Weekly News Roundup at 10:00 am on 24th December 2023

Let’s begin – In a recent GREED & fear note, Christopher Wood, Global Head of Equity Strategy at Jefferies,, unveiled a stark divergence in the performance of their investment portfolios for India and China, providing insights into the contrasting economic landscapes of the two Asian giants. What Is particularly interesting in the Indian context is that the report notes the shift in the Indian economic paradigm – with investment now driving growth, reversing the consumption-centric pattern of the past decade. As of year-to-date, Jefferies’ long-only India portfolio has demonstrated robust growth, soaring by an impressive 41.2% in dollar terms on a total-return basis. Notably, the best-performing stock within the Indian portfolio has seen an astounding surge of 309%.
Up next – Essar group’s IT solution provider Black Box aims to double its revenue to $2 billion in the next three years, said president and CEO of Black Box Sanjeeb Verma, in an interaction with FE on Tuesday. Currently, the company is seeing an annual revenue run rate of about Rs 7,000 crore. It is looking to increase its margin to 10% over the next few quarters. In the second quarter, the company’s Ebitda margin was at 6.4%. In 2019, AGC Networks acquired the IT solution provider and in 2021, renamed it Black Box. The company is headquartered in Texas but is also listed in India.
Moving on – Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the officials to establish direct connectivity between the forthcoming Noida International Airport and Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The Noida airport, which is being constructed in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district near Delhi, is slated to have direct connectivity through metro, high-speed rapid rail, and road networks, as per an official statement. During a review meeting with officials from the National Capital Region Transport Corporation, Northern Railway, North Central Railway, and state government representatives, UP CM acknowledged the transformative developments in the Jewar area, attributing its positive shift to the upcoming international airport and proposed film city.
In another development – NBFC Capri Global Capital is planning to launch digital loans. However, the lender has not set any specific timeline for launching this product. The company’s assets under management stood at around Rs 12,400 crore as on September 30. Around 96.6% of its portfolio comprises micro, small and medium-sized enterprise, gold loans, affordable housing loans and construction finance. It also lends to non-banking financial companies engaged in MSME lending, microfinance, and fintech-based NBFCs. The company also originates new car loans for banks for a fee. Here, the lending partners include HDFC Bank, YES Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Bank of India.
Meanwhile – Even as Vodafone Idea continues to report subscriber churn for 2.5 years now, the telecom operator in September reported an increase in active subscribers for the first time in 1.5 years, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Out of the total 227.5 million subscribers, the company’s active subscribers at the end of September were at 199.8 million, an increase of 0.4 million from the previous month. The last time Vodafone reported an increase in active subscribers base was in March 2022, when it was at 226.1 million. The reason for this surge in September this year can be attributed to improvement in subscriber mix with the addition of 4G users, according to analysts.
In other news – The share of electric buses in new bus sales in India is set to double to around 8 percent next fiscal from the current 4 percent says Crisil. This it says will be driven by two factors, the first being the central government’s focus on decarbonising the public transport sector. Efforts are underway to deploy e-buses via tenders already awarded under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles and the National Electric Bus Programme. The second is the favourable total cost of ownership of an e-bus compared with internal combustion engine and compressed natural gas buses, driven by lower operating costs and reduced initial acquisition costs.
Lastly – Air India Express is set to launch its inaugural flight to Ayodhya from Delhi on December 30, with daily scheduled services starting from January 16. The Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram International Airport in Ayodhya has an extended runway suitable for A-321/B-737 type aircraft. The inaugural flight, IX 2789, is scheduled to depart from Delhi at 1100 hours and arrive in Ayodhya at 1220 hours. The return flight, IX 1769, will depart Ayodhya at 1250 hours and land in Delhi at 1410 hours. Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India, emphasises its commitment to enhancing connectivity from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The Ayodhya airport, developed at a cost of around Rs 350 crore by the Airports Authority of India, received its aerodrome license from the DGCA on December 14.