Page 2081 - Business Finance
Railways take on airlines by offering discounted fares
In a bid to take on airlines, the Indian Railways plan to lure more passengers by revoking the flexi-fare scheme in some trains and offering discounts in others.
Modi to announce more sops for MSME sector
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday launch a 100-day programme to promote micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through several measures including easy access to credit in 100 "aspirational" districts of the country.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank revises MCLR Rates
With effect from 01 November 2018
India jumps 23 ranks in WB's ease of doing business, now at 77
India has climbed 23 places in the World Bank's (WB) latest ease of doing business rankings in a near repeat of its performance last year and now stands at 77 among 190 countries assessed by the multilateral lender.
PNB Housing Finance raises Rs 2,450 cr
PNB Housing Finance said Wednesday it has raised Rs 2,450 crore through commercial papers (CP) amidst reports of tight liquidity situation in the market. This is in addition to Rs 1,775 crore raised earlier in October totalling to Rs 4,225 crore of CPs raised in October 2018, the mortgage firm said in a statement. The CPs were placed with various mutual funds and banks even as liquidity is tight in the system. This will boost the overall sentiments in the sector as such deals will help build the momentum and strengthen investor confidence, it said. The company has always maintained close connect, strong relationship and transparency with investors and these transactions reflect the comfort they enjoy. "This fund raising shall not increase our overall exposure to CPs and we would continue to maintain our overall borrowing through CPs at around 12-13 per cent compared to 19 per cent as of March 31, 2018.
Birthday blues for bitcoin as investors face year-on-year loss
LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin was heading towards a year-on-year loss on Wednesday, its 10th birthday, the first loss since last year's bull market, when the original and biggest digital coin muscled its way to worldwide attention with months of frenzied buying.
Private payrolls rise in October; wages surge in third quarter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. private sector payrolls increased by the most in eight months in October, suggesting overall job growth accelerated this month after Hurricane Florence weighed on restaurant and retail employment in September.
Tata Motors' JLR posts loss as sales fall 13.2 per cent
Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Wednesday posted a pre-tax loss of 90 million pounds as the sales of the luxury car brands declined 13.2 per cent year-on-year, primarily because of the challenging market conditions in China. The company reported revenues of 5.6 billion pounds and a pre-tax loss of 90 million pounds, mainly reflecting lower sales. Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (EBITDA) were 511 million pounds, equivalent to a margin of 9.1 per cent. Retail sales declined 13.2 per cent year-on-year, to 129,887 vehicles, for the financial quarter ending September 30, according to the financial results posted by the Tata Group company. JLR said that the fall in sales primarily reflected challenging market conditions in China, where demand was adversely impacted by consumer uncertainty following import duty changes and escalating trade tensions with the US. Ongoing uncertainty over the future of diesel vehicles in Europe and around Brexit negotiations also ...
CII suggests measures for reviving financial sector
Industry body CII Wednesday suggested a host of measures for the revival of the stressed financial sector to prevent any adverse impact on India's growth story. The financial sector is going through a phase of stress, which needs interventions in appropriate measure to ensure that the sector continues to play the financing role that it has been for the India growth story to remain uninhibited, CII said in a statement. The industry chamber suggested that the Reserve Bank must encourage NBFCs to securitise their assets which can be purchased by banks. It further said considering the inherent risk profile of NBFCs and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs), current investment norms are increasing the risk exposure of mutual funds. Therefore, CII has recommendation that the RBI and SEBI should come out with a road-map to reduce the exposure of mutual funds to NBFCs and HFCs from 40 per cent to 25 per cent in graded tranches. It also pointed out that NBFCs and HFCs are suffering from ...
India's September core industrial output eases to 4.3%
The output of India's eight major industries slowed in September to 4.3 per cent, official data showed on Wednesday.
Axis Sec launches commodity derivatives trading on NCDEX
Axis Securities, the broking arm of Axis Bank, Wednesday said it has launched trading in commodity derivatives with the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX). The firm in August had launched trading in commodity derivatives with the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), and become the first bank led broking entity to take membership of a commodity exchange. All existing and new clients of Axis Direct can now trade in agriculture commodity contracts like soyabean/soya oil, castorseed, chana, jeera, guarseed, kapas, etc, including the non agri commodities, it said in a release. Arun Thukral, managing director and chief executive officer, Axis Securities, said the firm intends to run investor awareness campaigns across all major agri hubs in the coming months to build awareness about hedging products at a grassroot level. As an introductory offer, Axis Direct is providing lower brokerages where customer will be charged only 0.03 per cent for futures trades, which ..
IT stocks gain upto 9% as rupee slumps
Shares of IT companies surged up to 9 per cent Wednesday as the rupee depreciated, a trend which is largely seen as positive for the sector. The scrip of Tech Mahindra soared 8.85 per cent, HCL Infosystems zoomed 7.03 per cent, HCL Tech rose by 4.60 per cent, Infosys 4.02 per cent, Hexaware Technologies 2.94 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services 2.23 per cent and Wipro 0.99 per cent on the BSE. Led by the gain in these stocks, the BSE Information Technology index ended 3.53 per cent higher at 14,531.60. Shares of Tech Mahindra Wednesday also surged after the IT firm said its consolidated net profit increased 27.2 per cent for the second quarter ended September. Big IT companies earn a major chunk of their revenues from their US clients. Large IT companies benefit from a weak rupee against the dollar as it positively impacts their profit margins. The rupee depreciated by 27 paise to close at nearly three-week low of 73.95 against the US dollar Wednesday as the US currency strengthened ...
India jumps 23 notches to 77th rank on World Bank's 'ease of doing biz' ranking
India has jumped 23 places to the 77th position in the World Bank's 'ease of doing business' ranking released Wednesday, a development that could help the country attract more foreign investments. India was ranked 100th in the World Bank's Doing Business Report last year. The ranking comes as a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government which faces strong dissenting voices from opposition parties ahead of the general elections next year. In its annual report 'Doing Business' 2019 report, World Bank said India improved on six of the 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country. These parameters include ease of starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. India was ranked at the 142nd position among 190 nations when the Modi government came to power in 2014. It rose to 100th spot in the last ranking from the 131st rank in the previous year. New
India one of World Bank's top reformers: Officials
India, which jumped more than 50 spots in the ease of doing business ranking in just two years, has emerged as one of the top reformers, World Bank officials said Wednesday, but cautioned that entering the top 50 bracket is tough as the next set of reforms is difficult. In the coming years, India could very well improve its ranking further given that the impact of some of the ongoing reforms has not been fully realised or captured yet, they said. At the same time, they cautioned that entering the top 50 bracket a goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 is a tough nut to crack, even though at this point of time, it no longer seems to be impossible for India. "India is one of our top reformers, one of our top 10 performers. It was also on the top 10 list last year.. two years in a row, which is sometimes very difficult to do," Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank's Senior Director for Development Economics and Acting Chief Economist, told PTI in an interview. "Being one of the ...
Tata Motors posts Q2 loss of Rs. 1,048 crore; indicates at poor Jaguar Land Rover performance
Tata Motors on Wednesday reported a consolidated loss worth Rs. 1,048 crore for its quarter ending September 2018.Impacted largely by the disappointing performance of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the company reported its profit for September quarter 2017, at Rs. 2,483 crore."The Tata Motors domestic business continued to deliver strong improvement in operational and financial performance by implementing the Turnaround 2.0 strategy effectively. We have improved our market shares whilst delivering robust improvement in profitability in both the Commercial Vehicles and Passenger Vehicles and generated positive Free Cash flows," said Chairman N Chandrasekaran.He added that the strong performance in the face of an intensely competitive market situation augurs well for the future."In JLR, market conditions, particularly in China, have deteriorated further. To weather this volatile external scenario, we have launched a comprehensive turnaround plan to significantly improve our free cash flows ...
HMSI CB Shine crosses 70 lakh cumulative sales milestone
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) Wednesday said its 125 cc motorcycle brand - CB Shine has crossed 70 lakh cumulative sales milestone. With its Shine series, HMSI is the leader in the 125cc motorcycle segment with 51 per cent market share. "Achieving this milestone ahead of Diwali is a great encouragement for us and we are all prepared to fulfil the ever growing expectations of our customers this festival," HMSI Senior Vice President - Sales & Marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria said in a statement. The bike comes with a 124.73 cc air-cooled, single-cylinder engine boosted by Honda Eco Technology (HET).
GM sees strong full year, profit races past expectations
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co on Wednesday posted far higher-than-expected quarterly profit and said its full-year earnings would come in at the high end of its forecast due to strong demand in North America, driven by its new pick-up trucks.
United Spirits second-quarter profit soars 69 percent
(Reuters) - Indian liquor company United Spirits Ltd reported a rise of 69 percent in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, boosted by robust growth in its premium portfolio.
GSK beats third-quarter forecasts on strong Shingrix sales, nudges up guidance
LONDON (Reuters) - Strong demand for a new shingles vaccine Shingrix helped pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline to post a better-than-expected 14 percent rise in third-quarter earnings and to nudge its outlook higher.
Government says RBI independence 'essential' as row unnerves markets
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - The government affirmed its belief in central bank autonomy on Wednesday, calling it "essential" in a bid to calm investors worried by a heated public row with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).