1. Govt Panel to Consider Air India Debt Write-Off
The aviation ministry and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) will on Friday present to a ministerial panel their recommendation on the amount of debt that needs to be written off Air India’s books to make the state-owned airline attractive to potential investors, a government official said on condition of anonymity.
Dealing with Air India’s debt of just under Rs 50,000 crore is a key step – the most critical one, according to some analysts – in the government’s plan to divest part or all of its stake in the airline.
Friday’s meeting is the second of the ministerial panel tasked to speed up this process. Apart from the Tata group and IndiGo, private equity funds KKR and Co Lp and Warburg Pincus Llc have expressed interest in acquiring Air India’s businesses, Mint reported on 24 July.
Source: Livemint
2. Tata and Temasek Approve Merger of Snapdeal, Flipkart
Tata group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata, Temasek, BlackRock and Foxconn, all high-profile stakeholders of Gurgaon-based online marketplace Snapdeal, have reportedly given in-principle approval to its merger with rival, Flipkart.
None of them, however, could be contacted to confirm this information. Snapdeal, too, refused to comment.
According to some sources, Premji Invest and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund, other investors of Snapdeal, have still not approved the merger.
Getting a nod from the shareholders is important, as it is part of the clauses in the deal agreement. For it to go ahead, at least 75 percent of minority shareholders have to approve the deal.
Source: Business Standard
3. Shikha Sharma Reappointed as MD & CEO of Axis Bank
Putting an end to all resignation rumours, Axis Bank on Thursday reappointed Shikha Sharma as MD & CEO for three years. Sharma, in an earlier report, had dismissed reports about her looming exit from the bank.
In an exclusive interview with ET, Sharma said that there was no substance to the media reports stating her impending resignation and that she was focused on doing her job.
"These are rumours that are flying around hot and fast, but there is no substance to it, these rumours don't change who I am or the commitment to the institution," Sharma said.
Source: Times of India
4. Uber India Market Share Jumped to 50% in Jan-June Period; Ola at 44%
US-based online cab aggregrator Uber grew its market share in the six months to June at 50 percent as rival Ola Cabs had a share of 44.2 percent, data from a research by KalaGato Pte show. The shares are based on app downloads in 60 cities, including the top 10 metros besides Tier 1 and 2 cities. Other taxi service providers, including Ixigo Cabs, grabbed 4.5 percent share of the market, followed by Meru Cabs at just 1.3 percent.
According to the data, Ola was racing ahead in January and February at 51.8 percent and 48.1 percent market share, respectively. However, the Indian start-up lost out to its American rival in March, which grabbed 48.9 percent share. Ola’s market share stood at 45.2 percent in March.
Source: Financial Express
5. Marginal Rise in Maruti Profit in June Quarter
Hit by the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Maruti Suzuki has posted a small 4.4 percent increase in its net profit for the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal at Rs 1,556.4 crore.
The company had seen a net profit of Rs 1,490.9 crore during the same quarter ended 30 June 2016, of the previous fiscal.
In a statement the company attributed the results, which underwhelmed market expectations, to “adverse impact of rise in commodity prices… provision for compensation to dealers for tax loss due to transition to GST and higher marketing expense.” However, cost reduction by the company has offset some of the impact.
In comparison to the immediate quarter gone by the company’s profit has dipped 9 percent. Further, in comparison to the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal (the quarter just gone by) net sales have also taken a hit of 4.8 percent.
Source: Hindu BusinessLine
6. ICICI Bank Q1 Profit Down 8% as Bad Loans Rise
ICICI Bank Ltd on Thursday reported an 8.2 percent decline in June quarter net profit as an increase in bad loans and slower credit growth countered a decline in the pace of accretion of stressed assets.
Net profit in the fiscal first quarter fell to Rs 2,049 crore from Rs 2,232.35 crore a year ago. The bank had been expected to post a profit of Rs 2,001.50 crore, based on a poll of 20 analysts by Bloomberg. On a consolidated basis, net profit rose to Rs2,605 crore from Rs 2,516 crore in the same period.
Bad loans jumped to Rs 43,147.64 crore, an increase of 1.4 percent from three months ago. In the quarter, the bank added Rs 4,957 crore to its non-performing asset (NPA) stock, the smallest rise in seven quarters. NPAs made up 8.84 percent of ICICI Bank’s total loans, compared with 8.74 percent in March.
Source: Livemint
7. ITC’s Cigarette Sales
Rise In Q1, Profit Misses Estimates
ITC Ltd’s quarterly profit missed analyst estimates even as higher cigarette sales pushed up the revenue.
Net profit rose 7.4 percent to Rs 2,561 crore in the quarter ended June over the year-ago period, according to an exchange filing. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg had estimated profit at Rs 2,624 crore. Revenue rose by 4.1 percent to Rs 13,800.4 crore. The growth was largely driven by higher cigarette sales, which grew 6.6 percent to Rs 8,774 crore.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation climbed 6.3 percent to Rs 3,747 crore. EBITDA margin expanded to 37.6 percent from 35.1 percent a year ago.
Source: BloombergQuint
8. SEBI Sets Framework For Exchanges, Clearing Corporations At IFSC
A domestic or foreign bourse can set up an exchange in the IFSC with at least 51 percent stake while the remaining can be held by other exchanges or banks, among others, with an individual cap of 15 percent.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SECI) said insurers, commodity derivative exchanges, public financial institutions of Indian jurisdiction are also eligible to hold the remaining shares.
In a circular, the regulator said any one of these entities may “acquire or hold, either directly or indirectly, either individually or together with persons acting in concert, up to 15 percent of the paid-up equity share capital of such stock exchange (new venture)”.
Under the IFSC regime, any recognised domestic or foreign stock exchange can set up a subsidiary in the international financial services centre (IFSC) to offer services, provided they hold at least 51 percent stake in the venture.
Source: PTI
9. Govt Raises Rs 535 Crore From NFL Share Sale
The government’s 15 percent stake sale in National Fertilisers Ltd (NFL) Thursday fetched Rs 535 crore to the exchequer, with over-subscription from both retail and institutional investors.
The two-day offer for sale (OFS) opened for retail investors Thursday and was over-subscribed 1.66 times.
Against Rs 107 crore reserved for retail investors, total bids of Rs 178.67 crore were received. Institutional investors’ portion was over-subscribed 1.35 times Wednesday with bids worth Rs 578.8 crore coming in against shares for value of Rs 428.57 crore at the floor price.
“Overall, NFL OFS for 15 percent divestment for equity shares of 7.35 crore amounting to Rs 535.71 crore at the floor price Rs 72.80 per share, received a total demand for equity shares amounting to Rs 757.45 crore. Therefore, the OFS of NFL was over-subscribed by 1.41 times,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
Source: PTI
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