1. Manipal Health’s Revised Bid Offers Greater Value To Fortis Shareholders, Says Chairman
TPG-backed Manipal Healthcare Enterprises Pvt Ltd’s latest bid for Fortis Healthcare Ltd will be more rewarding for shareholders as it comes with a concrete merger plan and higher valuations.
That’s according to Manipal Health Chairman Ranjan Pai. Manipal’s existing record of running hospitals in India means more synergies for the merged entity of Manipal and Fortis and gives it an edge for the Munjal-Burman offer, he told BloombergQuint in an interview.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
2. Cement Prices Rise For Second Straight Month
Cement prices rose for the second straight month but remained lower than a year ago in May, usually a busy month for construction ahead of the monsoon season.
All-India cement prices rose by Rs 11 a bag over the previous month in May, according to a report by Kotak Securities. It had increased by Rs 9 in April, following a sharp cut in March, the report said.
Cement prices now stand at Rs 331 a bag compared with nearly Rs 349 a bag in May last year.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
3. ArcelorMittal Pays Rs 7,000 Crore To Become Eligible For Essar Steel Bid
ArcelorMittal has transferred Rs 7,000 crore to an escrow account controlled by State Bank of India to become eligible to bid for Essar Steel Ltd, currently undergoing insolvency proceedings.
The funds will be used to extinguish any outstanding dues in Uttam Galva Steels Ltd and KSS Petron Ltd, two people aware of the matter said on the condition of anonymity. The committee of creditors will now take this offer on record at its next meeting and verify the eligibility of the bidder, they added.
The India arm of the Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal had bid for Essar Steel’s assets but was deemed ineligible by the committee of creditors owing to violations under Section 29(A) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
4. Rupee in Free Fall, Sinks 56 Paise to New 16-Month Low Against Dollar
The rupee went into a tailspin by plunging 56 paise on Tuesday, 15 May, the second biggest single-day fall of 2018, to end at a new 16-month low of 68.07 as panic dollar demand rattled currency market.
It has been in a virtual free fall for the Indian unit which settled a hairs breadth below its intra-day low of 68.15 a dollar.
This is the lowest closing for the rupee since 24 January 2017 when it had ended at 68.15 against the US dollar.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Honor Bets on Premium Smartphones, Eyes Spot in Top 3 in India
Honor, a smartphone brand of Huawei, is betting big on premium devices to strengthen its position in the hyper-competitive Indian smartphone market and secure a position in the top three by the end of the year, a company executive said on Tuesday, 15 May.
The company, which has launched its flagship 'Honor 10' smartphone in London on 15 May, is adding features like AI-camera to offer a differentiated user experience to customers, Huawei Vice President P Sanjeev said .
"The premium market (Rs 30,000 and above) is niche and consumers are very demanding, they want the best features and innovation... The segment may seem small (at about three per cent of the overall smartphone market), it is growing at a very strong pace," he said.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. NCLT Admits Ericsson's Bankruptcy Plea Against Rcom, Subsidiaries
The dedicated bankruptcy court has admitted three insolvency petitions filed against Reliance Communications and its subsidiaries, by telecom gear maker Ericsson, dealing a severe blow to the telco’s plans of selling most of its wireless units to Reliance Jio Infocom (Jio).
The decision, which came after nearly eight months since the Swedish telecom equipment maker moved the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) Mumbai bench to recover Rs 1,150 crore in dues, effective makes the Anil Ambani owned carrier bankrupt, the second such after Chennai-based Aircel.
(Source: The Economic Times)
7. Fraud-Hit PNB Posts Biggest Ever Quarterly Loss of Rs 134.17 Billion in Q4
Scam-hit Punjab National Bank’s (PNB’s) loss in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 has been the highest quarterly loss reported by any bank in India ever. This was owing to fraudulent loans worth Rs 143 billion issued to jewellery firms belonging to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) new provisioning norms added to the bank’s woes as its net loss ballooned to Rs 134 billion in the March-ended quarter, compared to a net profit of Rs 2.6 billion in the year-ago period.
(Source: Business Standard)
8. Jet Airways Offers Fares Starting Rs 967 for Udan Flights Mumbai
Full-service carrier Jet Airways on 15 May offered fares starting as low as Rs 967 for the Udan flights which it plans to operate from next month.
The airline had announced on Monday, 14 May, the commencement of its operations under the government's regional connectivity scheme, Udan, from June 14 onwards, with the first flight to be operated on the Lucknow-Allahabad-Patna sector.
Jet Airways had bagged four routes in the second round of bidding in January, in which a total of 325 routes were awarded to various operators. Besides Lucknow-Allahabad-Patna, the airline will also fly on the New Delhi-Nashik, Nagpur-Allahabad-Indore and Lucknow-Bareilly-Delhi routes.
(Source: PTI)
9. ITAT Says Google India Should Pay Tax on Advertisement Revenue Sent to Parent
In a setback to Google India, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has upheld a tax demand on the search engine's remittances of advertisement revenue to Google Ireland Ltd.
The Bangalore bench of ITAT, in a 331-page order, upheld the tax department's contention that such payments are royalty and therefore subject to withholding tax.
Google India said it will challenge the ruling in the High Court.
(Source: The Economic Times)
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