Days ahead of filing DRHP for its IPO, LIC has tied up with digital insurance aggregator Policybazaar.com to widen the digital reach of its products. The collaboration is to offer wide range of term and investment products to customers. The idea is to offer a platform for seamless digital distribution of life insurance products. The channel will also be leveraged for enhancing insurance awareness and penetration in India. LIC is not just the pioneer but also the largest life insurer in India with a share of over 70% across India.
ITC reported 14.8% higher PAT for Dec-21 quarter at Rs.4,119 crore. Sales were up 30% at Rs.18,366 crore. Despite smart growth, reliance on cigarettes for profits only got deeper. Cigarettes generated Rs.6,959 crore in revenues but its contribution to pre-tax profits of ITC was as high as Rs.4,187 crore. The profit growth underperformed sales growth due to a sharp escalation in input costs. Ecommerce channel sales at ITC grew 3 times the 2020 levels. ITC board recommended Rs.5.25 interim dividend per share for FY22.
Vedant Fashions mobilised Rs.944.75 crore from 75 anchor investors just a day ahead of the IPO opening on 04-February. Vedant allocated 1,09,09,450 shares to anchor investors at the upper band of Rs.866 per share. Some of the big anchors included Government of Singapore, MAS, Fidelity, Nomura, Wellington, Ashoka Fund, ADIA, Amundi Funds, Carmignac, Morgan Stanley etc. Nearly one-third of the anchors were domestic mutual funds. The anchor commitments are 30% of the issue size. IPO closes on 08th February.
India achieved 9% ethanol blending in petrol and is on target for 20% by 2025. Currently, 10% ethanol extracted from sugarcane or surplus foodgrain must be blended in petrol. This reduces India’s import bill. Government had brought forward its target of 20% blending from 2030 to 2025. India imports crude to meet 85% of daily needs. For 20% blending, 12 billion litres of ethanol is needed. Sugar industry will divert 6 million tonnes of surplus sugar to make 7 billion tonnes of ethanol. Surplus food grains will fill the gap.
Future Retail asked Supreme Court for 2 more weeks to arrive at a resolution with lenders after it skipped its payment deadline. If Supreme Court does not grant this extra time, FRL will have to classified as NPA by the lending banks. Lenders want an open bid between Amazon and Reliance to ensure recovery for banks. Future Retail missed its deadline to pay lenders Rs.3,494 crore on 30-Dec and was granted 30 days till 29-Jan to clear its dues. With the expiry of the grace period, these debts technically become NPAs.
RBI will approach TRAI and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) to ban promotion of unauthorised forex and derivatives trading platforms on digital media. TRAI and MEITY are authorized to call for a ban on content not compliant with local laws. Prominent app stores like Google and Apple will be asked to take down unauthorised trading platform apps that infringe Indian laws. RBI also wants MEITY to explore if unauthorised portals can be blocked under Section 69A of Information Technology Act, 2007.
Titan reported 91% higher net profits for the Dec-21 quarter at Rs.1,004 crore while revenues were 37% higher at Rs.9,903 crore on strong consumer demand in the quarter. Apart from the jewellery division, other segments are also doing well post-pandemic. For the third quarter, the jewellery business registered 37% growth in revenues at Rs.8,563 crore while watches and wearables grew 29% at Rs.708 crore. Titan’s retail chain, including CaratLane, are spread across 2,064 stores in 323 towns with area of 2.7 million SFT.
Triveni Engineering scaled a new high of Rs.285.30 after reporting 37% jump in PAT to Rs.130 crore. Sales were up 10% at Rs.1,235 crore. EBITDA grew 26.4% at Rs 203 crore helped by firm sugar prices, higher ethanol volumes and higher share of B-Heavy ethanol. EBITDA Margins improved 400 bps at 19%. Sugar stocks have zoomed 300% in the last 1 year on favourable economics from sugar prices and from ethanol blending story. Triveni is India’s second largest integrated sugar producer and has strong ethanol plans.