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Care Ratings has reaffirmed 'double A minus' credit ratings with negative outlook on long and shot-term bank facilities of Arvind Ltd worth over ₹2,600 crore.
Bharti Airtel Ltd on Wednesday launched a suite of cyber security solutions for large, medium and small businesses as they shift to digital and cloud platforms, increasing the need to protect data and information from online threat and attacks.
The suite, Airtel Secure, will have a security intelligence centre, a state-of-the-art infrastructure with access to advanced technology and artificial intelligence tools. The telco has invested about ₹100 crore in Airtel security intelligence centre located in the national capital region (NCR), chief executive Gopal Vittal said.
The Company is considering raising of funds through various options of borrowings including by way of issue of debt securities in onshore/offshore market by public issue and/ or private placement basis and commercial papers.
On the heels of the dramatic ousting of directors of troubled Lakshmi Vilas Bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seems to have a back up rescue plan ready. (Full report)
The country's current account surplus rose to $19.8 billion or 3.9% of GDP in the June quarter as merchandise imports declined amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank said on Wednesday.
The current account surplus stood at $0.6 billion or 0.1% of GDP in the March quarter while there was a current account deficit of $15 billion or 2.1% of GDP in the year-ago period.
"The surplus in the current account in Q1 of 2020-21 was on account of a sharp contraction in the trade deficit to $10.0 billion due to steeper decline in merchandise imports relative to exports on a year-on-year basis," Reserve Bank of India said.
The Indian rupee settled at 73.76 against the US dollar versus Tuesday's close of 73.86.
The government has for the fourth time extended the deadline for bidding for privatisation of India's second-biggest oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) by one and a half months to November 16.
While the Cabinet, in November last year, had approved the sale of the government's entire 52.98% stake in BPCL, offers seeking expression of interest (EoI) or bids showing interest in buying its stake were invited only on March 7.
Initially, the EoI submission deadline was May 2, but it was first was extended up to June 13, then to July 31 and later to September 30.
The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to reschedule this week’s interest-rate meeting makes it difficult for lenders to price loans and deposits because they usually track the monetary policy’s outlook for liquidity and interest rates. Banks monitor the regulator’s projections for economic growth, which is closely linked to credit demand. (Full report)
HCL Tech has declred final dividend of ₹2 per equity share for the financial year ended March 31, 2020.
State run NTPC Ltd is targeting a revenue of ₹98,000 crore for financial year 2020-21, India’ largest power generation utility said on Wednesday.
This comes in the backdrop of the state-run conventional power generation firm rewriting its playbook, given that India’s energy landscape is rapidly evolving. A case in point being NTPC not setting up new greenfield coal-fueled power projects as part of its pivot towards green energy. With an installed capacity of 62.91 gigawatts (GW), NTPC Group has 70 power stations across the country.
“NTPC Ltd, India's largest power producer, will aim for a revenue of ₹98,000 crore from operations and 340 BU of electricity generation as part of its ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MOU) with Ministry of Power for financial year 2020-21," NTPC said in a statement.
"We hosted investor calls with CP Gurnani, CEO of TechM and Manoj Bhat, CFO. The company expects to match the industry on growth and
achieve 15% EBIT margin in the medium term. TechM has set up transformation offices to improve growth and profitability. Some of the measures taken up are (1) expanding the portfolio of offerings, (2) improving revenue per client via cross-sell and client rationalization, (3) increasing exposure to developed markets and (4) cost optimization and operational efficiencies being adopted on a war footing. BUY."
Adani Green, Torrent Pharma top gainers on the index
The company has received multiple orders of approximately 147 KMT valuing close to ₹1,400 crore. With these orders, the company's order book stands at 755 KMT valued at approximately ₹6,300 crore, after considering execution up to August 2020, it said in a regulatory filing.
Several key direct and indirect tax changes will kick in from 1 October, which businesses and individual taxpayers need to take note of. These are provisions meant to gather data about transactions, spending patterns and fund flow across borders as tax administration increasingly becomes data and technology driven. Mint takes a look at what these key changes are. (Full report)
The company has further sold part of its stake in the UK-based OakNorth Holding Ltd, the parent company of OakNorth Bank Ltd, to Toscafund Asset Management for ₹630 crore.
The board of directors of the company has approved the allotment of 500 rated, secured, redeemable non-convertible debentures having a face value of ₹10 lakh each aggregating to ₹50 crore on a private placement basis to be listed on the BSE Limited.
Future group firm Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL) on Tuesday reported a fresh default on interest payment of non-convertible debentures (NCDs). FEL, which is having financial troubles, had last week also informed default on interest payment of another non-convertible debenture. Before that it had on September14, 2020, defaulted in payment of commercial paper of ₹90 crore.
"We believe APNT (Asian Paints) is well-positioned to build large home decor solutions and construction chemicals portfolio; these businesses would not move the needle on growth for 2-3 years but are sizeable opportunities from 5-10 years’ perspective. While APNT has long-aspired to be a complete HD solutions provider, it has been conservative on the capital allocation front. We see renewed focus under the new leadership; it remains to be seen if the company steps up capital allocation to accelerate product/services portfolio augmentation (especially through inorganic route), branding/marketing (to inspire dealer confidence) and store expansion. It is worth noting that APNT would generate operating cash flow of ₹100 bn+ over FY2021-23E with modest capex requirement in the core decorative paints. Our DCF-based FV (Fair Value) of ₹1,800 implies 45X Sep22E PE. APNT is our preferred pick in paints; we await a better entry price."
Arvind Lifestyle Brands Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arvind Fashions Limited (AFL) and Gap Inc., have decided to mutually terminate their franchise business relationship in India. As next steps, both companies will work out modalities regarding transition of the Gap business. The Gap business delivered revenues of ₹182 Crores (4.7% of AFL's consolidated turnover) with a PBT loss of ₹34 Crores in FY2020.
Axis Bank on Tuesday said there was an uptick in the number of borrowers who opted for loan moratoriums after June and emphasised that the lender will be "judicious" in restructuring borrowings under the new rules.
About Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), the bank's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry said its stress tests are now showing lower slippages across any scenario than earlier.
"The 9.7 (per cent) was the number as of June 30. Obviously over a period of time some more customers do ask for moratorium, so I can definitely say that the number has gone up a little bit rather than coming down, which has happened for everyone," Chaudhry said. (PTI)
GMM Pfaudler’s 17.6% stake sale at a heavy discount to market price has attracted regulatory scrutiny over allegations of insider trading involving short selling of the company’s shares. The regulator has sought data from exchanges to ascertain any irregular patterns. (Full report)
Top picks are Cipla (target price at ₹855), Lupin (target price at ₹1,185), and Aurobindo (target price ₹1,015). HDFC Securities maintains ADD rating on Dr. Reddy’s (Target price ₹5,375), Sun Pharma (target price ₹570) and Torrent Pharma (target price ₹2,745). (Full report)
The Indian rupee opened at 73.81 against the US dollar versus Tuesday's close of 73.85.
Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea will seek shareholders' approval to raise borrowing limit to ₹1 lakh crore, at the annual general meeting scheduled to be held today.
"The Nifty is still below the 11350 level which means it is still within the bearish zone. It will turn bullish only when it is successful in closing above the 11350 level. Until then traders could consider a favourable risk reward ratio trade and look for opportunities to short the index at these levels for a target of 10800 and a stop loss above 11350," said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.
Reliance Industries Limited and Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) on Wednesday announced that General Atlantic,a leading global growth equity investor, will invest ₹3,675 crores into RRVL, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.
This is the third strategic investment in the retail unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), within a month.
National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai vide its order dated September 29, 2020, has sanctioned the scheme of Amalgamation for merger of HDFC ERGO Health with and into HDFC ERGO.
Indian benchmark share indices opened higher amid volatility on Wednesday as traders turned their attention to the first US presidential debate. Sensex opened at 38,068.89, up 95.67 points or 0.25%, while Nifty added 22.05 points or 0.20% at 11,244.45.
ONGC, rising over 1%, was the top Sensex gainer followed by RIL, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints and TechM. IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI were among the laggards. Of 30 Sensex shares, 14 were in the red at open.
HDFC, Vodafone Idea, BPCL, Arvind Fashions and GMM Pfaudler are among the top stocks that may be in news in today's session.
Indian stocks traded higher in the pre-opening session on Wednesday. At 9:04 am Sensex was at 38,108.35, up 135.13 points or 0.36%, while Nifty advanced 55.40 points or 0.49% at 11,277.80.
Indian benchmark equity indices ended flat in a volatile trade on Tuesday as banks and financial stocks offset the boost provided by IT companies.
After swinging between gain of as much as 0.7% and a loss of 0.3%, the benchmark Sensex settled at 37,973.22, down 8.41 points or 0.02%. Similarly Nifty closed 5.15 points or 0.05% lower at 11,222.40.
Asian markets were mixed Wednesday as traders turned their attention to the first US presidential debate, while hopes for a second stimulus were given a boost after top Democrat Nancy Pelosi said she was hopeful a deal could be done.
Singapore's SGX Nifty added 0.15%
Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.12%.
China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1.32%.
Australia's ASX 200 dived 1.44%.
South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.86%.
Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, snapping a three-day winning streak as investors took money off the table hours before the first US presidential debate.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 133.7 points, or 0.48%, to 27,450.36, the S&P 500 lost 16.27 points, or 0.49%, to 3,335.33 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 32.28 points, or 0.29%, to 11,085.25.
