1.Economy Looking up But Need More Reforms for Strong Growth, says Rajan - PTI
I would say (economy is) picking up. We see some signs of capital investment picking up. There is a continuing need, which the government is trying to address, of putting some of the stalled projects back on track.
– Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor
Rajan, known for critical analysis of macroeconomic trends, however said that subdued exports, primarily on account of global factors, remain an area of concern. However, he added that India’s direct exposure to Greece was very limited, and there might be some indirect impact in terms of foreign exchange rates. On exports, Rajan said they “are an area of relative weakness. But they have been weak across the various Asian economies, to the exception of perhaps of China. The weak state of global economy is a big factor there.
2.ED Attaches Zoom Developers’ Rs 1,000-cr US Land Over Loan Fraud - BS
In a first, the Indore unit of the enforcement directorate (ED) has attached 1,280 acres in California, US, in what is being termed as one of the biggest bank loan fraud cases in the country worth Rs 2,200 crore, committed by Zoom Developers and its promoter, Vijay Choudhary.
“ED Indore attaches, under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 1,280 acres of land in California, USA of Zoom Developers Pvt Ltd and Vijay Choudhary in a bank fraud case,” the agency tweeted on Thursday. Indore falls under the jurisdiction of ED, Ahmedabad. The attached property is being valued at Rs 1,000 crore.
According to sources, the company took a loan of Rs 2,200 crore for various projects in European countries. However, no work was undertaken even as the entire money was allegedly siphoned, sources said. Reportedly, Zoom Developers had also taken loans worth Rs 2,650 crore from numerous banks under pretext of developing other projects. However, the company did not undertake any development on the US property.
3.M&As at 6-year Low in First Half - BS
Mergers and acquisitions hit a six-year low at $14.1 billion worth of transactions in the first six months of this year, said a report by financial services firm Thomson Reuters.
This is about 25 per cent lower than the corresponding period of the previous year and the lowest first half since 2009, when M&As were reported at $9.1 billion following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. he average M&A deal size for transactions with disclosed values dropped to $62.5 million in the first half of 2015 against $83.3 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. Cairn India’s merger with parent Vedanta is the biggest transaction of this year at $2.15 billion
“Domestic M&A stood at $4.7 billion, down 42.9 per cent over a year ago, and saw the lowest first half since 2013, when deal value dropped to $2.5 billion,” said the report.
4.Gulf Petrochem to Set up Rs 1,000-crore Ethanol Plant Here - ET
Gulf Petrochem will set up a Rs 1,000-crore ethanol manufacturing plant in India, according to a top company executive, as the UAE-headquartered entity seeks to leverage on the government’s mandate to blend ethanol with petrol. It has been a decade since the government opted for blending 5% ethanol with fossil fuel to reduce vehicular emissions, a measure that was later made mandatory . But the country is far from reaching the target, managing at most 2% blending as oil marketing companies say there isn’t enough ethanol available.
According to estimates, India needs over 115 crore litres of ethanol to meet its target of 5% blending.
5.Ratan Tata Joins Jungle Ventures as Special Advisor - FE
Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Indian Conglomerate, Tata Sons has joined Jungle Ventures as a Special Advisor.
Founded in 2012 by Anurag Srivastava and Amit Anand, Jungle Ventures, is an early stage venture capital fund, with a firm focus on helping build innovative technology led companies out of the Asia-Pacific.
Jungle has already made investments in 30 leading Asian startups, including the likes of Zipdial (recently acquired by Twitter), LiveSpace, Tradegecko, CrayonData, Fastacash and travelmob (acquired by Nasdaq listed HomeAway). In his role as Special Advisor, Tata has formally committed to spend time with Jungle’s portfolio of companies to help them build category leadership, while being ethically impregnable and culturally strong, in Asian and global markets.
Jungle Ventures, is best known for guiding the growth of portfolio companies across Asia, with its ‘operations as a service’ model.
6.Mobile Banking May Overtake Internet Transactions by Next Year: HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank, the country’s second-largest private sector lender, has upped the focus on mobile banking transactions in the past few months as part of its strategy to transform itself into a digital bank. Now, the lender believes mobile banking will overtake internet banking by next year.
Usage of mobiles has been growing rapidly and outpacing the growth of the internet transactions. We feel next by year it will overtake internet banking.
– Nitin Chugh, head-digital banking, HDFC Bank.
In FY15, 63 per cent of the total transactions were via the digital medium for HDFC bank. In FY14, only 55 per cent of the transaction were via the digital medium whereas the share of digital banking was at 44 per cent in FY13.
7.Drug Major Lupin Acquires 100 % Equity Stake in Biocom - PTI
Drug major Lupin on Thursday announced its foray into the russian market by announcing the acquisition of Russia’s Biocom. The company has acquired 100 per cent equity stake in ZAO Biocom in Russia subject to certain closing conditions, Lupin Ltd said in a statement without disclosing the financial details.
The acquisition marks Mumbai-based firm’s entry into the Russian pharmaceutical market which recorded 765 billion in sales, placing it as one of the top ten markets in the world in 2014, it added.
Established in 1991, Biocom is a generic pharma company with focus on therapies such as cardiovascular, central nervous system and antimicrobials and also does contract manufacturing and secondary packaging. Biocom recorded sales of 861.2 million rubles in financial year 2014 and has 118 employees.
8.SN Subrahmanyan May be L&T’s Next MD & CEO - TOI
N Subrahmanyan or SNS as he is popularly called, the youngest member in the six-member Larsen and Toubro (L&T) board at 54 is likely to take charge as managing director and chief executive officer of India’s largest infrastructure engineering company as the present incumbent K Venkataramanan retires in September this year. Subrahmanyan, is also widely considered as one of the two contenders to replace L&T chairman A M Naik, 73, who gave himself a 5 year extension in 2012 to find a successor.
The composition of the L&T board is also expected to change by September, when the next board meeting is due.
9.In Sign of More Pain, Nearly Third of BSE 500 Stocks at 52-week low - FE
In the five months after the benchmark Sensex touched its closing peak and thereafter started losing momentum, nearly a third of BSE 500 companies have slipped to their 52-week low. The 30-share index scaled a mark of 29,682 in late January and is now down 6% from this peak, thanks to a stellar recovery observed since mid-June.
Weak investor sentiment due to consistently poor earnings growth and lack of any visible pick up in real economic activity has weighed on investor sentiment leading to profit booking in some of the key sectors.
Banking and finance firms account for nearly a fifth of the universe of stocks that touched their 52-week low in the last five months. Interestingly, banks and finance stocks comprise nearly half of the Sensex constituents that touched this level (52-week low). A breach of the 52-week low demonstrates a downward trend in a stock.
The list also includes stocks like Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Hindalco which are currently trading at declines of over 20% apiece since late January
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