In this weekend bulletin, we will talk about Germany’s new employment and recognition rules, ‘Motilal Oswal Tower’ in Bengaluru and more.
Here’s the Weekly Business Roundup at 10:00 am on 1st June, 2024.
In this weekend bulletin, we will talk about Germany’s new employment and recognition rules, ‘Motilal Oswal Tower’ in Bengaluru and more.
Here’s the Weekly Business Roundup at 10:00 am on 1st June, 2024.
[Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated]
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Let’s begin. Telecom major Bharti Airtel reported a 31% decline in its consolidated net profit, amounting to Rs 2,072 crore for the quarter ended March 2024, compared to Rs 3,006 crore in the same quarter the previous year. This profit figure significantly missed Street estimates, which had projected around Rs 3,274 crore. Revenue from operations for the January-March 2024 period increased by 4% to Rs 37,599 crore, up from Rs 36,009 crore in the corresponding period last year. India revenues for the March quarter surged 13% year-on-year to Rs 28,513 crore, driven by a 13% year-on-year growth in mobile revenues, attributed to improved realization and strong 4G/5G customer additions. EBITDA margins declined by 10 basis points to 52.1%.
Meanwhile, Aadhar Housing Finance made a muted listing on the bourses on May 15. The company’s shares were listed at Rs 315 on the NSE. In the grey market, Aadhar Housing’s stocks were fetching a premium of 15% to the issue price. The grey market is an unofficial market where shares illegally change hands before listing. Aadhar Housing raised Rs 3,000 crore from investors by offering them 95.2 million shares via a combination of fresh issues and an offer for sale. According to the lending company, the raised funds will be utilised to meet the future capital requirements towards onward lending and other general corporate purposes. The company had set a price band of Rs 300 to 315 per equity share.
Moving on. Negotiators for the India-UK free trade agreement have made substantial progress and the work is on to resolve pending issues as early as possible, a senior official said Wednesday. Officials from both sides had met last month in London and chapterwise textual negotiations are nearly closed and schedules on goods and services are in an advanced stage of negotiations, he said. Work is in progress on resolving pending issues. The India-UK FTA has 26 chapters or policy areas and the schedules in FTA deal with tariffs which each side will impose on goods from other countries under the agreement. So far India and UK have held 13 rounds of negotiations on the FTA and the 14th round which started in January is in progress.
Over to industry. Jindal Stainless has earmarked a capex of Rs 4,700 crore for FY25, a majority of which would be used for its proposed expansion plans. The rise in capex, from Rs 3,800 crore in FY24, is also on back of expectations of a rise in domestic demand, MD Abhyuday Jindal said. JSL this week posted a 30% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 501 crore for the fourth quarter, while its net revenue fell 3% to Rs 9,454 crore and Ebitda slid 10% to Rs 1,035 crore. The margins were under pressure on account of negative inventory valuation due to continuously falling nickel prices. A consensus Bloomberg estimate was expecting a net profit of Rs 578 crore, on revenue of Rs 9,605 crore.
Over to economy. The core CPI inflation may have come in at 3.2% in April, but going forward it may only increase as prices of several commodities, including crude oil and metals have started to rise, say economists. A likelihood of an uptick in core inflation is likely to push the rate cuts possibility to Q3 of the current fiscal year, they say. Core inflation–which has stayed at 3.2% for two consecutive months–is expected to average around 3.5-3.7% in H1 FY25, and 4.5% in H2, according to economists. The Reserve Bank of India aims to keep the headline retail inflation rate at 4% on a durable basis. According to its projection, CPI inflation is expected to average 4.5% in FY25.
In some more industry news, Indian primary aluminium manufacturers are expected to post operating margin growth of over 25 per cent on-year this fiscal owing to continued healthy demand, better realisations and a likely reduction in the cost of production driven by cheaper energy and alumina, stated a report by CRISIL. This is against approximately 20 per cent growth in fiscal 2024. The industry, it added, is capital-intensive, requires upfront capital expenditure and is marked by volatile operating profitability. Therefore, an increase in operating profit will reduce reliance on debt to fund ongoing capex and will support credit metrics.
Lastly, the auto sector. Greaves Electric Mobility Private Limited, the e-mobility business of Greaves Cotton Limited, has announced a significant price revision on its highest-selling models of Ampere electric scooters, aligning with its mission to make “Har Gully Electric.” This move aims to make electric scooters more affordable and accessible to a wider audience, contributing to the growth of the electric vehicle market in India. The company’s highest-selling scooter, the Magnus EX, which offers a certified range of over 100 kilometers, is now available at Rs. 94,900 (ex-showroom), down from its previous price.