Page 2594 - Business Finance

Cong appeals party workers to ensure violence-free Bharat bandh on Monday

The opposition Congress, which has called for a nation-wide shut down on Monday over rising fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee, has appealed party workers to maintain peace and not to associate with any violent protests. It said 21 opposition parties are supporting the Bharat bandh, besides a number of chambers of commerce and traders' associations. The party demanded that petrol and diesel should be brought under GST, by which oil prices could drop by about Rs 15 to Rs 18. "I appeal all Congress workers to make the bandh violence-free. We are Mahatma Gandhi's party and we should not associate ourselves with any violence," Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said at a media briefing. Petrol and diesel prices set new records Sunday. According to the price notification issued by state fuel retailers, petrol price was raised by 12 paise a litre and diesel by ?10 paise per litre on Sunday. Holding the BJP government responsible for the rise in petrol and diesel prices, Maken alleged ..

ICRA downgrades loan, debenture rating of IL&FS to 'default risk'

Rating agency ICRA Sunday downgraded loan and debentures of infrastructure financing firm IL&FS to 'default risk' citing liquidity pressure on the group on the back of sizeable repayment obligations. The ratings of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), which has reportedly defaulted on payment, is kept under "under rating watch with developing implications. The long-term rating of IL&FS' Rs 5,225 crore non-convertible debenture programme and the Rs 350 crore term loans has been cut to 'BB' from 'AA+'. Also the short-term rating for the Rs 2,500 crore commercial paper programme of IL&FS has been lowered to 'A4' from 'A1+'. Instruments with 'BB' rating are considered to have moderate risk of default regarding timely servicing of financial obligations. 'A4' rating implies high credit risk and are susceptible to default. "The liquidity profile of the IL&FS Group is currently stretched given the sizeable repayment obligations at group level in

Port of Colombo ranked world's top container growth port

Sri Lanka's Port of Colombo was ranked the world's top port with the highest container growth in the first half of 2018, Sri Lanka's Ports and Shipping Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Alibaba's Jack Ma not retiring for now: Report

Ali Baba co-founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma is not retiring for now and will unveil a succession strategy on Monday when he turns 54, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

Alibaba's Jack Ma to announce succession plan, not retirement

Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Holding's co-founder and executive chairman is set to announce a succession plan on Monday on his 54th birthday and said that he would not retire immediately, the South China Morning Post reported.

Petrol, Diesel may soon become cheaper in Punjab, Karnataka"

Petrol and diesel may soon become cheaper in Punjab and Karnataka, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Rajni Patil said here Sunday. Responding to a question, Patil said the chief ministers of Congress ruled Punjab and Karnataka have already been directed to reduce value added tax (VAT) on petroleum products. Patil, accompanied by Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Mukesh Agnihotri, said 2 per cent VAT on petroleum products had been reduced in Himachal Pradesh during the previous Virbhadra Singh led Congress government. On Monday's proposed Bharat Bandh against skyrocketing prices of petroleum products, she said it would be observed peacefully in Himachal Pradesh too. She said the prices of essential commodities have risen steeply during the Modi government period. Patil said though the crude oil prices was higher during previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ...

NSE issues notices to Gitanjali Gems, 35 others for not submitting June quarter results: CDSL

Leading exchange NSE has issued notices to 36 firms, including banking fraud accused Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems and debt-laden ABG Shipyard, for not submitting their financial results for the June 2018 quarter within the prescribed time limit, the Central Depository Services (India) Ltd has said. The firms also include Kwality Ltd, Unitech, Amtek Auto, Electrosteel Steels, Moser-Baer (I) Ltd, SRS, JVL Agro Industries, Bharati Defence and Infrastructure and Shilpi Cable Technologies. Atlas Cycles (Haryana) Ltd, Surana Corporation, Todays Writing Instruments, Educomp Solutions, Orchid Pharma, Easun Reyrolle, Supreme Infrastructure India, Panoramic Universal, Diamond Power Infra and National Steel and Agro Industries are also among the 36 companies. In a notice, the CDSL informed investors that the 36 firms have not submitted financial results as per Regulation 33 of LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) norms, within prescribed time limit for the quarter ended June ..

Russian firm keen to invest Rs 1,000cr in Maha industrial city

Companies from Russia, China and Japan have evinced interest in investing Rs 1,250 crore in setting up their facilities at Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) in Maharashtra, a top government official said Sunday. AURIC, located around 335 km from here in Central Maharashtra, is a planned and greenfield smart industrial city being developed across 10,000 acres as part of the Delhi- Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Russia's Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), manufacturer of high-quality steel products, is keen on investing Rs 1,000 crore for setting up a unit at AURIC-Shendra, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) General Manager Gajanan Patil told PTI. Patil is also the Joint Managing Director of Aurangabad Industrial Township Ltd (AITL), a special purpose vehicle between MIDC and DMIC, which is overseeing AURIC development. NLMK is among Russia's largest steel companies. "Representatives of NLMK Group from Russia recently met us and have shown willingness to ...

Petrol, diesel prices scale new highs

Petrol and diesel prices set new records Sunday as they continued their upward march on fall in rupee and surge in global crude oil rates. Petrol price was Sunday raised by 12 paise a litre and diesel by ?10 paise per litre, according to the price notification issued by state fuel retailers. The increase pushed the petrol price in Delhi to Rs 80.50 per litre. Diesel rate touched its highest level of Rs 72.61 a litre. Fuel prices in Delhi are the cheapest among all metros and most state capitals due to lower taxes. Opposition parties have called for a nation-wide 'Bharat Bandh' on Monday (September 10) to protest against the spiralling fuel prices. They blame the government's unwillingness to cut excise duty for the high fuel prices and consumer burden. Since mid-August, petrol price has risen by Rs 3.42 a litre and diesel by Rs 3.84 per litre as rupee hit record low against the US dollar, making imports costlier. Almost half of the retail selling price of the two fuels is made up of ..

Japan culls livestock after hog cholera outbreak

Japan is suffering its first outbreak of pig cholera in more than 25 years, authorities said Sunday after culling more than 600 animals and suspending pork exports. A farm in central Japan saw 80 pigs die last week after catching the highly-contagious disease, an agricultural ministry official told AFP. Early tests showed negative results for classical swine fever, as the illness is officially known. But follow-up tests came out positive Sunday, prompting the cull of all 610 pigs at the farm, he added. "We are now processing the livestock there and disinfecting the farm," he said, adding that officials had set up sterilisation points on access roads to the affected farm. The government has set up a team of specialists to analyse possible infection routes, the agricultural ministry said in a statement. Tokyo halted pork exports after the outbreak was confirmed. The nation sold roughly USD 9 million in raw pork meat to foreign markets last year. Japan saw its last case of classic swine

Alibaba's Jack Ma to unveil succession plan next week, remain chairman

BEIJING (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's billionaire co-founder Jack Ma will announce a succession plan on Monday to hand the reins of his sprawling empire to a new generation of leaders but will remain executive chairman for the time being.

Nykaa looks to double revenue in 2018-19

Beauty brands retailer Nykaa looks to double its revenue to around Rs 1,100 crore by 2018-19-end as it is bringing in new brands, a top company official said. The company, which at present has 22 outlets across the country, is looking at opening 180-200 Nykaa stores in the next 4-5 years. "We are looking at 180-200 Nykaa outlets across the country in the next 4-5 years. We have a want and dominant footprint to be relevant in the beauty and makeup space. We have set a target of growing by 100 per cent our revenue to about Rs 1,100 crore in the current financial year," Falguni Nayar, the founder & CEO of Nykaa told PTI. Nykaa reported a revenue of Rs 570 crore in 2017-18. At present, physical stores contribute under 10 per cent to the online beauty retailer's revenue. When asked if the company is looking raising funds to support its expansion plans, Nayar said, "We may look at raising funds. But it will not be a lot." Nykaa said the company is looking at bringing in about 20 brands .

PTC India to ink medium term PPAs for 1900MW capacities under Govt's pilot scheme

Power trading solutions provider PTC India would ink medium-term power purchase pacts for 1,900 MW coal-based power capacities in the next one month under a pilot scheme launched earlier this year, an official said. The power purchase agreements (PPA) would help revive stressed commissioned power plants that do not have such pacts. PPAs are required for getting fuel supplies. "PTC India has finalised bids of 1,900 MW capacities at a tariff of Rs 4.24 per unit including the nominal fixed cost of one paise per unit for supply of power for the medium term of three years. The power purchase agreement for these capacities would be inked in a month's time ahead of festival season," a power ministry official told PTI on the condition of anonymity. The official said, "There would be no escalation of tariff during the three-year period on any account. The discoms can reduce load up to 55 per cent of agreed capacity." Elaborating further he said, "If the supply capacity goes down beyond 55 per .

Jack Ma to unveil succession plans, not imminent retirement: SCMP

Alibaba co-founder and chairman Jack Ma will unveil a succession plan on Monday, the South China Morning Post reported Sunday, with a company spokesman denying a New York Times report that he would retire that day. The SCMP, which is owned by Alibaba, said China's most famous tech billionaire will "unveil a succession strategy" on Monday -- his 54th birthday -- but remain the company's executive chairman for the foreseeable future. The New York Times ran an article on Friday, based on an interview with Ma, saying the former teacher turned billionaire planned to use his birthday to announce his retirement as chairman of Alibaba to focus on philanthropy. The paper quoted Ma as saying the decision was "the beginning of an era". But an Alibaba spokesman told the SCMP that the New York Times' story "was taken out of context, and factually wrong". "An Alibaba spokesman said Ma remains the company's executive chairman and will provide transition plans over a significant period of time," the .

quitas Small Finance bank eyes growth across portfolios

Equitas Small Finance Bank, which has majority of it's business in the micro-finance segment, has projected its other product offerings to grow over the next three years, according to a top official. Of the total advances contributed to the Tamil Nadu-based bank, the share of micro-finance lending was at 28 per cent, Equitas Small Finance, MD and CEO, P N Vasudevan said. "Microfinance currently is 28 per cent of the total advances. Over a three year period, it will drop down to 20 per cent", he told PTI. Vasudevan said the bank's portfolio was witnessing a 'uniform' growth. "Every product is growing at around 40-50 per cent", he said. The bank is currently present in micro-finance lending, tiny and micro-enterprise, commercial vehicle financing, micro, small and medium enterprise segments. "Because of demonetisation, we consciously wanted to degrow micro-finance last year. So this year micro-finance will support growth. In the first quarter, micro-finance actually grew ..

'Flipkart acquisition may impact Walmart net income this

: The acquisition of Flipkart by Walmart may negatively impact the net income of the latter this fiscal and also the next, said Walmart in its recent regulatory filing. The US retail giant had last month said it completed the acquisition of 77 per cent stake in Flipkart Group, an Indian-based eCommerce marketplace, for approximately USD 16 Billion. "We also expect the ongoing operations of Flipkart to negatively impact fiscal 2019 and 2020 net income, including additional interest expense due to the long-term debt issuance in the second quarter of of fiscal 2019," Walmart said. Beginning in the third quarter of fiscal 2018, Walmart will consolidate the financial statements of Flipkart using a one-month lag, it added. Speaking in an investors meet in U.S recently, Douglas McMillon President, CEO and Director Walmart Inc said they are learning about retail ecosystems and how they work around the world. We're learning a lot from China. We'll be learning even more from ...

NMDC seeks exploration license for Tungsten in Australia

Stepping up scouting activities for strategic minerals, state-owned NMDC Limited has approached the Western Australian Government, seeking a license to explore Tungsten, a metal much in need for the Indian defence and aerospace sectors. "Three new exploration tenement applications were made in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. All three tenements have some known tungsten occurrences and prospective geology to host polymetallic mineralisation, which includes Tungsten, Copper, Zinc, Gold and rare earth elements. Native Title agreements have been signed with the relevant parties," company sources told PTI. Legacy iron , a subsidiary of NMDC in Australia, carries out exploration work for Iron ore, gold and other minerals in that country. "Legacy is carrying out exploration in its 19 exploration tenements in Western Australia in Iron Ore, Gold and base metals. Presently, Legacy is concentrating in exploration of Gold in Mount Celia where good occurrence of Gold is ...

Govt defers strategic divestment of NMDC's Nagarnar plant: Report

The government had deferred the proposal for strategic divestment of NMDC's under-construction Nagarnar steel plant in Chhattisgarh until the unit becomes operational, the PSU said. NMDC CMD N Baijendra Kumar told PTI that the inter-ministerial group for divestment has decided to put the sale of the Nagarnar steel plant on hold. According to company sources, the state government, local political parties and trade unions were against the selling of the steel plant to private parties. The company last year had announced that the process for strategic divestment of NMDC's Nagarnar plant had started. The steel plant was in the list of public sector enterprises lined up by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) for strategic divestment. The government has fixed a disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore for the ongoing fiscal. Strategic disinvestment denotes the sale of a substantial portion of government shareholding in an identified central public sector ...

HUL aspires to be market leader in ice creams, frozen desserts category

FMCG major HUL is aspiring to be a market leader in the fast-growing ice creams and frozen desserts category in the next few years and it would continue to invest in infrastructure and physical expansion, a top company official said. HUL expects a deeper penetration in the category in the coming year led by several factors such as creation of more cold chain capabilities, improvement in the availability of electricity in rural areas coupled with reasons as evolving food habits and rising discretionary incomes in tier I & II cities. HUL, which had last month announced to acquire Karnataka-based ice cream brand Adityaa, would also continue to pursue such inorganic growth opportunities to expand its reach deep further, the official said. "We are very bullish on this product category in India. We are targeting market leadership here in the next few years," HUL Executive Director, Foods & Refreshment Sudhir Sitapati told PTI. "For this, we are willing to invest for growth; to see ..

Treebo Hotels to add 400 properties by 2019-end

Budget hospitality chain Treebo Hotels is looking to double its portfolio by adding 400 properties to its network by the end of next year in the country, a top official has said. The company currently has 400 hotels with 10,000 rooms in its portfolio. "We will be able to go to 800 hotels by end of 2019 from the present 400 hotels on back of several initiatives we are taking," Treebo Hotels co-founder Sidharth Gupta told PTI. As part of the strategy for growth, the company is making a big bet on offline sales channels despite being an internet first company, he added. The major thrust of the company is going to be implementing the offline to online model for growth, Gupta said. "We are planning to launch a new mobile app which will work on the concept of offline to online model. This will focus on local sales intermediaries and those seeking for part time income," Gupta said. The other channel that would again work on this model is corporates, he added. "Corporates are very high ...