Latest news with #pre-Covid-19
Time of India
a day ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
India's two-wheeler industry: Growth to surpass Covid-19 levels soon, driven by RBI rate cuts and robust domestic demand
The two-wheeler industry in India is set to undergo a massive selling surge, surpassing pre-Covid-19 levels, driven by RBI's rate cut, strong domestic demand and significant recovery in exports. According to a report by CareEdge Ratings, the sector is expected to register a healthy volume growth of 8–9% in FY26. This follows three years of strong performance, with volumes rising by 8% in FY23, 10% in FY24 and 11% in FY25. A key factor behind this growth is the Reserve Bank of India's cumulative 100 basis points rate cut since February 2025, including a 50 bps reduction last week, which is anticipated to make vehicle loans more affordable and spur demand. 'The cumulative 100 bps rate cut by the RBI since February 2025, with the recent 50 bps rate cut announced last week, is expected to enhance affordability and boost demand' said Madhusudhan Goswami, assistant director at CareEdge Ratings. The firm said that the FY25 growth was pushed by a 21% rebound in exports and a 9% uptick in domestic volumes. 'While domestic two-wheeler sales growth may moderate slightly due to a higher base, strong export momentum and rising EV adoption will help to sustain overall industry volume growth,' Goswami told ANI. Other factors expected to aid demand include easing inflation, more disposable income for consumers due to a full income tax rebate for individuals earning up to Rs 12 lakh annually, and expectations of a favourable monsoon season that typically benefits rural sales. Scooters and motorcycle growth Among segments, scooters have seen a particularly strong run, clocking double-digit growth for three years straight: 26% in FY23, 13% in FY24 and 17% in FY25. This trend is likely to continue, with scooters expected to outpace motorcycles in FY26, driven by rising popularity among urban commuters. Motorcycles, however, remain the backbone of the two-wheeler market due to their reliability and efficiency. In FY25, motorcycle volumes rose by 9%. 'This growth trend is expected to continue in FY26. Motorcycles remain popular due to their fuel efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and versatility, while scooters have gained traction, especially among urban commuters,' CareEdge noted. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
The Star
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
'Opportune time to accumulate quality stocks'
AmEquities CEO Ng said three conditions are needed to revive market activity. KUALA LUMPUR: AmInvestment Bank Bhd has a cautiously optimistic view on market outlook, citing stable fundamentals but acknowledged ongoing headwinds that suppress market sentiment. 'Deals are in the pipeline, but the problem is uncertainty,' the bank's newly-appointed chief executive officer Christopher Ng Kok Wai told StarBiz at the launching of the AmEquities trading platform and media briefing here, yesterday. Many investment opportunities are available but companies are not able to continue without improved market clarity, he added. According to Ng, three conditions are needed to revive market activity namely a strong economic impetus, US interest rate cuts and clarity on tariffs as well as global trade. 'Fund managers are still holding elevated levels of cash relative to pre-Covid-19 norms. Once a catalyst emerges, we expect those funds to be deployed,' he noted. He said last year's positive market performance was supported by the strengthening ringgit, strong inflows into the data centre segment and political stability. Ng described the current market environment as being on 'auto cruise', where it is steady but lacks momentum. 'It's not bad, but it's not good either. We need an impetus,' he said, adding that global uncertainties, particularly around tariffs and the US rate cycle, continued to weigh on sentiment. While the broader market outlook remained mixed, Ng said fundamentals remained sound. 'From a domestic standpoint, consumption is still strong,' he said. He stated that crude oil prices of between US$70 and US$80 per barrel would be sufficient for the oil and gas sector to remain viable. 'The industry isn't asking for a boom, just stability,' he added. On the retail front, Ng acknowledged that most investors had remained cautious and on the sidelines. 'Retail investors are understandably hesitant, especially with the external environment. But there are still opportunities,' he said. With the FBM KLCI trading below its historical average, it could be an opportune time to accumulate quality stocks. 'It may not feel like the perfect time, but valuations are reasonable. Caution is warranted, but not paralysis. 'We are cautiously optimistic. As a focused, Malaysian-centric player, we see this market environment as a window to create opportunities, even when sentiment is soft,' he added. The AmEquities trading platform is offering a host of advanced features including customisable dashboards, access to live market data in real time with multilingual support. It aims to provide investors with a seamless and informed trading experience, reflecting the bank's commitment to innovation amid a challenging market environment.
Irish Independent
03-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
OECD warns Irish Government to keep lid on ‘surging public spending'
"Looming risks warrant greater fiscal prudence," the report says in relation to Ireland. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has 38 member states, including Ireland, and acts as a think tank to promote international trade and prosperity. The report stops well short of calling for a return to austerity, but says Ireland needs to prioritise spending and focus on investment that delivers for the economy long term – including housing – and better target spending in general. Figures earlier this year from the Department of Finance showed that Government spending in 2025 was up 50pc on pre-Covid-19 levels thanks to increases under the previous Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil-dominated coalition. The two parties have since returned to power. 'Higher investment in housing, transport and energy infrastructure is essential to maintain foreign investor confidence and preserve living standards,' the report says. That investment should be scheduled to avoid causing a surge in prices, it says. 'Additionally, greater emphasis should be placed on improving spending efficiency – supported by comprehensive spending reviews, stricter domestic fiscal guard-rails, and better-targeted income support where needed,' it says. Windfall corporation taxes should continue to be allocated to the long-term savings funds, it says. Given the nature of the economy, Ireland is especially exposed to the threat from a US trade war, the report warns. The OECD is forecasting a significant slow down in economic growth here; with modified domestic demand predicted to slow to 2.2pc this year and 2.1pc in 2026 – both well below the long-term average. The budget surplus is expected to narrow, though not close. Tariff-related concerns are expected to weigh on consumers, even with strong jobs and wage data, while the export sector and multinationals are heavily exposed to any hit to US trade. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected to be 3.7pc in 2025, slowing to 2.3pc next year as trade fragmentation weighs on export-oriented sectors. Uncertainty will encourage households to save more and spend less. While the Government is expected to have less money at its disposal than in recent years, the report calls for higher investment in housing, transport and energy infrastructure. With labour shortages in many sectors it suggests boosting incentives in the tax and benefit system, alongside improving the supply of quality vocational pathways into skilled work. Meanwhile, the OECD is forecasting that the US economy will see growth slow further to just 1.5pc in 2026. Donald Trump's policies have raised average US tariff rates from around 2.5pc when he returned to the White House to 15.4pc, the highest since 1938, according to the report. World economic growth will slow to 2.9pc this year and stay there in 2026, according to the forecast. That is well down on global growth of 3.3pc last year and 3.4pc in 2023. Without mentioning Mr Trump by name, OECD chief economist Alvaro Pereira wrote in a commentary accompanying the forecast: "We have seen a significant increase in trade barriers as well as in economic and trade policy uncertainty. This sharp rise in uncertainty has negatively impacted business and consumer confidence and is set to hold back trade and investment.'' China – the world's second-biggest economy – is forecast to see growth slow from 5pc last year to 4.7pc in 2025 and 4.3pc in 2026. Euro area growth is tipped to accelerate, however, up from 0.8pc last year to 1pc in 2025 and 1.2pc next year, in part thanks to rate cuts from the European Central Bank.
The Citizen
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Trio of medical aids fail to maintain required liquidity
Medihelp, Sizwe Hosmed and Transmed solvency ratios all below 25% – Council for Medical Schemes. The solvency rate across the industry is down, but at 43% is significantly higher than the required minimum. Picture: AdobeStock Three medical aid schemes – Medihelp, Sizwe Hosmed Medical Scheme and Transmed Medical Fund – failed to maintain their solvency ratios at or above 25% in 2023, the minimum statutory prescribed level in the Medical Schemes Act. This is revealed in the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) Financial Performance Industry Report 2023 released this week. Transmed improved its solvency ratio to 23.79% in 2023 from 17.7% in 2022 but this is at least the fourth consecutive year it has failed to comply with the statutory prescribed solvency ratio after achieving a liquidity ratio of 19.72% in 2021 and 22.37% in 2020. Sizwe Hosmed failed to meet the prescribed solvency level in 2023, with its solvency ratio deteriorating to 15.73% in 2023 from 25.59% in 2022. Medihelp's solvency ratio deteriorated to 23.84% in 2023 from 33.93% in 2022. The report said these three schemes account for 4.11% of all medical scheme beneficiaries. The number of medical aid beneficiaries in South Africa increased from 9 039 259 in 2022 to 9 127 453 in 2023, but only 14.7% of the population was covered by medical aid schemes in 2023 compared to 16% in 2000. The solvency ratio of a medical aid scheme refers to the accumulated funds of a scheme as a percentage of its gross annual contributions. Moneyweb requested an update from the CMS on the liquidity ratio status of Medihelp, Sizwe Hosmed and Transmed but a response has not yet been received. ALSO READ: Why you shouldn't wait before joining a medical aid scheme Industry-wide view The report said the solvency ratios of both open and restricted schemes deteriorated in 2023. CMS chief executive and registrar Dr Musa Gumede said in the report that despite medical schemes incurring a net surplus for the year, due to the mathematical calculation used, the industry solvency declined from 47.14% in 2022 to 43.45% in 2023. Gumede said it is expected the solvency level will continue to decrease in the next few years due to the denominator representing the increased level of contributions before stabilising. He added that the 2023 solvency of 43.45% does however exceed pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels of 34.54% in 2018 and 35.61% in 2019 – and is also significantly higher than the minimum required level of 25%. Gumede added that 'relevant healthcare expenditure' (claims) per average beneficiary per month continued to increase above inflation in 2023 – rising 8.7% from R1 840.48 in 2022 to R2 000.57. These claims were escalating pre-Covid-19 and it is expected this trend, which was interrupted by the pandemic, will continue unless drastic interventions are made. ALSO READ: Increasing medical aid scheme costs: What are the alternatives? Gumede said increased expenditure is a function of changes in utilisation and tariffs, with utilisation increases closely linked to the worsening demographic profile of medical schemes. He said medical scheme membership grew by only 1.04% in 2023 while the average age of beneficiaries increased by 0.27 years. 'The aftermath of Covid-19 continued to impact medical schemes during the 2023 financial year. 'Increased utilisation due to the release of pent-up demand was noted across the industry. 'Based on monthly indicator information submitted during 2024, the increased levels of utilisation continued in 2024 and had to be factored into the 2025 year's contribution increases,' he said. Gumede said schemes implemented contribution increases below consumer inflation during the 2021 and 2022 financial years to provide temporary financial relief to members during the economic downturn. Schemes were able to implement these interventions due to reserves built up during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Gumede said the lower contribution increases resulted in underpricing at an insurance service result level, resulting in a deficit of R6.73 billion for the 2023 financial year, which will need to be addressed and corrected in the coming years. Gumede said the CMS has encouraged medical schemes to correct the pricing over a period rather than implementing it as a single, large corrective event. ALSO READ: Watch out: medical aid scheme surprises that can cost you money Sizwe Hosmed The report said Sizwe Hosmed Medical Scheme's increase in relevant healthcare expenditure outpaced the increase in its contributions. It said the scheme experienced an increase of 17.19% in the relevant healthcare expenditure per average beneficiary per month (pabpm) in 2022, with a further increase of 4.12% pabpm in 2023, compared to the actual insurance revenue increase of 2.83% pabpm. The report said the scheme fell below the minimum required solvency level at the beginning of 2023 and has submitted three business plans during the financial year. It said the first business plan was retracted by the scheme, the second was rejected due to, among other things, the appropriateness of the claims assumptions to which the scheme was unable to respond. The scheme subsequently appointed a new actuary with medical scheme-specific experience and a third business plan was submitted together with its 2024 year's pricing. The report said the scheme subsequently had to realign this submission with its pricing submission. 'This business plan was subsequently rejected as the 2023 actual results differed significantly from the projections – and cast aspersions on whether the scheme understood its underlying claims make-up,' it said. The report said the CMS requested further actuarial claims analysis to be submitted, and the board of trustees and registrar agreed to the appointment of a statutory manager. It said the scheme's business plan for the 2025 year has been approved by the registrar. ALSO READ: How to make the most of your medical aid scheme Transmed The CMS said Transmed Medical Fund has a worse demographic profile than the industry average. It said schemes with higher demographic profiles are at particular risk of the so-called 'death spiral', where adjustments to pricing for the profile of its members might result in the unaffordability of contributions and the subsequent loss of its younger members, therefore exacerbating the effect. The report said the employer group provides specific funding for the scheme's Guardian option, which had a pensioner ratio of 94.53% and a relevant healthcare expenditure ratio of 84.84% at the end of 2023. It said that with the exception of the Prime option, the remainder of the options incurred insurance service surpluses in 2023. The Prime option only has 237 beneficiaries, with an average age of 75.51 years and a pensioner ratio of 83.54%, it said. The registrar approved the scheme's business plan for the 2024 and 2025 years. ALSO READ: Gap cover analysis shows massive erosion of medical scheme benefits Medihelp The report said Medihelp deliberately underpriced its benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic in an attempt to provide relief to its members. The scheme experienced a 3.89% decrease in its insurance revenue pabpm from 2021 to 2022, compared to an average CPI of 6.9% during the same period, and an increase of 3.51% in its insurance revenue pabpm. The report said the scheme corrected its pricing for the 2024 financial year and submitted the required business plan, which was subsequently approved by the registrar. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tata Play net loss surges 44% to Rs 510 crore in FY25
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Tata Play, the direct-to-home (DTH) television service jointly owned by Tata Sons (70%) and Walt Disney (30%), reported a wider consolidated net loss of Rs 510 crore for 2024-25, a 44% increase from Rs 354 crore in the previous company also recorded a 5.46% decline in total revenue to Rs 4,082 crore from Rs 4,305 crore. It had been in talks with Bharti Airtel to merge with the latter's DTH arm, Bharti Telemedia. However, the merger discussions were terminated owing to the lack of a 'satisfactory resolution'.Crisil Ratings, which reaffirmed its ratings on Tata Play's Rs 8,000 crore bank facilities, said revenue is expected to remain flat in 2025-26, following the decline in the previous fiscal. The drop is primarily attributed to a shrinking subscriber base, which has fallen to 18 million from a peak of 23 decline in subscribers is driven by mounting competition from DD Free Dish, operated by Prasar Bharati, and the increasing popularity of digital entertainment platforms, particularly over-the-top (OTT) Media Partners Asia had earlier reported that the pay TV industry gained 3.5 million net paid subscribers in 2025 amid cricket content moving behind paywalls even as competition from DD Free Dish and OTT continues Ratings noted that while DTH revenues have declined, the impact is expected to be partially offset by growing earnings from Tata Play's broadband business and its OTT platform, Tata Play year, Tata Sons acquired a 10% stake in Tata Play from Temasek for $100 million, valuing the DTH firm at $1 billion, down significantly from its pre-Covid-19 peak valuation of $3 Tata Play Broadband (TPBB) narrowed its net loss by 6.48% to Rs 101 crore, down from Rs 108 crore. Revenue rose more than 16% to Rs 383 crore from Rs 329 crore. Crisil Ratings reaffirmed its ratings on TPBB's Rs 700 crore bank Play invested Rs 455 crore in TPBB in 2021-22, Rs 209 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 185 crore in 2023-24. While TPBB's net worth stood at around Rs 450 crore in 2023-24, it was largely supported by these capital infusions. With future investments expected to decline, the net worth may Play reduced its adjusted net debt to Rs 3,262 crore in 2022-23 from Rs 3,679 crore in 2021-22. However, it temporarily rose to Rs 4,074 crore in 2023-24, largely owing to a Rs 1,200 crore increase in lease liabilities linked to new GSAT satellite August 2023, the company began transmission via the GSAT-24 satellite, enabling it to carry 50% more 2024-25, total debt remained stable at Rs 3,584 crore, or Rs 1,798 crore excluding lease Ratings expects the majority of upcoming capital expenditure to be directed toward the DTH business, with spending expected to be managed operational improvements, Tata Play's financial position remains burdened by a negative net worth, owing to accumulated losses and provisions related to a potential liability for disputed licence issue stems from a demand raised by the information and broadcasting ministry in 2019-20. While the matter remains under judicial review, the ministry granted all DTH operators a provisional 20-year licence with effect from April 1, Play has provisioned around Rs 2,002 crore for this liability and has recognised an additional Rs 2,280 crore as a contingent liability as of March 31, 2024, with no immediate payout expected.
