Page 11 - Icra

Thermal power plants' capacity utilisation to rise to 69% in FY25: ICRA

The capacity utilisation of thermal power plants will increase by a percentage point to 69 per cent in 2024-25, led by the growth in electricity demand and limited thermal capacity addition, says rating agency ICRA. ICRA's outlook for the thermal power segment is 'Stable', supported by the healthy improvement in the thermal plant load factor (PLF), coupled with the reduction in dues from state distribution utilities (discoms) following the implementation of the Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) scheme since August 2022, a statement said. "The current under-construction thermal capacity is about 30 GW, which is predominantly in the Central and the state-owned generation segment and is expected to be commissioned over the next two to four-year period," Girishkumar Kadam, Senior Vice President & Group Head - Corporate Ratings, ICRA, said in the statement. In our view, there is a clear need for incremental capacity beyond this pipeline if the annual electricity demand growth continues to ..

Agricultural commodities may be significantly impacted by Red Sea crisis

The Red Sea crisis has led to a 122% rise in freight costs in the last few months, according to ICRA

ICRA revises bank credit growth estimates upwards to 14.9-15.3% for FY24

Looking ahead, weaker export demand in certain sectors, softer commodity prices, and challenges in deposit mobilisation could temper bank credit growth in FY25, Gupta said

Bank credit expansion projected at 15% in FY24, 12% in FY25: ICRA

Rating agency Icra on Wednesday revised upward its bank credit growth projection at 14.9-15.3 per cent this fiscal, but said the same will lose steam and grow at 12 per cent next fiscal. At 14.9-15.3 per cent, the system level credit expansion in absolute terms will be Rs 20.4-20.9 lakh crore, it said, adding this will be the highest ever incremental bank credit growth and would surpass the previous high of Rs 18.2 lakh crore recorded in FY23 at a growth rate of 15.4 per cent. The agency had earlier estimated a 12.8-13 per cent credit demand for this fiscal. However, citing the rising global headwinds and also the higher base coupled with the challenges in deposit mobilisation, the agency said it expects the rate of incremental credit expansion to slow down to Rs 19-20.5 lakh crore or 11.7-12.6 per cent in FY25. Weaker export demand in certain sectors, softer commodity prices, and challenges in deposit mobilisation could temper bank credit growth in FY2025, it added. Further, the

State Bank of India raises Rs 5,000 crore in capital via AT1 bonds

Fixes coupon at 8.34%, 24 bps higher than previous offering

Expect private hospitals to invest Rs 32,000 cr, add over 30,000 beds: ICRA

Private hospital chains are expected add over 30,000 beds at an investment of Rs 32,500 crore in the country over the next four to five years, rating agency Icra said on Wednesday. It expects the aggregate occupancy for its sample set companies to remain healthy at 64-65 per cent in FY24 backed by sustained healthy demand for healthcare services, continued market share gains for organised players and revival in medical tourism after the pandemic. "Overall, most private players are expected to add over 30,000 beds in the next four to five years at an investment of Rs 32,500 crore," ICRA Assistant Vice President & Sector Head Mythri Macherla said. Metro cities are expected to remain focal points for this capacity expansion, she added. Centres such as Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru are expected to witness sizeable bed additions in the next few years, Mythri said. In addition to setting up new greenfield and brownfield facilities to enhance their capacities, hospital chains are also

Disinvestment target for FY25 likely to be pegged below Rs 50,000 cr: Icra

Interim Budget 2024: For FY24, the Centre had set a disinvestment target of Rs 51,000 crore but has only been able to meet one-fifth of it so far

India's GDP may grow 7.3% in FY24: Govt's first advance estimates

Construction, manufacturing likely key drivers; weak consumption growth among major concerns

ICRA predicts 9-11% growth in FY24 fuelled by new launches, US rebound

ICRA anticipates expansion in revenues for its sample set of 25 companies, which represent approximately 60 per cent of the overall revenues of the Indian pharmaceutical industry

Yield spread between state bonds and g-sec widens to two-year high

The yield spread widened to 53 basis points on Tuesday. The last time the yield spread widened above 50 basis points was in January 2022

Treasury income's contribution to bank P&L's in Q3 to be modest: Analysts

The widening of the spread on state-government paper over central government bonds may work as a dampener, according to treasury executives

Credit growth to dip to 12-13% in FY25 from 16.5% in early Dec 2023: ICRA

Tight liquidity, hike in risk weights to impact bank loan growth

ICRA assigns AA+ rating to Adani Ports on strong business profile

While ICRA said its rating factors in the company's strong business profile, India Ratings said it continues to take a consolidated view of the company and its subsidiaries

Jewellery retail trade expected to grow at 10-12% in FY24, says ICRA

The domestic jewellery retail industry, in value terms, is expected to grow at 10-12 per cent during the current financial year on the back of elevated gold prices, credit rating firm ICRA said in a report. In the last financial year, the industry had grown by more than 15 per cent. ICRA said that demand volumes remained stable in the current festive season despite higher prices. The research firm said organised jewellery retailers are expected to outperform the industry over the medium term, driven by planned retail expansion and tailwinds from the accelerated formalisation of the trade. After remaining volatile between December 2022 to April 2023, gold prices were relatively stable in the range of Rs 5,600 to Rs 5,700 per gram in the first half of the current fiscal. This was almost 14 per cent higher as compared to the price levels in the preceding first half. The rating firm said the elevated price levels supported the revenue expansion of most jewellery retailers in the face

Margins of North Indian tea gardens to shrink in FY24, predicts ICRA

Leading credit rating firm ICRA said that tea gardens of North India will suffer from shrinkage in the margins due to rise in input costs and wage hike in West Bengal and Assam during the current fiscal. Margins will also be affected due to low export demand and sluggish rural consumption, ICRA said adding that the outlook for the sector has been revised to negative from stable. The credit rating firm said that all-India auction prices of the orthodox variety in the first 10 months of calendar year 2023 witnessed a significant decline of around Rs 51 per kilogram on a year-on-year basis. The price drop in South India was lower at Rs seven per kilogram during the same period. ICRA said that the slump in orthodox tea realisation was due to lower export demand, primarily from Iran. Similarly, the all-India cumulative auction average of CTC variety also witnessed a decline during the first 10 months of 2023 to the extent of Rs six per kilogram. ICRA said that sluggish rural demand alo

Aviation industry expected to see 10-15% revenue growth in FY25: ICRA

The pace of recovery in the industry earnings will be gradual owing to the high fixed cost nature of the business

Airlines likely to prune losses to Rs 3,000-5,000 cr in FY24: ICRA

Indian airline industry is expecting to prune its net losses to Rs 3,000-5,000 crore in this fiscal from an estimated Rs 17,000-17,500 crore in FY2023 on the back of improved yields and stable cost environment, credit ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday. At the same time, ICRA also estimated that domestic air passenger traffic will expand by 8-13 per cent each in FY2024 and FY2025. The rating agency has also maintained its stable outlook on the industry in view of healthy passenger traffic growth, improved yields and a stable cost environment. Building on the fast-paced recovery in FY2023, ICRA at a webinar on Tuesday said it is expecting the domestic air passenger traffic to grow by 8-13 per cent in the ongoing financial year, thereby reaching 150-155 million and surpassing the pre-Covid levels of 141.2 million seen in FY2020. The Industry's net loss (is expected) to shrink to Rs 30-50 billion in FY2024 from an estimated Rs 170-175 billion in FY2023, aided by improved yields and .

ICRA revises FY24 GDP growth forecast to 6.5%, still below RBI's estimate

Domestic rating agency Icra on Monday revised its FY24 GDP growth forecast to 6.5 per cent from 6.2 per cent earlier. However, the revised forecast is still much lower than the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) 7 per cent real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth estimate for the ongoing fiscal. Earlier this month, the RBI had revised upwards its GDP estimate to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent, calling the revised number a "conservative" one. The rating agency did not specify reasons for the lower growth estimate made in its business activity monitor. The revision is being done because Icra feels the deflation in commodity prices will be sustained and there are expectation of better growth in the October-December period than previous estimates, it said. "The festive-led uptick in volume growth in high frequency non-agri indicators as evinced by ICRA Business Activity Monitor in October-November 2023 (11.3 per cent versus the 9.5 per cent in Q2FY24) leads us to believe that the GDP growt

Gautam Adani's copper foray may further tighten global supply of ore

India's imports of copper concentrate could grow to as much as 2 million tons in 2024, from 1.3 million tons estimated for this year, said Soni Kumari, commodity strategist at ANZ Banking Group

Refined copper demand likely to grow 11% in FY24 on infra boost: ICRA

India's refined copper demand is likely to grow 11 per cent in the current financial year on the back of the government's thrust on infrastructure development and a gradual transition to green energy, ICRA said on Monday. The rating agency further said it expects a stable outlook for the country's domestic sector. "ICRA projects copper prices to remain range-bound at current levels of 8,2008,300/tonne in the near term," it said in a statement. It further said that the allocation of Rs 10 lakh crore for capital spending in the last Union Budget, coupled with ambitious targets set under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), is likely to drive copper consumption in the medium term. In addition, in the real estate sector, significant incremental supply growth of 30 per cent in the top six Indian office space markets and 10 per cent growth in retail mall space is likely in FY'24, which is likely to spur copper wire demand. Significant emphasis by the government on the smart city