QBiz: Flipkart to Shut eBay.in; Banks Sign Pact to Resolve NPAs

Here’s your round-up of top business stories.

1. Flipkart to Close eBay.in

Flipkart will shut down the eBay.in website it has been operating for the past year, while eBay is expected to relaunch in India shortly as the strategic relationship between the two companies comes to an end.

Flipkart will launch a new platform to sell refurbished goods, Chief Executive Officer Kalyan Krishnamurthy said in an email to employees on Monday.

“Based on our learnings at eBay.in, we have built a brand new value platform launching with refurbished goods – a large market which is predominantly unorganised,” Kalyan said in the email.

(Source: The Economic Times)

2. ICICI Securities Q1 Net Profit up 13%

ICICI Securities has posted a net profit of Rs 1.34 billion for the first quarter ended June, up 13 percent year-on-year. Its revenues rose nine percent to Rs 4.36 billion, with over a third of it coming from non-broking business. ICICI Securities is the market leader in the broking segment with a 9.2 percent market share. Its market share improved by 40 basis points in June 2018 quarter compared to over the same period a year ago.

The company’s broking revenue stood flat at Rs 2.3 billion, institutional broking business rose 22 percent and distribution revenue grew 17 percent to Rs 1.16 billion. Investment banking business reported 19 percent increase to Rs 320 million.

(Source: Business Standard)

3. Exports from India to BRICS grow 7.5% in Q1 2018

Overall exports from India to BRICS saw an upswing of 7.5 percent in the first quarter of 2018 over the corresponding period of last year in terms of total volumes, a report said on Monday, 23 July. Ahead of the BRICS summit in South Africa, Maersk Line, one of the leading container shipping companies, has released the BRICS Export-Import (EXIM) containerised trade data.

“The overall exports from India to BRICS saw an upswing of 7.5 percent in Q1 2018 Y-o-Y in terms of total volumes while the country's imports from BRICS nations is reduced by 3.5 percent," the report said.

(Source: The Economic Times)

4. Crude Oil Futures Drop Below $68 Amid Strength in the Dollar

Crude oil slid to the lowest level in a month, reversing an earlier trend, undercut by a stronger dollar and concerns that rising stockpiles in Oklahoma suggest pipeline bottlenecks may be worsening. Futures in New York closed down 0.5 percent on Monday after a see-saw performance that saw prices jump as much as 1.5 percent before falling at mid-day.

Data-provider Genscape Inc is said to show an increase in supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma for part of last week. That spurred concern that the ability to transport oil may be hampered by waning pipeline capacity. At same time, a strengthened dollar added another undermining factor.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

5. US Fails to Address India’s Concerns on Hike in Steel Tariffs

The United States on Friday failed to address specific issues raised by India, and five other countries, in separate trade disputes at the World Trade Organization against President Donald Trump’s unilateral measures to impose additional duty on imports of steel and aluminum, said people familiar with the development.

India, along with Canada and Mexico held, Article 4 dispute settlement consultations with the US against the additional duties of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium imports imposed by the US administration. Three other countries, China, the European Union, and Norway, held their consultations on 19 July.

During the two separate meetings, the US repeatedly said it was not required to provide any reason for Section 232 measures on steel and aluminium since they remain “sovereign determinations” that fall under Article 21 of the GATT 1994, said participants, who did not wish to be quoted.

(Source: Livemint)

6. Fast-track NPA Resolution: Banks Sign Pact to Resolve Stressed Assets

Banks and financial institutions, including SBI, PNB and LIC on Monday entered into an overarching inter-creditor agreement (ICA) to fast-track resolution of stressed assets of Rs 50 crore or more which are under consortium lending. The ICA is being signed by 22 public sector banks (including India Post Payments Bank), 19 private sector banks and 32 foreign banks.

Besides, 12 major financial intermediaries, like LIC, HUDCO, PFC and REC are also signatories to the pact, according to the agreement. Under the pact, which is part of project ‘Sashakt’, each resolution plan will be submitted by the lead lender to an Overseeing Committee. “The lead lender that is the lender with the highest exposure shall be authorised to formulate the resolution plan, which shall be presented to the lenders for their approval,” an official statement said.

(Source: Financial Express)

7. ITC Refund Rule to Cut Fabric Prices by 3-4%

The GST Council’s decision to allow refund of accumulated input tax credit (ITC) at the fabric stage could reduce fabric prices by 3-4% and ultimately help consumers, apart from improving competitiveness in the export market, senior industry executives said on Monday.  The fabric segment often operates on a single-digit margin, so the relief is meaningful in the sense the move will enable it to pass on the benefits and generate higher sales, they added.

The average accumulation of credit (not allowed earlier) on this account for a powerloom in the last one year was around Rs 7,000, according to an industry estimate. The refund, however, will be allowed only with the prospective effect on the purchases made after the notification is issued, according to the GST Council decision.

Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) chairman Sanjay K Jain said: “It was the need of the hour as fabric sector is already facing a lot of difficulties while competing with its counterparts in international market.”

(Source: Financial Express)

8. Idea-Voda Pays DoT Rs 7,300 cr

Country’s biggest telecom merger between Idea Cellular and Vodafone is through as the companies made final payments of nearly Rs 7,300 crore to the telecom department. Sealing of the deal will lead to the creation of the country’s largest mobile operator, ahead of Bharti Airtel.

The two companies had been working on the merger since January last year, and were in the process of taking approvals from various regulatory bodies and other agencies, including Sebi, stock exchanges, competition commission of India (CCI) and NCLT.

(Source: The Times of India)

9. Tencent May Back Oyo with $2bn Tag

China’s internet giant Tencent has held talks to lead a fresh $300-500 million financing round in budget hotel brand Oyo Rooms, two people familiar with the matter said. The latest fundraise is likely to value Oyo at over $2 billion, which is more than double its previous valuation of $850 million when it raised capital last year from existing investor SoftBank through its Vision Fund.

Sources briefed on the matter said Oyo has held discussions with other Chinese strategics and a few financial investors as well for the funding. If the investment from Tencent or any of the other China-based strategic players comes through, it will be the first financing round, after 2015, to be led by a new investor other than SoftBank. Oyo has been expanding aggressively in China, which alone contributes almost 90% of Oyo’s revenues from outside of India.

(Source: The Times of India)