Tale of two share repurchases

Two of India's leading corporate giants-Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever- concluded mega share repurchase programmes in 2013. RIL's Rs 10,440-crore buyback programme ended in January 2013, where it bought shares worth Rs 3,900 crore from public.

Hindustan Unilever's Rs 29,200 crore open offer concluded in July 2013, where promoter Unilever bought shares worth around Rs 19,000 crore from the public. Currently, shares of RIL are at Rs 870 - the exact maximum buyback price offered to investors. The share price of HUL is at Rs 947, up nearly 60 per cent above its repurchase price of Rs 600. No prizes for guessing whose shareholders would be ruing for tendering their shares.

India Inc goes 'social' with results

Indian companies are no longer restricting themselves to stock exchanges when it comes to making important disclosures like result announcements. A lot of companies are increasingly embracing social media, including Twitter and YouTube, to reach out to investors. Last week, Reliance Industries provided a live YouTube feed where its chief financial officer threw more light on its third quarter numbers. Tata Consultancy Services, too, provided updates on its results announcements from hashtag #TCSQ3 on Twitter.

Happy new year at Sebi

Securities and Exchange Board of India's officers might have an extra reason to cheer the arrival of 2015. They are due for a salary increase this year. Salary increases happen in Sebi once in five years.If one were to go by past numbers, the increases are impressive. For example, the minutes of the 2010 board meeting on the matter showed proposed pay rises from 52 per cent to 92 per cent. One source said an update on this year's hikes could be expected as early as next fortnight.