Page 2078 - Business Finance
KFC reports 25% Q3 growth in India
US-based quick service restaurant chain Yum Brands Inc on Wednesday said the Indian operation of its KFC division has reported a growth of 25 per cent in system sales for the third quarter ended September 30. According to the company, this is ninth consecutive quarter of positive system sales growth for KFC India. Meanwhile, Pizza Hut reported 20 per system sales growth in India. Commenting on the result, KFC India Managing Director Samir Menon said:"This sales growth is on the back of real growth with more customers experiencing our brand and our food, whether in one of our restaurants or through delivery". He further said that the company remain confident on sustaining this momentum and building a path for long-term growth in the region. Both in - KFC and Pizza Hut - India contributed around one per cent of the total system sales. For KFC, China was lead contributor with 27 per cent followed by the US with 18 per cent. System sales is a terminology used in franchising industry to ...
India leaps 23 places on World Bank's ease of doing business ranking
India leaped 23 places to the 77th position on the World Bank's 'ease of doing business' ranking as GST, insolvency framework and tax reforms made the country more investor-friendly. Buoyed by the improvement, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the country can break into the top 50 if it made it easier to start a business and improved on contract enforcement. India was ranked 142nd among 190 nations when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. At that time, the country was battling perceptions of excess red-tape and policy paralysis. Four years of reform pushed up India's rank to 100th in World Bank's 'Doing Business' 2018 report. It was 130th in 2017 when it was ranked lower than Iran and Uganda. In its annual 'Doing Business' 2019 report, the World Bank said India improved its rank on six out of the 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country. Grant of a construction permit, trading across the borders, starting a business, getting credit, getting ...
United Bank to raise up to Rs 3,000 cr by issuing shares on preferential basis
State-owned United Bank of India Wednesday said it plans to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore by issuing shares on preferential basis. "The board of directors of the bank... has approved raising of equity capital, in one or more tranches, for an amount not exceeding Rs 3,000 crore by way of preferential allotment of equity shares," it said in a regulatory filing. Stock of the bank closed 3.31 per cent up at Rs 11.23 on BSE.
Castrol India Jul-Sep net profit falls 15 pc to Rs 150 cr
Castrol India Wednesday said its net profit fell over 15 per cent to 150.4 crore during the quarter ended September 30. The company had clocked net profit of Rs 178.2 crore during the same period a year ago, it said in regulatory filing. During the said quarter, its total revenue was at Rs 945.5 crore, higher from Rs 894.7 crore in July-September of 2017-18. In a separate statement, the company said that "apart from the input cost increase, profit after tax at Rs 150 crore was also adversely impacted by lower other income from a one-off property sale during the same quarter in the previous year". Orner Dormen, Managing Director, Castrol lndia Limited said "Our focus on strategy is delivering profitable volume growth ahead of the market across segments, setting us up for higher growth in future". He further said that operations are running well with strong focus on investment in brands, capability, distribution expansion and advocacy. Cost and working capital continue to be managed ...
U.S. Federal Reserve unveils proposal to ease regulations for larger banks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled a proposal on Wednesday that would ease regulations for banks with less than $700 billion in assets, as the central bank looks to tailor rules in line with banks' risk profiles.
Info Edge posts marginal decline in net profit at Rs 78 cr in Sep qtr
Info Edge, which runs online job portal Naukri.com, has reported marginal decline in standalone net profit to Rs 78.08 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. It had posted a net profit of Rs 78.55 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal, it said in a BSE filing. The company's revenue from operations stood at Rs 265 crore in the quarter under review, up 17.7 per cent from Rs 225.2 crore in the July-September 2017 quarter. The Board of Directors have declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.5 per equity share. Info Edge recorded billing of Rs 260.7 crore for the September 2018 quarter compared to Rs 202.5 crore in the year-ago period, up by 28.7 per cent. The deferred sales revenue (amount collected in advance) as on September 30, 2018 was at Rs 414.6 crore, up by 23.8 per cent over corresponding quarter of 2017-18. "Overall robust performance in Q2 FY19 with billings up by 28.7 per cent on year-on-year basis, led by Recruitment business up by 25.8 per cent and ...
Alcobrew to celebrate good life with new campaign on 'Golfer's Shot'
Alcobrew Distilleries India Pvt. Ltd., one of India's promising liquor manufacturers, announced the launch of their brand new campaign for their brand 'Golfer's Shot' Whisky - one of the leading brands in premium whisky business in India.The leading company is home to several brands of repute, including White & Blue Whisky, Old Smuggler Scotch and Rum.Targetting young and affluent consumers across India, the campaign will be built around the idea of 'Taste the Good Life'. The idea has been developed on the basis of extensive consumer research conducted by the brand. The research identified lifestyle and camaraderie as key drivers for consumption in this whisky segment and Golf emerged as a key lifestyle sport.Celebrating the 'Good Life', Romesh Pandita, Chairman and Managing Director, Alcobrew Distilleries India Pvt. Ltd. said, "The idea of 'Taste the Good Life' is at the very heart of our brand. This new campaign aims to create a bigger canvas for Golfer's Shot and a pool of our .
India jumps 23 notches, ranked 77th in Ease of Doing Business
India has recorded a jump of 23 positions against its rank of 100 in 2017 to be placed now at 77th rank among 190 countries as per the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' report.India's leap of 23 ranks in the Ease of Doing Business ranking is significant considering that India had improved its rank by 30 places last year, a rare feat for any large and diverse country of the size of India. India has improved its rank by 53 positions in the last two years and 65 positions in the last four years.The Doing Business assessment provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies on ten parameters affecting a business through its life cycle. The report ranks countries on the basis of Distance to Frontier (DTF), a score that shows the gap of an economy to the global best practice. This year, India's DTF score improved to 67.23 from 60.76 in the previous year.Launched in 2003 by the World Bank, the 'Ease of Doing Business' report is an independent .
GSK feels shingles vaccine boost, but shares slip on drugs mix
LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline's third-quarter earnings were lifted by demand for its new shingles vaccine on Wednesday, but the British drugs firm's shares slipped despite an improved outlook as analysts focussed on some drugs missing forecasts.
Tata Sons, TCS violated rules in sacking Mistry, says RTI
The dramatic sacking of Cyrus Mistry as chairman and director of Tata Sons and TCS violated provisions of Companies Act, RBI rules and more importantly, Tatas' own articles of association, RoC, Mumbai said in an RTI reply, a charge that the Tatas have vehemently denied. Citing the NCLT order of August, which dismissed Mistry's petition challenging his removal, Tata Sons said all the requisite processes under the Companies Act were followed in removing Mistry as the group chairman and also from the board of group crown jewel Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). "The respective board of directors acted as per the provision of the Companies Act as well as in compliance of the articles of association of the company. This was subsequently approved by both the shareholders of Tata Sons and TCS the NCLT has also confirmed that the process followed for removal of Mistry was valid and accordance with law," a Tata Sons spokesman told PTI. The statement further said, "All requisite ...
Jagran Prakashan Q2 net profit declines 37.8% to Rs 44.87 crore
Jagran Prakashan Ltd (JPL), the publisher of leading Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, today reported a 37.87 per cent decline in its consolidated profit after tax to Rs 44.87 crore for the second quarter ended on September 2018. The company had posted a profit after tax of Rs 72.23 crore during the July-September quarter a year ago, Jagran Prakashan said in a BSE filing. Total income during the quarter under review was at Rs 560.56 crore, down 3.19 per cent, as against Rs 579.08 crore of the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Commenting on the result, JPL Chairman and Managing Director M M Gupta said, "The quarter unexpectedly delivered disappointing results in spite of our best efforts such as taking the increase in cover prices wherever possible and keeping the cost under check." He further said, "We could mitigate some impact of steep fall in revenues and abnormal increase in newsprint prices but these efforts were not enough to maintain revenues and profits. However, Radio, ..
Lower oil and natural gas production decelerate September core factory output
The output of India's eight major industries slowed in September to 4.3 per cent, official data showed on Wednesday.
Heritage Foods Q2 net up 183% to Rs 20.98 cr
Private dairy firm Heritage Foods Wednesday reported a 183 per cent year-on-year jump in net profit at Rs 20.98 crore in the September quarter. It had posted a profit of Rs 7.41 crore in the same period last year. The company's revenues from operations rose marginally to Rs 619.37 crore during the quarter, compared with Rs 616.08 crore in the year-ago period, a company statement said. Its EBITDA grew by 120.2 per cent to Rs 50.32 crore, against Rs 22.85 crore in the same quarter last year. The EBITDA margin improved by 442 basis points to 8.1 per cent, against 3.7 per cent last year. Brahmani Nara, executive director, Heritage Foods, said, the firm posted noticeable growth in its profitability during the quarter led by improvement in margins. "We are expecting pick-up in demand for our dairy products in the second half of this year. Our focus is on increasing our market shares in our key business segments and we believe that our strong competitive advantage would help us
TI Financial Holdings 2qtr standalone net up 11.6%
: TI Financial Holdings Ltd, formerly Tube Investments of India, has recorded a 11.6 per cent rise in its standalone net profits for the quarter ending September 30, 2018 at Rs 27.79 crore. The city-based Murugappa Group company had recorded standalone net profits at Rs 24.88 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. For the six month period ending September 30, 2018 standalone net profits grew to Rs 30.22 crore from Rs 24.54 crore registered year ago, TI Financial Holdings said in a BSE filing on Wednesday. Total income for the July-September quarter rose to Rs 29.53 crore from Rs 26.26 crore registered year ago. For the half year period ending September 30, 2018 total income increased to Rs 33.42 crore from Rs 26.26 crore registered during the same period of the last fiscal. Shares of TI Financial Holdings ended at Rs 488.10 apiece, up by 1.22 per cent over the previous close in BSE.
Railways scraps flexi-fare in some trains, reduces fares in others
In a relief for passengers, the railways has scrapped flexi-fare in 15 premium trains in which the occupancy is less than 50 per cent throughout the year, while the scheme will be discontinued in 32 other trains during lean periods when occupancy dips to 50-75 per cent. The step comes in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in July that had flagged the dipping occupancy level since the scheme was introduced in September 2016 and had recommended rationalisation of flexi-fare. Sources in the railways also said that while the national transporter will incur losses of around Rs 103 crore due the changes brought into the scheme, it hopes to recover not just the losses but also generate additional revenue by increasing occupancy through the reduced fares. The sources said that a 15-per cent jump in occupancy of the 15 trains in which flexi-fare is being scrapped will compensate for an estimated loss of around Rs 22.41 crore because of the changes. An increase of 30 ..
L&T Q2 net up 28% to Rs 2,593 cr on strong order inflows
Infrastructure giant Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Wednesday reported a 28.36 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,593.41 crore for the quarter ended September on strong order inflows. It had posted a profit of Rs 2,020.30 crore in the year-ago quarter. The company's revenue rose by 21 per cent to Rs 32,081 crore in the quarter under review. L&T chief financial officer and whole-time director R Shankar Raman told reporters here that the company is hopeful of to get majority orders from the public sector, however, is cautious on private sector investments in view of increased economic volatility. The company retained its forecast of 12-15 per cent increase in revenue and 10-12 per cent increase in order inflows in the current financial year. "We're likely to meet our forecast as the government spending on infrastructure will increase ahead of the general elections," Raman said, adding, "We are confident internally and don't see any reason to ...
Sebi fines Geodesic's chairman, 2 directors Rs 14 lakh for disclosure lapses
Markets regulator Sebi Wednesday imposed a total fine of Rs 14 lakh on the chairman and two directors of Geodesic Ltd for disclosure lapses over the purchase of the company's shares. In a three separate orders, the regulator fined chairman, Pankaj Kumar and managing director Kiran Kulkarni Rs 6 lakh each, while Rs 2 lakh was imposed on director Prashant Mulekar for violating PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) regulations. With regard to Pankaj and Kiran, Sebi observed during the investigation that Pankaj and Kiran bought 8.75 lakh shares and 6.9 lakh shares of the company, respectively, while Pankaj sold 7,000 shares, Kiran dispose of 5,000 shares in 2011. The entities made delayed disclosure regarding the transactions to the company and the exchanges, and besides, being chairman and managing director of the firm, they entered into opposite transactions (buying and selling) within six months, thereby violated PIT norms, Sebi said. In the case of Prashant Mulekar, the director made ..
Nothing new in govt, RBI conflict
The Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank on several occasions in the past have witnessed divergence of views on key issues concerning interest rate, liquidity and management of the banking sector, but truce largely prevailed in the end. However, this time the conflict seems to have reached a flash point with reports of the government initiating consultations with the RBI under Section 7 of the RBI Act, which has never been invoked in the past. Although the Finance Ministry issued a statement to stress on the autonomy of the Reserve Bank, it remained silent on whether it invoked the powers provided under Section 7, which allows the government to issue directions to the RBI in public interest. The conflict between the Finance Ministry and the RBI headed by Urjit Patel is over several issues, including relief to the power sector reeling under financial stress, handling of weak public sectors banks, addressing liquidity problems faced by the NBFC sector, and a proposal to set up a ...
Beyond coffee: Illy looks to wine and chocolate for stronger aroma
MILAN (Reuters) - Riccardo Illy, whose family owns one of Italy's most renowned coffee brands, would rather discuss the finer points of tea and cellared wine these days than the perfect espresso.
Led by China, JLR continues to spook Tata Motors;group reports
For the second consecutive quarter, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), due to an "unprecedented" plunge in china volumes, continued to roil the finances of Tata Motors, which Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 1,009 crore for the September quarter. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 2,501.7 crore in the year-ago period. Total revenue from operations, however, rose 3.3 per cent to Rs 72,112.08 crore, thanks to the robust show by the domestic business and despite an 11 per cent decline in JLR revenue to 5.6 billion pounds, Tata Motors said. On a sequential basis, the net loss has been narrowed from Rs 1,902.4 crore in the June quarter, which again was led by JLR, which since its turnaround from 2010 has been keeping the group afloat. The hugely underwhelming set of numbers, driven by an all-round poor show by JLR, its till-recently its cash-cow and the profit centre, has forced the company to announce massive cost savings to the tune of 2.5 billion pounds over the next 18