Latest news with #HritamMukherjee
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
India's Schloss, Aegis Vopak IPOs fully sold on final day, retail demand subdued
By Hritam Mukherjee (Reuters) -Indian initial public offerings of Leela hotels-owner Schloss Bangalore [ and Aegis Vopak Terminals [ were oversubscribed on Wednesday, hauled across the line by institutional buyers as retail demand floundered. India's IPO market is still finding its legs after a slow start to the year, following blockbuster listings from companies such as Swiggy and NTPC Green in 2024. India's blue-chip Nifty 50 index is up nearly 5% this year but is still more than 5% below record-high levels logged in September 2024, amid uncertainties around global tariffs and worries about their impact to trade. Proceeds from IPOs are down 29% on-year so far this year, while number of issues have dropped 38%, data from LSEG showed. IPO hopefuls, such as LG Electronics India, have either delayed plans or downsized their issue sizes. Schloss issued fresh shares and existing investor Brookfield sold some of its stake in the $409 million IPO. Aegis, a JV of Dutch tank storage group Vopak, only issued new shares in its $328 million offering. Retail investors, who typically look to pocket listing gains, bid for just 83% of their reserved portion in Schloss' books, while Aegis drew just 77%. Institutional buyers, including foreign investors and banks, bid for over seven times the shares allotted for them in Schloss, and over three times their portion in Aegis. "Retail investors and high-net worth individuals recorded lacklustre enthusiasm as they found valuations to be too demanding, especially when markets have still not completely settled and global uncertainty fears loom," said Astha Jain, a research analyst with Hem Securities. Schloss is targeting a valuation of about $1.7 billion, while Aegis Vopak is aiming one at $3.05 billion. Both the firms are slated to start trading on Indian stock exchanges on June 2.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Indian textile firm Arvind warns US tariffs to hit margins in fiscal year 2026
By Ananta Agarwal and Hritam Mukherjee (Reuters) -Indian textile manufacturer Arvind's margins may come under pressure in the first two quarters of the ongoing fiscal year, as it partly absorbs the impact of U.S. tariff policy, a company executive said on Thursday. Top U.S. retailers have been haggling with suppliers over how the costs that U.S. tariffs are set to impose might be distributed, Reuters has reported. Arvind said it will strive to reduce costs and increase volumes to lessen the pressure on margins and pause all non-critical and discretionary capital expenditure until there is clarity on tariffs. It also did not provide a forecast for the fiscal year due to "prevailing uncertainty" and plans to issue one "at a later stage". Its shares closed down about 5% after the comments, despite a 52% year-on-year increase in its fourth-quarter net profit to 1.51 billion rupees ($17.64 million). "The demand situation is the most robust we have seen in recent memory," Arvind's vice chairman Punit Lalbhai said in a post-earnings call, adding that customers are talking about volume increases and advancing orders. India remains in a comparatively favorable position due to the heftier tariffs that could hit bigger U.S. garment suppliers such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and China, from July. Exports made up nearly 40% of Arvind's annual revenue in fiscal year 2024, according to its annual report. Part of the volume benefit could come from the UK-India free trade agreement, the company said, as the pact will open up a new "key geography". UK currently makes up less than 2% of its business. ($1 = 85.5800 Indian rupees) Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Indian travel firms report drop in Turkey bookings over Pakistan support
By Hritam Mukherjee BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indians are cancelling holidays in popular resorts in Turkey and Azerbaijan after the countries supported Pakistan during its recent conflict with New Delhi, two booking firms said. Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after a deadly attack in Indian ashmir last month that New Delhi said was backed by Islamabad. Pakistan denied involvement, but intense fighting broke out when India struck what it said were "terrorist camps" in Pakistan last week. They agreed a ceasefire on Saturday which has largely held. Turkey and Azerbaijan, popular budget holiday destinations for Indians, issued statements backing Islamabad after India's strikes. "Bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkey decreasing by 60% (over the last week) while cancellations have surged by 250% during the same period," a spokesperson for MakeMyTrip said. EaseMyTrip's Chief Executive Officer, Rikant Pittie, said the platform had seen a 22% rise in cancellations for Turkey and 30% for Azerbaijan "due to recent geopolitical tensions". Travellers had switched to Georgia, Serbia, Greece, Thailand and Vietnam, he added. Another ticketing platform, ixigo, earlier said in a post on X that it would be suspending flight and hotel bookings for Turkey, Azerbaijan and China. EaseMyTrip's founder and chairman Nishant Pitti said in a post on X that 287,000 Indians visited Turkey last year and 243,000 visited Azerbaijan. "When these nations openly support Pakistan, should we fuel their tourism and their economies?" Pitti said.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Birla's big paints bet rattles Asian Paints' India reign
By Hritam Mukherjee BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's top paint maker, Asian Paints, has lost more market share than analysts expected to rival Grasim Industries in the year since billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla's ambitious paints venture was launched, according to Elara Securities data shared exclusively with Reuters. Asian Paints' market share fell to 52% from 59% in the 12 months ending March 31, Elara Securities data shows, raising the pressure on the industry leader to spend more on marketing and discounts to retain its crown. Birla Opus' market share reached 6.8% in the latest quarter. "Whenever a new entrant comes, its strategies are aggressive. But this time, the scale is much bigger," said Geojit Financial Services analyst Antu Thomas, who had expected Grasim to gain only 1%-2% in market share from Asian Paints. Birla Opus, which is the paints arm of the Aditya Birla Group company Grasim, has borrowed heavily from Asian Paints' playbook to gain ground in the $9.5 billion sector that also features Berger Paints, Kansai Nerolac, Indigo Paints and Akzo Nobel India. After its February 2024 launch with an investment of 100 billion rupees ($1.18 billion), it expanded the paint sector's capacity at a pace never seen before, analysts said. It offered deep discounts to lure paint dealers, hired mid-level managers from Asian Paints, and set up factories near its entrenched rival's units, according to Reuters interviews with paint dealers and former Asian Paints employees. "Asian Paints formed 70% of my annual paints sales in 2023. In 2024, the share was 30%," said Sunny Rahman, a paint dealer in the eastern city of Kolkata, who switched brands to take advantage of lower prices. The moves have hurt Asian Paints, which reported a larger-than-expected 45% drop in fourth-quarter profit last week and warned that demand conditions were at their worst in decades. "In a market which is already slow, the intensity of competitive action has been much more," Asian Paints CEO Amit Syngle said on the post-earnings conference call. "I think it is a double-whammy." INTENSIFYING BATTLE Asian Paints did not respond to requests seeking further comment. Birla Opus CEO Rakshit Hargave told Reuters his company had no plans to slow down. "Our objective is to gain market share, and I think, in the plan that we have, we have built in for the fact that we will do so," Hargave said. He denied the location of Birla Opus factories was decided based on proximity to Asian Paints' units and said Birla Opus was hiring across the sector. Industry watchers expect the market share battle to intensify further this year, with analysts at ICICI Securities flagging "downside risks" to Asian Paints' outlook calling for EBITDA margin (operating profitability) of 18%-20%. "The way forward for Asian Paints is not to take steep discounts. It will do well by introducing more products with differential value," Thomas said. ($1 = 84.8530 Indian rupees) Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Reuters
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
India's Tata Motors says shareholders approve plan to split automaker
Tata Motors' Altroz Racer is seen on display at Bharat Mobility Global Expo organised by India's commerce ministry at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab May 6 (Reuters) - India's Tata Motors ( , opens new tab said on Tuesday its shareholders have approved the company's plan to split the automaker into two listed companies focussed on passenger and commercial vehicles. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab Share X Facebook Linkedin Email Link Purchase Licensing Rights
