In this weekly roundup, we talk about Indigene IPO, jump in the PSU market cap, and Byju’s sales staff’s failure to meet targets among other news.
Here’s the Weekly Business Roundup at 10:00 am on 11th May, 2024.
In this weekly roundup, we talk about Indigene IPO, jump in the PSU market cap, and Byju’s sales staff’s failure to meet targets among other news.
Here’s the Weekly Business Roundup at 10:00 am on 11th May, 2024.
[Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated]
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Let’s begin with the news that made headlines this week. Net inflows into equity mutual funds fell 16.4% sequentially in April to Rs 18,917.1 crore, as inflows into large and mid-cap funds fell sharply. However, after the blip in March, small-cap funds continued to see strong inflows. Inflows through systematic investment plans surpassed Rs 20,000 crore for the first time in April, according to the data from AMFI. The small-cap funds, which had seen rare net outflows in March, saw Rs 2,208.7 crores of net inflows in April. The March outflows were attributed to year-end profit taking due to tax purposes by the industry experts. Net inflows into large-cap funds fell significantly to Rs 357.6 crore in April from Rs 2,127.8 crores in March.
Over to IPOs. Indegene IPO got subscribed 70.30 times on the last day of its subscription. The company closed its subscription on May 08 and opened it on May 06. In the retail category, the IPO of Indegene got bids 7.86 times more than the offered shares. The QIB segment was subscribed 192.72 times, and the NII category 55.91 times. The company’s shares were attracting a premium of 65% to its issue price of Rs 452 a share. It kept a price band of Rs 430 to Rs 452. The tentative listing is seen to be on May 13. Indegene provides digital services for the life sciences industry. The company assists in various things for life science companies like drug development, clinical trials, and pharmacovigilance etc.
Meanwhile, The combined market cap of 81 listed Public Sector Undertakings including banks and insurance companies has grown by 225% in the last three years, aided by the government’s higher capital expenditure, better capital management and professionalism, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. In a rebuttal to Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s claim that PSUs are being “dismantled” and are in disarray under the Modi government, in a post on ‘X’, Sitharaman said the facts reveal a very different picture. She said that PSUs that suffered and were neglected by the Congress-led UPA government, such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, have seen a resurgence under the Modi government.
Moving on. Baroda BNP Paribas Mutual Fund has launched a new scheme Baroda BNP Paribas Retirement Fund. The new fund offer will remain open for subscription from May 8 till May 22. The fund has been designed to help retirement planning for individuals, seeking capital appreciation and income generation over the long term. This open-ended retirement solution-oriented scheme comes with a lock-in period of five years or until retirement age of 58 years (whichever is earlier). The clear goal orientation and lock-in period help investors to stay invested for long-term and achieve their retirement goal, the fund house said in a statement on May 8.
Despite the admission season kicking in, financially troubled edtech firm, Byju’s appears to be grappling with sales challenges. According to company sources, bulk of the sales staff, who were put on a revenue-linked payout model since last week, have not been able to sell even a single course or subscription. This is despite Byju’s lowering the pricing for its various educational offerings by up to 30%, according to sources. The yearly subscription cost for the company’s flagship Byju’s Learning App has now been set at Rs 12,000, inclusive of applicable taxes. Meanwhile, the full-year fees for Byju’s Classes stand at Rs 24,000, and enrolling in BTC (Byju’s Tuition Center) will cost students Rs 36,000 annually, as per the information provided by the sources.
Over to technology. US-based technology giant Oracle plans to double its artificial intelligence investments in India. Chris Chelliah, senior VP of technology and customer strategy at Oracle Japan and Asia Pacific, said that Oracle brings AI to the enterprise in software-as-a-service applications, AI services, data, and infrastructure. He added that their plans going forward in India are to double down investments, with a focus in data. The company’s newest version of database, the Oracle Database 23ai, introduces Oracle AI Vector Search and over 300 new major features designed to make using AI with data easier, speed up application development, and enhance the performance of mission-critical tasks.
Lastly, the auto sector. Ola Electric has big plans going forward when it comes to electric mobility. The Bengaluru-based EV manufacturing is already raking moolahs off the S1 electric scooter lineup and it intends to expand its two-wheeler lineup with many more models in the future. Besides scooters, Ola Electric wants to foray into the electric motorcycle segment as well. Ola has filed multiple patents in the country including some new electric motorcycles. In the latest journals for patents in India published, Ola Electric has filed three new patents for electric motorcycles. The three designs possibly signify three different interpreations of the Cyber Racer and all three interpretations flaunt visual distinctions to set them apart.