Tag: Financial Times

Adani Group denies Financial Times report on foreign direct investment

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Adani Group on Monday rejected a report published by the Financial Times on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the conglomerate, calling it a “mendacious and deliberate” attempt to damage the reputation of the Adani Group. In a letter to the publication, the conglomerate claimed that the article contained “fundamental misunderstandings” of prior Adani Group disclosures, and “resultant inaccuracies” in the story, and asked to immediately take it down from their website.

The article titled “Indian Data Reveals Adani empire’s reliance on offshore funding” published by Financial Times on March 22, 2023 mentioned that almost half of all foreign direct investment into Gautam Adani’s conglomerate in recent years came from offshore entities linked to his family, “highlighting the role of hard-to-scrutinise money flows in financing the Indian tycoon’s business empire.”

According to a Financial Times analysis of India’s FDI remittance statistics, offshore companies linked to the Adanis invested at least $2.6 billion in the group between 2017 and 2022, 45.4 percent of the more than $5.7 billion it received in total FDI over the period.

“A quarter of the FDI flows into Adani group of companies came from connected shell companies through a series of small and frequent investments. More recently the transactions have become larger and
less recurrent,” the report said.

Also Read: Who is Amrita Ahuja named in Hindenburg’s report on Block Inc?

Responding to it, Adani Group said that it was “a mendacious, deliberate effort to attempt to paint the Adani family and the Adani Group in the worst possible light.”

“In doing so, it reveals a willingness to be selective in using publicly available facts, lazy in its approach to understanding disclosures to which your reporters were directed, and makes insinuations that are false and damaging,” it said. 

The Adani Group further said that the facts about the investments “are easily available and transparent. They are available through relevant securities regulatory filings that were made at the time and are a matter of public record.”

However, it said that the article incorrectly mixed primary and secondary investments, and also ignored entirely a secondary transaction of USD 2 billion.

“We understand the competitive race to tear down Adani can be alluring. But we are fully compliant with securities laws and are not obscuring promoter ownership and financing. Through the creation of a misleading narrative, your story has created reputational impact on Adani Group companies. We ask you to take down the story immediately from your website.”

“Further, because this story has driven misunderstanding in the market and with other media, and has become a political issue, we are compelled to share this information publicly at this time. That is regrettable, but could have been avoided by your reporters taking a careful and objective approach,” it added.

Meanwhile, the shares of the Adani Enterprises Ltd closed 2.45 percent higher on Monday against the previous close.

Also Read: NSE has sought clarification from Adani Enterprises on report released by The Ken

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Moneycontrol Pro ties up with the Financial Times

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Moneycontrol Pro, India’s fastest-growing financial news subscription product, has entered an editorial-content partnership with the Financial Times. Now, Moneycontrol Pro subscribers can access insightful and in-depth content produced by world-renowned experts and journalists at the Financial Times.

One of the world’s leading global news organisations, the Financial Times is recognized for its unmatched authority, integrity and accuracy. This strategic alliance will give Moneycontrol Pro users an advantage in decoding global market information and help them make better investment decisions. Pro users already have access to curated markets data, independent equity analysis, expert insights into investment styles, exclusive trading recommendations, and actionable investment ideas.

Non-users can subscribe to Moneycontrol Pro and immediately gain access to Financial Times content. Currently, we are offering a 1-year subscription plan at a special price of Rs 399 for the first year. Subscribe here.

“Moneycontrol Pro has constantly provided an edge to all our stakeholders by expanding our offerings through transformative services and collaborations,” said Manoj Nagpal, business head (B2C revenues) at Moneycontrol. “The tie-up not only reflects the same ideologies of both the platforms, but also augment our portfolio by providing Pro users with hard-hitting analyses of global policies, and financial movements.”

Angela Mackay, the Financial Times, Managing Director in Asia Pacific, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Moneycontrol Pro to offer finance and business news and analysis to the network’s audience in India. The FT’s trusted, agenda-setting journalism will enable Moneycontrol Pro to provide further value to their readers with a view to supporting the growth of their digital platform.”

For those new to the story, since its launch in April 2019, Moneycontrol Pro has added over 300,000 subscribers.

Our editors parse news, trends and data to bring you daily insights and opinion for you to stay on top of the investment game. We offer deep insights into economy, business, politics and policy and more importantly, add value by writing on the intersection of these topics.

Features of Moneycontrol Pro

*On the mobile app, Pro subscribers get an ad-free experience which promises more room for data on the mobile screen with faster load times. Stock prices are also refreshed faster on the app.

*Investment ideas from our in-house equity research team and technical analysis trading ideas from a hand-picked team of experts

*Sharp commentary and opinion that will decode the news across markets, politics, policy and business.

*Exclusive access to blogs written by high net worth individuals (HNIs) and market gurus, whose life and market lessons we would all love to emulate and help us make better investment decisions.

This is only the beginning. We promise to add more features to help you stay on top of the game.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Coronavirus cure difficult to emerge; likely to spread further, says Financial Times’ Martin Wolf

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at Financial Times is of the belief that the coronavirus will hurt the global economy in the second quarter as well.

“My view has been not to have expectations about what could happen because we don’t know but it seems very plausible that it could spread. It is a very difficult disease because you are infectious before you are symptomatic. So unless you stop everybody from moving, it is likely to spread,” said Wolf.

“Now that it is in Europe, it is going to spread across Europe and that almost certainly means it is going to spread across the world because Europe is completely integrated into the world. We have to hope that the disease will die down in the summer, we don’t know but it is clear now that this is going to be a significant factor for the world economy,” he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

“Everybody expects this first quarter to be very bad and I would say now it seems likely that Q2 will also be very bad; lots of movement will stop, tourism will be down, trade will be down and Europe is a very important continent from this point of view. So, I would expect it to be a significant jolt,” he added.

Now real question is would the world economy recover in Q3 and Q4 as the disease dies down but at this stage we don’t know. Moreover, we don’t know what the fatality rate will be,” he said.

According to him, it is always difficult to find a cure for virus,” What I have been reading suggests that cure is not likely to emerge quickly. They of course know the structure of the disease but creating a cure that works seems to be quite difficult. So, I am assuming it is not going to be available in the next couple of quarters and it is therefore likely to spread further,” he added.

When asked about India and growth slowdown, he said, “I do think if nothing changes very much, Indian policy remains sort of where it is and the world is sort of where it is, India’s growth is not likely to be above 7 percent and is more likely be around 6 percent.”

“If everything goes roughly where we are now without any huge negative shocks, if India is to grow much faster than that, which means it is going to grow 2.5-3 times as fast as the world economy then some things have to improve a lot and the most obvious one is export competitiveness has to improve and that is a point that Arvind Subramanian has been making. You cannot have rapid growth without exports growing at least as fast as your economy,” he noted.

“Indian exports have to start growing at 8 percent a year or so, which is nowhere near what is happening and for that to happen, you need massive improvements in competitiveness, attraction of foreign investment. So, you have to do almost what China did. So, that needs change, a purposeful change,” he said, adding that it is not just about export competitiveness, it is also about the infrastructure and the other things, the skills etc.

“So, I am assuming that without those policy changes, particularly with the instability we are seeing now, India’s growth is probably going to be in the 5-6 percent range and that is very depressing because that means employment growth is not adequate. If employment growth is not adequate, you have got a lot of unhappy people here –so, where does that lead Indian politics? It could lead it to a very dark place. So it is very important that policy improves if India is to remain stable, prosperous and happy, which is what I want it to be,” he further mentioned.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

JNU Violence: Union minister Javadekar targets FT for ‘identifying’ masked mob as nationalist

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday took potshots at The Financial Times in a series of tweets, questioning the British financial newspaper’s reporting of the violence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night. Javadekar criticised FT for identifying the miscreants as “nationalist,” because the identities of the miscreants are yet to be established.

The comments by Javadekar are a rare instance of a Union minister attacking a foreign publication for its coverage of India.

“Dear @FT, Technologists across the world would be eager to get the tech possessed by you, which helps decipher that a masked mob is ‘nationalist’. Also, all universities & institutions in our country are secular,” Javadekar posted a tweet.

Dear @FT, Technologists across the world would be eager to get the tech possessed by you, which helps decipher that a masked mob is ‘nationalist’. Also, all universities & institutions in our country are secular.

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) January 6, 2020

Several students, including Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, were badly injured in violence between ABVP and Left students at the JNU campus on Sunday evening.

In another tweet, Javadekar questioned the FT’s reporting and understanding of India.

“I hate to break it to you, but so shallow is your reporting & understanding of India, that the last time you predicted social unrest in India was over rising onion prices! @FT,” he tweeted.

I know it’s a bit too much for you to understand India, but here’s an effort: Stop predicting the breaking apart of India at every possible chance you get. India is a diverse democracy and it has always assimilated all differences to emerge stronger.@FT

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) January 6, 2020

The Delhi Police has registered a case against unidentified people in connection with the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University, officials said on Monday. The case has been registered under section of rioting and damage to property, the police said.

Javadekar called FT’s reporting “shallow.”

I hate to break it to you, but so shallow is your reporting & understanding of India, that the last time you predicted social unrest in India was over rising onion prices!@FT pic.twitter.com/Lz9LPf99X0

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) January 6, 2020

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had earlier blamed the opposition Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Left parties for the violence in JNU.

Taking to Twitter, Javadekar said: “I condemn yesterday’s violence in JNU. Few elements along with a group from Congress, AAP and Communists deliberately wants to create an atmosphere of violence across India and particularly in universities. There should be an inquiry against them.”

The minister has also demanded an inquiry on who were creating hurdles in semester exam registration at JNU by lockdown of the server room. Recently JNU went into a lockdown following which Vice Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar blamed it on 10-15 people and had warned of filing a police complaint against them.

Interestingly, a video too has surfaced where students allegedly belonging to the Left unions are seen to be purportedly beating up students who appear to belong to ABVP during the admission process. This is believed to be the trigger for Sunday’s violence.

-with inputs from IANS

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Financial Times editor denied entry to Hong Kong

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Asia editor of the Financial Times has been refused entry to Hong Kong, weeks after he was denied a new work visa in what critics call an ominous sign of Beijing encroaching on the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s civil liberties.

The newspaper reported that Victor Mallet was turned away at the border on Thursday after being questioned for several hours. He had sought to enter as a visitor.

Mallet’s visa rejection in October came shortly after he hosted a talk at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club by the head of a now-banned political party advocating the financial hub’s independence from China.

That brought heated criticism from the territory’s pro-China elites, some of whom called for the journalists’ organization to be kicked out of its clubhouse in the central financial district.

Hong Kong’s immigration authority have given no explanation for his expulsion and on Friday responded with a statement saying it would “act in accordance with the laws and policies and decide whether the entry will be allowed or refused after careful consideration of the circumstances of each case.”

In a statement issued Friday, the Hong Kong Journalists Association said that in barring Mallet’s entry, the government was “severely violating the freedoms of press and speech, and further damaging the reputation and status of Hong Kong as an international city,” according to the newspaper South China Morning Post.

Pro-democracy legislators on the city council also expressed worries over the incident, saying the erosion of basic legal rights could harm Hong Kong’s ability to attract foreign investment.

The denial of a visa to Mallet has been widely condemned by journalists, human rights and civic society groups in Hong Kong, who saw it as a sign of China’s growing encroachment on freedom of speech in the city.

Concerns have also been raised by the apparent kidnappings and prosecutions in China of independent booksellers from Hong Kong and legal cases brought against pro-democracy legislators and organizers of large-scale anti-government protests in 2014.

Hong Kong was promised semi-autonomy for 50 years as part of its 1997 handover from British rule, allowing it to retain its limited democracy and rights to assembly and free speech that are denied on the Chinese mainland.

The Foreign Correspondent’s Club is an institution dating back more than 75 years ago to when Hong Kong was a British colony.

At the Aug. 14 talk at the FCC, Mallet introduced Hong Kong National Party leader Andy Chan by acknowledging official criticism while citing the territory’s tolerance for dissent.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow