Country Financial News

Dunki’. The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer witnessed a massive drop in collections on the sixth day of its release. As per a report by the Indian box-office tracking portal Sacnilk.com, the comedy-drama earned only about Rs 10.25 crore on the sixth day of release. The Rajkumar Hirani directorial, which had a slow start at the box-office (earning only about Rs 29 crore), stayed steady at the box-office for the next few days despite stiff competition from the Prabhas-starrer ‘Salaar’. However, it seems to gradually be losing momentum at the box-office. The movie has collected about Rs 140.20 crore at the end of six days.

Asian markets are steady in holiday-thinned trading, with some markets in the region closed for holidays

Shipping firm Maersk says it is preparing to allow vessels to resume sailing through the Red Sea

The forecourt of Paris City Hall sparkles with activity this holiday season, including a Christmas market and huge signs advertising the 2024 Olympics

The administration of Argentine President Javier Milei says the government won’t renew contracts for more than 5,000 employees hired this year before he took office

Japanese nuclear safety regulators are lifting an operational ban imposed on a plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator behind the Fukushima disaster

Wolfgang Schaeuble, who helped negotiate German reunification in 1990 and as finance minister was a central figure in the austerity-heavy effort to drag Europe out of its debt crisis two decades later, has died

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Rahul Bhuskute, CIO & EVP, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, says: “Given a relatively stable rupee, given inflation, which is sub-6%, given core inflation around the 5% handle, the probabilities of interest rate cuts in India going forward are going to increase and the market should definitely get a tailwind because of that. Have the markets harvested all the tailwinds and front ended all the earnings of all those potential interest rate cuts? We do not believe. So, there is some more to come around that factor.” Markets seem to be in very good shape right now but are the markets ignoring risks on valuation front or are you of the camp that earnings quality of corporate India, the corporate earnings to GDP ratio is actually improving and hence the decline will be cushioned by earnings. Which side of the camp are you? Rahul Bhuskute: I guess clearly markets are at a high and we do believe there are reasons for the markets to do so. First of all, globally the interest rate cycle has peaked out. There is an expectation that interest rates will start coming off. Definitely, in India, we have clearly passed the point of highest rate and therefore the opportunity cost for an equity investor is low and we do expect that to be a continued tailwind for the market going forward.

immigration consultancy firm in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar were arrested by the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday for allegedly forging bank account statements of visa seekers, said an official. Investigation revealed that the accused trio used to prepare fake statements of their clients' bank accounts and attach the forged documents with their visa applications to get speedy approval from the authorities, said a release by the state CID (Crime and Railways). Embassy officials review bank statements to ensure that visa seekers meet the financial requirements for their intended stay in the host country.

Apraava Energy on Wednesday announced that it has secured a 300 MW wind energy project in Aski, Karnataka. The project is part of the 1,200 MW auction capacity of Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS)-connected wind power projects (Tranche-XIV) from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the company said.

Mahendra Jajoo, CIO, Mirae Asset Management, says “we have to wait till at least June ‘24 to see what we can expect because of the simple reason that now in February, we are not going to have a full year budget, it will be a vote on account. Then when the new government comes and the full year budget is presented in June, July, that is the time we can say if there is an environment building up for a rate cut. I would say for the next six months, first half of 2024, no change in the policy rates, then I think the room opens up if the inflation comes down for a rate cut by the RBI in the second half of 2024.” In June 2023, we all were anticipating or hoping for rate cuts to happen. But then we saw there was geopolitical tension and various triggers and data also that turned it around. And now the rate cut scenario has gone to 2024, maybe six months, eight months down the line depending on the data again. How would you analyse the first six months of 2023? Mahendra Jajoo: As we saw in 2023, things have been very volatile and as you rightly explained, the sentiments have gone from extremely negative to extremely positive and that is also a backdrop which the investors must consider while getting affected by the volatility.

Adani Energy Solutions has partnered with a business backed by Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company (IHC) in order to expand its smart meter business in India and around the world, the company announced in a statement on Wednesday. The UAE-based Esyasoft Holdings, which is primarily controlled by IHC, a current investor in Adani group firms, was acquired by a subsidiary of the Indian power distribution company, according to the announcement. Adani Energy has received contracts to install 20 million smart meters from several electricity distribution companies in India; the company did not disclose the amount of investment. Adani Energy stated in a statement that it hoped to use Esyasoft's network in more than 10 countries to develop globally through the joint venture and to bolster its local smart meter business. In an effort to increase the operational effectiveness and long-term financial viability of power distribution businesses, the Indian government has been pressuring the installation of smart metres and introduced the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme last year. Smart meters give consumers access to real-time data on energy usage, enabling them to make educated decisions about their usage. According to a statement by Adani Energy, the Indian government intends to build 250 million meters nationwide by 2025; of those, tenders for 80 million meters have not yet been released, suggesting room for expansion.

Entitled Solutions, an inclusion platform to make health and financial services accessible to urban low-income workers, has raised $1.3 million (about Rs 10.83 crore) in an extended seed round from SIS, a leading player in the security, facility management and cash logistics segment. In the past three years, Entitled Solutions has enabled affordable financial and health access to about 700,000 low-income workers, including those in the new-age gig economy. The company works on a business-to-business-to-consumer model and integrates with employers and gig service platforms to enable services for the workers associated with them.

The problem was staring up from a deck of cards, handed from one presidency to the next. As the Trump administration exited the White House, its national security team left behind some 30 baseball-style cards for the incoming Biden staff, monuments to an ancient practice that had somehow become a grave 21st-century challenge. Each bore the photo of an American held hostage abroad.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Long March 11 carrier rocket blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. A pair of side boosters from the Long March 3B rocket used in a recent launch appear to have descended near populated regions in the Guangxi province, downrange from the Xichang launch site in Sichuan.

ultra-luxury tourism destination in Saudi Arabia. «The construction arm of Larsen & Toubro has been chosen as the turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor....for the AMAALA project in the Red Sea region, Saudi Arabia,» the company said in a filing to BSE. AMAALA is an ultra-luxury destination set in the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Natural Reserve along Saudi Arabia's northwestern coast. Spanning 4,155 square kilometer, the project features pristine landscape and diverse natural ecosystems, coupled with unique and intriguing heritage and local culture. «The award of this prestigious contract stands testimony to the synergistic strength of diverse offerings of L&T Construction in providing innovative solutions to customers keen on sustainable, clean and reliable electricity and water system,» T Madhava Das, Whole-Time Director and senior Executive Vice President (Utilities), L&T said. L&T is a USD 23 billion multinational engaged in EPC projects, hi-tech manufacturing and services.

private equity and venture capital funds into domestic companies declined about 40 per cent to USD 27.9 billion so far this year, while the outflow increased marginally to USD 19.34 billion year-on-year. According to the numbers collated by Venture Intelligence that tracks private capital and debt flows, and industry body IVCA, investments by private equity and venture capital funds as of December 20, 2023, fell to a low of USD 27.9 billion across 697 transactions, as against USD 47.62 billion inflows in 2022 across 1,364 deals. The year also saw more money being pulled out from the country by private equity players with overall exits touching USD 19.34 billion from 248 companies as against 233 exists worth USD 18.45 billion in 2022, according to the data.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, who served as a member of the German parliament for over half a century, has died aged 81, ending one of Germany's longest political careers in which he helped secure his country's place at the heart of Europe. Schaeuble, who spent much of his career devoted to re-unifying his country and later served as former chancellor Angela Merkel's frugal finance minister during the eurozone debt crisis, died peacefully late Tuesday, said a spokesperson for the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) on Wednesday.

RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan opened up about his tenure's financial aspects, disclosing his annual salary and other perks. Rajan, who led the RBI from 2013 to 2016, emphasised that the most significant benefit of the role was not the monetary compensation but the privilege of residing in a spacious house near Dhirubhai Ambani's residence on Malabar Hill in Mumbai. «I don’t know what the current salary is, but in my time it used to be Rs 4 lakh a year. The biggest perk is the house. You get a really big house, a few blocks away from Dhirubhai Ambani’s house in Mumbai on Malabar Hill,» Rajan stated during the podcast.

Ashish Garg, MD, Happy Forgings, says “exports have risen from around Rs 50 crore in FY21 to almost Rs 300 crore this financial year. It has grown almost 6x and it was 3.7% last year in H1 we have clocked almost 21% as direct exports. So, we will be closing at about 20% direct exports this year. And going forward, we are looking between 27% and 28% going forward in the next financial year.” Happy Forgings has seen substantial growth over the last few years. Could you help us understand in terms of what worked well for the company and what is the sustainable growth trend that you are expecting? Ashish Garg: The company is able to perform at a CAGR growth of almost 25% in terms of EBITDA. So, it is not just the three years performance, if you look at the performance for the last 10 years, it has been very stable and in terms of numbers, we are improving our EBITDA margins and EBITDA per tonne on quarter on quarter basis because of the machining content in the business. Today almost 85% of the revenues are coming from complete machine products, not only the forged products which is the highest amongst our listed peers and also the value addition in the industrial business and the exports picking up is helping us.