1. In Biggest Markdown Ever, Morgan Stanley Slashes Flipkart’s Valuation By 38 Percent
India’s largest online marketplace Flipkart has seen yet another valuation markdown by one of its investors. On Tuesday, a Morgan Stanley managed mutual fund marked down the value of its holding in Flipkart by 38.2 percent to $52.13 a share, down from $84.29 a share in the June quarter, according to the fund’s filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The mutual fund, Morgan Stanley Select Dimensions Investment Series, currently holds 1,969 shares in Flipkart that are collectively valued at $102,644.
Flipkart’s current valuation after the latest markdown stands at $5.54 billion – the lowest since September 2014.
The company’s valuation when it last raised capital in July was $15.2 billion.
Source: BloombergQuint
2. Economists Are Talking Nonsense on GDP Decline: Aditya Puri, HDFC Bank MD
The government’s move to scrap old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations would be good for the economy in the long run, says Aditya Puri, managing director of HDFC Bank.
According to him, the worst is behind us, in terms of long queues and inconvenience, and that the focus should now shift to the advantages arising out of it.
Source: Business Standard
3. LIC Starts Prepping to Vote in Tata EGMs Called for Cyrus Mistry Ouster
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which holds significant stakes in 10 listed Tata group companies, has begun preparing background notes on firms where shareholder meetings have been called to oust Cyrus Mistry as director, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The insurer’s board members will hold separate discussions to verify the claims made by Tata Sons to remove Mistry in each group company and assess the performance of these firms during the ousted chairman’s tenure, they added.
Source: Livemint
4. French Boost to Jet Engine Plan, Kaveri Project Being Revived
India’s quest to develop its own fighter jet engine got a leg up after a $2-million consultancy agreement was finalised with leading French defence manufacturer Safran to help revive the Kaveri project.
The project stalled in 2014 after the Kaveri gas turbine engine, developed for combat planes and unmanned aircraft, was unable to provide the required power thrust – a fact French experts expect to correct after study.
Initial assessments by the French company show that 25-30 percent more work is needed for the Kaveri engine to be combat-worthy.
Source: The Economic Times
5. Banks' Profitability May Take a Hit in Q3
Banks’ profitability could take a hit this quarter due to a host of factors linked to demonetisation: the requirement that banks park all of their incremental deposits with the RBI at zero interest rate, a slowdown in loan growth, and expenses incurred in recalibrating ATMs.
Source: Hindu Business Line
6. Fiat Heir Arrested in US for Faking Own Kidnapping
One of the heirs to the Fiat automobile fortune, Lapo Elkann, has been arrested in New York for allegedly faking his own kidnapping, police said today, amid reports that he was trying to pay for a weekend of debauchery.
According to several US media outlets, Elkann, the grandson of legendary Fiat founder Gianni Agnelli, tried to make his family believe he had been kidnapped when he ran out of money during a two-day bender of sex and drugs.
The 39-year-old Italian playboy reportedly spent that time with a transgender prostitute, with whom he consumed a cocktail of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine before running low on funds, the reports said.
He reportedly came up with the plan to ask his family for USD 10,000 in ransom to pay for more drugs, US media said.
Source: The Financial Express
7. Iran Pulls Ahead of Saudis in Fastest-Growing Oil Consumer
Iran is pulling ahead in the race for market share in the world’s fastest-growing oil consuming nation, India, weakening the hold of rival OPEC members amid the group’s struggle to agree on output cuts.
Iran, which dramatically boosted crude sales in 2016 after they were curbed for years by sanctions over its nuclear programme, is challenging the sway of Saudi Arabia and Iraq as it offers perks for refiners to help rebuild its standing in Asia’s third-largest economy.
Cargoes to fill strategic petroleum reserves helped Iran emerge last month as India’s biggest supplier for the first time in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Source: BloombergQuint
8. Malaysia's Axiata Looks to Sell Its 20 Percent Stake in Idea Cellular
Axiata is looking to sell its 20 percent stake in Idea Cellular as the Malaysian company believes the Indian telecom provider’s valuation will remain subdued for at least the next three years given the likelihood of a pricing onslaught stemming from the entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm, said three people familiar with the plan.
Formerly Telekom Malaysia, Axiata had originally asked Idea’s parent, the Aditya Birla Group, to buy back the holding but was turned down.
The Malaysian company is said to have informally asked investment bankers to seek buyers for the stake. Axiata has passed a board resolution to sell its stake in Idea, said one person, although that couldn't be independently verified by ET.
Source: The Economic Times
9. Rs 4 Trillion of Loans Face Default Risk: India Ratings
85 companies that have collectively borrowed Rs 4 trillion will find it tough to repay their loans, despite debt restructuring tools such as the scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed assets (S4A), India Ratings and Research Pvt. Ltd (Ind-Ra) said.
The primary reason for the precarious situation is a build-up of non-productive assets on the books of these companies, the ratings company said on Tuesday.
In a report documenting asset funding trends in 500 most indebted firms, analysts at India Ratings said increasing financial assets and decreasing fixed assets on the books of these firms indicate a turnaround might be difficult.
Source: Livemint
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