Business News, Financial News, Analysis, Commentary, Views, Opinion
Some large public sector banks have begun cutting rates of fixed deposits and loans, despite no change in the Reserve Bank of India’s stance towards interest rates. The RBI has held that inflation is an overriding concern, and holding interest rates high may affect growth but will help in curbing inflation. So, what explains the action of public sector banks?
Pharmaceutical company Strides Arcolab announced repayment of its foreign currency convertible bonds, sticking to its earlier announced plan, thereby lowering its debt to equity ratio to more manageable levels. The company had sold its stake in Australian company Ascent Pharmahealth, which ran its generic pharmaceutical business in Australia and South East Asia, to Watson Pharmaceuticals. Strides had earned Rs 1,200 crore from this transaction, after paying tax.
Continue ReadingMangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, a subsidiary of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, has shut down two of its refinery units, as water supply to its plant has been cut off by the local authorities. The Nethravathi river supplies water to its refinery, and the river’s levels have dropped to very low levels, apparently due to hot weather conditions, according to this report in the Daily News and Analysis.
Continue ReadingThe Reserve Bank of India held benchmark interest rates constant and left liquidity untouched, and did not cut the cash reserve ratios, as was being speculated. But that was not the big takeaway from the credit policy announcements.
The central bank has indicated that it is done with interest rate hikes, given signs of moderating inflation and slowing growth, and will now shift to using interest rate cuts to jumpstart growth again.
Continue ReadingBank of India is returning to the asset management industry after a long interval, by buying a 51% stake in Bharti Axa Investment Managers. Bharti Axa is a joint venture between Bharti Ventures and the Axa group. Bharti had decided to exit its financial services joint ventures with Axa, in the insurance and asset management businesses.
Continue ReadingIndia’s travel and tourism market in 2011 is seeing healthy demand, going by the numbers being put out by the Ministry of Tourism.
In September, foreign tourist arrivals rose by 8.7% to 4.01 lakh numbers, and as we head into the main tourist season, the Indian tourism industry is set to end 2011 on a high note.
Spending by foreign tourists, labelled as foreign exchange earnings by the government, rose by 23% in rupee terms and by 19% in dollar terms in September, over the year ago period.
Continue ReadingPantaloon Retail (India)’s board of directors approved a proposal to raise equity funds of up to Rs 1,500 crore. The board has told the company to restrict equity dilution to a maximum of 15%, and to limit its debt to equity ratio to 1.33 times. Pantaloon has postponed its annual general meeting from 22 October to 10 November, giving it time to seek permission for the equity issue from its shareholders in the AGM itself.
Continue ReadingAlfa Laval (India), a listed multinational and maker of specialised engineering equipment such as heat exchangers, separation and fluid handling equipment, may get delisted from the Indian stock exchanges. The company said its board will meet on September 19 to consider a delisting proposal from its parent company Alfa Laval Corporate AB Sweden.
Continue ReadingIn the Indian banking scene, regulation can often trip up intermediaries. Axis Bank’s acquisition of Enam’s investment banking business appeared to be stuck in a regulatory quagmire, first announced in November 2010.
Continue Reading
The Reserve Bank of India’s credit policy announcements met expectations, except of those people who thought today will signal the end of the rate hike juggernaut. The few who feared the RBI may hike the repo rate by 50 basis points were off the mark, however. The majority were expecting a 25 basis point hike, which is what the central bank has done.
Continue Reading