Latest news with #Iran-Israel
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Business Standard
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Hyundai Q1 FY26 profit down 8.1% amid weak demand, macro headwinds
Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Wednesday reported an 8.1 per cent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,362.3 crore in the first quarter of FY26, impacted by sluggish domestic demand, weak hatchback sales, a tense geopolitical situation and macroeconomic uncertainty. Hyundai also noted a structural shift in consumer preference towards compact SUVs over entry-level hatchbacks, which has affected segment volumes. Despite cost pressures, HMIL managed to maintain an EBITDA margin of 13.3 per cent, supported by a rise in exports, higher CNG penetration, and disciplined pricing. 'The prolonged softness in demand, driven by macro challenges and global uncertainties, continued to weigh on market sentiment,' said Unsoo Kim, managing director, HMIL. 'However, we remained focused on expanding our rural presence, updating our product line-up, and enhancing brand competitiveness,' he added. Rural markets accounted for 23 per cent of Hyundai's domestic volumes during the quarter — the company's highest-ever rural penetration. 'The hatchback segment is shrinking — it has dropped from 46 per cent of the passenger vehicle market in FY21 to just 21 per cent in Q1,' said Tarun Garg, chief operating officer, HMIL. 'What we're seeing is a clear shift. Instead of small cars, buyers are opting for entry-level SUVs like the Exter. These offer better space, stronger road presence, and align with evolving customer aspirations,' he noted. Garg added that the share of first-time buyers in Hyundai's sales continues to rise, and the contribution of SUVs in rural areas also mirrors the national trend. 'Even in rural markets, SUVs account for 68 per cent of our sales. The myth that rural customers prefer only small cars is changing.' Hyundai's discount levels during the quarter stood at 3.4 per cent — below the industry average. 'We don't see discounts going up,' said Garg. 'In fact, depending on the festive momentum, they may hold or come down.' Hyundai said that while macroeconomic concerns — including the Indo-Pak situation, the Iran-Israel conflict, and tariff uncertainties — had not directly impacted sales, the overall environment remained volatile. He expressed optimism about the second half of the fiscal year. 'We are entering the festive season early this year, with Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi. The impact of recent RBI rate cuts and income tax relief will likely be visible in H2, as salaried customers plan their spending,' he said. 'Forty-four per cent of our buyers are salaried, and we expect the benefits to start reflecting in demand.' On the export front, Hyundai saw a 13 per cent increase in volumes, with exports accounting for 27 per cent of its overall sales mix. The company said it has seen broad-based growth across emerging markets, reinforcing India's role as a global manufacturing hub. 'We are not facing any shortage of rare earth magnets,' said K S Hariharan, head of investor relations, HMIL, during the earnings conference call. 'We continue to work with our vendors to ensure supply continuity,' Hariharan added. Hyundai has also commenced engine production at its newly acquired Pune facility, which will support both Pune and Chennai operations and improve production efficiency. The company will host its first Investor Day on October 15, where it plans to detail its product roadmap, including 26 new launches by FY30 and its strategy for powertrain diversification. SUVs accounted for 68 per cent of Hyundai's total domestic sales during the quarter — significantly higher than the industry average of 54 per cent. The Creta retained its leadership in the mid-size SUV segment, supported in part by the introduction of its EV variant.
Iraqi News
2 hours ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
Iraq to strike deal with UAE's Masdar to develop 1 gigawatt solar power plant
Baghdad ( – Iraq is continuing its efforts to develop its energy sector by setting the groundwork for new solar energy projects, with the goal of meeting the rising demand for power in the past few years. An Iraqi source told Attaqa News that Baghdad plans to sign a new deal with Masdar, a UAE state-owned renewable energy company, in the next few days to develop a major energy project. Masdar plans to build the new solar power facility in Iraq with a total capacity of around 1,000 megawatts. Baghdad plans to adopt this initiative to help its beleaguered energy industry. The deal was supposed to be concluded before the Iran-Israel conflict occurred in June 2025, but regional developments pushed back the agreement, according to the source. The Iraqi Minister of Electricity, Ziyad Ali Fadel, held a meeting in early May with officials from Masdar to discuss accelerating the implementation of solar energy projects in Iraq. The meeting addressed the ministry's plans to proceed with Masdar to construct solar power plants with a combined capacity of up to 1,000 megawatts as a first phase, spread over the three Iraqi provinces of Maysan, Dhi Qar, and Anbar. The step is part of the Iraqi government's continued support for renewable energy initiatives and the electricity ministry's commitment to increasing Iraq's dependence on clean energy and diversifying the country's energy production sources. Iraq's electricity shortage, a significant challenge for the current government, may be effectively addressed through the implementation of solar energy initiatives.
Express Tribune
12 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Central bank likely to reduce rate by 50 bps
Many foreign investors are believed to be borrowing from their domestic banks at lower interest rates (6-7%) and investing in Pakistan's T-bills, which offer a high rate of return (20%). Photo: file Listen to article Pakistan's central bank is expected to cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.5% on Wednesday, a Reuters' poll showed, with a unanimous forecast for further easing as inflation slows and external balances improve. All 14 analysts surveyed expect the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to cut rates, of which nine project a 50-basis-point (bps) cut – also the median forecast – while four see a deeper 100bps reduction and one a 25bps cut. Consumer price inflation stood at 3.2% in June, while average inflation for fiscal year ended June 30 fell to a nine-year low of 4.49%, from 23.4% the year before. With real rates firmly positive, most analysts expect easing to continue, backed by stabilising indicators and high government borrowing costs. Arif Habib Limited Head of Research Sana Tawfik said slowing inflation and an improved external account give the SBP room to cut, but warned that rising imports and currency pressure called for a cautious, data-driven approach. Reserves, supported by International Monetary Fund (IMF) inflows under a $7 billion programme and bilateral financing, have grown to more than $14 billion. Renewed rupee pressure triggered a security-led crackdown on informal dollar trade, underscoring the government's push to stabilise the exchange rate as the central bank considers further easing. The SBP began cutting rates from a record 22% in June 2024 before pausing in March after 10 percentage points of easing. It then cut by a further 100 bps in May but held again in June as Iran-Israel tensions escalated. Earlier this month, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad told the Reuters' NEXT Asia summit that the central bank would maintain a 'tight' stance to stabilise inflation within its 5-7% target, adding that its policy was already affecting both inflation and the external account. S&P Global Market Intelligence Senior Economist Ahmed Mobeen said the SBP is likely to cut rates further but may adopt a more "cautious" pace in the second half of the year due to rising import demand and global commodity risks.
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Express Tribune
17 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Kundi exchanges pleasantries with Iran, Afghan envoys
Iranian Consul General Ali Banafshekhah met with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi at the Governor House on Tuesday. During the meeting, both sides held detailed discussions on Iran-Pakistan bilateral relations, regional developments, issues faced by pilgrims, and enhancing mutual cooperation. The Iranian Consul General also spoke about the expected visit of the Iranian President to Pakistan, describing it as a milestone that would further strengthen relations between the two brotherly countries. He expressed gratitude for the support shown by the Pakistani government and people during the recent Iran-Israel tensions, calling the solidarity admirable. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi reaffirmed that Iran and Pakistan share deep-rooted fraternal ties, saying, "Iran stood by Pakistan in times of Indian aggression in collaboration with Israel." Both sides expressed concern over security issues in Balochistan, especially during the Arbaeen pilgrimage. The Governor stressed the need for effective measures to ensure maximum facilities for pilgrims. He underscored the importance of close coordination and strategic planning among Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan to simplify visa, immigration, and administrative processes. Meanwhile, Afghanistan Consul General Hafiz Mohibullah, called on Governor Faisal Karim Kundi at the Governor House. During the meeting, Governor Kundi emphasized the strong bond between Pakistan and Afghanistan, describing the two nations as connected by an unbreakable relationship of Islamic brotherhood and neighborhood. He said that lasting peace is essential for the development and prosperity of both countries. The two sides also held discussions on various issues, including border management, the promotion of bilateral trade, exchange of parliamentary delegations, and enhancing overall cooperation.
Express Tribune
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Strategic crisis management
The writer is former Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi and can be reached at amoonis@ Listen to article When survival of a country or an organisation is at stake, strategies to deal with a crisis situation are adopted. Composed of strategic planning and strategic thinking, those trying to manage a crisis must possess required skills to deal with a situation of critical nature in a strategic manner. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, strategy means, "the science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological, and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in peace or war." Strategic crisis management is an innovative term and a concept which aims to professionally deal with a dangerous situation skillfully. According to AI overview, "Strategic crisis management is a proactive and integrated approach to preparing for, responding to, and recovering from crises. It involves embedding crisis management into an organization's overall strategic planning process, rather than treating it as an isolated function. This approach focuses on minimizing the impact of crises by anticipating potential threats, developing comprehensive response strategies, and fostering effective communication and collaboration." Crises in Gaza, Ukraine and Iran-Israel as well as the US-Iran relations and the Indo-Pak relations, apart from global economic problems, require strategy for their effective management. Likewise, economic crisis, political schism, water crisis and environmental crisis requires proper management skills with strategic foresight and vision. According to Everbridge, "Crisis management is an organization's process and strategy-based approach for identifying and responding to a critical event. A critical event can be defined as any threat, unanticipated incident, or negative disruption with the potential to impact an organization's people, property, or business processes. Being prepared to respond to and recover from a critical event requires a sophisticated crisis management plan. Prioritizing crisis management also helps organizations mitigate the secondary consequences of critical events. Establishing a plan can help organizations move from a position of reactivity to proactively safeguarding against all the effects a critical event can have on an organization." The concept of strategic crisis management can only be understood and applied in a society which is educated and enlightened and possess analytical skills and critical thinking. When concepts like strategy, crisis and management are rooted in the mindset of people, one can expect a country to deal with issues that pose threat to its survival. For example, economic predicament of Pakistan is a perennial issue. If Pakistan is economically fragile, it will have its impact on politics, governance and foreign policy. Had there been a focus on the part of Pakistan's leadership on seeking excellence in strategic crisis management, the country would have been on the list of 20 top economies of the world. But, the reality on the ground is different because Pakistan's internal and external debt burden is around 250 billion dollars; its foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank amount to 15 billion dollars, exports are 30 billion dollars annually, per capita income is 1,700 dollars, GDP is 373 billion dollars, income from tourism is less than one billion dollars a year and remittances are worth 32 billion dollars annually. Most of the state institutions like PIA and Steel Mill possess a debt of 200 billion rupees. There is a direct link between economy and politics. As long as Pakistan is under political crisis, it will negatively impact its economy, governance, rule of law and foreign policy. The dearth of strategic thinkers and crisis managers in Pakistan mitigates hope to transform it as a vibrant state. In FY2025-26 Pakistan needs to return more than 22 billion dollars of foreign debt which will put enormous pressure on its economy. Strategic crisis management requires the leadership to have the qualities of hard work, intelligence, integrity, commitment, planning, management and vision. This also requires reversing the culture of corruption and nepotism. Strategic crisis management needs to be examined and analysed from three angles. First, the need to have a critical mass emerging from educational institutions having knowledge of strategy and crisis management is essential. Training, advocacy and best practices in a society also contribute towards training people capable of understanding and managing a crisis. Pakistan's dilemma is that its elites are devoid of commitment and professional expertise in strategy and crisis management. Those controlling the instruments of power formulate policies on an ad hoc basis without learning lessons from past mistakes. They also lack the commitment to learn from successful models of crisis decision-making i.e. how leadership in such countries is able to focus on right kind of strategy and apply it to manage a crisis. For instance, G7 that is composed of the world's most industrialised and affluent countries meet every year to assess strategy to meet challenges and crises and conduct brainstorming for effective decision-making in order to maintain their edge in global order. Likewise, every year, there is Munich security dialogue primarily consisting of Western powers to formulate a strategy to deal with threats and manage security crisis. The relative success of G-7 and China in dealing with crises is by pursuing a policy of strategic statesmanship. Second, when in 1971 Pakistan was facing a grave crisis threatening its very survival and its eastern wing was facing a civil war, elites governing power were oblivious of the situation and their strategy lacked foresight, statesmanship and vision. When the country was being dismembered, its rulers behaved in an irresponsible manner. Had a proper strategy been pursued by the Martial Law regime of General Yahya Khan and West Pakistan political parties by summoning the National Assembly in Dhaka on March 3, 1971 and a military operation had not been launched to deal with the political crisis, the country would have been saved. The 1977 crisis, which plunged Pakistan in violence and disorder could have been averted had the general elections been transparent and the then Prime Minister ZA Bhutto and the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) had prioritised the interests of the country rather than their own political objectives. The country could have been saved from what turned out to be longest spell of martial law in the country. Pakistan lacked strategic crisis management to deal with the 1977 crisis. Finally, the role of policy-oriented think tanks and academia is pivotal in inculcating the concept of strategic crisis management at the institutional and individual level. When a critical mass is created to deal with a crisis situation in a strategic manner, one can expect its proper management. This critical mass so far is lacking in Pakistan.
