Weekly News Roundup at 10:00 am on 5th May, 2024

In this weekly roundup, we talk about GST collection breaching Rs 2 lakh crore milestone, Adani Wilmar Q4 results, and E-comm exports among other news.

Let’e begin. Goods & Services Tax collections breached Rs 2 lakh crore milestone this week. The gross GST collection hit a record of Rs 2.10 lakh crore, an increase of 12.4% year-on-year, in April. This is as per the statement issued by the Finance Ministry. According to the Ministry, the growth is a result of an increase in domestic transactions and imports. Meanwhile, the net GST revenue for April 2024 was recorded at Rs 1.92 lakh crore. Talking about the GST collection numbers for April 2024, Gunjan Prabhakaran, Partner & Leader, Indirect Tax, BDO India, said, quote, “The all-time high GST collection on April 24 has come on the back of strong growth in GST collections from Northern states,” unquote.

Meanwhile, Adani Wilmar reported a standalone net profit of Rs 156.32 crore in Q4 of FY24, a jump of 60% on year, against Rs 97.70 crore in the same period a year ago. The Adani Group’s flagship FMCG firm posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 156.75 crore Vs Rs 93.61 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier. However, the company’s revenue declined 4.5% on year in Q4 of FY24 standing at Rs 13,238.04 crore in the last quarter of FY24. In fiscal FY24, Food & FMCG business reached 1 million MT in sales and overall Company surpassed 6 million MT in sales. Revenue in Food & FMCG segment has nearly doubled in last 2 years.

Moving on. The government is considering setting up specialised zones dedicated to promoting exports through e-commerce. The idea is to free businesses from most of the existing compliance requirements and provide them the flexibility for direct to consumer sales across the national border. According to a plan, which is a part of the 100-day agenda of the commerce ministry, the proposed e-commerce export zones are likely to be driven by private investments, but the government would enable them via necessary policy changes. The dedicated e-commerce export hubs, according to the ministry’s plan, will have warehousing, customs clearance, returns processing, labelling, testing and repackaging, and related facilities. These will be on the lines of export-oriented units.

Over to banking now. Thrissur-based South Indian Bank expects its gross non-performing asset ratio to fall to 4% by March 2025 from 4.5% currently. Managing director and chief executive officer PR Seshadri said, quote, “We have not done any active write-offs. We are working on what we currently have. We are hoping that we would be in the neighbourhood of 4% at the end of FY25,” unquote. The GNPA ratio stood at 5.14% a year ago. The net profit of the bank fell 13.9% year-on-year to Rs 287.6 crore in the March quarter due to sharp rise in expenses. Overall, the bank’s gross advances rose nearly 12% y-o-y to Rs 80,426 crore as on March 31, driven by a growth in corporate loans.

Over to technology. India remains an incredibly exciting market for Apple and a key focus area, CEO Tim Cook said while sharing the company’s Q2 2024 earnings report this week. The March quarter was yet another instance where Apple India registered robust growth, reaching strong double-digit figures, helping the iPhone-maker beat expectations globally. Apple’s quarterly revenue fell to USD 90.8 billion, down 4 percent year over year, but it was less than analysts had expected. India was the rare silver lining. Cook emphasised on the need to make in India and how its physical stores —BKC, Saket— presented an enormous opportunity to grow further. Specifically on manufacturing, Cook highlighted that Apple needs to make in India to stay competitive in world’s fastest-growing smartphone market.

In a relief to EY affiliate firms S.R. Batliboi & Co and others, the Delhi High Court has stayed the order of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India against the audit firms. The stay order has come a week after the ICAI’s disciplinary committee issued a report highlighting the violation of certain provisions of Chartered Accountants Act 1949 by SRBC and its network firms. The ICAI committee had also penalised a retired partner for professional misconduct. Following the stay order, an SRBC spokesperson said that as an Indian audit firm, it has always respected the rules and applicable laws. Meanwhile, ICAI has removed the order from its official website.

Lastly, the auto sector. Isuzu this week launched the 2024 D-Max V-Cross Z Prestige, which is the flagship variant in the company’s pickup truck portfolio. This new V-Cross trim comes with a host of new features and design updates. The bookings for the Isuzu pickup truck are now open. Let’s take a closer look at the 2024 D-Max V-Cross Z Prestige and explore its latest additions. Isuzu has equipped the manual transmission versions of the V-Cross with new safety features such as Traction Control System, Electronic Stability Control, Hill Descent Control, and Hill Start Assist.