In this week’s round-up, we talk about the Godrej Family splitting their 127-year-old business into two, Coke seeing strong growth in India, and the biggest price cut on iPad among other news.
Here’s the Weekly Business Roundup at 10:00 am on 4th May, 2024.
[Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated]
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In this week’s round-up, we talk about the Godrej Family splitting their 127-year-old business into two, Coke seeing strong growth in India, and the biggest price cut on iPad among other news. Let’s begin with the news that made headlines this week.
The Godrej family this week announced that ownership has been realigned of the family’s shareholdings in the Godrej Companies. With both the Groups continuing the use of the Godrej brand. Jamshyd Godrej will be owning Godrej Enterprises Group comprised of Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates, which have a presence across multiple industries spanning Aerospace, Aviation, Defence, Engines and Motors, Energy, Security, Building Materials, Construction, Green Building Consulting, EPC Services, Intralogistics, Healthcare Equipment, Durables, Furniture, Interior Design, Architectural Fittings, IT, Software as well as Infrastructure Solutions. The comapny said that this group will now be controlled by Jamshyd Godrej, Nyrika Holkar, and their immediate families.
Meanwhile, The Coca-Cola Company, the world’s largest beverage firm, remained bullish about its India business despite a weak start to the 2024 calendar year, chairman & CEO James Quincey said in a post-results earnings call this week. The company follows a January-December accounting year. Quincey also said that Indian brands such as Thums Up remained strong in terms of their sales performance in the country. He said the company has made net gains of $293 million related to refranchising of its bottling operations in certain territories in India this year. The India market, which is part of the Asia-Pacific region, saw a slow start in January and February but sales have rebounded in March-April with the summer setting in.
Moving on. The Centre will consider favourably any request from Vodafone Idea for either deferring or converting adjusted gross revenue and spectrum dues into equity post September, 2025, when the current moratorium on such payments ends. However, such relief may come attached with certain conditions, officials told Fe. Officials said with the successful Rs 18,000-crore follow-on public offer last month, the telco will be able to participate in industry growth and the government will support it in every possible manner. Vodafone Idea chief executive officer Akshaya Moondra recently told FE that the company may need further support from the government once the current moratorium on the AGR and spectrum dues ends in September, 2025.
On to healthcare industry. Online pharmacy retailer PharmEasy raised Rs 1,804 crore, or $216 million, this week in a round led by Ranjan Pai’s Manipal Education and Medical Group and existing investors. The company has allotted 186.4 million convertible preference shares in total at an issue price of Rs 96.8 each, according to its RoC filings sourced from TheKredible. But the funding round has dragged down its valuation by 90% to $710 million, from the peak valuation of $5.6 billion it had in 2021. Last year, several media reports indicated that the company is looking to raise funds to pay its lender Goldman Sachs, who had lent about $285 million to the company to pay off an earlier debt taken during its Rs 4,546-crore Thyrocare acquisition.
Next up, banking. The RBI has allowed Bajaj Finance to resume the sanction and disbursal of new loans under eCOM and online through its ‘Insta EMI Card’. The company remains committed to ensure adherence and compliance of regulatory guidelines. On November 15, the RBI directed Bajaj Finance to stop the sanction and disbursal of loans under its two lending products ‘e-COM’ and ‘Insta EMI Card’ with immediate effect. In its notification, the central bank said that the action is necessitated due to non-adherence of the company to the digital lending guidelines. Additionally, the RBI also observed deficiencies in the key fact statements issued in respect of other digital loans sanctioned by the company.
Over to technology. The tenth-generation iPad is selling at its lower price ever since launch in India ahead of Apple’s May 7 “Let Loose” special event. The price drop is reflecting across both Flipkart and Amazon, both of which are currently running their Big Savings Day and Great Summer sales. Apple itself seems to have revised the price of the iPad over the course of time. To recap, the iPad was launched in 2022 at a starting price of Rs 44,900 for a version with Wi-Fi and 64GB of storage. Apple now lists the same product at a lower price of Rs 39,900. However, the discount is even higher if you visit either Amazon or Flipkart right about now.
Lastly, the auto sector. Force Motors recently took the covers off the updated Gurkha range which now comes with an additional 5-door version along with the existing 3-door version. The 3-door gets a four-seat layout priced at Rs 16.75 lakh, while the 5-door version gets a seven-seat layout with two captain seats at the rear priced at Rs 18 lakh (both prices ex-showroom). Bookings for the boxy off-roading SUV started a couple of days ago at a token amount of Rs 25,000. The Pune-based automaker will start with the dispatch of the vehicle to dealerships from this week onwards, while test drives are expected to commence from mid-May onwards.
