Page 51 - Business Finance
Market may open on a flat note
Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 3 points at the opening bell.
Lufthansa lowers 2019 targets over 'low-cost' competition
German airline group Lufthansa said Sunday it has revised lower its 2019 outlook due to intense competition from low-cost carriers in Europe. It now expects the group to reach an operating margin of between 5.5 to 6.5 per cent, compared with an earlier estimate of 6.5 to 8.0 per cent, Lufthansa said in a statement. The revision corresponds to an operating profit of between 2.0 to 2.4 billion euros (USD 2.24 -2.7 billion). The outlook also factors in a fuel cost increase of 550 million euros. Lufthansa stressed that "long-haul business continues to be strong, in particular on transatlantic and Asian routes". But long-haul, it added, "only partially offsets yield pressure in European short-haul business," especially in Germany and Austria. On its low-cost competitors, Lufthansa has accused them of being ready to accept considerable losses in order to expand their share of the market. Lufthansa plunged into the red in the first quarter of this year, but as of April was still sticking to .
Mahanadi Coalfields to double output to 300 mtpa by 2026
Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) on Sunday said it will more than double production to 300 million tonne by 2026 with long-term planning and inclusion of new technology. "We are into a long-term planning to ensure that mining operations remain smooth to register cosistent growth. By 2025-26, the company is expected to achieve the 300 million tonne target," Chairman-cum-Managing Director Bhola Nath Shukla said. MCL, a subsidiary of mining major Coal India Ltd, produced around 144 million tonne during 2018-19 and has set a target of 160 million tonne this fiscal. Out of the 300 mtpa coal production target set by MCL, 200 million tonne will be produced by Talcher coalfields alone, Shukla told reporters. Asserting that the company has taken major initiatives to enhance coal evacuation through infrastructure development like coal corridor and SILOs, the CMD said the focus would be on speedy capacity enhancement of the rail infrastructure. This will also help private players ...
Russia's central bank mulls launching its own digital currency
The Central Bank of Russia's president Elvira Nabiullina on Sunday said that the bank was considering launching its own digital currency.Nabiullina made the comments while speaking at a students conference in Skolkovo, according to TASS. She, however, added that the launch is not "immediately" implementable."Indeed, the Central Bank Digital Currency cannot be immediately implemented. However many central banks, including Russia's Central Bank, are studying such a possibility," she said."If national currency that works in the entire country is concerned, this does not refer to any private assets, and certainly this requires a technology that would ensure reliability and uninterrupted operations. These technologies should be mature including blockchain technologies," she added.She also mused if the society is ready to give up on using cash during the conference."This will be more convenient, this is digital money for people, for citizens. Are we ready as a society to give up cash?" she .
Yashovardhan Birla declared willful defaulter by UCO Bank
UCO Bank on Sunday declared Yashovardhan Birla, the Director of Birla Surya Ltd, as a willful defaulter after the company failed to repay loans of Rs 67.65 crore.
One held for duping man of over Rs 4 lakh
A man was arrested for allegedly duping a person of over Rs 4 lakh using an e-wallet and a mobile banking application by fraudulently accessing her debit card details, police said Sunday. The arrested accused was identified as Jitender, a resident of Brij Puri, they said. According to a senior police officer, a complaint was received on June 2 wherein it was alleged that messages were received on her phone number regarding deduction of balance. A total of Rs 4,49,000 was deducted from the complainant's bank account, with the Yamuna Vihar branch, from April 20 to May 29. Through the scrutiny of bank account statement of the complainant, Rs 14,000 were found to be transferred to an e-wallet, while Rs 4,30,000 were transferred to a bank account in Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, they said. "Police zeroed in on the location of accused Jitender and subsequently nabbed him from Dayalpur area of Delhi," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) said. One mobile phone and Rs 11,000 in cash were ...
Petrol price down 6 paise across metros
Petrol price declined by 6 paise across the four metropolitan cities in the country on Sunday, data from the Indian Oil Corp's website showed.
Electoral bonds worth over Rs 5,800 cr bought in over 14 months
Electoral bonds worth over Rs 5,800 crore were bought by donors to fund political parties between March 1, 2018 and May 10, 2019, a Right to Information reply has said. Seventy-six per cent of these bonds, worth Rs 4,444.32 crore, were bought in the sale of last three tranches, which took place between March 1 and May 10 this year at the height of Lok Sabha campaigning and polls, the RTI reply furnished by the State Bank of India said. As per the Union government's Electoral Bond Scheme 2018, only 29 branches of the State Bank of India (SBI) were authorised to issue and encash these bonds in ten phases. The reply said people bought electoral bonds worth Rs 5851.41 crore between March 1, 2018 and May 10, 2019, of which those worth Rs 1,407.09 crore were purchased by anonymous donors in the first seven phases between March 1 last year and January 24 this year. The RTI was filed by a Neemuch-based activist Chandrashekhar Goud. The bonds are valued at Rs 1000, Rs 10,000, Rs one lakh, ..
Week ahead to be choppy, trade cautiously (Column: Market Watch)
Markets continued to remain choppy and gained on two trading days, lost on two days and were flat on the fifth day. BSE SENSEX lost 163.83 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 39,452.07 points while NIFTY lost 47.35 points or 0.40 per cent to close at 11,823.30 points. The broader indices saw BSE100, BSE200 and BSE500 lose a little more at 0.51 per cent, 0.60 per cent and 0.70 per cent respectively. Dow Jones gained 105.67 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 26,089.61 points.
Aluminium producers' seek import duty hike ahead of budget
Ahead of the budget, aluminium producers have sought steps from the government to hike import duty on primary aluminum, scrap and downstream products and rationalise costs of raw materials. Industry bodies such as the Aluminium Association of India (AAI) and FICCI have informed the government that the aluminium sector of the country is going through a challenging phase and is under immense threat by rising imports, declining domestic market share, rising production and logistics costs. Moreover, non-competitive energy costs and acute coal shortage for the industry have adversely hit the sustainability of the aluminium industry, Rahul Sharma, co- chairman of FICCI Committee on Mining and Minerals, said in a press statement. Noting that aluminiums importance is next to that of steel, but policy measures are being developed and introduced to protect the domestic steel industry in the last three years, he said. Some of the special provisions extended to the steel industry ..
Railways drops proposal of massages on trains due to opposition from local reps
Indian Railways has withdrawn its proposal to providing massage services to passengers on board trains after local representatives expressed concerns that the plan may cause inconvenience, especially women travellers.Western Railways had last week proposed head and foot massage services to passengers on trains originating from Indore. The proposal was made from the Ratlam division of Western Railway zone under New, Innovative Non-Fare Revenue Ideas Scheme (NINFRIS)."A proposal of providing head and foot massage services on 29 trains had been put forward by Ratlam Division. Railway administration has rejected the proposal after respecting the views of the local representatives who had criticised it, saying there would be a paucity of space on trains and may inconvenience people, especially women," senior PRO of Ratlam Division Jitendra Kumar Jayant told ANI.Outgoing Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan had reportedly written a letter to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, raising questions ...
Geo-political tensions, monsoon's progress to steer equities (Market Outlook)
Rising geo-political tensions in the Persian Gulf region along with concerns over global economic growth and the pace of monsoon's progress will flare-up volatility in the Indian equity market next week, experts opined.
Saudi Arabia committed to Aramco IPO: crown prince
Saudi Arabia remains committed to selling shares in national oil conglomerate Aramco through an initial public offering but only at the right time, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said. "We are committed to the IPO of Saudi Aramco based on appropriate conditions and at the right time," Prince Mohammed told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in an interview published on Sunday. He reiterated his earlier expectations that the IPO of Saudi Aramco "will take place in (late) 2020 or the start of 2021," almost two years later than expected. Saudi Arabia plans to sell up to five per cent of the world's largest energy firm and hopes to raise up to USD 100 billion. Prince Mohammed said it was still premature to announce where the IPO will be held, adding that many requirements for the sale to go through had been successfully completed. Riyadh has taken a number of key procedures in preparation for the IPO including issuing a law for hydrocarbons tax, appointing a new board for Aramco and .
CREDAI seeks bank funding for developers to buy land for affordable housing projects
Realtors apex body CREDAI in its budget wish list has demanded that banks should fund developers to buy land for development of affordable housing projects. It has also stated that the definition of affordable housing should be same across all the legislations. "Land as a value of the project cost, comprises 40 per cent of the overall project cost. With the advent of RERA, one cannot sell until all approvals are received which means that one needs funding either by way of promoter equity or private equity," CREDAI said in its budget memorandum. Land funding is typically done by NBFCs or private equities, it said, but added that cost to developers are as high as 25 per cent. "The support of the banking system is needed to bridge this gap. Funding of land by commercial banks was permitted by RBI until 2008 and should be resumed at the earliest for affordable housing," CREDAI said. The association, which has over 10,000 developers as members, also pitched for uniform definition of ...
Industry, government finances at graver risk from drought
Weak monsoons -- long known as a nightmare for farmers -- is no longer just considered a grave risk for agriculture but also for India Inc as well as government finances.
89 pc family biz in India expect to grow in next 2 years: Survey
Family businesses in the country are on a growth trajectory, with 89 per cent of them expecting to grow in the next two years, according to a survey. The global survey, 'Family Business Survey 2019' by PwC, was done among 2,953 family leaders across 53 countries, including 106 family business leaders, between April 20 and August 10, 2018. The survey has revealed that 89 per cent of family businesses in India expect to grow in the next two years, with 44 per cent of them looking at growing aggressively and 45 per cent expecting steady growth. "Regulatory changes are getting family businesses to bring in order and professionalise the business, and disruptive technology is pushing them to transform. These new market dynamics are cultivating a renewed sense of ambition in family businesses, making them resilient in the face of change," PwC India Partner and Leader, Entrepreneurial and Private Business, Ganesh Raju K said. In terms of expansion, a little more than half of the family ...
G7CR expects to double revenue to Rs 200 cr next fiscal
IT firm G7CR expects to double its revenue to Rs 200 crore by March 2021 on account of new customer wins and overseas expansion, a top company official said. The Bengaluru-based company started to focus on the cloud business three years ago and now develops its own products to help firms in migrating their current system to cloud computing. "Our track record, recent developments and expansion plans encourage us to believe that we are on track for Rs 200 crore revenue in next financial year. For one, there are customer acquisitions that we are hopeful of to double our revenue to Rs 100 crore by this fiscal end," G7CR Technologies' founder and Managing Director Christopher Richard told PTI. The company, incorporated in 2012, claims to have clocked revenue of Rs 53 crore in 2018-19 and is now eyeing the Rs 100 crore mark this fiscal on account of new customer acquisitions and margins coming from its own products. "Added to this is our expansion plans underway in Singapore, UK, US in the .
DIPAM tells Niti to follow due process for suggesting CPSE assets for monetisation
The DIPAM has raised objections to the list prepared by Niti Aayog for monetising assets of CPSEs, saying the stipulated procedure, including consultation with administrative ministries and other government departments, should be followed before finalising such lists. Niti Aayog has given a list of around 50 assets, including land and building, of state-owned companies for sale to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), a wing of the Finance Ministry which deals with disinvestment. Following this, the DIPAM wrote to Niti Aayog saying that the government think tank should follow the procedure and mechanism for asset monetisation of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) as laid down in the March 8 office memorandum issued by it, sources said. As per the memorandum, Niti Aayog has been tasked to recommend the assets for monetisation after consultation with a group comprising representatives of the administrative ministry, DIPAM, Department of Economic ...
ADB to provide Pakistan $3.4bn loan for budgetary support
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would provide a loan of $3.4 billion to Pakistan for budgetary support, a Minister has confirmed.
FIMI urges govt to lift beach sand mining ban on private firms
Beach sand mining ban on private players has resulted in loss of exports worth Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore in revenue, mining body FIMI has said, demanding rescinding the order. In its latest report "Mining Matters for India", Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) said the ban has put a large number of jobs at stake. "In the case of beach sand minerals (BSM), private sector has been debarred for mining, putting numerous jobs at stake and depriving the country of revenue to the extent of Rs 5,000 crore and exports of about Rs 4,000 crore annually," FIMI said in its latest report. At present, only government companies are allowed to engage in beach sand mining after the Ministry of Mines vide a notification in February this year banned the private players. "The Government should improve the regulatory mechanism and private sector should be continued to be allowed for mining of beach sand minerals and the Ministry of Mines notification...barring private sector should be ...