Page 371 - Business Finance
Crisil downgrades DHFL commercial papers worth Rs 850 cr
Rating agency Crisil Ratings has downgraded commercial paper worth Rs 850 crore of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation driven by weak liquidity condition of the company. DHFL's commercial papers were downgraded to A4+ from A3+. Its rating also continues to be on 'Rating Watch with Negative Implications'. The mortgage lender's liquidity dropped to Rs 2,775 crore as of end-April. "The downgrade is driven by more-than-expected reduction in the company's liquidity because of further delays in fund raising from sell down of project finance loans and lower inflows from securitisation of non-housing loans," the agency said in a note last week. Its scheduled aggregate cash outflows (including loan repayment and securitisation payouts) till July 2019 remains high, at around Rs 8,400 crore. Exercise of option by investors in NCDs with acceleration clauses will materially increase the scheduled outflow, it said. The rating agency said the company, as a strategic decision, also did not resort to ...
Inox Q4 profit at Rs 48 cr, plans Rs 300 cr capex
Multiplex operator Inox Leisure Monday reported a consolidated net profit at Rs 48.08 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, and announced a capital expenditure of Rs 300 crore for 2019-20. The company had posted a profit of Rs 57.69 crore in the same period a year ago. Inox Leisure said the profit numbers are not comparable as it includes one-time write-back of taxes. The adjusted profit is Rs 44 crore for the last quarter of FY2018-19 compared to Rs 4 crore in the same quarter in the previous fiscal. "There was a one time non-recurring tax write back in the last financial year," Inox Leisure chief executive officer Alok Tandon told PTI. Total income stood at Rs 484.09 crore, up 46.76 per cent from Rs 329.85 crore in the year-ago quarter. Total expenses during the quarter under review were at Rs 410.93 crore, up 32.29 per cent, as against Rs 310.61 crore reported in the last quarter of 2017-18. During the quarter it registered 1.8 crore footfall, which is 42 per cent up from ...
China to hike tariffs on $60 bn of US goods
China on Monday announced that it will impose tariffs on $60 billion of US goods from June 1 in retaliation for Washington's decision to hike duties on Chinese goods.
NCLAT stops Burn Standard closure and retrenchment
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Monday stopped the closure of West Bengal based wagon maker Burn Standard Company and retrenchment of its workers. The NCLAT set aside the Kolkata NCLT's approval to close down the PSU as part of a resolution plan. "We set aside the part of the approved 'Resolution Plan' in so far as it relates to closure.... The 'Corporate Debtor' is directed to ensure that the company remains a going concern and employees are not retrenched," the NCLAT order passed by Justice S J Mukhopadhayay and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat said. It said, "The 'Resolution Plan' is against the object of the (insolvency) Code and the application under Section 10 was filed with intent of closure of the 'Corporate Debtor' for a purpose other than for the resolution of insolvency, or liquidation.... We hold that the part of closure of the 'Corporate Debtor'/'Corporate Applicant' being against the scope and intent of the I&B Code is in violation of Section
Boeing says 'confident' US-China trade talks will succeed
Boeing is "confident" US-China trade talks will yield an agreement, a Boeing spokesman said Monday, after Beijing retaliated against higher US tariffs and the aircraft manufacturer appeared to be a potential target for additional reprisals. As the year-long trade conflict escalated, the editor of party-owned Chinese newspaper Global Times said Monday that Beijing as might cut Boeing orders as well as purchases of US farm products. "We're confident the US and China will continue trade discussions and come to an agreement than benefits both US and Chinese manufacturers and consumers," a Boeing spokesman told AFP in an email.
Pennar Group bags orders worth Rs 311 crore
Pennar Group, a value-added engineering products and solutions company, Monday said it won orders worth Rs 311 crore in April across various business verticals. "The group's flagship company Pennar Industries Ltd (PIL) received multiple orders aggregating Rs 173 crore across its business verticals," the company said in a statement. The orders received were from Integrated Coach Factory, Rail Coach Factory and Universal Engineering for railway products; Emerson, Endurance, Wabco, Ashok Leyland, Yamaha for industrial components besides from Sterling & Wilson, Hammon and Thermax, IFB, L G Balakrishnan and Wahi Sons for various products. Pennar Engineered Building Systems (PEBS Pennar) received orders aggregating Rs 138 crore, the statement said adding, the new orders received by PEBS Pennar were for warehouses and manufacturing facilities from customers such as Natco, MRF and Cyient. Commenting on the recent wins, K M Sunil, Vice President - Corporate Strategy, Pennar Industries, ...
Uber slides at open following last week's rocky debut
Uber shares went into a fresh skid Monday -- more bad news for the global ride-hailing giant, which endured steep declines in its hotly anticipated market debut last week. Shares in Uber were off six percent at $38.95 after 15 minutes after slipping as much as 10 percent in the second day of trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Valued at some USD 82 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the technology sector, Uber's debut Friday was a major disappointment, losing 7.6 percent. Richard Windsor, an analyst who writes the Radio Free Mobile blog on technology, said Uber and Lyft have been pressured by their high valuations and intense competition. Uber and Lyft "are currently engaged in a life or death struggle to become the dominant ridesharing platform in the USA," Windsor said. "It is this reality combined with the very high valuations at which they have been listed that is putting the pressure on these companies." Lyft shares fell three percent to $49.38, ..
JP Morgan invests in Global PayEx to improve B2B payments
Global PayEx Monday announced strategic investment by banking and financial services provider JP Morgan that will help the latter's clients experience clearer electronic invoice presentation and quicker reconciliation. Global PayEx is a provider of electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) and B2B payments space. It offers a cloud based platform, Freepay, to facilitate electronic sharing of invoices, handling of payments and management of transaction information between business to business (B2B) buyers and sellers, a release said. "This investment is a great example of our commitment to address our clients' specific concerns in the B2B payments space, which continues to grow at an exponential pace," head of wholesale payments for Asia Pacific, JP Morgan, Sridhar Kanthadai said. The platform is fully-automated and self-servicing that saves cost and time. Its real-time feature and sophisticated analytics function provide full visibility of the payment status and insights on the
NF Railway cuts 25 trains' running time to boost efficiency
The Northeast Frontier Railway has decided to enhance operational efficiency by speeding up 25 trains, reducing the running time by an average of 23 minutes. The stoppage time of 122 trains at different stations has also been reduced, a NF Railway release said here on Monday. Among these, 33 trains are at Guwahati, 16 trains at Rangiya, 71 at New Jalpaiguri and two trains at Katihar, it said. Plans are afoot to reduce the running time of 10 more trains by an average of 24 minutes each in the next few months. The NF Railway is recruiting more train drivers to supplement these efforts, the release added. "Northeast Frontier Railway has also taken steps to increase operational efficiency by boosting infrastructure for capacity enhancement, and for this a number of double lines are being constructed and loop lines being added at stations," it said. Many stations are also being modernised to make them capable of handling more traffic.
United Bank of India back in black; posts Rs 95 cr profit for Jan-Mar
State-owned United Bank of India Monday reported a net profit of Rs 95.18 crore for the quarter ended March 2019 after seven quarters of consecutive losses. The Kolkata-headquartered bank had reported a loss of Rs 260.62 crore in the January-March quarter of 2017-18. The bank's total income also increased to Rs 2,948.05 crore in the last quarter of 2018-19 from Rs 2,635.69 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing. Gross NPAs of the bank declined to 16.48 per cent of the assets at end-March 2019, from 24.1 per cent at end-March 2018. The net NPA too eased to 8.67 per cent of loans compared to 16.49 per cent at the end of fourth quarter of previous fiscal. Net Interest Margin of the bank improved to 2.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018-19. The board has also approved raising equity capital not exceeding Rs 1,500 crore in one or more tranches during the financial year by way of Qualified Institutional Placement, public issue or rights issue ..
Flynas to launch Riyadh-Delhi flights from July 1
Flynas, Saudi Arabia's national low-cost carrier airline, Monday announced the launch of weekly five direct international flights between Riyadh and New Delhi from July 1. According to a release from the airlines, these new flights are being introduced as a part of the airlines global expansion strategy. The airlines also is adding two more flights between Hyderabad and Riyadh taking to the total number of flights to four per week between these two cities. Flynas will operate these 5 new flights every week between King Khalid International Airport (Riyadh, KSA) and Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi, India), it said. The scheduled flight operations will be on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Flynas currently operates flights between Hyderabad and Riyadh on Friday and Sunday. In addition to these flights, the new flights between the two cities are scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week starting July 1, the release added. As part of its ...
In just nine trading sessions, investor wealth tumbles by Rs 8.53 lakh cr
Investors became poorer by Rs 8.53 lakh crore in just nine trading sessions as benchmark Sensex shed 1,941 points amid concerns over US-China trade tensions and poll outcome. On Monday, the 30-share Sensex crashed 372.17 points or 0.99 per cent to close at 37,090.82 points. It was the ninth-straight session that the benchmark index closed in the red. Amid weak sentiment, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies tumbled Rs 8,53,788.75 crore to Rs 1,44,55,039.74 crore in nine trading days. The index shed 1,940.73 points during the trading days from April 26 to May 13. In the 30-share pack, Sun Pharma was the biggest loser with a decline of 9.39 per cent. A total of 23 scrips in the index witnessed sell-off, as per an analysis of market data. Sectorally, BSE healthcare, capital goods, power, oil and gas, metal, auto, energy and banking indices fell up to 3.53 per cent. In the broader market, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled up to 2.15 per cent lower. On the BSE, 1,889
Retail inflation at 6-month high of 2.92 pc in Apr
Retail inflation inched up to a six-month high of 2.92 per cent in April due to a spike in food prices, including vegetables, meat, fish and eggs, according to the official data released Monday. Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at 2.86 per cent in the previous month and 4.58 per cent in April 2018, the data by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed. The rate of price rise in April is the highest since October 2018 when the rate was 3.38 per cent. Inflation in the food basket was 1.1 per cent in April, up from 0.3 per cent in March. Prices of vegetables rose by 2.87 per cent against a contraction in March. Fruit prices, however, declined in April compared to the year-ago month. Prices in the fuel and light category moved up by 2.56 per cent in April against 2.42 per cent in the previous month. The Reserve Bank mainly factors in the CPI-based inflation while setting the key policy rates. The Monetary Policy Committee headed by the RBI governor would be meeting ..
Andhra Bank Q4 loss narrows to Rs 1,224 cr
State-owned Andhra Bank Monday reported narrowing of loss to Rs 1,233.61 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, mainly on account of reduction in non-performing assets. The bank had booked a net loss of Rs 2,535.82 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2017-18. The total income rose to Rs 5,313.53 crore in the March quarter, compared to Rs 5,092.62 crore in the year-ago period, Andhra Bank said in a regulatory filing. The bank's gross NPA reduced to 16.21 per cent of total assets as compared to 17.09 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Similarly, the net NPAs also eased to 5.73 per cent from 8.48 per cent in January-March quarter of 2017-18. As a result provision for bad loans less than halved to Rs 2,341.06 crore during the quarter as compared to Rs 5,562.76 crore in the same period a year ago.
ITC net profit up 18.7% to Rs 3,481.9 cr in Q4
FMCG major ITC Ltd on Monday reported a 18.7 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 3,481.9 crore in the fourth quarter of financial year 2018-19 (FY19), compared to Rs 2,932.71 crore in the year-ago period.
Deepika Padukone enters into partnership with Epigamia
Drums Food International, the parent company of fresh FMCG brand Epigamia, Monday announced a multi-crore strategic partnership with Deepika Padukone, which includes an investment from the Bollywood actress. The company, however, did not elaborate the funding amount. "This investment is an extension of the recently closed series C round of funding led by Verlinvest, a Belgium-based consumer-focused investment firm, Danone Manifesto Ventures, the venture investment arm of one of the world's leading food and beverage companies, and DSG Consumer Partners, an Asia focused VC (venture capital) fund," Drums Food International said in a statement. Brand Epigamia, on the back of the capital raised and the strategic partnership with Deepika, will now look to expand into new products and enter new cities, it added. Launched in June 2015, Epigamia is currently available in 20 stock keeping units (SKUs) under greek yogurt, artisanal curd, snack pack, MishtiDoi and smoothies. The brand retails ...
CBI asks for DIAL papers in alleged scam
Probing further into the alleged financial irregularities involving GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to provide all the files related to airport firm at the 'earliest'.
UBI back in black after 7 quarters of losses
After making losses for seven consecutive quarters, city-based United Bank of India (UBI) registered a net profit of Rs 95.18 crore in the last quarter of 2018-19, a bank statement said on Monday. The total business of the bank crossed Rs 2 lakh crore at the end of March 2019. Operating profit of the bank was Rs 540 crore in the last quarter as against Rs 383 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, the statement said. Net interest margin (NIM) of the bank stood at 2.43 per cent. The bank's net interest income increased to Rs 1975 crore in the full fiscal as against Rs 1493 in the previous financial year. Stressed assets position of the bank improved with GNPA andPA at 16.48 per cent and 8.67 per cent respectively as on March 31, 2019, the statement added.
Vodafone Idea loss at Rs 4,881.9 crore in Q4
India's largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd Monday posted consolidated loss of Rs 4,881.9 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, amid a brutal tariff war in India's mobile market. Seen sequentially, the loss has narrowed from Rs 5,004.6 crore during the third quarter of 2018-19. The books of Vodafone Idea recorded a comprehensive loss of Rs 962.2 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, but the year-on-year figure is not comparable as the merger between India unit of Vodafone Group and Idea Cellular was completed on August 31, 2018. For Vodafone Idea -- whose financials has been battered by intense price competition posed by the richest Indian Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio -- the revenue from operations for March quarter of 2018-19 came in at Rs 11,775 crore, almost flat compared to Rs 11,764.8 crore logged in the previous December quarter.
ITC Q4 net profit rises 18.72% to Rs 3,482 crore
Diversified group ITC Ltd Monday reported an 18.72 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 3,482 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, riding on strong performance from its paperboards, paper and packaging, hotels and FMCG businesses. The company, which stated that cigarettes segment continued to be under pressure due to high taxation, had posted standalone net profit of Rs 2,932.71 crore in the January-March period a year ago. The Kolkata-based firm said its total income during the quarter under review rose 14.26 per cent to Rs 12,946.21 crore, compared to Rs 11,329.74 crore in the same period last fiscal. During the quarter, the company said there was robust growth in gross revenue driven by trading opportunities in oilseeds, wheat and coffee in agri business, higher volumes and improved realisation in paperboards and improvement in room revenue in hotels. Besides, enhanced scale and product mix enrichment helped FMCG-Others (non-cigarette) grow EBIDTA by 31 per cent