Page 1760 - Business Finance
U.S. existing home sales edge up; market still soft
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. home sales rose slightly in October and snapped a six-month streak of drops but ongoing weakness in the housing market led a national realtors association to ask the Federal Reserve to take a break from interest rate hikes.
EU Commission clears Greek budget, but sees need for speedy reform
ATHENS (Reuters) - The European Union's executive gave the thumbs-up to Greece's first post-bailout budget on Wednesday, but said the country had to speed up reforms to qualify for any future disbursements under debt relief measures.
State Bank of Mauritius appoints Sidharth Rath as MD of India operation
State Bank of Mauritius, which has received a licence as a scheduled commercial bank in India, said Wednesday that it has appointed Sidharth Rath as managing director. SBM Bank is the first foreign bank to set up a Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS), to provide universal banking service with a focus on Wholesale Banking, Trade Finance, Capital Market and Retail Banking, the bank said in a statement. Following the approval, the SBM Bank (India) Limited will start operation as scheduled commercial bank under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 with effect from December 1, 2018, it said. The statement said that Rath has taken over as the MD & CEO of SBM Bank (India) Limited pursuant to the approval received from the Reserve Bank of India. Prior to this assignment, he was with Axis Bank as the Group Executive and Head, of Corporate, Transaction Banking and International Banking. SBM Bank is backed by SBM Group, diversified financial services provider with a strong base in Mauritius, Eastern .
Dubai's restaurant chain Doner and Gyros to invest Rs 200 cr in India
Dubai-based quick service restaurant chain Doner and Gyros will invest Rs 200 crore over the next five years for expansion in India, a senior official said Wednesday. "A total of Rs 200 crore will be invested over the next five years for expansion in India," said Preteek Sachdev, chief executive officer-director of 4TPS Food Pvt Ltd, India's franchise of Doner and Gyros, after opening its door in Punjab. The brand is entering into a partnership with FranGlobal, the overseas arm of franchise solutions company Franchise India Holdings Ltd, and is looking to open 150-200 stores in India over the next five years, he said. Launched in 2014, Doner and Gyros is currently has 22 outlets in UAE, Lebanon, the UK and Saudi Arabia, he said. "We have already expanded to 21 locations in less than five years. By this year end, Doner and Gyros will be up and running at 30 locations," he said adding that the brand will be entering North America, Canada and Los Angeles, apart from India.
Demonstrators demand adequate coal supply to Odisha industries
A large number of people from western Odisha staged a demonstration in front of the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) headquarters here Wednesday demanding adequate supply of coal to industries within the state. People belonging to different spheres of life from places like Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Sambalpur gathered outside MCL headquarters under the banner of "Bisthapit Sachetan Samiti" (BSS) to press their demand. The demonstrators, led by Congress leader and MLA from Jharsuguda, Naba Kishore Das, who is also Convener of the Samiti, and senior Congress leader, Jagannath Pattnaik also submitted a memorandum to the Union Coal Minister through CMD of MCL, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra. Das said coal produced in Odisha should be utilised in the state first and requirement of local industries which are the backbone of socio-economic development must be met. The memorandum emphasised the need to increase MCL's production to bridge the demand-supply gap and urgent measures to be ...
JSPL supplies 35,000 tonnes rails to Indian Railways till Oct
Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) supplied 35,000 tonnes of rails to the Indian Railways during July to October, a company official said Wednesday. In July, the company had bagged 20 per cent of Rs 2,500-crore global rail tender floated by the railways, becoming the first private player to supply rails to the national transporter. The order is to supply around 1 lakh tonnes of rails over a period of one year. "As on October 31, 2018, we have supplied 35,000 tonnes or 35 per cent of the order after RDSO (Research Design and Standards Organisation) approval. It's only three months and we have supplied more than one-third of the order," N A Ansari, CEO, JSPL Steel Business, said. The railways had invited the global tender for procuring around 4.87 lakh tonnes of rails to meet the supply shortfall from state-run SAIL. In the tender invited earlier this year, seven foreign steel companies and JSPL from India had submitted bids. Till now, the national transporter was procuring rails from ...
Digital lending to MSMEs to grow up to $100bn annually in 5yrs
Even as fears are expressed about credit flow to small businesses in the immediate term, a study Wednesday pegged digital lending to the MSME sector to grow 15 times to up to USD 100 billion annually in five years. This will be possible largely on the back of a reliance on informal sources of funding, the study by impact investing firm Omdiyar Network and consultancy firm BCG said. "As of 2018, most of the credit demand for USD 600 billion is being met through informal sources...India stands on the cusp of a watershed moment and can serve as a case study for other nations to elevate the role of MSMEs in the economy," Omdiyar's partner and managing director for India, Roopa Kudva, said. The study comes even as there are concerns with regard to flow of credit to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector as the non-bank finance companies, which have upped their play in such loans, face troubles. There are also concerns on the continuing impact of demonetisation .
Bangladesh clothing factories face squeeze if safety push blocked
BERLIN/DHAKA (Reuters) - A group set up to improve safety in Bangladesh's garment industry after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 is warning global fashion firms that they will have to stop sourcing from some factories if the watchdog is forced to close next week.
Oil bounces above $63 after slide, but glut worries persist
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil bounced above $63 a barrel on Wednesday to claw back some of the previous day's 6 percent plunge, lifted by a report of an unexpected decline in U.S. crude inventories.
WhatsApp appoints Ezetap Co-founder Abhijit Bose as India head
Under pressure from the government to build a separate corporate entity in the country, instant messaging service WhatsApp on Wednesday named Ezetap Co-founder Abhijit Bose as its India head.
Ikea's main operator goes local; to create net 4,000 jobs
Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea said the biggest retailer within its franchise system is to create a net 4,000 jobs over the coming two years as it expands its online presence and opens new shops in city centers to complement its trademark larger stores in the suburbs. Ikea said the cutbacks at Ingka Group will allow it to focus "on its e-commerce platform, to better meet the needs of its customers and be more convenient and affordable to many more people." Ingka is to open stores in 30 major city centres to diversify its reach, which it said will eventually create 11,500 jobs over the coming two years. However, it said 7,500 people will be made redundant during the transformation. Ingka currently operates 367 Ikea stores in 30 countries and employs 160,000 of Ikea's total workforce of 208,000. "We recognise that the retail landscape is transforming at a scale and pace we've never seen before," said Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, the largest individual retailer within the Ikea
CM for corpn between Jharkhand, railways to speed up work
The Jharkhand government and the railways should form a corporation to speed up railway-related works in the state as has been done in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Raghubar Das said on Wednesday. Das directed the officials at a meeting to expedite the work of the state's various railway projects. "On the lines of Maharashtra, a corporation should be formed between the state government and the railways. Railway related works should be done through this corporation. This will speed up the work and the project will be completed on time," an official release said quoting Das. The Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Limited, a joint-venture of the Government of Maharashtra and Indian Railways has been incorporated in 2017 for development of rail infrastructure for critical connectivity and capacity enhancement in and around Maharashtra. Das instructed officials to send a report to Railway Board so that Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and Lokmanya Tilak Terminal ...
Wall Street set to open higher as tech shares recover
(Reuters) - Wall Street was set to claw back some of the losses from a brutal two-day selloff on Wednesday as Apple Inc and other major technology stocks regained a foothold and oil prices steadied.
BMW to offer ride hailing services in China from December
BEIJING (Reuters) - Germany's BMW plans to launch ride-hailing services in China in December, the first global automaker to obtain such a licence in the fast-growing market.
Mobile component makers to invest up to USD 2 billion by March
Investments from mobile phone component makers are likely to reach up to USD 2 billion by March 2019, ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said Wednesday. He also said that the unique number of factories in the segment have more than doubled to 268 in the current financial year. The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said that the industry has vision to increase the total number of mobile phone segment factories to 1,800 and generate 50 lakh jobs by 2025. "By the end of March, we expect cumulative investments from mobile component makers, PCB (motherboard) assembly, etc, for this fiscal will be in the range of USD 1.5-2 billion (Rs 10,500-14,000 crore)," Mohindroo said. According to the ICEA, employment in the segment has increased to 6.7 lakh till date, from 4.5 lakh in 2017-18. Data shared by the ICEA showed mobile handset makers in the country have increased to 127 from 59, mobile phone battery units are up by over three-fold to 65 from 20, and mobile charger units over ...
Were you a remote-controlled PM: BJP on Manmohan Singh
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday asked if former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a remote-controlled Prime Minster as India was financially weak during his two subsequent terms despite he being a reputed economist.Addressing a press conference here, Vijayvargiya said, "When former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was first elected, he was a reputed economist, everyone expected India to become financially stable and grow in terms of the economy. But maybe he was unable to do as he wanted.""When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath on May 26, 2014, India was among the fragile five economies of the world. So I want to ask him (Manmohan), why India slipped down to such lows during his 10-year term when he was leading the country as an economist from the Prime Minister's office?" Vijayvargiya added.He further noted that the country's economic situation was radically different during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure and after Prime ...
U.S. core capital goods orders flat; jobless claims rise
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods were unexpectedly unchanged in October and shipments rebounded modestly, which could temper expectations of an acceleration in business spending on equipment early in the fourth quarter.
Kakinada Gateway Port inks concession agreement to develop commercial port
Kakinada Gateway Port (KGPL), an arm of Kakinada SEZ, has entered into concession agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government for development of a greenfield commercial port at Kona village in East Godavari district. The proposed port will be built on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis, GMR Infrastructure said in a BSE filing Wednesday. Kakinada SEZ (KSEZ) is promoted by GMR Infrastructure limited. The port will be developed in an area of approximately 1,811 acres owned by KSEZ. In the medium term of one to three years, the port is expected to generate an employment of 3,000 people and investment of Rs 2,123 crore, the filing said. The Kakinada SEZ industrial park -- strategically located on the Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor -- offers approximately 8,521 acres of industrial land and greenfield commercial port spread in 1,811 acres. Given the advantages of abundant water, surplus power, assured gas supply by Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation and ..
Quikr revenue soars 95% to Rs 173 cr in FY18
Online classifieds platform Quikr Wednesday said its consolidated revenue from operations grew by 95 per cent to Rs 173.49 crore in FY2017-18. Quikr continued its growth momentum in the first two quarters of the current fiscal and expects to double its revenue at about Rs 350 crore with annualised run rate for the fourth quarter being in the Rs 500 crore range, the company said in a statement. "By verticalising our business and offering consumers completed transactions in these large categories, we've unlocked the true potential of our platform," Quikr founder and CEO Pranay Chulet said. Quikr's strategy of operating online-to-offline transactional models on top of its large classifieds base has been performing exceedingly well, the statement said. The company delivers end-to-end transactions for its customers in multiple areas in its verticals, including co-living, cars and bikes, electronics and furniture, beauty, and home services, it added. "...this 95 per cent revenue growth has .
IT stocks continue to fall, down up to 3.5%
Stocks of IT firms were the worst hit on Wednesday, falling up to 3.5 per cent amid the rupee appreciating against the dollar in the past few days. Shares of TCS declined 3.51 per cent, Infosys 3.14 per cent and Wipro 2.38 per cent on the BSE. Among others, HCL Technologies dropped 2.63 per cent, Tech Mahindra 2.59 per cent and Hexaware Technologies 1.43 per cent. Led by losses in these stocks, the BSE Information Technology index ended 2.92 per cent lower at 13,457.03. Money and forex markets are closed Wednesday for 'Eid-e-Milad'. Shares of IT companies fell by up to 3 per cent Tuesday on a stronger rupee. Weak rupee is largely seen as positive for export-focussed sectors such as the Indian IT space.