Top 10 biz headlines: Reliance Jio slams peers, Diwali sales, and more

AGR payments: Reliance Jio slams peers, questions telecom sector stress

Reliance Jio on Wednesday attacked incumbent operators, saying it disagreed with “the threatening and blackmailing tone” of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) letter. Read more.

Bundled packs keep Airtel's Q2 ARPU stable, but AGR overhang on share price

Bharti Airtel posted better-than-expected operational numbers for the quarter ended September. While the full details of its results are not available, its per-user metrics, subscriber base, and churn have improved over the previous quarter. Read more.

Firms crack the Diwali code: Double-digit growth in consumer goods sales

Diwali has brought much-needed sparkle to companies and retailers in an otherwise weak festival season. The crucial Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj period — stretching from Friday to Tuesday — saw automobile retail sales increase by high double digits, while consumer durable sales grew 6-8 per cent over last year, led by metro markets and large-format stores. Read more.

Valuation of Jio's digital business expected to improve, say analysts

Analysts see an upgrade on the way to the estimated valuation of the digital business of Reliance Industries (RIL). So far, it has been valued only on the telecom arm, Jio. Read more.

Apple India FY19 net down 70% at Rs 262 crore, revenue declined 19%

Tech giant Apple has seen over 70 per cent fall in its net profit in India to Rs 262.27 crore, while revenues fell 19 per cent in the 2018-19 over the last financial year, as per the regulatory documents. Read more.

Industry leaders find Amazon, Apple and Alibaba the most disruptive firms

Amazon, Apple and Alibaba top the list of companies that tech industry leaders worry most about disrupting their business, according to a KPMG report. In a survey of more than 740 technology industry business leaders globally, DJI, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Microsoft, Facebook, and Baidu round out the Top 10 list. Read more.

Reliance General Insurance scraps IPO plan; withdraws draft offer documents

Reliance General Insurance, part of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, has decided to withdraw its proposed initial share sale offer. The initial public offering (IPO) was slated for fresh issue of shares worth Rs 200 crore, besides an offer of sale of 79,489,821 shares by Reliance Capital. Read more.

Standard Life sells about 5% stake in HDFC Life Insurance for Rs 5,752 cr

Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) on Wednesday sold 4.96 per cent stake in Housing Development and Finance Corporation (HDFC) Life Insurance Company to a clutch of institutional investors through multiple block deals. The sale took place at Rs 575.15 apiece, helping the UK-based Standard Life mop up Rs 5,752 crore. Read more.

Centre hikes e-payments target for FY20 to 45 billion

The government has now increased the target for e-transactions in the financial year ending March 2020 to 45 billion (by volume) from 40 billion, as a part of measures to change its digital payments roadmap, according to sources in a report by The Economic Times.

Godrej family decides to put a bigger slice of shareholdings in trust

In a move aimed at simplifying succession planning and avoiding inheritance tax if it is reintroduced in India, members of the Godrej family have transferred part of their ownership in the 122-year-old group’s flagship Godrej Industries Ltd into trusts, reports LiveMint.