Key Corporate & Industry News

Key corporate news

• ITC said it was not ready to print bigger health warnings on its packs as mandated by the government and will keep its factories shut until clarity emerges on the new rules. (Reuters)
• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES launched online fashion portal Ajio.com to offer the largest collection of private labels for women online. (Mint)
• Steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta keen on buying Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plants (PTI)
• ADANI PORTS gets Tamilnadu govt nod to buy Kattupalli port from L&T (Mint)
• CBI closes preliminary enquiry on Ramchandi coal block allocation to JINDAL STEEL (BS)
• JINDAL STEEL’s FY16 sales volume rose 30% to 4.4mt (3.4mt) while production rose by 24% at 4.5mt (3.7mt ) (PTI)
• GODREJ CONSUMER (GCPL) has bought Strength of Nature LLC (SON), which is into hair care products for women of African descent having CY15 revenue of $95m (Rs629cr). SON, a US-based company with a significant presence in Africa and the Caribbean, has a large portfolio of products in wet hair care across relaxers and shampoos. GCPL said the deal is EPS accretive. (VCC)
• SHRIRAM TRANPORT FINANCE to get $150m IFC credit line for higher exposure to MSMEs (FE)
• IBREALESTATE issued shares worth Rs292cr to promoter group firms for conversion of warrants (FE)
• COAL INDIA output grew by 8.5% to 536mt in FY16, but missed target of 550mt: Coal Secretary, GoI (PTI)
• JET AIRWAYS to replace 6 wide-body Airbus A330s with wide-body Boeing-777 planes for long-haul international routes; planning to hire 50 expat pilots (PTI)
• BEL revenue up 12% to Rs7510cr in FY16 (BS)
• ADANI ENTERPRISES was on Sunday awarded mining leases for the Carmichael mega coal project in Australia, moving a step closer to starting work at the controversial mine. (Mint)
• RICOH INDIA sent top management, including its CEO and MD, on leave after BSE accused it of non-compliance w.r.t nono-filing of limited review reports for Sept & Dec’15 qrs (BS)
• FIEM INDUSTRIES on Saturday said it has inked a pact with Japan’s Kyowa to set up a joint venture firm to cater to produce moulds and tooling for the automotive segment. (PTI)
• Suzlon Group announced on Saturday that it has appointed J P Chalasani as its Group CEO.(PTI)
• Sequoia Capital-backed Prataap Snacks selling products under the brand “Yellow Diamond” is looking at an IPO that could see the firm raise around Rs400-500 crore (Mint)
• Vini Cosmetics that makes Fogg deodorant, plans to raise Rs400 crore in FY17 from private equity players as he eyes acquisitions in the skincare and haircare space.(ET)
• Patanjali Ayurved plans to raise Rs1000cr debt in FY16 (ET)
• DTDC Express plans to invest USD 80-100m over the next 12-18 months in expansion and technology (IANS)

Key Industry news

• The Climate Forecast System (CFS) of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) predicts mostly normal and sometimes heavy rainfall across the country barring parts of coastal Gujarat, western Rajasthan, northern Kashmir and parts of the Northeast. (ET)
• NITI Aayog to submit PSU strategic sale road map this month (PTI)
• The credit and deposit of the Indian banking system grew at 11.3% and 9.9% respectively in FY16 (BS)
• Indirect Tax collection at Rs7.09t exceeded the revised estimates of Rs7.04t for FY16 (BS)
• OMCs raise jet fuel price by 8.7% on Friday (FE)
• Aviation consultancy CAPA has revised its FY16 profitability outlook for domestic airlines. It expects industry-wide losses to reduce to $500-550 million, down from the earlier estimated $680-750 million due to 10% lower proportion of fuel cost to revenue Y/Y (BS)
• Private Indian airlines will be allowed to bid for operations on loss-making regional routes where the government will provide subsidy as part of the regional connectivity plan, a top aviation ministry official has said. (ET)
• The asset size of India’s mutual fund (MF) industry has grown 14% to Rs13.53 t in FY16, from Rs11.88 t in FY15. ICICI MF, HDFC MF, RELIANCE MF, SBI MF and UTI MF were top 5 fund houses stayed in the pegging order. (BS)
• India is likely to impose anti-dumping duty on import of certain types of iron and steel pipes from China used in drilling for oil and gas exploration to protect domestic manufacturers. (ET)
• Private equity (PE) investment in India increased 24% to $3.6 billion in the first quarter 2016, against $2.92 billion in the same quarter last year: Venture Intelligence (BL)
• The Bengaluru Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) has directed Nitin Kasliwal, promoters of S Kumars Nationwide (lenders’ exposure Rs2500cr), to deposit his passport on April 5 (ET)
• Service Tax Dept to sell Mallya’s planes to recover ~Rs535cr in dues (BS)
• PM to launch Tuesday start-up scheme for SCs/STs with loans in the range of Rs.10 lakh to Rs.100 lakh (IANS)
• Sugar stocks to fall 18% by end of current marketing year, said industry body ISMA (FE)
• Paradip Port to raise capacity from 118.5mtpa to 325mtpa by 2025 to become India’s biggest port (FE)