Author: Niral Sharma

Cement players keep fingers crossed for third quarter as profitability may take another hit

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

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A combination of weaker demand and significantly higher costs hit the profitability of cement companies in the first quarter of the financial year and things don’t look great for the current quarter as well.

Industry players continue to reel under the cost pressure — though with slight relief — with immediate turnaround in profitability unlikely as weakness persists on the demand side owing to monsoon.

According to Shree Digvijay Cement Executive Chairman Anil Singhvi, cement prices have slightly improved in South and East but the demand is still tepid in North.

“Cost side pressures are still there. They have not come down except for the petcoke. So industry’s profitability obviously is still under a lot of strain,” he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

All cement companies delivered weak profits during the first quarter with Shree Cement and ACC’s profit falling by a massive 56 percent and 60 percent, respectively.

Monsoon has added to the woes of these companies. Typically, the second quarter is weak for the companies as the period from June to September sees a slowdown in construction activities owing to rains, leading to a pressure on prices.

“I think the monsoon has been rather heavy for the month of August. I don’t think we have seen this kind of monsoon in many parts of the country as we have seen in August. So demand has been a little tepid in those areas where monsoon has been heavy,” said Singhvi.

According to a research report by Jefferies, the all-India average prices are currently below January 2022 average. The report also cautions that high input costs and soft pricing may weaken the second quarter of the financial year for the sector further.

However, the third quarter may bring some respite as companies expect the demand to pick up with an upside expected in prices.

Singhvi expects the prices to inch up in the next fortnight or so as rains subside and demand picks up again. “So my expectation is that the prices which we lost during the last two, three months on account of monsoon, will come back again,” he said.

“If the prices move up with the demand in October, I hope margins will come back again from October-December quarter,” added Singhvi.

According to P Radhakrishnan, Wholetime Director & CEO at Kesoram Industries, cement prices have marginally gone up but have not managed to pass on the entire cost. He hopes to see a further increase in prices.

“The substantial increase in cost pressure in quarter one and in quarter two, as Mr. Singhvi suggested, in petcoke, there is a decline, but overall, the fuel prices are still on the higher side. There has been price increase. Hopefully, going forward, there will be further increases to absorb the cost pressure,” said Radhakrishnan.

Shree Digvijay Cement stock traded 2.07 percent higher at Rs 71 per share at the time of writing while Kesoram was trading in the red at Rs 53, down 2.39 percent.

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Starbucks products an ‘affordable luxury’ despite recent price hikes, says CEO Howard Schultz

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

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Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on Wednesday said that the coffee chain’s products are affordable despite the company raising its prices at least three times since last October owing to a number of factors including inflation, supply-chain issues and labour costs.

“We haven’t seen any attrition whatsoever that demonstrates to us that the price of Starbucks coffee is not something that customers want to give. So, the demand for Starbucks despite the fact that we have had to raise prices by 5 percent over the past year because of inflation… our business is quite strong and it is still an affordable luxury,” said Schultz in an exclusive interview with CNBC.

Overall, the coffee prices are likely to rise further on the demand and supply mismatch as Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, is expected to see a sharp drop in its production and export owing to adverse weather conditions.

As Starbucks faces tough times amid higher costs for ingredients and labour, it is reworking its approach from a focus on cafes with long visits to mobile pickup and delivery.

“We have record demand right now throughout our stores in the US. So we are meeting our customers on mobile order and pay, meeting our customers at drive-through, pick-up stores and 2500 stores in America are still relevant in terms of third place. However, the third place is not limited to the four walls of Starbucks, it is the emotional connection that our people have with the customer,” said Schultz.

Schultz added that the company has asked employees to return to office in a hybrid model. “I have asked people to come back to office. We are a collaborative organisation, we need to be together,” he said, adding that about 2,00,000-3,00,000 people in the US are working in the stores and roasting plants.

Earlier this month, Starbucks named Laxman Narasimhan, the current CEO of Lysol owner Reckitt, as its next chief executive officer, who will join the company in October and take the helm in April.

“There have been many memes and suggestions from India post the appointment announcement. I have got a lot of suggestions of what I need to do,” said Narasimhan during the interview with CNBC. Before Reckitt, Narasimhan had held key positions at PepsiCo and McKinsey, consulting firm.

Schultz will continue to be on Starbucks’ board after Narasimhan takes over and act as an advisor.

In April, Schultz made a comeback as Starbucks CEO for the third time after Kevin Johnson retired. Earlier, Schultz served as the CEO of the company from 1986 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2017.

“I’m never coming back again, because we found the right person,” he added.

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Government, LIC together likely to sell 60% stake in IDBI Bank

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

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The government and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) together are likely to offer 60 percent stake for sale in the IDBI Bank divestment, sources told CNBC-TV18 on Tuesday, adding that the Expression of Interest (EoI) will be invited by October.

CNBC-TV18 had earlier reported that the government and LIC could sell up to 65 percent stake in IDBI Bank.

The government and LIC own nearly 94 percent in IDBI Bank. While the Centre owns 45.48 percent stake, LIC held 49.24 percent as of June 30, data has shown.

The government will be seeking the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) due diligence at every stage in the divestment process.

There is no cap on promoter holding subject to submission of a plan to reduce stake in 15 years. However, the 26 percent voting rights cap stays for the divestment.

The IDBI Bank stock was trading 0.46 percent higher at Rs 43.55 per share at the time of writing.

In Budget 2021, the Government of India had announced its intention to exit IDBI Bank. The disinvestment strategy refers to the sale or liquidation of government-owned assets.

Governments use disinvestment to reduce their fiscal burdens and raise money for public needs. They may also be done to privatise the assets.

The IDBI Bank stake sale has seen multiple ups and downs and the process has been delayed by months. Initially, the government planned to invite EoI in May, however, the process got delayed with its attempt to try to reach out to potential buyers and bidders.

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GoM open to view of levying different GST rates on online gaming, casinos and horse racing

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

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The Group of Ministers (GoM) formed to decide GST rates on online gaming, casinos and horse racing is open to the view of levying different rates and considering different valuation mechanism for all three, if required, sources told CNBC-TV18 on Monday.

However, the GST Council nominated GoM, headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, has not finalised any view as yet on the rates for the three games which are different in nature, they added.

After the meeting of the Group of Ministers today, Conrad Sangma said that the ministers would seek legal opinion on the applicable rate and valuation base to be considered for levying of GST on online gaming, casinos and horse racing.

“After taking the opinion of stakeholders & after successive meetings to seek the suggestions of all members, we will take legal opinion before submitting the final report,” said Sangma.

Chaired a meeting of the GoM on casinos, race courses & online gaming in New Delhi

After taking the opinion of stakeholders & after successive meetings to seek the suggestions of all members, we will take legal opinion before submitting the final report.@nsitharaman pic.twitter.com/u5AE4ffnGP

— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) September 5, 2022

Legal opinions will help the GoM to make up its mind, said the sources.

The GoM has been deliberating finalising a common valuation mechanism and hiking and bringing the GST rate on online gaming, casinos and horse racing at par at 28 percent but has not yet reached a consensus.

The GoM aims to finalise the report in the next seven-ten days.

Casino operator Delta Corp’s stock settled flat at Rs 211 per share on BSE.

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Nykaa shares up as Priyanka Chopra Jonas partners retailer to sell her haircare brand

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

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Shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which operates Nykaa, gained on Friday after actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas announced a partnership with the beauty and wellness firm to launch her haircare brand Anomaly in India.

The stock was trading 0.40 percent higher at Rs 1,371 per share on BSE at the time of writing. The stock has fallen 5.72 percent in the last month, while it is down 34.85 percent so far this year.

Anomaly, the brainchild of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, will be available in the country from Friday through online and offline stores of Nykaa. The products under the brand are gender neutral and available at a starting price of Rs 750. They are housed in bottles made from 100 percent plastic trash and infinitely recyclable cans, said a statement.

The collection consists of end-to-end haircare solutions via shampoos and conditioners for different hair needs, a high-performance hair and scalp oil and entry into high-growth and emerging product categories with dry shampoo and bonding mask.

“Anomaly was created from basically democratising, making it affordable and yet a superior product. But, how do you democratise the product by making it affordable, which was very important to me…,” said Chopra during a media briefing.

Founded in 2012 by Falguni Nayar, Nykaa offers 4,078 brands and over 3.1 million product SKUs through its website and mobile applications. Nykaa made its stock market debut last year in November at a premium of 77.8 percent over its issue price of Rs 1,125.

The company last year launched ‘The Global Store’ to bring international brands to India. Through the brand, it offers brands from countries worldwide, including the US, Dubai, Australia, South Korea and others.

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“Indian beauty has taken off in the past 3-4 years as we see through consumption patterns and trends in urban and smaller cities. Our role is to match the brand and the consumer. The domestic and global brands are doing well, and the market is big enough for all these brands to co-exist. But the product has to be high quality. It does not matter where it is made,” said Anchit Nayar, CEO of e-commerce beauty, Nykaa.

Earlier this month, the company reported its June quarter results with a 42 percent rise in consolidated profit to Rs 5 crore against Rs 5.52 crore during the same period last year.

In a separate development, Reena Chhabra, CEO of Nykaa’s beauty private label, quit this month, while Vishal Gupta took charge as executive vice-president for its consumer beauty brands.

Catch latest stock market highlights on CNBCTV18.com’s blog

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

TCS stock turned Rs 85,000 to Rs 26 lakh since listing 18 years ago

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

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Indian technology giant Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) shares that complete 18 years since the listing today have given 282.9 percent returns to investors on their investment in IPO during the period.

To put things into perspective, an investor who invested Rs 85,000 for 100 shares at the time of the IPO (issue price of Rs 850) would have seen a rise in the amount by Rs 2,40,500 to Rs 3,25,500.

This excludes the bonus shares issued by the company over the years. The company issued 1:1 bonus shares in 2006, 2009 and 2018, meaning a holding of 100 shares by an investor would have gone up to 800, which would effectively increase the Rs 85,000 invested in IPO to Rs 26,04,000 today.

The stock was trading lower by 0.32 percent at Rs 3,245 per share at the time of writing. It is down 13.14 percent so far this year, while in the last year, the stock has fallen 11 percent, underperforming the Sensex by 17.43 percent.

TCS was listed on August 25, 2004, at Rs 1,076, a premium of 26 percent over the issue price of Rs 850 a share. The company had set the offer price band at Rs 775-900 per share with an IPO size of Rs 4,713 crore.

TCS subscription

TCS is known as one of the best dividend-paying companies, with a consistent declaration of interim and final dividends over the past few years. For FY22, the company declared an equity dividend of 4,300 percent amounting to Rs 43 per share, 1.32 percent yield on the current share price of Rs 3255.35.

How big is TCS?

TCS is India’s second-largest company by market capitalisation and the largest IT company with 6,00,000 employees worldwide. 93 percent of the firm’s staff is of Indian origin. The company’s staff accounts for about 57 percent of the total employees hired by the Tata Group.

The company was the first to open a software R&D centre in India in 1980 and currently operates in 149 locations across 46 countries.

The company accounts for 55 percent of Tata Group’s total market capitalisation and half of its profit. In fact, the company is the second most profitable firm in the country. It has a 10 percent share in Nifty50’s total profit.

TCS’ current market capitalisation at about Rs 12 lakh crore is just about equivalent to the market capitalisation of Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech, and Tech Mahindra put together.

Recently, the company has been in the news over reports of a delay in the variable compensation payout for some employees. However, it denied the claims saying that the reports were incorrect.

“We have come across completely incorrect reports on our compensation. Variable pay is either paid in month one or month two as per the normal process, and there is no delay in this process. 100 percent variable pay is being paid for the June quarter,” TCS said in a statement.

TCS’s operating profit margin in the first quarter stood at 23.1 percent, much lower than the aspirational band of over 26 percent which hurt the profit growth. Managing Director and Chief Executive Offer Rajesh Gopinathan hinted that this is the bottom for the margins, attributing the fall to annual wage hikes and promotions, which drilled a 1.50 percent hole.

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After selling tickets worth Rs 300 cr in 10 days, EaseMyTrip says ‘pent-up demand yet to kick in’

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

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Online travel company EasyMyTrip on Wednesday said that the travel and tourism industry is not seeing a slowdown despite pinching inflation, adding that it has sold tickets worth Rs 300 crore in the first ten days of August as part of its annual festive season sale.

“We actually recently concluded our annual sale… We did the sales from August 1 till August 10. And in just those 10 days, we were able to do total business of Rs 300 crore. So the overall sale went extremely well and was extremely well received by the customers,” said Prashant Pitti, Co-founder, EasyMyTrip, in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Last month, the company reported a strong set of numbers for the first quarter with Profit After Tax seeing a growth of 125 percent to Rs 33 crore against Rs 14.9 crore during the same period last year.

Gross Booking Revenue (GBR) rose 366 percent to Rs 1,663 crore from Rs 356 crore year-on-year and the adjusted revenue came in at Rs 132 crore, up 169 percent YoY from Rs 49 crore.

However, Pitti said the pent-up demand was yet to fully kick in and believes the momentum will continue with the onset of the festive season despite inflation.

“We are still seeing the pent-up demand to kick in even though the fears might have gone a little bit higher because of the inflation, the demand has not stopped. So, we believe that this trend is probably going to continue and now the festival season is coming so the demand is only going to pick from here,” he said.

According to Pitti, the discount will stabilise going ahead from the current levels of annual sales. However, overall, the company continues to remain bullish.

“If you just do the annualised run rate, last year our total GMV was somewhere around Rs 3,500 crore, for the last quarter itself it was around Rs 1,700 crore. So, if you just do the annualised version of that, we are looking forward to touch somewhere around Rs 6,500 crore of GMV for this year,” said Pitti.

The company expects to see an upside in the international ticketing in the next few quarters as visa processes pick up pace.

The travel firm’s online and offline market share is over 10 percent with 95 percent of the business coming from air ticketing.

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

Container shortage: Average prices, one-way leasing rates skyrocket amid peak shipping season

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

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Rising average container prices and a massive increase in one-way pickup rates amid container shortage are pinching exporters and shippers in India at a time when the shipping season is at its peak, according to the monthly container logistics report by Container xChange, an operating platform for container logistic companies.

The report titled ‘Where Are All the Containers?’ shows that the average container prices increased by 58 percent last month as compared to June 2022 while the one-way pickup cost skyrocketed 200 percent in August from July.

July generally marks the beginning of the peak shipping season.

“India has withered the rising global disruptions with more resilience than many other countries. However, the ripple effect of disruptions caused well over the past two years has caused significant market and container imbalances in the Indian shipping industry,” said the report.

Amid global container shortage as demand surged after the pandemic, the government is in the process of coming up with a roadmap to boost container manufacturing in the country with a cluster-based approach, media reports said earlier.

“India’s decision to expand its container manufacturing will come on an opportune time. Expanding domestic manufacturing will help ease the strain and make containers available for other nations despite containers being stuck at western countries and China,” said Christian Roeloffs, Cofounder and CEO, Container xChange.

Average container prices up significantly since pandemic

According to the report, India has been appearing on the list of costliest ports for both 20 ft DCs (dry containers) as well as 40 ft HCs (high cube containers).

While the average rates for 20 ft DCs have gone up by 61.15 percent from $900 in July 2020 to $2317 in July 2022, prices for 40 ft HCs have risen by 57.34 percent from $1800 in July 2020 to $2317 in July 2022.

“The country has a vast coastline, and this gives it a very good opportunity to expand its shipping economy. However, there are many roadblocks, hinterland transportation being one, cost of containers being another. Our platform always shows Indian ports as one of the costlier ports. This is also because there are many charges that make the movement of containers costlier from India,” it said.

However, the average trading prices for these boxes, for cargo-worthy 20 ft DCs, in Mundra, Nhava Sheva, and Chennai fell marginally to $2384, $2362, and $2356.

On the other hand, for cargo-worthy 40 ft HCs, the trading prices dropped sharply in Mumbai and Mundra by 5.51 percent to $3773 and 8.85 percent to $3,605, respectively.

“As the sailing disruptions followed by container shortages continue this year, many shipping lines have skipped India port calls to maintain schedule integrity. This has subsequently affected the demand and has further led to a gradual yet marginal decline in average prices for cargo-worthy containers,” said the report.

For leasing boxes from China to India, users had to pay $187.5 for 20DCs and $175 for 40HCs in July, it added.

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Pilot error most common cause behind aircraft crash fatalities since 2014

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

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Twenty-nine pilots and trainee pilots died in 19 aircraft crashes since 2014, reveals an RTI reply provided by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

Ten accidents resulted in two fatalities each while the rest saw one death each, reveals the answers to a query filed by Robin Zaccheus, a Hyderabad-based RTI activist.

The data pertaining to the type of aircraft involved in these crashes indicates that Cessna and Dauphin N3 models were involved in most number of mishaps with five and three accidents respectively, resulting in a total of 13 deaths.

Out of the 19 accidents that were reported in the last eight years, six took place in Maharashtra of which, four occurred in Mumbai.

Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh reported two accidents each while Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, J&K, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Odisha, Kerala, UP and Chhattisgarh reported one crash each.

Among operators, government-owned-helicopter service provider Pawan Hans saw three aircraft crashes, the highest, which resulted in six fatalities.

Most (five) of these 19 crashes took place in 2015, followed by 2020 (four), and 2019 and 2018 (two each).

Causes behind the accidents

Investigation reports available on AAIB website show that the most common possible cause behind these crashes was pilot error. Probe reports of about eight of these accidents indicate an error on the part of the pilot while operating or troubleshooting during a crisis.

“The aircraft stalled, impacted the ground and nose rolled over due to erroneous steep left turn by pilot while practicing simulated engine failure, with throttle in idle position,” said the probe report on the accident that took place on November 19, 2014, involving Cessna 152 that resulted in one death.

“The accident was caused due to engagement of the autopilot without selecting the heading mode by the flight crew just after liftoff (before attaining sufficient height) in poor foggy conditions and not taking corrective action to control the progressive increase in left bank,” says another report on the December 22, 2015 accident involving B200 model operated by Border Security Force which resulted in two deaths.

Probe reports on three incidents mention not following SOP (standard operating procedure) was among the reasons behind those accidents.

Bad weather played a crucial role in two of these accidents while another two occurred due to technical failure. Bird strike and inadequate helipad arrangements were among the other possible reasons behind the accidents while the causes of five crashes were unknown, due to a likely non-completion of probe.

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

CarTrade Tech shares under pressure but no Zomato-like crash after lock-in ends

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

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CarTrade Tech shares declined after opening slightly in the green on Tuesday as the stock came under pressure after the one-year lock-in period for the pre-IPO investors ended.

The stock was trading 0.57 percent lower at Rs 639 per share on BSE at the time of writing. On Monday, the stock hit an intra-day low of Rs 595, before recovering and closing 0.7 percent higher.

According to the norms, the equity share capital held by a company — that does not have promoters — is locked for one year from the date of allotment of shares. This effectively means the shareholders cannot sell any equity during the stated period.

As CarTrade Tech’s lock-in period ended on Monday, the shareholders, who were unable to sell the shares for a year, are now free to exit the stock. These investors held around 52 percent or 2.66 crore shares of CarTrade Tech’s equity shares.

CarTrade Tech made its market debut on August 20, 2021, with a minor discount. However, the stock has been nosediving since then.

The stock has fallen 6.94 percent in the last one month while it is down 24 percent so far this year. In the last 12 months, the stock has fallen nearly 60 percent, underperforming the Sensex by 64.81 percent.

Last month, Zomato witnessed a heavy sell-off after its one-year lock-in period of pre-IPO investors ended on July 23. The stock hit a fresh low of Rs 40.60 on NSE after falling over 20 percent in two sessions.

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