Page 1164 - Business Finance
India may again defer duty hike on US products till Mar 2
The government may again defer the deadline to impose retaliatory customs duties on 29 US products, including almond, walnut and pulses, by another 30 days till March 2, an official said. In December 2018, the government for the fourth time deferred the deadline till January 31. "As discussions are going on between India and the US for a proposed trade package, the commerce ministry has asked its finance counterpart to again defer the implementation of the notification till March 2," the official said. The finance ministry is expected to issue a notification regarding this soon. In June last year, India decided to impose retaliatory tariffs after the US imposed high customs duties on certain steel and aluminium products. As part of the imposition of higher import duties, New Delhi has notified higher tariffs on several products. While import duty on walnut is to be hiked to 120 per cent from 30 per cent currently, duty on chickpeas, Bengal gram (chana) and masur dal will be raised to .
Kochhar violated bank's code of conduct: Srikrishna panel report
An independent enquiry initiated by ICICI Bank has indicted its former CEO Chanda Kochhar of violation of bank's code of conduct. The enquiry report submitted by Justice (Retd) B N Srikrishna Wednesday concluded that there was lack of diligence with respect to annual disclosures and violation of code of conduct, on her part. The board of the bank based on the report has decided to treat her resignation as Termination for Cause' under the bank's internal policies.
ICICI Bank to treat Chanda Kochhar's exit as 'termination for cause'
(Reuters) - ICICI Bank Ltd said on Wednesday it would treat former Chief Executive Chanda Kochhar's exit from the bank as a "termination for cause" after an enquiry report ruled that she had violated internal bank policies.
DHFL shares extend fall for 3rd day, tank 5 pc
Shares of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd continued to fall for the third consecutive day, falling nearly 5 per cent on Wednesday, after the company reported a 36.7 per cent decline in net profit for the December quarter. Besides, an expose by Cobrapost portal on alleged diversion of loans by DHFL impacted trading sentiment. DHFL stock plunged 4.97 per cent to close at Rs 161.60 on the BSE. Intra-day, it tumbled 9.73 per cent to Rs 153.50 -- its 52-week low. On the NSE, shares fell by 4.86 per cent to close at Rs 161.45. In last three days, its stock has plummeted by 22.75 per cent. Housing finance company DHFL Friday reported a 36.7 per cent decline in net profit to Rs 313.60 crore for the third quarter ended December 2018. The Mumbai-based company had posted a net profit of Rs 495.44 crore in the third quarter of last fiscal. However, total income rose to Rs 3,255.9 crore during the quarter, compared to Rs 2,896.66 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, DHFL said in a .
Alibaba profit up 37% but revenue growth eases
Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba said Wednesday that net profit increased 37 per cent in the latest quarter as growth in cloud computing and other business lines helped offset a slowing expansion in core online retail. The company's net profit grew to 33.0 billion yuan (USD 4.9 billion) in the October-December third quarter, compared to 24.1 billion yuan over the same period in 2017. Alibaba dominates China's emerging consumer culture and its corporate results were widely anticipated for any signs of whether a worsening Chinese economic slowdown and the US-China trade tussle was curbing the country's appetite for shopping. Revenue growth slowed to 41 per cent in the quarter, with sales in its core e-commerce business coming in at 40 per cent. While most companies would envy such earnings, that was the slowest increase in more than two years for a company accustomed to blistering rates in excess of 50 or even 60 per cent. A consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg had forecast ...
Ashoka Buildcon posts Rs 62 cr PAT in Dec qtr
Highways sector player Ashoka Buildcon Wednesday said its standalone profit after tax (PAT) grew 32 per cent to Rs 62 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2018. The company had clocked Rs 47 crore PAT during the same quarter a year ago, Ashoka Buildcon said in a statement. Total income in the reported quarter was at Rs 1,091 crore as against Rs 675 crore in October-December 2017-18. Shares of the company Wednesday settled 0.70 per cent down at Rs 120.30 apiece on BSE.
Board of Ajanta Pharma approves buyback of shares up to Rs 100 cr
At meeting held on 30 January 2019
Chalet Hotels IPO subscribed 28%
Receives bids for 1.16 crore shares
Indian businesses fear opposition's guaranteed income plan, see higher taxes
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's main opposition Congress party is promising to introduce a minimum income guarantee for the poor if it wins power in an election due by May, alarming some big and small business leaders who are asking: Where will the money come from?
ICICI Bank third-quarter profit slips 2.7 percent
(Reuters) - ICICI Bank reported a 2.7 percent fall in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday, missing analysts' estimates by a wide margin, as it set aside higher provisions.
China unveils draft law to allow fully foreign-owned enterprises
China has unveiled a draft foreign investment law, making provision for wholly foreign-owned enterprises with legal cover for overseas investments and technology - a key demand of US President Donald Trump to end the trade war between the world's two largest economies. The draft foreign investment law will be submitted to the upcoming plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the rubber stamp parliament, scheduled to be opened on March 5. The decision was made by the NPC Standing Committee on Wednesday at a closing meeting of its two-day session, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Once adopted, the unified law will replace three existing laws on Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, non-equity joint ventures (or contractual joint ventures) and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. The proposed law was expected to end forced technology transfer for foreign investors in China, which is one of the demands of Trump. The foreign investment law will be a basic law in that ...
IOC net slumps 90 pc on inventory losses
State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Wednesday reported 91 per cent decline in the third quarter net profit on account of lower refinery margins and inventory losses due to falling oil prices. The net profit of Rs 716.82 crore, or Rs 0.76 per share, in October-December 2018 was 90.9 per cent lower than Rs 7,883.22 crore reported in the year-ago period, IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh told reporters here. "The variation is mainly on account of inventory losses which were partly made up from forex gains," he said. As international oil prices slipped from four-year high touched in the early part of October, the company accounted for inventory losses as the value of fuel it held slumped. IOC suffered an inventory loss of Rs 6,655 crore in October-December 2018 as compared to an inventory gain of Rs 5,220 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. This was somewhat offset by Rs 2,084 crore gains in foreign exchange, he said. Inventory loss occurs when a company buys raw material ...
Budget: PHD Chamber seeks cut in corp tax, higher income tax threshold
PHD Chamber Wednesday pitched for cutting corporate tax to 25 per cent, and raising income tax exemption limit for individuals to Rs 3.5 lakh per annum in the forthcoming Budget. In a statement, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Rajeev Talwar said it looks forward to a "dynamic, inclusive and pragmatic budget" on February 1. "At this juncture, the economy needs further bold measures to boost the investment environment and to trigger demand growth to the next level," Talwar added. He said the time has come to rationalise the direct taxes, starting from reduction in Corporate Tax to a level of 25 per cent. "This will provide a boost to economic growth and would result in widening of the Direct Tax net, enhance collections and promote compliance further," Talwar noted. The government lowered the corporate tax rate to 25 per cent for businesses with a turnover of up to Rs 250 crore in the Budget presented last year. Talwar suggested that income up to Rs 3.5 lakh should be ...
Gold steadies near eight-month peak, focus on Fed's policy decision
(Reuters) - Gold rose to near a more than eight-month peak on Wednesday, supported by a muted dollar as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's policy decision and U.S.-China trade talks later in the day.
Mahindra Holidays Q3 net profit dips 33 pc to Rs 21.24 cr
Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Wednesday reported a 33 per cent dip in standalone net profit to Rs 21.24 crore for the December 2018 quarter. It had posted a net profit of Rs 31.75 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a filing to the BSE. Standalone total income of the company stood at Rs 246.87 crore for the quarter, against Rs 265.83 crore for the corresponding period a year ago. Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kavinder Singh said: "Our focus on digitisation and customer analytics has yielded superior operational performance and improved profit margins." The company's shares closed at Rs 207.20 per scrip on the BSE, up 0.78 per cent from the previous close.
Dhampur Sugar Q3 profit up 10% at Rs 82 crore
Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd Wednesday reported a 10 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 82.04 crore for the third quarter of 2018-19. Its net profit for the quarter ended December 2017 stood at Rs 74.73 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing. Total income rose to Rs 799.43 crore in the said quarter from Rs 783.65 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Mahindra Logistics posts Rs 19-cr PAT in Dec qtr
Mahindra Logistics Wednesday said its profit after tax (PAT) grew 24 per cent to Rs 19 crore during the December 2018 quarter. The company had clocked Rs 15 crore PAT during the same quarter of 2017-18, Mahindra Logistics said in a BSE filing. Its revenue jumped 18 per cent to Rs 981 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 835 crore a year ago. Mahindra Logistics Limited (MLL) is a portfolio company of Mahindra Partners, the USD 1 billion private equity division of the USD 20.7 billion Mahindra Group. MLL is an integrated third-party logistics (3PL) service provider, specialising in supply chain management and people transport solutions. Shares of the company ended 0.09 per cent down at Rs 496.80 apiece on the BSE.
Alibaba revenue grows at weakest pace in three years as slowing China bites
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's quarterly revenue grew at its weakest pace since 2016, as the impact of a slowing Chinese economy and a crippling Sino-U.S. trade war kept buyers away during its top-sale season.
Boeing targets 900 plane deliveries in 2019
(Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Wednesday it expects to deliver between 895 and 905 commercial aircraft in 2019, up from the 806 units it delivered last year, as the world's biggest planemaker benefits from a boom in air travel.
Oil prices rise 1 percent on Venezuela sanctions
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Wednesday, boosted by concerns about supply disruptions following U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry but pegged back by uncertainty over the global economy.