In the weekly roundup, we talk about all the major happenings of the week gone by. From Swiggy’s revenue numbers to India’s forign trade, we have got it all covered in this podcast.
Here’s the Weekly Business Roundup at 10:00 am on 30th March, 2024.
[Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated]
===
Let’s begin – Food delivery platform Swiggy has generated revenue from operations of Rs 5,476 crore in the first nine months of FY24, marking a 25-30% year-on-year growth in the ongoing fiscal. Within this, the food delivery business constituted 82.65% of the total operating revenue, amounting to Rs 4,526 crore and the remaining sales came from its quick commerce arm Instamart, the report said citing a document drafted by an investment banker on behalf of Swiggy. During the first nine months of FY24, Swiggy’s gross order value stood at Rs 24,230 crore, with food delivery comprising a substantial 76.2% of it. The company’s food delivery arm also improved its Ebitda margins to -1.9% from -17.5% while that of Instamart improved to -109.5% from -259%.
Up next – Larsen and Toubro announced that its buildings and factories vertical within L&T Construction have secured numerous orders valued between Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore from both domestic and international markets. According to L&T’s categorization, orders falling within the Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore range are classified as ‘large’ orders. Among these recent wins, L&T will undertake the construction of the 165-bed Al Namaa General Hospital in Oman, commissioned by the Ministry of Health of the Sultanate of Oman. This project, scheduled to be completed within 30 months, encompasses civil structures, MEP services, medical equipment installation, finishing works, and external development, including landscaping.
In another development – India’s foreign trade is likely to push the country’s GDP growth by about 0.3-0.4 pps in Q4 FY24, after being a drag for three consecutive past quarters. In Q1, Q2 and Q3 of the current fiscal, net exports contribution to GDP growth was (-)5.5 pps, (-)1.8 pps, and (-)1.2 pps, respectively. Typically, India maintains a merchandise trade deficit, while services trade is in surplus. On a net basis, the country’s foreign trade in both goods and services turn out to be surplus in some quarters and deficit in others. Inflation and the value of the rupee are key determinants too. In Jan-Feb, India’s overall trade deficit – including merchandise and services – stood at $2.7 billion, much lower than $8 billion in the comparable period of FY23.
Moving on – Engineering goods exports this year have benefitted from the free trade agreements with UAE and Australia and change in direction of trade flows brought about by the geo-political realignments. While engineering exports to the UAE rose 16% year-on-year to $ 5.22 billion in the current fiscal till February, shipments to Australia increased 5% to $ 1.30 billion during this period. While Russia has become a major trading partner in the last two years largely due to imports of petroleum crude, engineering exports to the country have doubled during April-February this year to $ 1.2 billion as compared to the same period last year.
In other news – India took ‘strong objection’ to the remarks of the Spokesperson of the US State Department about certain legal proceedings in India. The Acting US Deputy Ambassador Gloria and was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs to address concerns regarding comments made by the State Department over the recent arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The meeting lasted for around 40 minutes and, India expressed “strong displeasure”. The Ministry added that “states are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others.” This development comes a few days after Georg Enzweiler, German Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi, was summoned. And India had conveyed strong protest regarding their Foreign Office Spokesperson’s comments on its internal affairs.
Meanwhile – Tata Group-owned, Air India is likely to narrow its losses in FY24 to around Rs 7,000 crore against Rs 11,381 crore in FY23. When contacted, Air India did not comment on its FY24 financial performance. According to sources, healthy growth in passenger traffic boosted revenues during the year, while cost-saving measures such as automation lowered the expenses. The fiscal year 2023 was the first full financial year when the airline functioned under the Tata Group, which acquired it in January 2022. The FY23 losses at Rs 11,381 crore was 18.6% higher than the previous fiscal, when the losses stood at Rs 9,591 crore after accounting for write-offs and exceptional items.
Lastly – Record-low prices of renewable energy certificates on power exchanges have empowered power distribution companies to enhance compliance with their renewable purchase obligations in the current financial year. In the last trading session on March 13, REC prices hit an all-time low on the Indian Energy Exchange, dropping to Rs 300 per certificate, compared to the previous floor of Rs 1,000. The upcoming trading session is scheduled for March 26. For many years till FY23, discoms’ compliance with RPO stood at around 60%, but it improved to 90% in the last fiscal year. Analysts suggest that this year’s compliance could mirror last year’s, though they note that achieving 100% compliance would have been feasible.
Show More
