that are strengthening their teams with recruits from leading B-schools (like IIMs, ISB and SPJIMR), engineering institutes (IITs, NITs, etc), as well as undergraduate colleges such as St Stephen’s, Lady Shri Ram and Shri Ram College of Commerce. Hiring is done virtually, which is helping the companies connect with a wider population of students.Dabur India will hire 10-20% more from top B-schools and engineering colleges this season compared with last. ...

US authorities have given the Chinese owner of TikTok two additional weeks to divest the social media sensation in order to resolve national security concerns voiced by President Donald Trump's administration.A notice filed by TikTok owner ByteDance in federal court showed that authorities had extended the deadline originally set for November 12 to November 27.The Trump administration, which has claimed that the popular video-sharing app could be used for Chinese espionage, has threatened to ban TikTok unless it is sold to American investors. But the ban has been challenged in the courts.The latest filing said the deadline set by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews corporate deals for national security implications, had been extended.A statement from the US Treasury said the extension "will provide the parties and the Committee additional time to resolve this case in a manner that complies with the order" signed in August by Trump for B...

Mumbai: Tata Steel Ltd on Friday confirmed it’s in talks with Sweden-based steelmaker SSAB to sell its Ijmuiden steelworks in Netherlands, the flagship unit belonging to Tata Steel Europe.“Based on the discussions, initiated by SSAB Sweden, regarding a potential acquisition of Tata Steel’s Netherlands business, we will undertake a due process and move to the next stages including consultation and due diligence,” said Tata Steel’s chief financial officer, Koushik Chatterjee in a statement while reporting the company’s FY 21 results.Bloomberg had reported on October 23 that SSAB is holding preliminary talks with Tata Steel of India as it seeks merger options. SSAB, which has a market value of around $3.2 billion, would gain control of Tata Steel’s European business if they pursued such a deal.“SSAB has participated in several different discussions concerning consolidations in the European steel industry. The discussions with Tata are on-going but no decisions have been made,” said the Sw...

Mumbai | Kolkata: AION Capital-backed Clix Capital could walk away from the proposed merger with Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) if discussions on the deal continue to drag on, without a firm conclusion timeline. “We have to decide this urgently; we are happy to walk away from the deal and get on with our lives. This cannot go on forever,” Pramod Bhasin, the founder of Clix Capital, told ET.Clix Capital had submitted an indicative non-binding offer for LVB on October 8, but is yet to get any substantive response from the stressed lender that needs immediate capital infusion to survive. It is the only private-sector bank facing operational curbs imposed by the RBI on lenders having inadequate funds to cover for soured loans.Industry sources indicated that the talks have not been conclusive on the aspect of provisioning requirements against the ₹794-crore of contingent liability the bank has in relation to Religare deposits. Clix is also not comfortable on a potential hole in the bank’s book in...

Mumbai: The Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) has urged the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to get rid of the concept of peak margins and tighter initial margin norms for intra-day trading in shares which will be applicable from December 1.In a letter to Sebi, ANMI said the very concept of peak margin will have a domino effect on the business models of the brokers and the exchanges. “The ultimate casualty will be the absence of leverage and killing liquidity which has its side effects on the smooth functioning of markets and attracting foreign institutional investors who currently are the mainstay in our markets.”ANMI believes that such steps will have severe unintended consequences to the smooth functioning of Indian markets thriving on leverage, liquidity and offshore participations.Sebi introduced several rules over the last two years to safeguard retail investors from any potential financial fraud at a brokerage firm. The regul...

New Delhi: Gland Pharma has flagged evolving India-China political relations as a risk factor in a red herring prospectus (RHP) filed with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India in the run-up to the launch of a Rs 6,480 crore initial public offering (IPO) of shares that opened to the public on Monday. The ongoing IPO is touted as potentially the largest such fundraise by a pharma company.The pharma company that is majority-owned by Chinese conglomerate Fosun International has noted in its filings with Sebi that it could face supply disruptions in the future arising from the border confrontation that took place between India and China on June 20.“Any degradation in India-China political relations or any future military confrontations could result in curbs or delays on the import from China into India of materials and equipment that we require to operate our business, increase in duties on imports from China into India, curbs on the export of finished products from Indi...

Mumbai: Mile-long queues before liquor stores were among the first striking visuals of urban India's phased unshackling through the blistering summer, but all that pent-up demand that spawned numerous memes on the true growth driver of a comatose economy wasn’t enough to fully restore the health of the country’s biggest spirits maker due to the lingering curbs on dining out.Sales at airport duty-free stores, fine-dining restaurants, bars and pubs are still a fraction of what they were before Covid-19 forced an unprecedented shutdown, impacting the operations at United Spirits (USL).The maker of Johnnie Walker and Vat 69 generates about a fourth of its sales at bars and restaurants, called on-trade in industry parlance. However, continuing curbs on social gathering have hit patronage at restaurants and bars, and that segment of the business may not mend quickly – unlike other consumer businesses such as non-regulated FMCG.“Off-trade (retail outlets) delivered an above-par performanc...

Mumbai: With a strong balance sheet, improving retail sales in key export markets, incremental revenues from new ethanol facilities and commissioning of the new garmenting capacity from next year, KPR Mills just received a thumbs-up from the analysts.The company, which has increased its cash balance and reduced consolidated debt in the first half of FY21, can give up to 30 per cent return over the next one year, according to analysts.The stock has rallied 17 per cent in the last year. It is currently trading at 9.5 times its FY23 estimated earnings, compared with its five-year average forward PE of 13.3.“With an operating profit margin of over 20 per cent and strong balance sheet, KPR is one of the best textile plays, especially in the cotton yarn and garmenting space,” said Kaustubh Pawaskar, AVP-Research, Sharekhan. “Recovery in export markets, focus on shifting base from China to other markets and likely implementation of favourable textile policies by the Indian government would au...

Mumbai: Aversion to debt unites Warren Buffett and William Shakespeare — and now the top deck of India Inc.The majority of NSE500 companies announcing their earnings so far have surprisingly reduced debt in the first half of the year, despite the lockdown and business disruption.ET data showed that 110 of the 200 non-finance companies and banks in NSE500 have reduced debt on their books; 63 companies reported an increase, by contrast. Overall, the debt of 200 companies declined 10 per cent in the first half of the fiscal year, which coincided with varying degrees of lockdown across vast swathes of India.Why has debt fallen?Delay in capex, a pronounced fall in raw material and fuel costs, renegotiations of rentals, lower working capital needs, and equity infusion helped corporate India to focus on improving free cash flows and reducing the debt-equity ratio, said analysts.“The pandemic caused companies to delay their expansion plans and hence they utilized cash flow to trim debt to stre...

ET Intelligence Group: The stock of tractor maker Escorts has gained 80% over the past six months, outperforming the country’s largest tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra, which gained 67% during the period. While the tractor segment is expected to benefit from the rising rural income and good monsoon, Escorts looks poised to outperform considering a strong margin improvement, capacity expansion, and better product mix amid rising demand.Escorts was able to expand the operating margin (EBIT margin) of tractor segment by 970 basis points year-on-year to 20% in the September quarter due to cost optimization, lower raw material costs and superior product mix which improved realization per unit.This is one of the highest margins for the company's tractor division in any quarter. In FY16, the company had operated at a single digit margin of over 8%. The margins have been consistently improving since then except for FY20 when 12% contraction in sales volume affected the profitability.T...

Mumbai: Automakers have stepped up production, as dealerships are running low on stock ahead of Diwali after they retailed more cars and SUVs in October than what the manufacturers supplied.The passenger vehicle segment is upbeat about demand this month as well, but not so confident about the market beyond the festivals as uncertainty due to the pandemic continues to shroud the economy. In the two-wheeler segment, which was the first in the automotive sector to bounce back from the Covid-induced slump, retail sales last month have at best been flat as pent-up demand started to taper off, and industry insiders warned that this could happen to the passenger vehicle segment as well after the festive season.Industry estimates put retail sales of passenger vehicles in October at 365,000-370,000 units, the third highest on record for a month and about 40,000 more than the 330,000 units dispatched by automakers last month.79031899Wholesale, Retail Numbers UpBoth wholesale and retail numbers h...

Mumbai: Expecting a gradual decline in volatility and price stability around Rs 1,750-1,800 on RIL, some analysts are advising their rich clients to initiate a put ratio spread on the stock’s options to play for 5-7 per cent more downside. The strategy is to buy a 1,900 in-the-money put, while selling two 1,700 out-of-the-money puts to reduce the outflow. All options expire on November 26. The RIL share closed down 8.7 per cent at Rs 1,876 after posting better-than-expected Q2 numbers Saturday. The RIL 1,900 put closed at Rs 103 a share (505 shares make a lot) while the 1,700 put closed at Rs 30. Using these rates, the sale of two OTM puts fetches the client Rs 60, which cuts her outflow to Rs 43. This is the maximum a client would lose if RIL trades consistently above Rs 1,900. The maximum downside loss could be unlimited if RIL trades below Rs 1,543, 18 per cent lower from Monday’s closing, an unlikely event. There are two breakeven points — 1,857, the upper breakeven point, after wh...

Nachiket Shetye and Bansi Kotecha have a lot on their plate since the pandemic began. Six months ago, they co-founded Kytchens, a “kitchen as a service” tech platform, out of Mumbai. Almost instantly, restaurants from across the country inundated them with requests to create models to take food to clients’ doorsteps, while retaining the packaging, presentation and taste patrons would have experienced if they had come in to eat. Many of these requests that turned into business for Shetye and Kotecha — who get into strategic partnerships with food and beverage brands to help them grow and expand — were from restaurants that seldom or never delivered before. It showed how even the fanciest of restaurants were adapting to the new reality. In a pandemic-struck world, where going to a restaurant has become anxiety-ridden or bothersome, restaurateurs have decided to take gourmet food and great experiences to the customers. Hundreds of high-end restaurants have suddenly popped up on the delive...

MUMBAI: Broadcaster Zee Entertainment Enterprises may post around 50 per cent decline in net profit in the quarter ended September, while net revenues may have dropped up to 28 per cent as advertising rates continue to reel under pressure due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and subscriptions revenues may be flat on a high base.While industry-wide advertising revenues have been improving gradually, they still remain under pressure as corporate spending has not yet picked up fully amid the current economic slowdown.Analysts also hope for better cash generation, sustained balance sheet improvement and update on funds recovery on sale of overseas investments earlier this year.Kotak Institutional Equities expects Zee Entertainment to report a decline of 53.3 per cent in the net profit from a year ago, while it believes net sales may have shrunk 17.4 per cent.Kotak analysts expect 25 per cent decline in ad revenues (down 65 per cent YoY in 1Q) and modest 2 per cent YoY growth in domestic s...

By Kriti GuptaJust days before the U.S. election investors are largely positioned for a surge in risk sentiment under a Blue Wave scenario. For a handful of assets, there’s a chance that they’re completely wrong.Will a Joe Biden victory trigger an equities rally if the Senate remains Republican? Can Big Tech repeat its 273% ascent under President Donald Trump? Does the Democrats’ plan to shift to renewable energy mean oil’s dead? Bloomberg’s Markets Live team debated these topics and more in a live discussion and came up with alternative views beyond the consensus.Senate RiskConsensus view: A Biden victory helps risk assetsNon-consensus view: A Trump win helps risk assets -- but only with a Democratic SenateThe Senate race is key for fiscal stimulus. The gap between aid proposals from the Trump administration and House Democrats is narrow, so a flipped Senate could unlock more than $2 trillion of assistance. That could send the S&P 500 toward 3,650, a two standard deviation move fr...

KOLKATA|MUMBAI: India’s strong recovery has found mention in the quarterly earnings calls and statements of global chiefs of nearly half a dozen consumer multinational corporations (MNCs), including Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Unilever, Whirlpool and Kimberly-Clark.Most companies indicated that the market has bounced back sharply in the July-September quarter.On Friday, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the iPhone maker had set a September quarter sales record in India, while Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said it had a strong Prime Day in August and that Diwali season sales were off to a good start.“Geographically, we set September quarter records in the Americas, Europe and the rest of Asia Pacific,” Cook said in Apple’s earnings call. “We also set a September quarter record in India, thanks in part to a very strong reception to… launch of our online store in the country.”Demand for smartphone and consumer electronics has surged in India, with consumers buying the latest...

NEW DELHI: The interim judgement of a Singapore arbitration court barring the Future Group from going ahead with the deal with Reliance Retail will not have a bearing on the Competition Commission of India’s regulatory assessment, an official said.The competition watchdog’s limited concern is towards the two parties involved and the deal’s impact on competition, said a CCI official.“I don’t think the arbitration in the Singapore court would have any bearing on CCI’s progress. For CCI, the picture is just the two parties involved in the deal and its impact on competition,” the official said.On September 23, RIL had sought CCI’s approval for its Rs 24,713 crore acquisition of the online and offline businesses of the Future Group in August.In an interim order on October 25, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) restrained the two concerned parties from going ahead with the deal.The order was based on a plea filed by Amazon claiming the deal violates the terms of its agreem...

Mumbai: The Upper Crust is all set to rule the Web.Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Peter England and Allen Solly — collectively the biggest brands in men’s executive wear in the country — will now have a wider online play after Flipkart announced a partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL).Flipkart’s ownership of about 8 per cent in the company that leads in India’s formal wear can strengthen its balance sheet and accelerate growth, besides reducing leverage. Hence, a re-rating is on the cards.For the record, Flipkart will invest Rs 1,500 crore through the preferential allotment of shares by ABFRL. The promoters will now own 55.1 per cent. The stock climbed more than 4 per cent Monday to a high of Rs 171.9 on the NSE before ending 2.3 per cent lower at Rs 161.2, mirroring the late-afternoon selloff amid concerns of a second pandemic wave in Europe and the US.ABFRL’s net debt rose to Rs 3,250 crore in the June quarter. With a total capital infusion Rs 2,245 crore — the rights...

NEW DELHI: India’s energy policy will focus on greater efforts to move towards a gas-based economy, cleaner fuels, electric mobility and renewable energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.The policy will be industry friendly and growth oriented but energy should be affordable and reliable so it empowers people and improves their lives, Modi said.“India's Energy Plan aims to ensure energy justice. That too while fully following our global commitments for sustainable growth,” he said at the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek, where petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, US secretary of energy Dan Brouillette, and Saudi oil minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman also spoke.Modi supported the use of domestic, clean fuels, including biofuels and natural gas. "Increasing domestic gas production has been a key government priority. We plan to achieve 'one nation, one gas grid', and shift towards a gas-based economy," Modi said.The Prime Minister called for better mar...