Kalpataru Power shares rise after company, subsidiary wins orders in excess of Rs 3,000 crore

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

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[wealthdesk shortname=”Kalpataru Power” isinid=”INE220B01022″ bseid=”522287″ nseid=”KALPATPOWR” sector=”Power – Transmission & Equipment” exchange=”nse”]

Shares of Kalpataru Power Transmission rose on Friday after the company, along with its subsidiaries won orders in excess of Rs 3,000 crore.

Of these, its subsidiary JMC Projects won orders worth Rs 2,277 crore, of which, water projects in India are worth Rs 1,497 crore, while the other Rs 780 crore order is for its buildings and factories business.

Kalpataru’s international subsidiaries have also won orders worth Rs 1,290 crore which involve orders for the transmission & distribution business, for oil & gas pipeline works in India, and for railway works in the country.

The current order wins take the total order inflow for the current financial year to Rs 14,385 crore. The management also said that it has a strong L1 position, which provides good visibility going forward.

On a standalone basis, the company’s total order intake for the current financial year stands at Rs 6,890 crore.

Shares for Kalpataru Power ended at Rs 479, up 2.81 percent.

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Maruti Suzuki lines up over Rs 7,000 crore capex for current fiscal: CFO

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

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Maruti Suzuki India plans to invest over Rs 7,000 crore this year on various initiatives, including the construction work of its new plant in Haryana and new model launches, according to company CFO Ajay Seth.

The country’s largest carmaker has already commenced work at the new facility in the Sonipat district.

The Kharkhoda-based plant, the company’s third set-up in the country, is expected to be operational by 2025 with an installed production capacity of 2.5 lakh units in the first phase.

Currently, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has a cumulative production capacity of over 22 lakh units per annum across its two manufacturing plants in Haryana and parent Suzuki Motor’s facility in Gujarat. The two plants in Haryana — Gurugram and Manesar — together roll out around 15.5 lakh units per annum.

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In May, the auto major announced to invest Rs 11,000 crore in the first phase of the Sonipat facility. “We will be spending upwards of Rs 7,000 crore this year,” Seth said in an analyst call.

Elaborating on the investment plans, he said the earmarked amount would cover various activities. “We’ll have to place orders to various vendors (for the Sonipat plant). So, that will be one major portion of the capex,” Seth noted.

He further said: “Besides that, all the new model launches that we are doing where we have to have the investment on toolings, et cetera, I think that will be another large piece of capex. So, these are two areas where the capex will be maximum.” The capex would also go into other areas like R&D, the regular maintenance among others, Seth said.

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On a query regarding the current business outlook, Seth said: “The electronics component shortages are still limiting our production volumes. In this quarter, the company could not produce 35,000 vehicles.”

Limited visibility on the availability of electronics components is a challenge in planning the company’s production activities, he added.

“Our supply chain, engineering, production and sales teams are working towards maximising the production volume from available semiconductors. The supply situation of electronic components continues to remain unpredictable,” Seth stated.

He said that the company’s pending customer orders stood at about 4.12 lakh vehicles at the end of the second quarter with recently launched models accounting for around 1.3 lakh pre-bookings.

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Having achieved success with both Brezza and Grand Vitara, the company aims to bring in more models in the SUV segment, Seth said.

“Going forward, the company will strive to further strengthen its SUV portfolio to dominate the SUV segment, just like all other segments,” he said.

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Aditya Birla Fashion shares slide despite highest-ever quarterly sales

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

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Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd posted its highest-ever quarterly sales revenue in the July to September period of FY23. Revenue was up 49.7 percent to Rs 3,075 crore in the September quarter from the same period in FY22. But shares went down nearly 6.6 percent at Rs 329 apiece on the BSE after the results came out.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 29.4 crore compared to Rs 5.1 crore in last fiscal’s September quarter. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at Rs 397.6 crore was up 26.8 percent from last September’s Rs 313.5 crore.

However, the company’s margin came in at 12.9 percent for the period under review against 15.3 percent in the September quarter of FY22.

The company said each of its business segments — lifestyle brands, Pantaloons, the innerwear and athleisure segment, youth fashion segment, super-premium brands and ethnic businesses such as ‘Sabyasachi’— posted strong performances.

“Robust like-to-like and consistent e-commerce performance have been key drivers of growth in the September quarter. The period also saw an increase in marketing investments post a hiatus of over two years since COVID, as the company reinvigorated its focus towards brand building and strengthening consumer connect,” the fashion retail company said in a statement.

The statement said that the company is optimistic about the overall consumption of fashion products for the remaining year after an encouraging start to the festive season.

The company’s net debt also decreased to Rs 243 crore in the second quarter. It was Rs 504 crore in March and Rs 873 crore in the September quarter of last fiscal.

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UGC NET results to be declared on November 5: Here’s how to check

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

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The National Testing Agency (NTA) is set to release the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test Results 2022 on November 5. Once released, candidates will be able to check the results on the official NTA and UGC websites nta.ac.in or ugcnet.nta.nic.in.

The University Grants Commission chairperson M Jagadish Kumar shared details on Twitter.

UGC-NET results will be announced by National Testing Agency (NTA) on 5th November (Saturday). The results will be available on NTA website https://t.co/HMrF8NRnOv#UGC-NET

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) November 4, 2022

The NTA conducts the UGC NET exams on behalf of the UGC to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for the post of Assistant Professor and Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor at Indian universities and colleges.

Here’s How to check UGC Net results

Step 1: Go to ugcnet.nta.nic.in the official website of the commission.

Step 2: Find and click on the link to download scorecards displayed on the homepage under new/notice section.

Step 3: Login using your application number and date of birth and other required details.

Step 4: You UGC NET scores will be displayed on the screen.

Step 5: Save and download the copy of the UGC scorecard and preserve it for future use.

The National Testing Agency had earlier released final answer key. The answer key can be accessed from the links available on the homepage of the official website.

The record of UGC NET December 2021 and June 2022 (merged cycles) results will be preserved online up to 90 days from the date of declaration of result.

The NTA conducted the UGC NET 2022 Exams in four phases for the merged cycle.

The Phase 1 exams were held from July 9 to 12, Phase 2 exams were held from September 20 to 22. The Phase 3 exams were held from September 23 to October 1 while the Phase 4 exams were held on October 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

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

Infosys may hand out a reduced 60% variable pay for select BPM staff

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

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Infosys is said to have mailed some of its staff announcing a 60 percent variable pay on average for certain levels of its business process management (BPM) employees for the second quarter of FY23. This would be a steep cut since, in the preceding April-June quarter, the company awarded 70 percent variable pay on average to all its employees.

According to the emails seen by CNBC-TV18.com, the CnB team of Infosys wrote to employees saying: “Performance bonus forms an integral part of the compensation philosophy at Infosys BPM, and we reward an employee’s performance and contribution through the quarterly performance bonus.”

The mail by the Bengaluru-based company added, “Based on the company’s performance in the Q2 FY23, the board has approved bonus payouts as mentioned below JL 4- 60 percent, JL 5 – 60 percent, JL 6 – 60 percent.”

The pay was to be given out along with October salaries, as per the mail.

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Meanwhile, India’s largest IT company by revenue Tata Consultancy Services announced that it would award a 100 percent variable pay for 70 percent of its employees for the September quarter.

Wipro had also announced in the post-earnings briefing that it would be giving 100 percent of variable pay to 85 percent of employees for the second quarter.

For the July-September quarter, Infosys reported good revenue despite fears of a global recession clouding the outlook for tech spending. Profit grew 11.1 percent to Rs 6,021 crore from Rs 5,421 in the corresponding period a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue rose 23.4 percent to Rs 36,538 crore in Q2 FY23 as against Rs 29,602 crore in same quarter in FY22.

The operating margin declined, and Infosys lowered the upper end of its estimates on higher wage costs. It now expects constant currency revenue to grow 15-16 percent for FY23 and operating margin in the range of 21 percent to 22 percent.

Infosys’s operating margin narrowed to 21.5 percent for the September quarter from 23.6 percent in the corresponding period a year ago.

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Apple adds new iPhone 14 maker in India in shift from China

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

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Apple Inc.’s Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron Corp. has begun assembling the company’s latest iPhone 14 model in India.

That move makes Pegatron the second Apple supplier to produce the iPhone 14 in the country, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News, declining to be identified as the manufacturing plan is not public.

It comes at a time when Apple’s key iPhone Pro manufacturing hub in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou — operated by Foxconn Technology Group — was placed under an abrupt Covid-19 lockdown by authorities. That situation put a spotlight on Apple’s deep reliance on China, though the India expansion was in line with diversification plans already in place, the people said.

Apple and Pegatron representatives declined to comment.

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Foxconn began making the iPhone 14 in India in September, mere weeks after its global unveiling and much closer to parity with the start of production in China, where the vast majority of iPhones are still made. Apple’s chief production partner still has exclusivity on the iPhone Pro models, which it assembles in Zhengzhou.

The Pegatron factory in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, which employed more than 7,000 as of the end of September, also began making iPhone 12 handsets earlier this year. Pegatron generally gets orders for Apple’s entry-level models.

Cupertino, California-based Apple is seeking alternative production hubs amid a trade war between Washington and Beijing and tight enforcement of Xi Jinping’s Covid Zero policy in China. At the same time, New Delhi is positioning India as a competitor to China’s manufacturing prowess. Local Apple reseller Redington has surged in value since Foxconn’s coronavirus issues emerged over the past week. 

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One big hurdle for more production shifting out of China is that the majority of iPhone components are still built there and have to be shipped to wherever devices are assembled, Counterpoint senior analyst Ivan Lam said.

All of Apple’s biggest Taiwanese suppliers — Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron Corp. — have ramped up iPhone assembly in India, boosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s financial incentives program. That has also helped to increase iPhone exports from the South Asian country.

Apple first began assembling iPhones in India in 2017 via Wistron after a yearslong effort to build manufacturing capabilities in the country. And while India is a small consumer market for Apple currently, the country of 1.4 billion offers the US giant huge headroom for growth as incomes and internet connectivity grow.

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

Russia is fighting a sacred battle against Satan, says former President Medvedev

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

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Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday cast Russia’s war in Ukraine as a sacred conflict with Satan, warning that Moscow could send all its enemies to the eternal fires of Gehenna.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has killed tens of thousands and triggered the biggest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the Cold War superpowers came closest to nuclear war.

Medvedev, who once cast himself as a liberal moderniser as president from 2008 to 2012, said Moscow was fighting “crazy Nazi drug addicts” in Ukraine backed by Westerners who he said had “saliva running down their chins from degeneracy”.

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Ukraine and the West have repeatedly dismissed President Vladimir Putin’s assertions that Ukraine is run by fascists who have persecuted Russian speakers. Instead, they cast the war as a brutal land grab by Moscow.

In a message marking Russia’s Day of National Unity, Medvedev said the task of the fatherland was to “stop the supreme ruler of Hell, whatever name he uses – Satan, Lucifer or Iblis”.

Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said Russia had different weapons, including the ability to “send all our enemies to fiery Gehenna”, using a Hebrew term often translated as Hell.

Since the war began, Medvedev’s rhetoric has become increasingly fierce though his published views sometimes chime with thinking at the top levels of the Kremlin elite.

Satan’s weapons, Medvedev said, were “intricate lies. And our weapon is the truth. That is why our cause is right. That is why victory will be ours! Happy Holidays!”

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

Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel transferred within days of conman Sukesh’s explosive letter

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

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Director General of Tihar Jail Sandeep Goel has been transferred to the police headquarters, according to an official order. Sanjay Beniwal, Special Commissioner (perception management and media cell), will take over as the new DG of prison at Tihar jail.

The move comes within days of conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar writing an explosive letter to Delhi LG VK Saxena, claiming that he had paid crores to incarcerated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Satyendar Jain and Goel as “protection money” and that he was harassed and threatened in jail.

Sukesh has been lodged in Tihar jail in the national capital since 2017 in connection with cheating and money laundering. In his letter, the conman alleged that he had already paid Rs 50 crore to AAP and was promised an important post in the party in South Zone and Rajya Sabha nomination following the expansion of Arvind Kejriwal’s party.

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In his complaint, Sukesh said he was frequently visited by Jain and his close friend Sushil in jail. He was asked to pay Rs 2 crore every month as protection money to stay safe in jail and also get basic facilities, he alleged.

“He (Jain) asked me to pay Rs 1.50 crore to DG prison Sandeep Goel, who he said was a loyal associate of his,” Sukesh said in the letter.

The letter claimed that Goel had received Rs 12.5 crore in total from the conman.

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Sukesh said he had informed the Enforcement Directorate about the “racket run by DG and jail administration” during a recent investigation and also appealed to the Delhi High Court seeking CBI an inquiry. The case is due to be heard next month.

He claimed that Jain was lodged in Jail-7 in Tihar and was constantly asking him through Goel and jail administration to withdraw the complaint filed in the high court.

“I have been severely harassed and threatened,” Sukesh said.

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

Cipla meets Street estimates with 11% rise in quarterly profit driven by US business

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

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[wealthdesk shortname=”Cipla” isinid=”INE059A01026″ bseid=”500087″ nseid=”CIPLA” sector=”Pharmaceuticals” exchange=”nse”]

Cipla —India’s third largest drug maker — on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 789 crore for the July-September period, meeting Street estimates. The Mumbai-based pharmaceutical major’s quarterly net profit increased 10.9 percent compared with the corresponding period a year ago, driven by its US unit — which accounts for more than one fifth of its revenue.

Its revenue for the three-month period increased 5.6 percent on year to Rs 5,829 crore, according to a regulatory filing.

Analysts in a CNBC-TV18 poll had estimated the drug maker’s net profit at Rs 771 crore and revenue at Rs 5,811.5 crore.

“Our performance reflects strong momentum in One-India business and solid execution on differentiated portfolio in the US including the launch of Lenalidomide, driving our overall revenue to a multi-quarter high and expansion in our reported operating profitability, despite external headwinds,” said Umang Vohra, MD and Global CEO at Cipla.

Revenue from the company’s US business touched a multi-quarter high of $179 million, up 25 percent compared with the year-ago period, the company said.

Its India revenue increased 6.1 percent to Rs  2,563 crore, missing the analysts’ estimate of more than 10 percent growth.

The company saw robust traction in its core portfolio across therapies and business segments, with the branded prescription unit clocking a sixth back-to-back quarter of market-beating growth in the core portfolio adjusted for COVID products, according to a statement.

Its margin — a key metric that determines the degree to which a business makes money — improved by 110 basis points to 22.3 percent. The margin also exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Vohra also said the company’s operating profitability is in line with its full-year guidance of 21-22 percent.

“We are closely working with the US FDA on Goa observations, de-risking key
assets and improving compliances holistically across manufacturing locations,” the CEO added.

Cipla shares ended almost one percent lower minutes after the earnings announcement.

Catch latest market updates with CNBCTV18.com’s blog

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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

Vodafone Idea Q2 loss widens to Rs 7597 cr, loses 6m subscribers

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

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Vodafone Idea (VI), India’s third largest mobile voice and data operator, posted a net loss of Rs 7,595 crore in the July-September quarter, widening the loss by by 6.4 percent as compared to Rs 7,132 crore a year ago. The increased loss  in the quarter under review is mainly attributed to escalated finance and operating cost. On a sequential basis, the net loss widened by 4 percent.

Gross revenue for the second quarter of FY23 increased by 12.8 percent as compared to the same period last year and it stood at Rs 10,614 crore. The overall earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) grew 6 percent and came at Rs 4,097 crore.

The metrics that dragged the profit down, were operational expenses which grew 17.5 per cent to Rs 6,517 crore in the quarter and financial expenses which stood at Rs 6,033 rising 18.7 percent to Rs 6,033 crore.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) improved to Rs 131, up 2.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter from Rs 128 in Q1 of FY23.

During the second quarter, the company lost six million subscribers sequentially, bringing its user base to 234.4 million. In Q2FY23 despite a 68 percent jump in marketing cost Vi’s subscriber base declined by 18.6 million year-on-year. 

Average revenue per user (ARPU) improved to Rs 131, up 2.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter from Rs 128 in Q1 of FY23. Vi’s net interest burden is 90 percent of its market capital of Rs 26947 crore.

4G customer count grew sequentially by 1.6 million to 120.6 million.
There was a sequential increase of 4.6 percent in data consumption by 4G customers to 15 GB per month.

Vi has been struggling operationally and financially and previous rating downgrades have resulted in an increase in finance costs. The company’s net debt also increased to Rs 2.2 lakh crore. Since Vi acquired spectrum recently, its spectrum liabilities have increased, and its bank debt has been reduced sequentially.

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Unlike Airtel and Jio, Vi has yet to finalise its contracts for 5G network equipment.

“We continue to remain engaged with our lenders and investors for further fundraising to make required investments for network expansion and 5G rollout,” said Vi CEO Akshaya Moondra

What do analysts say?

Global brokerage firm Goldman Sachs has a ‘sell’ rating on the shares of Vi with a target price at Rs 2.5.

Vi is continuously losing subscribers and its share in the market has also declined 40 basis points sequentially.

With that the EBITDA generation for the quarter was also below estimates, the company needed an EBIDTA generation matching the estimates to close the network gap to the competition that is Airtel and Jio, said the brokerage firm in a note.

Goldman Sachs is of the view that the market share erosion for Vi is going to continue for the year.

It further added that the company requires a substantial amount of capital raise, and/or a tariff increase (ARPUs will have to rise by c.2.5x for co to be FCF neutral by FY27E) to get its stand in the market share.

Meanwhile, the domestic brokerage fund Motilal Oswal has a neutral rating with a target price at Rs 9.

According to Motilal Oswal, Vi’s EBITDA for the quarter was flat as subscription addiction loss continued. The 5G spectrum also added to the debt worry.

At 11:39 am shears of Vodafone Idea were trading at Rs 8.36 down by 2.45 percent from the previous close on the BSE.

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

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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