1.Housing.com’s Yadav Stays on as CEO
In a rather odd twist to the tale, Rahul Yadav, has withdrawn his decision to call it quits. He has reportedly withdrawn the resignation after the board decided to take a strong look at his grievances and include the main shareholder representatives in it.
After some frank and healthy discussions with the Board, I have agreed to withdraw my resignation and I apologise for my unacceptable comments about the board members. I look forward to staying on at Housing as CEO and building an even greater company, while working in full harmony with the board.
– Rahul Yadav, CEO and Chairman of Housing.com
2.Bombay HC Provides Interim Relief to Aberdeen in MAT Case
In a breather to foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) who have been dogged by retrospective demands on the minimum alternate tax (MAT) from 2008, the Bombay High Court today stayed the tax notice issued to Scottish portfolio investor Aberdeen.
The interim stay comes a day ahead of the High Court taking up the writ petition filed by five FPIs last week against MAT notices issued by tax authorities. The income tax department has sent tax notices demanding MAT on the profit they earned from trading in stocks and bonds to 68 FPIs, seeking a cumulative Rs 603 crore in dues beginning from assessment year 2008.
3.RCom Looks to Walk Out of Tower Business
Reliance Communications, India’s fourth-largest telecom carrier, is looking to sell a majority stake in unit Reliance Infratel, the country’s No. 3 tower company, at a valuation of Rs 20,000-25,000 crore in a bid to focus on core operations and pare debt, reported the Economic Times.
The Anil Ambani-owned company, which wants to sell its entire stake in Reliance Infratel, may settle for a 51% sale at the least and has asked for bids from bankers including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JM Financial to run the process,
4.FII Stake Value in NSE Cos hits 6-yr High at Rs 19.32 lakh cr
Valuation of foreign institutional investors’ holdings in NSE-listed companies hit a six-year high at Rs 19.32 lakh crore in the January-March quarter, as per data collected by Prime Database. The increase was driven largely by the optimism about reform measures taken by Narendra Modi Government, according to market experts. As per the report, the total value of FIIs’ holding rose from Rs 18.3 lakh crore in October-December period of 2014 to Rs 19.32 lakh crore in the quarter ended March.
5.Hindustan Zinc, Cairn Sign Rs 20,500-cr MoU with Rajasthan
Hindustan Zinc and Cairn India Tuesday signed a pact with the government of Rajasthan to invest Rs 20,500 crore in the state in the next three years. Both companies are subsidiaries of Vedanta Resources. Hindustan Zinc, the world’s second biggest zinc producer, operates the world’s third largest open-pit mine, and world’s largest Zinc Mine in Rampura Agucha, Rajasthan.
Read the Economic Times article here.
6.Only 15% of India’s GDP dedicated towards retirement planning
India’s per capita retirement and pension assets as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is among the lowest compared to other economies like Germany, USA and Brazil, according to a survey released by leading fund house, Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) .
India has only 15.1% of retirement assets (as a percentage of GDP) as compared to 21% in Germany, 41% in Brazil,78.9% in USA, the survey shows. “India is a young country with the median age of its population under 30 years. We have around 100 million people today above the age of 60 years, which is expected to triple to 300 million by 2050.
7.Sensex Can Now Easily Drop to 24,000: Faber
According to Marc Faber, renowned global investor and author of The Gloom, Boom & Doom report, investors are now awakening to the fact that reforms will take a lot of time and many may not even be implemented, while still being optimistic on the markets as he expects the S&P BSE Sensex to drop to 24,000 levels in the near term.
The S&P BSE Sensex went till the 30,000 mark and we can now easily drop to 24,000 - 5,000 levels. A lot will depend on monetary policy. Basically, I think the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Raghuram Rajan, would like to see a strong Indian rupee. But he may be under a lot of pressure to lower rates. If he does lower rates, the rupee could begin to weaken more. While the stock market may go up, the rupee may continue to weaken - and in dollar terms, foreign investors are not going to make much money.
Read the rest of the Business Standard article here.
8.Right Issues off to Robust Start in 2015
Fund mobilisation by companies through rights issues in the first four months of 2015 has already gone beyond the amount from this route in each of the past six full calendar years. Six companies have got a total of Rs 11,434 crore through rights issues this year, including the recent Rs 7,500-crore Tata Motors offering.
Investment bankers say a lot of other companies have aggressive capital raising plans, to cash on the improved market sentiment and valuations. Experts say equity capital raising this year, through all forms, is expected to be one of the highest ever.
Read the rest of the Business Standard article here.
9.Rising Mercury to Fire up AC sales, Industry Expects 8% Growth
Despite a delayed summer and irregular weather conditions in certain regions, the air conditioner industry in India is expecting to grow by 8% this fiscal. Thanks to sudden spurt in mercury levels in central, western and southern regions in the country, month-on-month sales have picked up for most manufacturers.
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