Business News at 05:30 pm on 10th November 2023

Let’s begin. Hindalco Industries on Friday recorded second quarter profit for the financial year 2023-24 at Rs 2,196 crore, down 0.4 per cent in comparison to Rs 2,205 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 54,169 crore, down 3.6 per cent as against Rs 56,176 crore during the second quarter of FY23. The company posted consolidated EBITDA at Rs 6,096 crore, up 6 per cent YoY. The Company maintained a strong balance sheet and liquidity with a Net Debt to EBITDA ratio well below 2x, positioning it well for organic growth. Hindalco also said that it will invest Rs 8,000 crore in a 2 million-tonne greenfield alumina refinery in Odisha.

In some more industry news, E-commerce order volumes grew handsomely this festive season, increasing by approximately 37 percent during the festive season sale of 2023 in comparison to festive sale period in 2022, according to an analysis of orders processed through Unicommerce. In addition to the substantial growth in order volumes, the Gross Merchandise Value also saw an increase of 22 percent during the same festive period. The Unicommerce report added that the success of the festive season sales in part may be attributed to attracting discounts on the online marketplaces and robust advertising campaigns. This has helped marketplaces record a YoY order volume growth of 39 percent. Brand websites, on the other hand, also reported a 23 percent increase in e-commerce order volumes.

Meanwhile, Lenders to Byju’s, once one of India’s hottest tech startups, properly cited a default on a $1.2 billion loan when taking over control of a unit of the education-technology provider, a Delaware judge concluded. The lenders – which include Redwood Investments LLC and Silver Point Capital LP – were within their contractual rights to replace a relative of company founder Byju Raveendran on the board of Byju’s Alpha, a special-purpose company formed for financing purposes, with their nominee, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Morgan Zurn ruled. Zurn rejected a complaint by Byju’s that Timothy Pohl, tapped by lenders to oversee the special-purpose entity, was improperly authorized to take the reins.

Moving on. Zee Entertainment Enterprises on Thursday reported a nearly 9% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 123 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2023, as strong demand for its movies and a pickup in subscriptions eclipsed a decline in advertising revenue. This beat street estimates of `114 crore for the period. The media firm’s consolidated revenue rose 20.5% y-o-y to `2,438 crore in Q2FY24, beating Bloomberg consensus estimates of `2,167 crore by a wide margin. On Thursday, ZEEL’s scrip on BSE closed trading 1% higher at `262.8 apiece. The company, which owns TV channels including Zee TV and Zee Cinema, posted an 8% rise in its subscription revenue on a y-o-y basis.

On to the crypto world. Crypto lender Celsius Network received U.S. bankruptcy court approval for a restructuring plan that will return cryptocurrency to customers and create a new company owned by Celsius creditors. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan signed off on the restructuring in an order published on Thursday. The reorganized business will be managed by Fahrenheit LLC, a consortium that includes hedge fund Arrington Capital, and it will focus on mining new bitcoin and earning “staking” fees by validating blockchain transactions. New Jersey-based Celsius filed for Chapter 11 protection in July 2022, one month after freezing customer accounts to prevent withdrawals.

Over to technology. WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, has announced a new privacy feature that allows users to hide their location during calls. This feature, dubbed “Protect IP Address in Calls,” is currently rolling out to Android and iOS users. When you make calls on WhatsApp, normally your device’s IP address is visible to the person you’re talking to. This might reveal information like your location. But now, WhatsApp has a new feature that hides your IP address during calls. So, your calls go through WhatsApp’s servers, keeping your IP address private. This adds an extra layer of privacy. Meta explains that with this feature enabled, all your calls will be relayed through WhatsApp’s servers.

Lastly, the share market. Market recovers to close the last day of Samvat 2079 at its day’s high. The Sensex settled72.48 points or 0.11 percent higherat 64,904.68, and the Nifty was ended with gains of30.00 points or 0.15 percent at 19,425.30. The market breadth also favoured gainers over losers as about 1,812 shares rose, 1,747fell, and 141 remained unchanged. Last-hour buying in heavyweights like HDFC Bank, ITC, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank helped the benchmarks recover from losses. M&M was the worst hit among Nifty 50, down 2 percent on lower-than-expected Q2 earnings. Within the broader market, MCX emerged as the top midcap gainer on reports of cost saving in its deal with TCS.