Author: Finance Khabar

A private survey that tracks India’s services activity recorded “an extreme decline” last month following a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index came in at 5.4 in April — markedly lower than a Reuters poll forecast of 40, and the previous month’s 49.3, according to a statement by IHS Markit. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while below 50 represents contraction. “According to panellists, activity fell severely as a result of the nationwide lockdown, leading businesses to shut down their operations as demand collapsed,” the statement read.

New Delhi: TVS Motor Company, a reputed manufacturer of two-wheelers and three-wheelers in the world, has commenced its operations in India across all factories in Hosur, Mysuru and Nalagarh. The safety of employees and community is of paramount importance to TVS Motor Company. A comprehensive preparedness manual has been designed for employees to ensure complete adherence to necessary safety guidelines to help minimise the spread of the virus. At all its manufacturing facilities, the company has undertaken exhaustive measures to ensure safe workplace for employees with appropriate social distancing and highest standards of hygiene. Work from Home option also continues…

The Board of Directors of Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd in its meeting held on May 06, 2020, has recommended a dividend of 315% (Rs. 3.15 per equity share of the face value of Re. 1 each), for the financial year ended March 31, 2020. This compares with a dividend of 260% (Rs. 2.60 per equity share of the face value of Re. 1 each) declared for the financial year ended March 31, 2019. Shares of KANSAI NEROLAC PAINTS LTD. was last trading in BSE at Rs.389.8 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 388.75. The total number of shares…

Extension of lockdown has raised fears of prolongation in economic recovery in the current fiscal year for India. Banking stocks have been seeing severe corrections on concerns over deteriorating asset quality on a possible rise in NPAs (non-performing assets) as businesses, especially small and medium scale, are expected to make losses due to the lockdown. In a recent report, Bank of America Merill Lynch (BofAML) further downgraded its outlook on the Indian banking sector “as the various stakeholders remain hamstrung.” It said that RBI’s liquidity injections are not having the desired effect due to various bottlenecks and risk aversion at…

Virgin Atlantic announced Tuesday it will cut 3,150 jobs, becoming the airline to announce a reduction in headcount because of the coronavirus crisis. The airline said it was entering a consultation period of 45 days, during which time it will work with trade unions BALPA and Unite on the restructuring. “We have weathered many storms since our first flight 36 years ago, but none has been as devastating as Covid-19 and the associated loss of life and livelihood for so many,” CEO Shai Weiss said in a statement. “However, to safeguard our future and emerge a sustainably profitable business, now…

During his annual general meeting, ace investor Warren Buffet advises credit card not be used as a piggy bank. This he iterated while providing outlook for the credit card industry when responding to one of the queries. This is when the world is facing such hard times due to coronavirus infection and is confronting job loss, salary cuts as well as delay. Then he recalls his discussion with one of his women friend who sought his advice on what to do with the money she owns. Then Warren Buffet asked if she owes anything to the credit card and the…

Benchmark indices dropped in trade, despite reasonably good global cues as investors worried over a sudden spike in Covid 19 cases. On Monday, Coronavirus cases jumped by near 4,000, even as lockdown was eased. At one stage the Sensex touched a high of as much as 32,264 points, but, gave up all gains to end 811 points lower from the day’s high. Reports that more than a quarter of India’s labour force is without a job post the nationwide lockdown to combat Covid-19 also impacted sentiments. The Sensex ended the day lower by 261 points at 31,453 points, while the…

On Tuesday, Mumbai-based think-tank CMIE’s (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) estimates showed that the unemployment rate in India had surged to 23.52 percent in April, the highest since the survey began in 2016. It is also the first time that the percentage of unemployment is in double digits. As per CMIE’s unemployment data, 24.95 percent of the labour force was without work in urban India and 22.89 percent in rural India. In comparison, the unemployment rate in March stood at 8.74 percent, with 9.35 percent in urban India and 8.45 percent in rural India. The spike in numbers comes due…

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization, announced the launch of TCS WaferWise™, a cloud-based wafer anomaly detection solution that harnesses the company’s contextual knowledge of the semiconductor industry and the power of deep learning technology, to help chip makers digitally reimagine their product quality assurance process. Sophisticated quality inspection of wafers during the semiconductor manufacturing process is essential to detect and classify defects early and accurately, as well as improve quality. Several companies still run manual inspections that rely heavily on human expertise. This makes the process prone…

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has placed the Shriram Transport Finance Company’s Long-Term Issuer Rating of ‘IND AA+’ on Rating Watch Negative (RWN). The Outlook was Stable. The Short-term Rating has been affirmed at ‘IND A1+’. The RWN reflects limited near-term visibility on the impact of the measures taken by the authorities to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on STCF’s asset quality and credit costs. The agency believes the loss of income over an extended timeframe because of the lockdown will have a detrimental impact on the borrowers’ cash flows and disrupt collections of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs),…

In view of the unprecedented COVID-19 situation and the ensuing lockdown, Tata Steel, as a responsible corporate, introduced an e-learning initiative to help students and working professionals leverage the time available during the lockdown to upskill and upgrade their knowledge on various relevant topics. A total of 27 e-learning courses from across disciplines were availed as part of the initiative. While the portal hosting the e-learning modules witnessed a traffic of over 3.6 lakh users, more than 8 lakh course licenses were issued. Prakash Singh, Chief, Capability Development, Tata Steel said: “The current COVID-19 situation offers a window of opportunity…

The Rating Committee of ICRA, after due consideration, has reaffirmed the long-term rating of Archies Limited for the Line of Credit (LOC) of Rs. 33 crores at [ICRA]BBB- (pronounced ICRA triple B minus). The Outlook on the long-term rating has been revised to Negative from Stable. Shares of ARCHIES LTD. was last trading in BSE at Rs.11.4 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 11.15. The total number of shares traded during the day was 10605 in over 27 trades.

Stove Kraft Ltd, the manufacturer of kitchen appliances, has received permission from markets regulator SEBI to float its initial public offering (IPO). The public offer will comprise a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 145 crore and an offer for sale of up to 71.63 lakh equity shares, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). The offer for sale (OFS) comprises about 6.40 lakh shares by promoter Rajendra Gandhi; up to 2.50 lakh shares by promoter Sunita Rajendra Gandhi, up to 13.11 lakh shares by Sequoia Capital India Growth Investment Holdings and up to 49.61 lakh…

The ongoing economic disruption across the world, due to Covid-19 has highlighted the dangers of manufacturing activities being concentrated in a single location and thrown up the need for diversification of supply chains and manufacturing. This has thrown up a huge opportunity for India – one of the fastest growing economies of the world and an attractive investment destination which offers strong democratic governance, a well-established judicial system, a young work force, one of the largest domestic markets and favourable investment policies. In order to further promote Make in India and support international companies for setting up manufacturing in India,…

New Delhi: For the first quarter of FY21 as the lockdown remains in force from March 25 to now May 17 CEA K V Subramanian said the GDP will contract to meager 1-2%.And thereafter in the second quarter ending September some growth can be expected as migrant labor may return to job and industries resume operations and there is seen streamlining in logistics and supply chain. Further as told to the agency, he said that job losses due to continuing uncertainty can be hard to predict. Also on the sidelines he said that as the global sentiments remain weak there…

Mumbai: A cocktail of bad news, including rising tensions between US and China, poor corporate results and increasing Covid-19 cases, dragged the Indian markets lower with the Sensex ending the day more than 2,000 points lower. Global markets were extremely weak with all round selling seen in the European markets and Asian markets. Dow Futures also pointed to lower openings for the US Markets. The Sensex ended the day with losses of 2002 points, while the Nifty closed the day with losses of 566 points. Banking stocks saw some massive selling pressure with the Bank Nifty closing the day almost…

BharatPe, the Delhi-based startup, launched two voice-based applications on Monday that will help accountholders access transactions and balance without having to touch their phones amid COVID-19 outbreak. BharatPe Launches Voice-Based Feature On Its UPI App To Avoid Touching PhoneThe merchant payment and lending network provider launched ‘Paisa Bolega,’ a voice alert function that instantly reads aloud confirmations of all payments received through their BharatPe QR to shopkeepers, without touching the phone. BharatPe Balance will give information about the total money available to the shopkeeper across deposits, loans and daily collections through quick response (QR). During the lockdown, the company has…

Castrol India Ltd had announced regarding temporary suspension of all plant operations of the Company during the nation-wide lockdown, we hereby inform you that based on the permissions received from the local Government authorities, the Company has safely and partially resumed operations at its Silvassa plant. The operations at Silvassa are being carried out in complete compliance with the precautionary measures, conditions and directions as mentioned in the guidelines / orders from respective Government authorities regarding the COVID-19 safety advisories. Castrol is taking all necessary measures to support its employees, support staff, distributors and suppliers during these difficult times as…

Aurobindo Pharma Limited has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Flucytosine Capsules, 250 mg and 500 mg. Flucytosine Capsules are generic version of Bausch Health’s Ancobon® Capsules. The product will be launched in June 2020. The approved product has an estimated market size of US$ 43 million forthe twelve months ending March 2020, according to IQVIA. Flucytosine Capsules are indicated for the treatment of serious infections caused by susceptible strains of Candida and/or Cryptococcus. This is the 3 rd ANDA to be approved out of APL Healthcare formulation facility in Hyderabad,…

Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, is rapidly gearing up to commence operations, as per the guidelines stipulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. The decision by the Company comes in the wake of the relaxations put in place by the government on the countrywide lockdown and the necessary permissions granted by the local authorities. To begin with, Hero MotoCorp is commencing operations in a graded manner at three of its manufacturing plants – Gurugram and Dharuhera (both in Haryana), Haridwar (Uttarakhand) and additionally the Global Parts Center (GPC) at Neemrana…