Page 1246 - Business Finance

Santander shuts UK branches as online banking surges

Santander is to shut almost one fifth of its British branches following a surge in online banking, the Spanish group said on Wednesday. Santander said it would close 140 branches, affecting 1,270 staff, of which about one third would be offered alternative roles in the company. It meanwhile plans to retain 614 branches across the UK. "The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels," said Susan Allen, head of retail and business banking at Santander. "As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity," she added in Wednesday's statement. Santander said that the number of transactions carried out via Santander branches had dropped by almost one quarter in the last three years. Transactions via digital channels had doubled over the same period. "We continue to believe that ...

Rupee clocks gain after 3 days, settles 11 paise higher vs US dollar

The Indian rupee Wednesday snapped its three-day losing streak and settled higher by 11 paise at 71.33 against the US dollar on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Besides, the rupee upmove was supported by weaker greenback against its major rivals, although intense selling in domestic equities impacted traders sentiment, capping gains in the domestic currency value. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) Wednesday, the rupee opened on a firm note at 71.19. It gained further to hit a high of 71.15 following dollar selling by exporters, before finally closing at 71.33, up 11 paise over its last close. On Tuesday, the rupee had skidded by 16 paise -- its third straight session of loss -- to close at 71.44 against the US dollar. Forex traders attributed the US dollar slide to renewed concerns over ongoing US-China trade tiff which experts believe dragging the global economy towards a major financial meltdown. Meanwhile, Brent crude, the global oil ...

Restaurant Brands names Burger King boss Jose Cil as CEO

(Reuters) - Restaurant Brands International Inc on Wednesday named Jose Cil, the current head of its Burger King business, as its chief executive officer, replacing Daniel Schwartz.

GDP a 'fancy figure', growth must translate to well-being on ground: Kamal Nath

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath Wednesday referred to gross domestic product (GDP) as a "fancy figure" and said that economic growth must translate into well-being of people on ground. At a session on emerging market outlook at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019 here, Nath also strongly defended his government's farm loan waiver decision, saying the agricultural sector in India and particularly in his state has been in distress. Referring to the latest IMF forecast for the Indian economy, he said, "GDP is a fancy figure and at times it can be misleading as one needs to see where all a 7.5 per cent growth figure translates into." Defending the loan waiver, the senior Congress leader, who also had a long stint in the central government in various ministries, said it was necessary as agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy and he had to take into account the distress the farmers were in. He said the waiver amounts to USD 8 billion, but what it also means is .

Sebi asks exchanges to align trading, delivery lot size for commodity derivatives contracts

Markets regulator Sebi Wednesday asked stock exchanges to follow the policy of having uniform trading and delivery lot size for commodity derivatives contracts. Currently, exchanges keep different trading lot size and delivery lot size of some commodity derivatives contracts which, at times, put participants in disadvantageous positions. In a circular, Sebi said "the exchanges shall follow the policy of having uniform trading and delivery lot size for the commodity derivatives contracts." However, the regulator said that an exception may be provided on case to case basis, subject to the exchanges submitting detailed rationale including physical market practices, feedback from stakeholders for keeping different lot size for trading and delivery with respect to any contract, to Sebi for approval. In such cases exchanges will have to put in place an adequate mechanism to ensure that no participant is put to disadvantageous position and that it does not constitute a barrier to delivery or

Launderette Expands Customer Base - Now Available Across 7 Cities

/ -- Laundry App by Bird Group brings 50+ laundries and dry-cleaners online in addition to laundries at 5 star hotels to make a laundry experience seamless Launderette, a prolific laundry app by Bird Group promises to keep clothing fresh and clean, eliminating the hassle of spending one's weekend on chores. Originally launched with only premium 5-star partners, Launderette now additionally connects customers to standard service providers across a wide price spectrum, with 50+ laundries across 100+ locations to increase the serviceable area. With just a few taps, the Launderette marketplace model ensures individuals seeking laundry and dry-cleaning services, are connected with reputed, pre-screened cleaning experts. Accessible online as well as a downloadable app for iPhone and Android devices, Launderette is designed to offer a seamless experience to busy professionals and those searching for convenient cleaning services for daily wear, delicate & expensive apparel and home ...

Xelpmoc Design and Tech IPO subscribed 45%

Receives bids for 9.28 lakh shares

ANA to start direct flight between Japan and Chennai

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Wednesday announced that it is going to start a direct flight from Japan to Chennai in winter this year. Chennai will become the third city in India to get direct flight by Japan's largest airline after Delhi and Mumbai. The airline stated that it is taking steps to meet growing demands in Asia by expanding its routes and the direct flight to Chennai will mark a decisive move towards Asia-Oceania for ANA as the airline looks to capitalise on a massive growth across the region. The addition of Chennai brings the total number of ANA destinations to 46. ANA General Manager India Yasuo Taki stated: "It is hard to ignore the growth potential of Chennai and when the nearby cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad are factored in, the case for expansion becomes overwhelming. He added: "We look forward to offering service to Chennai in the years to come and hope we can play a part in bringing the best of this dynamic city to the world." While Bangalore and Hyderabad are ...

Davos: Russia says oil price war with U.S. would be too costly

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Russia should not unleash an oil price war against the United States but rather stick with output cuts even at the cost of losing market share in the medium term, one of the main Russian architects of a production pact with OPEC said.

ITC shares drop nearly 5%, m-cap tumbles Rs 14,757 cr post Q3 earnings

Shares of ITC tumbled nearly 5 per cent on Wednesday, erasing Rs 14,757 crore from its market valuation, after the company's December quarter earnings failed to cheer investors. ITC reported a 3.84 per cent increase in standalone net profit to Rs 3,209.07 crore for October-December 2018, compared with Rs 3,090.20 crore in the year-ago period. The scrip fell by 4.16 per cent to end at Rs 277.70 on the BSE. During the day, it plunged 5 per cent to Rs 275. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), shares of the company tumbled 4.74 per cent to close at Rs 276. Led by the decline in the stock, the company's market valuation tumbled Rs 14,757.14 crore to Rs 3,40,096.86 crore on the BSE. The stock was the worst hit among the blue-chips on both the exchanges during the day. In terms of equity volume, 18.55 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE, while over 4 crore shares changed hands at the NSE during the day. ITC's gross revenue from sales rose 15.09 per cent to Rs 11,340.15 crore, .

Teranet signs agreement to open Centre of Development in

: Teranet, a leading provider of registry and workflow solutions for the Canadian Financial Services and Real Estate markets, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kerala IT, to set up a Centre of Development at Technopark here. The 10,000-square-foot, 100-person capacity Centre of Development is expected to be operational in April this year, a press release said. The MoU was signed between Deepak Gupta, Senior Director, Teranet and Hrishikesh Nair, CEO Technopark, in presence of M Sivasankar IAS, IT Secretary. "We are extremely impressed by the highly qualified talent pool and the employee work-life balance that Kerala provides. These were key factors in our decision to set up our development center in Technopark," said Senior Director, Deepak Gupta. "At Teranet, we believe that this agreement is the start of a long-term relationship with Kerala that will grow over time and further strengthen ties between Canada and Kerala." Hrishikesh Nair said ...

Sensex closed at 36,108, down 336 points

Stock markets fell on Wednesday for the second day in a row with S&P BSE Sensex closing at 36,108.47, down 336.17 points or 0.92 per cent.The Nifty 50 closed at 10,822.15, down 91.25 points or 0.84 per cent.Markets turned choppy in afternoon trade after ITC reported Q3 results. Brokers said its profit growth was below market expectations.Losses in ITC alone wiped out over 100 points from the Sensex, making itbiggest drag on the 30-share index. ITC share price plunged to close 4.75 per cent lower.M&M shares lost nearly 2 per cent to Rs 695 and was among the top losers.Elsewhere in Asia, the stocks edged down amid signs of slow global growth and anxiety over US-China trade dispute.Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.7 per cent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1 per cent..

UK 'open for business' despite firms leaving: trade minister

Britain remains a world-leading destination for foreign investment despite Brexit clouds and the departure of a number of companies, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said Wednesday. Interviewed by AFP at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Fox also welcomed a proposal by Poland that could potentially unblock a problem surrounding the Irish border that is holding up a deal on Britain's exit from the European Union. And with the risk looming of Britain crashing out of the EU in March without a deal, Fox said he expected soon to sign several pacts with trading partners outside Europe to try to ensure a seamless transition. He shrugged off news that both Sony and appliance maker Dyson are shifting premises out of Britain, pointing to figures showing Britain has attracted more foreign investment than Germany and France combined since it voted to quit the EU in 2016. "So clearly the UK is open for business and is an attractive destination for foreign direct investment -- and that ...

Sebi slaps Rs 15 lakh fine on 3 entities for fraudulent trade activities

Markets regulator Sebi has imposed a penalty of Rs 15 lakh on three entities for executing fraudulent trades in illiquid stock options segment of BSE. The three entities facing the action are: UB Ventures Pvt Ltd, Pumarth Commodities Ltd and Pumarth Credit & Capital Ltd, according to Sebi orders. After finding large number of reversal trades in the stock options segment, Sebi conducted a probe from April 2014 to September 2015 regarding the trading activities of certain entities. During the examination period, the regulator observed that the three entities bought and sold options contract with same counter parties and also reversed trades in less than a minute at substantial price difference. The trades executed by the entities were ''non-genuine'' in nature and created false appearance of trading thereby leading to artificial volume in stock options segment, the regulator said in three separate orders. The non-genuine and deceptive transactions of these entities were "fraudulent"

ICICI Lombard chooses Arya.ais Deep Learning solution

Artificial Intelligence technology firm Arya.ai, has been chosen by ICICI Lombard to implement its Deep Learning and Neural Networks platform to cut down processing time for health insurance customers needing hospitalisation, the company said Wednesday. Arya.ai provides Artificial Intelligence solutions for the BFSI (Banking, financial services and insurance) industry. The company said through plug and usable deep learning platform, Arya.ai automates most operational processes involved in banking and insurance, cutting down development as well as processing time leading to significantly better response time. "For ICICI Lombard, the end-to-end solution by Arya.ai simplifies complex Claims processes with plug-and-play ease. Using Arya.ais robust Deep Learning techniques to handle large claim processes reduces time taken from many hours to a few seconds," Vinay Kumar Sankararapu, CEO and co-founder of Arya.ai, said. ICICI Lombard is a private sector non-life ...

Davos: Japan's Abe to put trade, climate at centre of G20 agenda

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday he will seek to use his chairmanship of the Group of 20 leading economies to rebuild trust in the global trade system.

IndiGo Q3 profit falls 75% to Rs 191 crore

InterGlobe Aviation, parent of IndiGo, Wednesday reported a 75 per cent fall in profit after tax at Rs 190.9 crore in the December quarter as high fuel prices and currency depreciation adversely impacted the bottomline. The airline had a profit after tax of Rs 762 crore in the corresponding period of 2017-18?. According to a release, the carrier's total income rose over 28 per cent to Rs 8,229.4 crore in the three months ended December 2018. In the year-ago period, the same stood at Rs 6,409 crore. "Profitability was adversely impacted by high fuel prices and currency depreciation," the airline said in a presentation to analysts and institutional investors. IndiGo's co-founder and interim CEO Rahul Bhatia said the airline posted a profit of Rs 1.9 billion in a continued difficult environment and have grown its fleet by one aircraft a week for a 33 per cent capacity increase for the December quarter. "Very few airlines around the world have the operational resilience to absorb such ...

Vodafone Idea to raise Rs 25,000 crore via rights issue

Vodafone and Aditya Birla Group will infuse over Rs 18,000 crore into India's largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd through a rights issue to arm the company with firepower to take on market competition intensified by Reliance Jio. The board of directors of Vodafone Idea Ltd on Wednesday approved Rs 25,000 crore fund-raising plan by way of rights issue to existing eligible equity shareholders, the company said in a regulatory filing. "The board has, considered and approved the offer and issue of fully paid-up and/or partly-paid up equity shares of the company and/or other securities convertible into equity shares of the company, including but not limited to, compulsorily convertible debentures, for an amount aggregating up to Rs 25,000 crore by way of a rights issue...," it said. The promoter shareholders -- Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group -- have reiterated to the board that they intend to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and up to Rs 7,250 crore, respectively as part of ..

Indices drop sharply as pivotals slide

Domestic stocks ended with sharp losses led by slide in index pivotals ITC, HDFC Bank and Infosys. Global cues were mixed. The Nifty ended below 10,900 mark after hovering above that level for most part of the day.

Quick Wrap: Nifty FMCG Index declines 1.69%

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