ECB Norms revised yet again

In a bid to attract capital flows, policy makers have further relaxed norms for ECBs – this is the third time in the last few weeks. Key measures include:

  • Permitting companies to bring back the entire US$500mn for rupee expenditure (this was earlier limited to US$100mn for infrastructure companies and US$50mn for corporates).
  • Corporates who had already raised ECBs, but were prohibited by earlier guidelines to bring funds in for domestic use, can now bring these onshore. This may have some impact on near-term inflows.
  • The minimum avg maturity period of 7 years for ECBs of over US$100mn for rupee expenditure by the infrastructure sector has been dispensed with.
  • For telecom companies, payment to obtain licenses for 3G spectrum is now considered an eligible end-use norm for ECBs.

Since the intensification of the financial crisis, there have been coordinated policy measures to infuse liquidity and stem growth deceleration.

Market Fundamentals + Outlook – Start Buying

This is the last post in the series. You can read the first two here. Historical Bear market Returns in India and Concerns / Risks the Indian market offers and how they are mitigated.

Domestic Fundamentals:
Household savings are at a robust 35% of the GDP and consumers in India are highly under leveraged at 8% of the GDP compared to 13% in Thailand, 26% in Malaysia, 36% in Taiwan and 58% in Korea. Over the years Indians have amassed huge wealth in Gold and equity market investments, which has a wealth effect. (more…)

NIIT Technologies + Mphasis – Review

NIIT Technologies reported a steady 2QFY09 with 5% Q/Q revenue growth, 4% volume growth and 80 bps Q/Q EBITDA margin decline due to salary hikes. EPS grew 5% Q/Q. Growth was driven by good performance of Room Solutions where revenues increased 17% Q/Q and EBITDA margins bounced 300 bps Q/Q. Performance was good across service lines and industry verticals with 5 new customer additions and US$ 75 of new order wins. (more…)

Geometric Software + Rolta India – Recommendation

Geometric Software Revenues grew by 8.7% sequentially to Rs1,526m. EBITDA grew a strong 52.1% (v/s a 17.7% decline in Q1) to Rs197m. EBITDA margins at 12.9% expanded handsomely by 369bps. A prior period adjustment shaved off Rs 14.1m from profits.

India and APAC (combined ~10% rev) witnessed strong growth which momentum is expected to continue going forward. Number of customers added was a modest 15 even as new deals won this quarter dwindled to a mere US$6.7m. (more…)

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