Page 8 - Indian Companies

The great Indian unicorn conundrum: High valuations and higher losses

Companies get investors' financing though many of them not on path to profitability

MoUs worth Rs 1,53,000 crore signed at DefExpo 2022, says official

As many as 451 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and agreements worth Rs 1.53 lakh crore were signed during the Defence Expo or DefExpo 2022 at Gandhinagar, a senior official said. During the valedictory function of the 12th edition of DefExpo at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar informed the audience that it had broken previous records in terms of business generation. "This was the most outstanding defence expo ever. It saw the highest number of exhibitors, which is in addition to tens of thousands of business visitors. The extent of business this defence expo has generated has surpassed all the previous records," said Kumar. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat were among those present on the dais during the function. "In the last defence expo, which was held in 2020 in Lucknow, 201 MoUs were signed. I am happy to report that today, 451 MoUs and agreements were signed. It involves an estimated amount of Rs 1,53,000

Cable manufacturer DCX Systems' Rs 500-cr IPO to open for 3 days on Oct 31

The Rs 500-crore initial share-sale of DCX Systems, manufacturer of cables and wire harness assemblies, will open for public subscription on October 31. The three-day Initial Public Offering (IPO) would close on November 2, according to the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP). The company has cut the size of its fresh issue of equity shares to Rs 400 crore from Rs 500 crore planned earlier. Apart from fresh issue, the IPO comprises an offer for sale of equity shares to the tune of up to Rs 100 crore by promoters -- NCBG Holdings Inc and VNG Technology. The company proposes to utilise the net proceeds from the fresh issue towards debt payment, funding working capital requirements, investment in its wholly-owned subsidiary Raneal Advanced Systems to fund its capital expenditure expenses and general corporate purposes. The Bengaluru-based company is primarily engaged in system integration and manufacturing a comprehensive array of cables and wire harness assemblies, and are also involved in

ICICI Securities Q2 PAT down 14% to Rs 300 cr; total income up marginally

ICICI Securities on Thursday reported a 14 per cent decline in profit after tax to Rs 300 crore in the three months ended September 2022 In comparison, the company had posted a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs 351.2 crore in the same quarter preceding fiscal, ICICI Securities, a subsidiary of ICICI Bank, said in a statement. The company's total income rose to Rs 865.63 crore in the second quarter ended on September 30, 2022 from Rs 856.56 crore in the year-ago period. "We had a satisfactory quarter and are progressing well on our articulated strategy of pursuing long-term sustainable growth by continuing to diversify in favour of non-broking business. For this, we are investing in right kind of products, services, partnerships. Today, broking revenue is about a third of our overall revenue, against two thirds a couple of years back," Vijay Chandok, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Securities, said. The board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 9.75 per share in first half of FY23

Asian Paints announces Rs 2,400-cr capex plans for two manufacturing units

Asian Paints on Thursday announced Rs 2,100 crore of phased investment to set up a new plant to produce vinyl acetate ethylene emulsion (VAE) and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) in the country. The company also announced another Rs 550 crore of investment to set up a white cement plant in the UAE in partnership with two local firms there. The board has approved setting up of a manufacturing facility for VAE and VAM in the country. The company will invest around Rs 2,100 crore in the plant over the next three years, which includes the cost of land, the company informed the stock exchanges without giving other details like the location of the plant among others. The statement also said the plan is subject to entering into definitive agreements, including technology licence agreement from the US-based Kellogg Brown & Root, for manufacturing VAM and VAE and obtaining the necessary regulatory and other approvals. The proposed plant will have an installed capacity of 1 lakh tonne per annum .

IEX net profit falls 7% to Rs 71.20 crore in July-September quarter

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) on Thursday reported nearly 7 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 71.20 crore in September quarter compared to a year ago. The consolidated net profit was Rs 77.38 crore in the quarter ended on September 30, 2021, a BSE filing stated. Total income declined to Rs 113.77 crore in the quarter from Rs 122.30 crore in the same period a year ago.

Tata Consumer Products Q2 profit rises 36% to Rs 389 cr; revenue up 11%

Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) on Thursday reported a 36.25 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 389.43 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2022. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 285.80 crore for the July-September period a year ago, TCPL, earlier known as Tata Global Beverages Ltd, said in a BSE filing. Revenue from operations climbed 10.87 per cent to Rs 3,363.05 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 3,033.12 crore in the corresponding period last year. Total expenses of the Tata group's FMCG arm were at Rs 3,021.90 crore, up 11.55 per cent from Rs 2,708.91 crore earlier. TCPL Managing Director and CEO Sunil D'Souza said: "We delivered another quarter of double-digit revenue growth while balancing margins despite inflationary pressures, weakness of currency and some lag in pricing in International Markets." TCPL's revenue from the Indian market in July-September rose 9.19 per cent to Rs 2,159.95 crore, as against Rs 1,978.08 crore

Top headlines: Axis Bank Q2 net jumps 70%; Bajaj Finance Q2 net surges 88%

Business Standard brings you top news of the evening

Colgate-Palmolive's India arm beats Q3 earnings estimates on price hikes

Sales increased nearly 3% to Rs 13.78 billion

Asian Paints' Q2 net profit rises 33% to Rs 804 cr; revenue up 19%

Asian Paints on Thursday reported 32.83 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 803.83 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2022 driven by robust sales. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 605.17 crore in the same quarter last fiscal year, Asian Paints said in a regulatory filing. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 8,457.57 crore in the quarter under review as compared to Rs 7,096.01 crore in the year-ago period, it added. "The domestic decorative business showed resilience to deliver a double-digit volume growth and healthy value growth despite subdued demand conditions, impacted by the extended monsoon," Asian Paints Managing Director & CEO Amit Syngle said. The home decor business continued to gain traction with focus on lighting, kitchen and bath along with expansion of 'Beautiful Homes Stores' and the home decor implementation arm, 'Beautiful Homes Service' across markets, he added. Syngle further said,"The auto OE (original equipment) business ...

Entities involved in trade would cease to be a charitable institution: SC

This judgement could have wide ramifications as the charitable institutions involved in any trade or commerce in the name of said provision could come under its radar

IIFL Wealth & Asset Management Q2 PAT rise 23% to Rs 173 cr; revenue up 12%

IIFL Wealth & Asset Management on Wednesday reported a 23 per cent growth in profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 173 crore for three months ended September 2022. The company had posted a PAT of Rs 140 crore in the same quarter of the last fiscal, IIFL Wealth & Asset Management said in a statement. The company's total revenue rose 12 per cent to Rs 405 crore in the second quarter of 2022-23, from Rs 362 crore in the same quarter of preceding fiscal. The company's board declared the third interim dividend of Rs 17 per share. "In the near term, we are cognizant of the global volatility which can provide both challenges as well as opportunities. We continue to look out for exciting new products and opportunity areas, while remaining relatively cautious in our approach," the company's MD and CEO Karan Bhagat said. He, further, said that people and technology remain the company's key investment themes. It would continue to add new talent and deep expertise to the organization.

KPIT Technologies Q2 net profit rises 28% to Rs 83 crore; revenue up 17.2%

Auto industry-focused engineering services company KPIT on Wednesday reported a 28 per cent jump in its September quarter net profit at Rs 83.56 crore, helped by a strong revenue growth. The Pune-headquartered company also upped its revenue growth guidance for FY23 to 31-32 per cent, saying it does not see a major impact of the current set of macro challenges playing out into its business. It reported a 17.2 per cent growth on the overall revenues during the reporting quarter at Rs 754.32 crore as against Rs 599.81 crore in the preceding year. The operating profit margin came at 18.5 per cent as against 17.6 per cent in the year-ago period, and 19.4 per cent in the preceding June quarter. The company said an industry-leading double digit salary hike during the quarter impacted the margin by a couple of percentage points. It is more confident on the margins front going ahead and narrowing the outlook to 18.5 per cent to 19 per cent for FY23, as against earlier target of 18-19 per ce

Telecom gear maker HFCL Q2 profit flat at Rs 84 crore; revenue falls 4.5%

Domestic telecom gear maker HFCL's consolidated net profit remained flat at Rs 84.31 crore for the quarter ended on September 30, 2022, according to the company's statement. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 85.94 crore in the same period a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations declined by about 4.5 per cent to Rs 1,173 crore compared to Rs 1,122 crore in the September 2021 quarter, it added. "On the backdrop of easing supply chain disruptions and improvement in input costs, we have been able to demonstrate healthy growth in our revenue and margins over last quarter," HFCL Managing Director, Mahendra Nahata said on Wednesday. He said that the company's share of exports to revenues has improved to 16.38 per cent during the reported quarter compared to 9.08 per cent in the September 2021 quarter. "We continue to see strong response in key global markets like Europe, Africa and Middle East, thereby making us optimistic about doubling our exports to Rs 750 crore b

We bet on startups catering to the middle of the pyramid: Arkam co-founders

In a Q&A, Bala Srinivasa and Rahul Chandra, explain why it is essential for any company today to service the Middle India market in the country's smaller towns in order to thrive

Havells Q2 net profit dips 38% to Rs 187 cr, revenue rises 13.6%

Havells India Ltd on Wednesday reported a 38.15 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 187.01 crore for the second quarter ended on September 30, 2022, as commodity inflation hit its margins. The consumer electrical goods maker company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 302.39 crore in the July-September quarter a year ago, Havells said in a regulatory filing. Havells' revenue from operations rose by 13.63 per cent to Rs 3,679.49 crore during the period under review as against Rs 3,238.04 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Its total expenses were at Rs 3,471.57 crore, up 21.10 per cent during the second quarter of FY 2022-23 as against Rs 2,866.54 crore. Havells India Chairman and Managing Director Anil Rai Gupta said: "Decent revenue growth considering the inflationary environment. Margins adversely impacted due to commodity cost fluctuation." "We believe that margins have hit the trough and are expected to improve hereon. The demand outlook rem

Diagnostic cos revenues to decline 7% in FY23 as Covid tests fall: Crisil

A fall in Covid-19 tests will lead to an up to 7 per cent dent in diagnostic companies' toplines in FY23, rating agency Crisil said on Wednesday. The fall in revenues in FY23 will come after a handsome 30 per cent growth in FY22 on higher testing, the agency said, attributing the fall in Covid testing in the ongoing fiscal to the waning intensity of the pandemic and also a preference for self-test kits. The operating profit margins, which had hit a decadal high of 28 per cent in FY22, will moderate to 24-25 per cent in FY23 on the decline in revenue and the higher operating expenses, driven by advertising and marketing costs, it said. Good cash generation, prudent capital spends (mainly on diagnostic equipment) and low debt levels will keep balance sheets at healthy levels, resulting in 'stable' credit profiles for diagnostic players, the rating agency said. The agency said it has analysed 11 players in the industry having an aggregate revenue of over Rs 6,500 crore to arrive at th

Telecom gear maker HFCL's Q2 net profit remains flat at Rs 84.31 crore

Domestic telecom gear maker HFCL's consolidated net profit remained flat at Rs 84.31 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, as per a filing. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 85.94 crore in the same period a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations declined by about 6 per cent to Rs 1,051 crore compared to Rs 1,122 crore in the September 2021 quarter, it added.

66% CEOs in India expect recession in 2023; layoffs on the cards

Eighty-six per cent CEOs in India, compared to 71 per cent CEOs globally, predict that a recession will impact company earnings by up to 10 per cent over the next 12 months.

DefExpo 22 will be first-ever edition exclusively for Indian firms: Rajnath

The Defence Expo 2022 will be the first-ever edition exclusively for Indian companies, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on the eve of the expo