1.High Burnout Rates Push Investment Bank Professionals to Join Startups: ET
Investment banking has traditionally been the dream destination for management graduates but the challenges are persuading many to hop onto the startup bandwagon. The high burnout rates and long working hours are pushing some to leave high-paying, prestigious jobs at marquee financial institutions to join startups or set up their own ventures, marking a major shift in their career track and leaving investment banks scrambling for top talent.
At least six investment bankers from top firms including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Kotak and Macquarie have joined startups and become their own bosses in the last few months.
2.Infosys Results: Five Things to Watch Out For: ET
India’s second largest software exporter and IT industry major Infosys will return to its old tradition of kicking off the earnings season for the corporate sector, after taking a break from that tradition in the last two quarters. After Accenture’s better-than-expected performance in September and expected tailwinds due to a weaker rupee, investors in India’s $146-billion IT industry are hoping that Infosys, along with other large-cap peers such as TCS and Wipro, will post better-than-expected numbers for the September quarter.
Expectations have been accentuated by the fact that Infosys reported market-beating numbers in the June quarter and provided glimpses of its former bellwether self.
3.Sensex Firms May See Weak Q2: BS
In contrast to double-digit earnings growth estimated by major brokerages a few weeks ago, analysts now expect India Inc to report a decline in both top line and bottom line for the September quarter (Q2) of 2015-16. The combined net sales and net profit of the Sensex 30 companies are expected to decline 4.5 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, on a year-on-year basis.
Going by these estimates, the July-September period could be a fourth straight quarter of combined revenue declines for Sensex companies, and a fifth straight quarter of either a decline or low single-digit profit growth.
The combined sales could fall to Rs 4.5 lakh crore, against Rs 4.7 lakh crore a year ago, shows the analysis. Based on these estimates, Sensex firms are now valued at 22 times trailing 12-month earnings at the end of September 2015.
4.Walmart Store Likely in Punjab by 2017: DNA
Continuing with its cautious expansion in India, US-retail giant Walmart will open the next cash-and-carry outlet only in 2017 and is zeroing in on Punjab for that.
The company, which had opened its 21st store in India in August, after a gap of over two years at Agra, had stated that it would open 50 wholesale outlets in the country within 4-5 years.
“We are working on several (sites) right now. We have signed quite a few properties. I do expect the next one will be in Ludhiana in Punjab,” Walmart India President & CEO Krish Iyer told PTI.
5.Bengaluru is Home to Five of India’s Eight Unicorn Startups: TOI
India’s unicorn capital is Bengaluru. The city has built on its impressive IT services legacy to emerge as the tech entrepreneurial hub of the nation by playing host to five of the eight homegrown unicorns – Flipkart, Ola, InMobi, Quikr and MuSigma. Other three unicorn Indian companies – e-tailer Snapdeal, restaurant discovery startup Zomato and mobile wallet startup Paytm – are based in New Delhi.
Unicorn is a term popularised by venture investor Aileen Lee to describe startups valued at a $1 billion or more. CB Insights data shows 140 unicorns are listed globally, with cumulative valuations of $503 billion.
Big e-commerce player Flipkart, which raised nearly $2 billion in 2014, is at the top of the Indian pecking order valued at $15 billion, showed data from Wall Street Journal. Taxi-hailing startup Ola that moved its headquarters from Mumbai to Bengaluru is valued at $5 billion. Mobile advertising platform InMobi boasts of a valuation of $2.5 billion, while data analytics firm MuSigma and online classifieds service Quikr have recorded valuations of $1 billion each.
6.Aster DM Healthcare Buys Saudi’s Sanad Hospital for Rs 1,600 crore: ET
In one of the largest healthcare deals in West Asia, Dubai-based Indian billionaire Dr Azad Moopen has acquired majority stake in Sanad hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for Rs 1,600 crore. Aster DM Healthcare, Moopen’s company, bought the additional 57 percent from a Saudi partner to up total stake to 97 percent. In December 2011, the company had acquired 40 percent in the hospital.
The company, which first started India operations in 2001, currently runs three hospitals in Kerala (Calicut, Kottakal, Kochi), two in Maharashta (Pune, Kolhapur), two in Telangana (Hyderabad) and one in Karnataka (Bengaluru).
7.Tata Realty & Infra’s PE Fund Returns Rs 1,250 cr to Investors: BS
Tata Realty & Infrastructure (TRIL), promoted by Tata Sons, has returned Rs 1,250 crore to investors in its first real estate fund.
The $700-million (then Rs 3,200 crore) fund was raised in 2008 and had invested in special economic zones (SEZs), shopping centres and mixed-use projects.
“The fund life was coming to an end and that is why they paid back money to investors,” said a source.
“We did not invest everything as markets were getting weakened. We have paid back Rs 1,250 crore,” said Sanjay Ubale, managing director of TRIL.
8.Common-Carrier Move Unfair, Says Indian Oil: FE
A move by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) to convert a sizeable section of the country’s oil pipeline network into common carriers has the state-run Indian Oil (IOC) perturbed. The PSU has not only termed the PNGRB’s proposal unfair but also questioned its legitimacy, arguing that the regulator’s remit doesn’t include regulation of captive oil pipelines. If the proposal is implemented, IOC would be the worst-hit as about half of its pipeline capacity — 38.59 million tonnes of the 80 million tonnes to be precise — would have to be made available to competitors.
This would inevitably dent IOC’s dominance in the markets connected by these pipelines. PNGRB’s pro-competition policy would, however, be beneficial to players such as RIL and Essar Oil as they could cut transportation costs by using IOC’s pipeline network. These companies have hardly invested in creating the infrastructure to ferry their petroleum products within the country.
9.L’Oreal Ramps up India Ops to be ‘Billion Dollar’ Firm by 2020: FE
As a part of its 2020 roadmap to become a ‘billion dollar’ company in India, French beauty major L’Oreal is significantly stepping up its research and innovation (R&I) division in the country.
“Our R&I centres in Mumbai and Bangalore are working on sustainable innovation to meet our target of reducing carbon emissions by 60 percent at our plants and distribution centres by 2020,” L’Oreal India Managing Director Jean-Christophe Letellier told PTI.
“Sustainable development is as important as the business and financial objective and L’Oreal is investing in integrating processes to reduce our carbon footprint here,” he said.
This is part of the company’s overall strategy to make India among its top five markets in the next few years.
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