1. Indigo President Aditya Ghosh Resigns, Rahul Bhatia Named Interim CEO
Aditya Ghosh on Friday resigned as the President and whole-time director of IndiGo NSE -6.06 percent and will leave the company by 31 July 2018. While Interglobe Chairman Rahul Bhatia has been appointed as the interim CEO of the company, Greg Taylor will be appointed as president and CEO of the company, sources said.
“Firstly, and with mixed emotions, I wish to inform you that Aditya Ghosh is resigning and will leave the Company on 31 July. Aditya wishes to start a new business venture and we respect his decision to do so,” Bhatia said in an e-mail to its employees.
Ghosh has decided to quit IndiGo at a time when the airline has plans to expand in the international skies. Ghosh, in his communication, has thanked employees for their support.
(Source: The Economic Times)
2. Q4 Results: RIL Posts Record Profit of Rs 94.35 Bn; Jio's Net at Rs 5.10 Bn
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 94.35 billion for the quarter ending 31 March (Q4) on the back of improved performance of its petrochemical and retail businesses. The profit was largely in line with the consensus estimates of Rs 93.79 billion according to a Bloomberg poll of analysts, and represents a 17.3 percent increase over Rs 80.46 billion reported in the year ago quarter.
The company’s refining business saw some weakness, which though was compensated by the petrochemical and retail businesses. Jio, its telecom business, posted in-line performance for the quarter.
(Source: Business Standard)
3. Shah Jahan's Iconic Red Fort in Delhi Is Now Dalmia Bharat Group's Red Fort
In one of the most spectacular contracts ever won by a corporate house in India, the 77-year-old Dalmia Bharat group has created history by adopting a slice of it. The conglomerate has become the first corporate house in India’s history to adopt a historical monument in a contract worth Rs 250 million (or Rs 25 crore) spanning five years. The monument in question is none other than the 17th Century Red Fort, built by India’s fifth Mughal ruler Shah Jahan, as he moved his administrative capital from Agra to present-day Delhi.
The Dalmia Bharat group won the contract by beating IndiGo Airlines and the GMR group in the race to bag one of the most prestigious contracts under the Indian government's ‘Adopt A Heritage’ scheme.
(Source: Business Standard)
4. Maruti Suzuki Posts Record Rs 77 Bn Profit in FY18 on 17% Hike in Revenue
The country’s top carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, on Friday reported 10 per cent growth in profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. Net profit for the three months stood at Rs 18.8 billion, lower than analysts’ expectations of over Rs 22 billion. The company said an increase in corporate tax rates affected profitability.
Maruti Suzuki also reported a record annual profit of Rs 77.21 billion for the year ended 31 March. Its sales revenue grew 14.4 per cent to Rs 206 billion during the quarter, helped by 11 per cent growth in car sales to 461,773 units.
The company’s stock price had gained over 2 per cent on the BSE before the announcement, but slipped almost 2 per cent later to close at Rs 8,778. The average realisation per vehicle for the quarter rose 3.3 percent to Rs 406,000. This was also a function of a lower average discount at Rs 13,900 per vehicle compared to Rs 15,194 in Q4 of FY17.
5. MCA Begins Inspection of Deepak Kochhar's Nupower Renewables
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) started an inspection on Friday, 27 April into the filings made by Nupower Renewables, a company owned by Deepak Kochhar, since its inception in 2008, for violations of the Companies Act, if any.
The MCA’s Mumbai office has sought details of investments made into the company, including by Videocon, and sought valuation reports based on which it received investments from overseas.
The inspection of documents by MCA started after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started a preliminary enquiry into the company getting a Rs 640-million loan received from Videocon Industries after ICICI Bank extended a Rs 32-billion loan to the latter in 2012.
(Source: Business Standard)
6. RBI Eases Rules For Foreign Investor Participation In Indian Debt
The Reserve Bank of India on 28 April announced a slew of measures to raise exposure of foreign portfolio investors in government securities, a move that will help in softening yields. The cap on aggregate FPI investments in any central government security, currently at 20 percent, stands revised to 30 percent of the outstanding stock of that security, the RBI said in a late night notification.
“FPIs were required to invest in corporate bonds with a minimum residual maturity of three years. Henceforth, FPIs are permitted to invest in corporate bonds with minimum residual maturity of above one year,” it said.
It said the minimum residual maturity requirement for central government securities (G-secs) and State Development Loans (SDLs) stands withdrawn, subject to the condition that investment in securities with residual maturity below 1 year by an FPI under either category should not exceed, at any point of time, 20 percent of the total investment of that FPI in that category.
(Source: PTI)
7. EPFO Interest Rate for 2017-18 at 5-Yr Low of 8.55%; Finmin Clears Proposal
The Finance Ministry on Thursday approved for 2017-18 an interest rate of 8.55 percent on provident fund savings administered by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for around 200 million formal sector workers.
“The Finance Ministry has approved the interest rates according to the decision taken by EPFO's central board of trustees. However, they have also given us some suggestions informally,” a senior labour ministry official said.
EPFO had paid returns of 8.65 percent on provident fund savings for the previous year, and 8.8 percent in 2015-16. In the two preceding years – 2013-14 and 2014-15 – the interest rate for EPFO subscribers had stood at 8.75 percent.
(Source: Business Standard)
8. ArcelorMittal, Numetal Get Extra Time to Revise Essar Steel Bids
Lenders of Essar Steel NSE 0.00 percent decided on Friday to give first-round bidders ArcelorMittal and the Numetal consortium seven days to revise their bids and comply with eligibility criteria, while Vedanta NSE 1.29 percent made a pitch to the banks to consider its offer before negotiating with the other two.
To become eligible, ArcelorMittal will have to repay the dues of Uttam GalvaNSE 4.23 percent and KSS Petron, two defaulting companies in which it had stakes, while Numetal may need to drop Rewant Ruia’s Aurora Enterprise as a member of the VTB Bank-led consortium and match ArcelorMittal’s price offer.
(Source: The Economic Times)
9. Axis Bank Board Clears Higher Borrowing Limit of Rs 2 Trillion
Axis Bank on Friday said its board has approved a proposal to increase its borrowing limit up to Rs 2 trillion. The borrowings will be “apart from deposits of money accepted from public in the ordinary course of its business, temporary loans repayable on demand or within six months from the date of the loan, if any, obtained from the bank’s bankers”, it said in a regulatory filing.
The board also authorised Axis Bank to borrow/ raise funds in Indian currency/foreign currency by issue of debt instruments up to an amount of Rs 35,000 crore.
Axis Bank yesterday reported a loss of Rs 2,189 crore for the three months to March on an over Rs 16,000 crore addition to the bad loan pile, driven majorly by regulatory changes in impaired assets recognition.
(Source: PTI)
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