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Infosys posts whopping 20.55% rise in profits

IT major Infosys on Wednesday reported a 20.55 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit for the July-September quarter, on a year-on-year basis, at Rs 4,845 crore.

During the corresponding period of the last financial year, Infosys had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4,019 crore.

The company’s total revenue from operations stood at Rs 24,570 crore, 8.58 per cent higher than Rs 22,629 crore earned in the year-ago period, it said in a regulatory filing.

It has revised the FY21 revenue growth guidance upward to 2-3 per cent in constant currency.

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh (Photo: IANS)

The IT major has declared an interim dividend of Rs 12 per equity share and fixed October 26, 2020 as record date for interim dividend and November 11, 2020 as the payment date.

“Our second quarter performance is a clear reflection of our ability to help clients on their digital transformation journeys. Our digital and cloud capabilities combined with intense client relevance are helping us achieve differentiated results in the market as is visible in 2.2% year on year overall revenue growth and 25.4% growth from digital offerings, which now are at 47.3% of revenues”, said Salil Parekh, CEO and MD.

On Wednesday, its shares on the BSE closed at Rs 1,136.10, lower by Rs 21.90 or 1.89 per cent from its previous close.

Also Read: IMF Foresees Steep Fall And Rise For India’s GDP

Also Read: India Set To Be A Top Investment Choice: Survey

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Business India News

IMF Foresees Steep Fall And Rise For India’s GDP

Gita Gopinath, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist. (Xinhua/Jorge Villegas/IANS)

With the coronavirus pandemic still to be contained and the central government’s stimulus measures having limited impact on economic activities and consumer demand, the outlook for the Indian economy for the current financial year has only worsened.

In its latest global outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that India’s GDP will contract by 10.3 per cent in the 2020-21 fiscal. This is a downward revision of its previous estimate of 5.8 per cent.

The outlook for the next financial year (2021-22), however, has improved. The IMF now estimates an 8.8 per cent growth in the country’s GDP in FY22, higher than the previous estimate of 2.8 per cent.

Noting that all emerging market and developing economy regions are expected to contract this year, IMF’s World Economic Outlook said: “Revisions to the forecast are particularly large for India, where GDP contracted much more severely than expected in the second quarter. As a result, the economy is projected to contract by 10.3 per cent in 2020, before rebounding by 8.8 per cent in 2021.”

Global economy is now projected to contract 4.4 per cent in 2020, as per IMF’s latest estimate.


In her foreword to the World Economic Outlook, IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath noted that preventing further setbacks to the global economy will require that policy support is not prematurely withdrawn.

“The path ahead will require skilful domestic policies that manage trade-offs between lifting near-term activity and addressing medium-term challenges,” she said.

As India’s growth falls, amongst the most in the world, India is on track to fall below Bangladesh in terms of the per capita GDP. India will grow smartly next year, as per IMF.

As per the World Economic Outlook report, India’s per capita GDP is set to plunge to $1,877 this fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. This will make India the third poorest country in South Asia with only Pakistan and Nepal behind.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives now have more per capita GDP than India.

Bangladesh’s per capita GDP in dollar terms is expected to grow 4 per cent in 2020 to $1,888, overtaking India.

Till five years back, India’s per capita GDP was 40 per cent higher than Bangladesh. In the last five years, Bangladesh has grown three times the rate of India, at 9.1 per cent compared to 3.2 per cent for India, a much larger economy.

Also Read: Demand in China boosts Indian steel industry

Also Read: India Set To Be A Top Investment Choice: Survey

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Business

Demand in China boosts Indian steel industry

Good times seems to be making a return for Indian steel makers as global demand conditions, particularly in largest steel consuming market in China, has pushed up the metal prices worldwide.

The immediate impact of the development in China is that Indian steel prices have also firmed up and has shown consistent increase over last four months since July when unlock phases of the economy became more pronounced.

Steel trade data released by China suggests demand remains strong there with net steel exports declining to 10 year lows in September 2020. Moreover, high passenger car sales in September 20 20 confirm strong end user demand for steel in China. China’s domestic steel prices are also on the rise again post the National Holidays that ended last week.

“With strong steel demand supporting prices in China, we expect regional export prices to also remain strong, which should be beneficial for Indian steel prices,” Motilal Oswal said in a report.

India has already turned net exporter of steel to China for the first time in several years, with 69 per cent of semi-finished steel and 28% of finished steel heading there between April and August. The numbers have risen further in the months of September and October.

In China, net steel exports have declined to 0.94mt – a new 10-year low. Declining net steel exports despite rising steel production (up 4.7 per cent YoY over Jan-Sep’20) indicate strong steel consumption in China.

Moreover, China’s passenger car sales grew 8 per cent YoY to 2.09 million units in September 2020 (and by 7.8 per cent YoY in 3QCY20), indicating strong end-use demand for flat steel. The country’s iron ore imports also surged 9 per cent YoY to 108MT (8 per cent MoM) in September 2020, and inventories at ports rose 3 per cent MoM to 104.8MT.

All these are indicative of a boom coming back in the global steel market that should benefit Indian steel sector as well. Though India steel prices have moved up for past few months, there were concerns on demand conditions in China exerting downward pressure on prices.

Closer at home, steel companies have increase the price of the metal for the fourth month in a row in October on the back of demand revival and firm price trends in the overseas market.

Benchmark hot rolled coils (HRC) prices have increased by Rs 1,000-2,000 per tonne for October deliveries to Rs 43,000-43,500 per tonne whereas (cold rolled coil) CRC prices stand at Rs 52,000 per tonne.

The outlook is positive long steel products as construction activity in the country picks pace after monsoon.

Also Read: India’s Steel Exports To China Hit New Highs

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Business India News

India Set To Be A Top Investment Choice: Survey

India will emerge as one of the top three choices for overseas investments in the next 2-3 years, a CII-EY FDI survey report showed on Tuesday.

According to the survey, India is the first choice for future investments for more than two-thirds of the MNC respondents.

The survey also showed that 25 per cent of the respondents, who represent non-Indian HQ MNCs, view India as the first choice for future investments.

“The survey shows that more than 80 per cent of all the respondents and 71 per cent of the non-Indian headquartered respondents plan to make investments globally in the next 2-3 years,” the report said.

“About 30 per cent of companies are planning to invest more than $500 million. About 50 per cent of the respondents see India among the top three economies or leading manufacturing destinations of the world by 2025,” it added.

The respondents have picked market potential, skilled workforce and political stability as the top three reasons to make India their favoured destination.

Other key factors which contribute to the attractiveness of India as an investment destination include cheap labour availability, policy reforms, and availability of raw materials, the report said.

“Recent reforms in the country such as corporate tax cuts, ease of doing business measures, simplification of labour laws, FDI reforms, and focus on human capital have emerged as the top drivers for fresh investments,” the report said.

“Non-Indian HQ MNCs have also opined that major investment in infrastructure and 100 Smart cities as well as financial sector reforms will also help establishing India as a favourable destination for FDI,” it said.

In addition, the survey brought out some key recommendations sought by the respondents.

As per the report: “Infrastructure development, faster clearances, and proper implementation of the improved labour laws and labour availability as the top three issues that the companies want the government to focus on, followed by R&D and innovation, and tax reforms.

“In terms of trade policy reforms, investors would like to see a faster turnaround time for exports and imports, improved cargo handling, and trade facilitation measures to be in place.”

Also Read: Tesla To Begin India Pre Launch Activities In January

Also Read: Semi Urban, Tier 2 Markets Driving Growth: Honor India Head

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Business Economy

Festive Season To See Increased Spending On Electronics: Survey

Despite the pandemic triggered financial crisis, India might witness an increased spending on electronics during the coming festive seasons. A recent study has revealed that a good majority of the people are saving money to spend on white goods.

More than 3 in 4 Indians have been saving in the past few months to splurge on electronics and gadgets this festive season, according to ZestMoney, an AI-driven EMI financing and Paylater platform.

The pan-India survey which received approximately 12,200 responses suggests that 74 per cent of the respondents said they have been saving for the upcoming festive season.

While 48 per cent said budgets have been impacted this year, 80 per cent of those surveyed wish to choose EMI options to plan their finances better this year.

“It is interesting to note that 52 per cent of them revealed that they planned to spend more or the same as they did last year,” the findings showed.

While 42 per cent plan to visit retail stores in coming months, 52 per cent said they will prefer online gifting for family and friends.

“Online habits of consumers are here to stay with the boom in demand for e-commerce services. COVID-19 has not only changed how people plan their purchases but how they want to fund them too,” said Lizzie Chapman, CEO and Co-founder of ZestMoney.

“Some of our partners have witnessed a 100 per cent increase in EMI transactions signalling the importance of affordable solutions in boosting demand. There is increased interest in Buy Now, Pay Later solutions especially for big ticket items,” Chapman added.

Affordability solutions play a crucial role in these times as people cope with the economic uncertainty induced by COVID-19.

The online medium continues to be the preferred choice, with 62 per cent respondents planning to shop online for most of their needs.

“We have noticed that people want to plan their finances better and that same trend is playing out in the survey”, Chapman said.

Also Read: India Inc skeptical of govt’s plan to push festive demand

Also Read: Tesla To Begin India Pre Launch Activities In January

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Business Economy India News

India Inc skeptical of govt’s plan to push festive demand

Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman. (File Photo: IANS)

As the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a couple of demand boosting measures along with loans to states for increasing capital expenditure after a lot of anticipation, concerns have again been raised over the adequacy and effectiveness of the measures.

As per stock brokerages, the latest demand-moving measures are insufficient and the results are only going to be “modest”.

Sitharaman on Monday announced an ‘LTC Cash Voucher Scheme’ which will be launched with applicability till March 31, 2021. Under the LTC scheme, central government employees get LTC in a block of four years – one travel to anywhere in India and one to hometown or two for hometown visits. Air or rail fare, as per pay scale or entitlement, is reimbursed and in addition leave encashment of 10 days (pay and dearness allowance) is paid.

In this case, the government will make full cash payment on leave encashment and payment of fare in three flat-rate slabs depending on class of entitlement, including making the fare payment tax free.

An employee opting for this scheme, would be required to buy goods or services worth 3 times the fare and one time the leave encashment before March 31, 2021. The money must be spent on goods attracting GST on 12 per cent or more from a GST registered vendor through digital mode and GST invoice will be required to be produced.

Also Read: Tesla To Begin India Pre Launch Activities In January

ICICI Securities said in a report that it is difficult to estimate how many people will avail this scheme. “The requirement to contribute money from one’s own pocket could prove to be a dampener for many,” it said.

It noted that in April, the government froze dearness allowance hike for central government employees till July 2021 which could also keep demand muted.

Moreover, requirement to buy goods or services that attract 12 per cent or more GST rate and only through digital mode could restrict options.

Noting that it is an earnest attempt to revive demand, a report by Emkay Research said that however, the package “is not likely to be sufficient to move the needle”.

“The recovery in demand is likely to be ephemeral and thus not likely to be reflationary in nature, i.e., having a low demand push impact on inflation,” it said.

Also Read: Semi Urban, Tier 2 Markets Driving Growth: Honor India Head

Further, with the recent job losses of 1.9 crore people in salaried class, revival in that demand would require more aggressive steps by the government, it said.

The impact of the Rs 73,000 crore package would be marginal it said, adding that generally capital spending has much higher multiplier impact on growth and is likely to last longer.

However, the Emkay report noted that pent-up demand and demand for white goods or durables ahead of the festive season could provide some traction for this scheme.

On the additional capital expenditure of Rs 25,000 crore by the Centre, the ICICI Securities said that although the entire fresh capex amount of Rs 25,000 crore is fiscal outgo, the actual fiscal cost is expected to be lower than the announced number.

Also Read: Religious fests to fuel India Corona cases

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Arab News Business Fashion

Fashion Industry Affected as Saudi delays Turkish Imports

File photo of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa/IANS)

As the regional tussle between Turkey and its rivals, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates gathers heat, the flow of goods and merchandises between these countries is taking a hit.

Various fashion brands which house their production facilities in Turkey and import the finished goods to the lucrative markets in the rich Arab nations is one among the affected industries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Though Saudi authorities reject the existence of such a ban of Turkish goods, various exporters from Turkey say they face long delays at Saudi ports, according to a Financial Times report.

Earlier this month, the chairman of Riyadh chamber of commerce, Ajlan al-Ajlan had called to boycott ‘everything Turkish’ in response to Ankara’s alleged involvement in the Arabian geo-political scene.

The report also states that a number of European and US fashion retailers with production facilities in Turkey are looking out for alternatives to tackle the clearance delays their goods face in Saudi Arabia.

According to the report, Spanish fashion brand Mango isn’t very much worried about the situation. “We are confident we will be able to continue with business under normal circumstances in Saudi Arabia,” the Financial Times cited a quote from the company’s sources.

Sweden’s H&M said “too early to comment on the most recently communicated trade restrictions”.

Also Read: Turkey Calls For Urgent Reconciliation With EU

Also Read: Caucusus: Turkey goes beyond NATO grip

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Business Motoring

Tesla To Begin India Pre Launch Activities In January

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (Xinhua/Ding Ting/IANS)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has further revealed plans for the India entry of the electric car maker, saying the process to bring Tesla cars to India will begin in January 2021.

Earlier this month, Musk said the electric car maker is finally ready to enter the India market next year.

Reacting to a tweet by Tesla Club India, he said there is an India team working on the next year for sure scheduled Tesla entry. “Will release order configurator probably in Jan,” he added.

It means that Tesla sales teams are working on building custom sales and production orders for the India market, ensuring orders are complete and validated once the configuration is finished.

The move will also open India to select as one of the countries where Tesla cars can be purchased.

However, whether Musk will announce a Tesla plant in India to push Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s domestic manufacturing dream or source them from other facilities (Gigafactory in Shanghai, China is the nearest one) is not yet clear.

Earlier, Musk revealed his plans to bring Tesla cars to India in his response to a Twitter post that asked about the progress on Tesla’s planned entry into India.

“Next year for sure,” Musk said in response to the tweet that posted pictures of T-shirts with “India wants Tesla” and “India loves Tesla” printed on them.



“Thanks for waiting,” he added.

On several occasions earlier, Musk had revealed that he would like to bring Tesla to India, but in a 2018 Twitter post, he cited “some challenging government regulations” as a hurdle.

He also criticised the foreign direct investment norms for the delay in the electric car maker’s entry into the Indian market.

“Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately,” Musk had tweeted in response to a Twitter user who wrote “No Tesla in India” on his Twitter handle.

In July this year, he hinted at allowing Tesla’s Indian fans to drive an electric Model 3 “hopefully soon”.

However, the new tweets give a more definitive timeline of Tesla’s entry into India.

This comes at a time when India is ramping up charging infrastructure for electric vehicles with the aim of significantly increasing the proportion of electric vehicles plying on the roads.

In 2015, Modi visited Tesla headquarters at Palo Alto, California and met Musk who gave Modi a tour of the company’s electric car plant.

Tesla has not launched any of its electric cars in India or any other country in South Asia yet. The only Asian market where Tesla has a presence is China.

Also Read: Tesla to enter India next year

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Business India News

Razorpay becomes newest addition to Indian Unicorn Club

Razorpay Co founders Harshil Mathur (L) and Shashank Kumar.

Full-stack financial solutions company Razorpay has raised $100 million in its Series D round of funding, making it another Indian unicorn with over $1 billion in valuation, joining the big startup-turned-unicorn league of BYJU’s, Swiggy, Zomato, Paytm and more.

The round was co-led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and Sequoia India, along with participation from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, Y Combinator and Matrix Partners, the company said in a statement.

Witnessing a 300 per cent growth in its business during the last six months, the new funding gives Razorpay $206.5 million in investments since its inception in 2014 (this includes recent $75 Million raise in Series C in 2019).

“This funding represents a huge endorsement of our belief of powering the financial infrastructure for disruptive businesses, simplifying the entire money flow so that businesses can focus more on disrupting the Indian economy with their new ideas, products and experiences, everyday,” said Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder.

Razorpay plans to use the new funding to further strengthen and accelerate its two new product lines – RazorpayX which is a neo-banking platform and lending arm Razorpay Capital, and invest in new initiatives to empower SMEs.

Razorpay

The company expects RazorpayX and Razorpay Capital to contribute to 35 per cent of its revenue, with a 100 per cent increase in the company’s count of partner businesses, by FY21.

The funds raised will also be used towards hiring additional 500 employees.

“Neobanking is a nascent but fast-developing space in the Indian market and has the potential to become the one-stop platform for a business’ banking needs. This pushes us to develop new technologies that meet the rising demand,” Mathur said.

Despite the Covid-19 disruption, the fintech market is expected to grow to Rs 6.2 lakh crore by 2025.

“We will power payments and banking for 50 million businesses by 2025,” Mathur added.

Founded by IIT Roorkee alumni Shashank Kumar and Mathur, Razorpay is the second Indian company to be a part of Silicon Valley’s largest tech accelerator, Y Combinator.

Around 33 angel investors have invested in Razorpay’s mission to simplify payments and banking and redefine how finance works in India.

Also Read: BYJU’s Acquires WhiteHat Jr. For $300 Mn

Also Read: Paytm launches own app store

Categories
Business

Semi Urban, Tier 2 Markets Driving Growth: Honor India Head

Charles Peng, President, Honor India.

The semi-urban and tier-2 markets are at the forefront of driving growth in digital and intelligent technologies in India, leading to significant market recovery in the Unlock phase, said a top Honor India executive.

The comment comes after the company recently entered the India laptop market and expanded its wearables portfolio in the country.

“The pandemic has severely impacted all sectors of the economy. Since the ease of lockdown, businesses across industries have slowly started to pick-up,” Charles Peng, President, Honor India, told IANS in an interview.

“With consumers fast adapting to a new lifestyle, we have seen an uptick in demand for products that are complementing their living as well as keeping them connected and safe. We believe this trend will continue to drive growth for the rest of the year,” he said.

Particularly, the company said it has seen rise in demand for low-end and mid-range devices.

The Huawei subsidiary last week expanded its wearable portfolio in India with two new smartwatches – Watch ES and Watch GS Pro.

“Earlier we launched Watch Magic, MagicWatch2, Band 5, and Band 5i with features and innovations unheard of in the segment. Since then, we have witnessed great success in the wearable market and emerged as a consumer favourite with impressive 4+ ratings for all products on both of India’s largest e-commerce channels Amazon & Flipkart,” Peng said.

Also Read: ‘Indian Economy Clearly On Recovery Path’

“After receiving an overwhelming response from the Indian market, we are now focussed on expanding our product offerings in the wearable segment.

“In India, we are among the Top 4 smart wearable brands,” he said.

According to the Honor India president, the company’s entry into the India laptop market in August has also turned out to be a success.

The company’s introductory laptop, Honor MagicBook 15, comes with an 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, a hidden pop-up webcam, 2-in-1 fingerprint power button and a compact 65W fast charger.

“It was sold out within seconds as soon as it went online. Further, we have received encouraging and positive feedback from our consumers who wish to own a PC that fulfills their requirements as well as suits their personality with a premium product at a competitive price,” Peng said.

“On future prospects, we are confident about our performance in India. We aim to create an intelligent new world for individuals by developing a smart living ecosystem having a diverse product portfolio including smart band, smartwatch, smart audio, laptops, and smartphones,” he said.

Also Read: India’s Real Estate Sector Limping Back: Report

Also Read: ‘India needs to move beyond raw material export’