Rise of Regulators in India – Competition Commission of India

In our recent report, on the emergence of United States of India, we had written about the rise of Regulatory Powers to Curb Corruption at High Places including Central Government Ministries. We’d like to prove one such point involving the Food Corporation of India which for over 8 years bought Supplies from 3 companies and everybody from the Food and Civil Supplies Ministry to the CEO of the company were hand in Glove in the operation.

CCI – Competition Commission of India – IN CCI’s report dated 23 April 2012, (more…)

TCS – InLine Results – Delivering Amidst Uncertainties

TCS reported 4QFY12 revenue of US$2.65bn, up 2.4% QoQ, in-line, and better
than -2% for Infosys. Consolidated volumes grew 3.3% QoQ. Rupee revenue at Rs133bn, and EBITDA margin at 29.5% were also in line with street expectations. Net profit at Rs28.9bn was higher than estimate led by higher forex gain of Rs1.1bn.

3.3% volume and 2.4% USD revenue growth (qoq) were stable and broad-based across major verticals, except BFSI. Pricing declined 97bp qoq. The new deals have come across (more…)

India Loses Sheen with Foreign Investors + High Inflation Lower GDP Growth FY2013 – Deepak Parekh

HDFC Group Super Chairman, Mr. Deepak Parkeh last week met Large / Mega Foreign Investors at Singapore and in an interview with CNBC TV-18 discusses the state of Indian Economy. Here are the most important points Mr. Parkeh touched upon.

Inflation / Subsidies:Inflation is not under control and RBI kind of swallowed a bitter Pill on cutting the repo / reverse repo rate by 50 bps. Food Inflation is still very High. Fuel [Petrol, Diesel, LPG] and Fertilizer subsidies has gone through the roof. A Marginal increase in Rail fare was rolled back. India’s Subsidy bill is going to increase, increase and increase. Who will fund the Gap ?

Deposits / Loans:Deposit Growth has been lowest in the last few years. (more…)

HCL Technologies on a Roll + Robust Deals – Re-Rating ?

HCL Technologies is the Second Best IT Stock on Dalal Street after TCS in the last 4 years. It has registered among the strongest growth in the sector over the past year or so and its relatively low-margin base also provides some cushion. The company reported consolidated revenue up by 2.5% qoq to US$1.05bn led by IMS (+5%) and BPO (+6%); software services grew a slower 1.5%. EBITDA margin at 18% (-13bp qoq). PAT up 5% qoq to Rs5.8bn.

This set of numbers should assuage some (more…)

CLSA Questions Infosys – The Worst Performing IT Stock in 4 Years

Sr. Technology Analyst Mr. Nimish Joshi of CLSA has written an Open Letter to Infosys CEO, Mr Shibulal. Open Letters are normally written when their is arrogance or refusal to accept by one party, as was the case between Dr Manmohan Singh and his Economic Adviser Dr Raghu Rajan.

In this case, we are not sure why Mr. Joshi chose this medium. He begins by saying that Infosys has been the worst performing IT stock in the last 4 years with mere returns of 54% compared to 137% by TCS. Further, Mr. Joshi raises 3 issues,

Loss of revenue and EBIT market shareRevenue Market Share has dropped 350 bps in the last 5 years. Infosys investors are worried about the adverse impact Infosys’ current (more…)

UBS Downgrades India to Neutral – Overweight on China & Korea

Since the the beginning of 2012, India and China dominated performance in Asia. UBS stepping in the shoes of a Bull in India, thought by the end of February that this market was too advanced, particularly in light of the UP and Other election, budget and seasonal tightness in liquidity. Since mid February, India has given up most of its relative gains for the year, China is now under-performing. (more…)