1. Infosys in Damage Control Mode as Stock Plunges
Infosys Ltd on Tuesday scrambled to contain the fallout from allegations of accounting malpractices that sent its shares plunging the most in more than six years by engaging accounting firm EY and law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. to examine the claims made by whistleblowers.
In a statement, Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani said that the company’s audit committee began consultations with internal auditors on terms of reference for an investigation into the allegations after its 11 October board meeting while law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas was retained on 21 October to conduct a separate independent investigation.
(Source: Mint)
2. BSNL’s Revival Plan Hangs in Balance as Finance Ministry Bides Its Time
Debt-laden Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s (BSNL) revival plans will not be tabled at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, as the Finance Ministry is yet to respond to the earlier submitted plans.
Further, employees of the PSU are yet to get their September salary as on date, even as it is expected to be credited on Wednesday.
“The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is yet to receive the Finance Ministry’s comments on the revival plans, and upon receiving it, the department will prepare a final note to be tabled before the Cabinet. The unions were expecting the Cabinet to look into the issue on Wednesday, but now the revival plans seems to be delayed further,” said sources.
(Source: Hindu BusinessLine)
3.Twenty Five DHFL Group Firms with Rs 1 Lakh Avg Profit Took Rs 14,000 Crore Loans
About 25 group companies to which Dewan Housing Finance Corp. Ltd (DHFL) had lent a total of Rs 14,000 crore had an average profit of about Rs 1 lakh, a forensic audit of the company has found, raising suspicion that the mortgage lender may have diverted funds.
Out of the around Rs 27,000 crore worth of loans raised by DHFL from banks for on-lending to home buyers, around Rs 10,050 crore was invested in mutual funds, the findings of the audit revealed.
The draft report of the audit was shared with the members of DHFL’s committee of creditors (CoC) last week and will be presented to the board of the mortgage lender once it is finalised.
(Source: Mint)
4. PM Narendra Modi Joked That Media Trying to Trap Me: Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Banerjee, this year’s Indian-born Economics Nobel Laureate, met Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning. Soon after, Modi tweeted that it was an excellent meeting and that “India is proud of his accomplishments”. Banerjee shared the Nobel with co-researchers Esther Duflo, who he’s married to, and Michael Kremer. Duflo, the youngest Economics Nobel winner, wasn’t present at the meeting with the PM.
Speaking to the media later, he said, “Thank you, PM... that was a unique experience.” Responding to how the conversation with Modi had gone, Banerjee laughingly quipped he wouldn’t get into any controversial subject as he had been warned by the PM. But, the professor spilled the beans by saying the PM had started the conversation by cracking a joke on how the media was trying to trap him to say “anti-Modi things”. He went on to say, “The PM has been watching TV and watching you guys. And he knows what you are trying to do.”
(Source: Business Standard)
5. Uber CEO Khosrowshahi Urges Indians to Shun Car Ownership ‘Trap’
Uber Inc. chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi on Tuesday dived into the raging debate in India on whether millennials prefer purchasing cars over other options such as electronic gadgets.
Khosrowshahi urged Indians to resist falling into the trap of owning cars, like their counterparts in the developed world, and instead take on these so-called “established industries" by focusing on innovations to make travel convenient.
He said there is very high car ownership in the developed countries, which is “a trap that can sometimes prevent innovation because you have a central infrastructure that is designed for the last 10 years versus infrastructure that is designed for the next 10-20 years."
(Source: Mint)
6. Softbank Set to Take Control of Wework with $1.7 Billion Payout for Ousted CEO
Former CEO of troubled co-working startup WeWork Adam Neumann will get nearly $1.7 billion from SoftBank to detach himself from the company and relinquish his voting rights as the Japanese investor got approval from the company’s board to take control of it, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
As part of the deal, the Japanese investor will pay $1 billion to Neumann for his shares along with $185 million consulting fees and another $500 million in credit to help him pay JPMorgan loans.
SoftBank would be looking to allocate $4 billion to $5 billion in additional funding in WeWork and buy existing shares, CNBC reported, even as the value of WeWork this time would be around $7.5 billion to $8 billion — a drastic fall from around $47-billion that the company was valued at before its unsuccessful IPO.
(Source: Financial Express)
7. India Inc's Deal Activity Falls to $6,025 Million in July-September Quarter: Report
Corporate India's merger and acquisition activity in the July-September quarter witnessed a downtrend with total deal value falling by more than half over the last year, largely owing to a slump in economic activity and lack of big ticket deals, says a report.
According to Grant Thornton's quarterly M&A Dealtracker 2019, in the third quarter of this year, corporate India announced deals worth $6,025 million through 97 deals against 134 such transactions worth $13,185 million in the same period of the last year.
(Source: Economic Times)
8. Google India Revenue Declines 56% Due to Change in Accounting Standards
Google India, the arm of the technology giant operating in the country, reported a 56 percent fall in revenue in the year ended 31 March 2019. The fall was attributed to a new accounting standard, according to regulatory filings sourced from business intelligence firm Tofler.
Revenue from advertising fell to 28 percent from 69 percent a year ago. Profit rose 16 percent to Rs 473 crore during FY19 from Rs 406 crore a year ago.
The changes have happened because of changes in accounting standards from IND AS 18 to IND AS 115, according to the filing.
(Source: Business Standard)
9. Axis Bank Reports Loss of Rs 112 Crore on One-Off Tax Adjustment
Axis Bank Ltd incurred a loss of Rs 112 crore for the quarter ended 30 September, due to a one-time hit of Rs 2,138 crore as the value of future relief through deferred tax assets (DTA) will fall because of the corporate tax rate cut. Adjusted for this extraordinary item, net profit would have surged 156% to Rs 2,026 crore from Rs 789.61 crore a year earlier.
Axis Bank said it has been fully adjusted through Q2FY20 financials, which has impacted the earnings significantly.
(Source: Mint)
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