COST Financial News

NEW DELHI : Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation shot past estimates to hit a 15-month high of 7.44% in July as food and vegetable prices surged, breaching the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) inflation target range for the first time since February. A Mint poll of 19 economists had estimated a six-month high retail inflation of 6.50% in July, sharply up from June’s 4.81%, on account of a surge in vegetable prices.

Harvey Norman chief executive Katie Page has become the latest high-profile executive to throw support behind another Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, urging the Victorian government to give the money it was planning to spend to mayor Tom Tate.

Top finance veterans, including current Commonwealth Bank director Peter Harmer, declared for years insurer IAG had sound risk-management systems while regulatory debacles costing $500 million ticked away internally.

NEW DELHI : ITC Ltd on Monday outperformed Street expectations with a 17.5% rise in standalone net profit for June quarter, helped by lower exp-enses. However, an ongoing ban on wheat export and a more recent ban on rice export hurt standalone revenue for the quarter that fell 7.2% to ₹16,995.49 crore from ₹18,320.16 crore a year ago. The company, known for its Gold Flake cigarettes and Bingo chips, posted net profit of ₹4,902.74 crore for the quarter ended 30 June, up from ₹4,169.38 crore a year ago.

NEW DELHI : Budget carrier SpiceJet on Monday reported a net profit of ₹205 crore in the June quarter, buoyed by continued strong demand for air travel. The Gurugram-based airline had reported a net loss of ₹789 crore a year earlier. Total income fell 8.4% to ₹2,267 crore in the quarter while total expenses decreased by 36% to ₹2,069 crore.

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, says farmers and the agriculture sector cannot afford the transition to net zero and governments should step in to cover most of the costs.

Australia’s $11 billion renovations market is at the start of its first significant downturn in a decade amid a broader construction crunch and as interest rate increases and rising costs crimp spending on building.

California-based electric vehicle manufacturer Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc (NASDAQ:FFIE) officially handed over the keys to the first FF91 2.0 Futurist Alliance customer on Monday.

Financial Awareness Day, observed annually on Aug. 14, promotes financial literacy and encourages individuals to take steps to improve their financial well-being.

India and the United Arab Emirates have started settling bilateral trade in their local currencies with India's top refiner making payment in rupees for purchase of a million barrels of oil from the Middle Eastern nation, the Indian government said on Monday.Indian Oil Corp made payment to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), according to a statement issued by Indian embassy in UAE. The transaction comes after one involving the sale of 25 kg gold from a UAE gold exporter to a buyer in India at about 128.4 million rupees ($1.54 million).

England Test captain and the world's premier all-rounder Ben Stokes is all set to come out of retirement and play the ODI World Cup in India even if it comes at the cost of missing a season of cash-rich IPL, according to British daily 'The Telegraph'. According to a report in the leading English newspaper, «Ben Stokes is prepared to make a sensational U-Turn and reverse his one day international retirement to help England's World Cup defence in India this year, even if it means missing out on next season's Indian Premier League.» «The England Test captain now appears willing to play World Cup if he is asked by white-ball captain Jos Buttler,» the paper further reported.

PC Jeweller reported a quarterly loss for a third straight quarter on Monday, hurt by a plunge in sales as the company remains embroiled in a legal tangle with multiple banks. The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 172 crore ($20.68 million) in the first quarter ended June 30 from a profit of Rs 7443 lakh a year ago. A slew of lenders, including State Bank of India, Indian Bank, IDFC First Bank and Union Bank, have deemed PC Jeweller's borrowing accounts as non-performing and have moved to court seeking loan recalls.

By Jonathan Oatis

Mint had reported in January this year that the public sector Power Grid Corporation of India had prepared a preliminary report for the project. Mint reported that the interconnection would take place through overhead power lines and not subsea cables. Talks on establishing power grid connectivity have been on for over a decade now.

Emkay Global Financial Services has reiterated a ‘buy’ on Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) after the stock scored a 52-week high at ₹180.25 during Monday's session, after the state-run refiner on August 11 reported a surge of 102 per cent in consolidated net profit at ₹17,383 crore in the April-June quarter of fiscal 2023-24 (Q1FY24). ONGC shares opened two per cent higher at ₹180 during today's session, compared to its previous close of ₹177.15 on Friday.

By Alexander Marrow

Narendra Modi on the eve of Independence Day, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh Sunday said “the Prime Minister will unleash his torrent of lies from the ramparts of the Red Fort for one last time, taking off from his tsunami of lies to the nation in the Parliament last week," reported ANI. The Congress General Secretary said, “Will he have the courage to question his own government and his ministers on their corruption and incompetence?" Accusing Modi Government of corruption and incompetence, the Congress General Secretary said, “Even a defanged Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has been able to expose the sheer corruption and incompetence of Modi Government." Demanding answer from the prime minister Jairam Ramesh said Chuppi Todiye, Pradhan Mantri-ji! Highlighting the findings of the CAG, Jairam Ramesh in a letter said the CAG has flagged an overall cost overrun of more than 100% in the much-hyped Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Investing.com — Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) has named Carlos Abrams-Rivera as its new chief executive officer, the packaged food maker said in a statement on Monday.

By Michael S. Derby

Global regulators spent more than a decade trying to ensure that a large bank could fail without any government support. Despite this year’s bank failures, they are still working on it. Global regulators are reviewing the March failures, including Credit Suisse’s collapse and Swiss officials’ decision to push UBSto acquire its rival in a deal with billions of public money, people familiar with the probe said.

LKP Securities has picked out its top public-sector undertaking (PSU) stocks which are likely to give good returns to shareholders in the short-term. According to the domestic brokerage house, the PSU stocks have generated positive returns over the past two years and have potential for ‘immense value creation’ in the next 3-6 months. The brokerage sees upside in the range of 15 per cent-40 per cent on these top 10 stocks in short-term.