TMS Ep605: Pilot fatigue, PV inventory, real estate stocks, stock split

Indian aviation sector not just shrugged-off the pandemic blues, but it also broke all the previous records in 2023. The country’s domestic air passenger traffic soared past 150 million last year-- despite the grounding of a big carrier in May. But it also meant that airlines were stretched like never before. And pilots were operating under extreme pressure. At least three of them reportedly died due to heart attack last year. So now, the civil aviation regulator has come up with a set of new rules. Will it ease the burden on pilots? How will it affect the airlines? 

And thanks to holidays, last December saw the highest ever air passenger traffic in any month in the history of aviation. And like skies, records were set on the ground too. Sales of passenger vehicles crossed the four-million mark for the first time in 2023. Even a year before, in 2022, car sales had broken the previous record. But now, India’s auto industry is facing a peculiar challenge. Car dealers have reported a 75% jump in unsold inventory at the beginning of this year, as compared to January of 2023. So what explains this dichotomy? 

Let us now turn our focus to the financial markets. Shares of real estate firms have been firing from all cylinders, outperforming the markets over the past one year. The Nifty Realty index has doubled investors’ wealth in one year, while some stocks have generated 3x returns during the period. Going ahead, are there more legs in this rally? Or are the stock prices over heated? 
 

Staying with the financial markets theme, FMCG giant Nestle India recently announced that it will split its shares and give 10 shares for every 1 its shareholders hold. Currently, Maggi-maker has one of the most highly-priced shares in the Indian stock market. But what is a stock split, why do companies do it and what changes after that? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers.