Business News at 05:30 pm on 2nd November 2023

You are listening to the Expresso Business Update. Here is the latest news from the world of Indian and International business brought to you by The Indian Express and The Financial Express.

Let’s begin – Dr Lal PathLabs on Thursday released its fiscal second quarter earnings with profit at Rs 109.30 crore, up 52.4 per cent in comparison to Rs 71.70 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 601.30 crore, up 12.6 per cent as against Rs 533.80 crore during the quarter ended September 2022. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 177.8 crore, up 23.6 per cent on-year. Dr Lal PathLabs has 277 clinical labs (including National Reference Lab at Delhi and Regional Reference labs at Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai), 5102 Patient Service Centers and 10,938 Pick-up Points. It has a catalogue of 481 test panels, 2763 pathology tests and 1947 radiology and cardiology tests.

Next up – Billionaire Gautam Adani’s group has acquired the remaining 51 per cent stake in Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd to take full control of the Raghav Bahl-curated digital business news platform for an undisclosed amount. Adani Enterprises Ltd, the ports-to-energy conglomerate’s flagship firm, in a stock exchange filing, said its subsidiary AMG Media Networks Ltd quote-unquote “has executed a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of remaining 51 per cent stake in QBML”, the firm which operates the business and financial news digital media platform BQ Prime. It, however, did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.

Moving on – Tenable, an exposure management company, has published a study revealing that Indian organisations could not prevent 42% of cyberattacks on their businesses, thwarting 58% of cyberattacks over the past two years. Consequently, organisations have had to rely on reactive measures rather than preventing attacks from occurring. According to an official release, the study further revealed that 78% of Indian respondents believe their organisations could better defend against cyberattacks with more resources dedicated to preventive cybersecurity. However, 64% indicated that their cybersecurity teams spend the majority of their time addressing critical incidents. Insights from the study found that a core reason for the reactivity in Indian organisations’ cybersecurity practices is the lack of alignment in goals between IT and security teams.

In another development – Zika virus has been detected near the Karnataka capital, latest media reports say. All fever cases are being analysed after the virus was detected near Bengaluru. A sample was sent for examination in August from Chikkaballapur after which the virus was detected in a mosquito. After the detection of the virus an alert was issued in the 5-kilometre of radius of Talkaebetta as the sample belonged from here. Dr S Mahesh, District Health Officer said that around 100 samples were collected from across the state. Six samples were from Chikkaballapur and five of them were negative. One sample tested positive after which the alert was issued.

Meanwhile – Tata Motors has supplied the first batch of the Ultra EV buses to Srinagar Smart City, via TML Smart City Mobility Solutions (J&K), a Tata Motors Group company. The delivery of the e-buses is a part of its larger order to supply, maintain and operate 100 electric buses in Srinagar and 100 electric buses in Jammu, for a period 12-years for Jammu and Srinagar Smart City projects. The collaboration is part of an initiative of Housing and Urban Development Department, government of Jammu & Kashmir to establish an environmentally and financially sustainable network of public transport for Srinagar.

In other news – Sapphire Foods on Thursday recorded its fiscal second quarter profit at Rs 15.34 crore, down 43 per cent as against Rs 26.89 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 642.64 crore, up 14.2 per cent in comparison to Rs 562.77 crore during the same period last year, led by strong KFC performance. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 115 crore, up 11.5 per cent on-year. The company said that its Q2FY24 consolidated restaurant sales of Rs 641.40 crore grew by 14 per cent and EBITDA growth was despite the continuing demand headwinds further exacerbated by an additional month of vegetarian days.

Lastly – The benchmark equity indices ended Thursday’s trading session in the positive territory. The NSE Nifty 50 soared 144.10 points or 0.76% to settle at 19,133.25, while the BSE Sensex added as much as 489.57 points to 64,080.90. The broader indices settled higher with Midcap and Smallcap stocks leading the gains. Bank Nifty index added 316.25 points or 0.74% to 43,017.20. Realty stocks led the gains among the other sectoral indices and added over 2.52%, while PSU Bank, Metal Select Financial Services and Oil & Gas stocks advanced over 1%. Britannia Industries, Hindalco, IndusInd Bank, Apollo Hospital and Eicher Motors were the top gainers on the NSE Nifty 50, while the top laggards included Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Life Insurance, ONGC, and Adani Enterprises.