HSBC in a report released just a while ago has downgraded Television Eighteen to Neutral from OVERWEIGHT. TV18 runs India’s worst Business News Channel – CNBC TV18. Revenues have grown at a steady clip, expenses have grown in line. HSBC expected operating expenses to increase by 20% y-o-y but while staff costs and other production expenses have increased by 23% and 21% respectively, increase in marketing expenses by 373% has resulted in the overall expenditure increasing in line with revenues. (more…)
Year: 2008
SEBI Cracksdown on Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Board of India, the highest regulating authority of the Indian capital market under its new Chairman, C.B.Bhave has started a crackdown operation Insider Trading to expose dirty CEOs and Chairmans in corporate India.
The first Axe has fallen on MCX’s Jignesh Shah reports LiveMint. Jignesh Shah appears to be under investigation by the market regulator for alleged violation of insider trading regulations, according to a draft offer document filed by MCX with the stock market regulator.
Jignesh Shah owns 45% in Financial Technologies, which was the darling of speculators on exchanges. SEBI is investigating the case since Nov-07 but under C.B.Bhave, it is very unlikely that Jignesh Shah will go unpunished. Incidentally, their are rumors that Jignesh Shah is backed by Mukesh Ambani who also held close to 1% stake in the company in 2004.
Bumper Offer for Alembic Glass
One of our readers and long term investor on our forum is seeking to BUY shares of Alembic Glass Ltd. Alembic Glass Ltd is de-listed from the Bombay Stock Exchange. Its last traded price was Rs 2,888. [Verify it on BSEIndia] However, the investor is willing to pay (more…)
BSE Realty Index Worst Hit
With the slowdown in Real Estate sector a reality, BSE Realty Index is the worst hit in the recent stock market meltdown. Today speculative stocks without any significant Landbank nor projects such as Akruti, IndiaBulls Real Estate, Peninsula, IVR Prime, etc have taken a severe beating.
Leading Realty companies are also down. DLF and Unitech are down by 3.5% while HDIL is down by 7%. Some companies like Omaxe, Ansal Infra / API, IVR Prime have already fallen by 50% since Jan-08.
2-Wheeler – The Road Ahead
Two-wheeler majors’ Feb sales declined c10%Y/Y – motorcycle sales declined 10%, due to subdued demand and a fairly challenging base effect. Hero Honda and Bajaj’s motorcycle declined ~5-8% Y/Y, whilst TVS’ motorcycle sales de-grew ~34%.
The latest launches over 3Q were Hero Honda’s ‘Hunk’ (a 150cc bike that is positioned against Bajaj’s Pulsar and TVS’ Apache). Within the 125cc category, TVS’ Flame and Bajaj’s XCD125 were the key new models.
The recent reduction in excise duties to 12% from 16% on both 2- and 3-wheelers has been passed on to customers – Hero Honda has reduced prices by (more…)
GDP for 3QFY08 Declines
GDP grew by 8.4%, a decline from 8.9% in the previous quarter (2QFY08) and 9.2% same quarter last year (3QFY07). Non-agricultural GDP growth decelerated to 9.8% from 9.9% last quarter and six consecutive quarters of double digit growth before that. As compared to 2QFY08, growth deceleration is most marked for mining, electricity and construction.
Coinciding with the growth deceleration, there has been significant spurt in WPI inflation which has increased by ~200 bps since October 2007. This would make it difficult for RBI to go for an early cut in policy rate.