The IPO rush is gathering steam with 23 companies revving up to raise Rs.44,000 crore via IPOs in the Mar-22 quarter. A major chunk of the funds will be raised by tech companies. Some of the big names in the Mar-22 quarter IPO list include Rs.8,430 crore by OYO and Rs.7,460 crore by Delhivery. Other big issues in the quarter will include Rs.4,500 crore by Adani Wilmar, Rs.4,000 crore by Emcure Pharma, Rs.2,500 crore by Vedant Fashions, Rs.2,200 crore by Paradeep Phosphates and Rs.2,000 crore by Medanta group.
As expected, India appealed against the WTO Trade Dispute Settlement Panel ruling which had termed India’s support for sugar exports as a domestic subsidy. The appeal has been filed with the WTO Appellate Body, which is final deciding authority. India had held the stand that it had not violated WTO provisions in any manner. The trade dispute had been raised by Brazil, Australia and Guatemala that the sugar subsidies were inconsistent with WTO trade rules. India had substantially boosted sugar exports recently.
During the week ending on 31-December, 9 out of the top-10 Nifty companies by market cap, added Rs.111,013 crore in market value. TCS and HDFC Bank were the big value drivers. For the week, TCS added Rs.24,636 crore and HDFC Bank added Rs.22,554 crore in market value. Other notable accretions included HUL Rs.14,391 crore, Infosys Rs.10,935 crore, HDFC Rs.9,642 crore, Wipro Rs.9,164 crore, ICICI Bank Rs.8,903 crore and Bajaj Finance Rs.7,575 crore. Reliance was the one stock to lose Rs.2,773 crore in value.
GST revenues for Dec-21 came in robust at Rs.1.29 trillion, which is 13% higher yoy. Collections were a tad lower than in Nov-21. This is the sixth consecutive month when the GST collections stayed above the Rs.1 trillion mark. This included CGST Rs.22,578 crore, SGST Rs.28,658 crore, IGST Rs.69,155 crore and cess Rs.9,389 crore. The average monthly GST collections in the Dec-21 quarter stood at Rs.1.30 trillion. The drive against evasion and fake billers led to enhanced GST, apart from GST rate rationalizations.
Reliance Industries plans to raise around $5 billion via foreign currency denominated bonds to retire existing borrowings. These will be senior unsecured Dollar-denominated fixed-rate notes and the total amount of $5 billion is likely to be raised in tranches. Proceeds will be largely used to refinance existing borrowings. Markets are expecting the bond to be issued at 110-130 bps over the US Treasury rates. The big plans in next few years include investments in new energy business and digital and retail expansion.
ICRA has placed RBL Bank’s long-term rating (bonds “AA-”) and medium-term ratings on credit watch after the recent developments last week. It may be recollected that after RBI appointed Yogesh Dayal as a nominee on the RBL board, the CEO Vishwavir Ahuja proceeded on long leave. The rating watch means that ICRA will continue to closely monitor developments that could have a material impact on the liquidity position of RBL bank. Apparently, ICRA is worried about a run on RBL deposits that could snowball rapidly.
RK Damani owned D-Mart reported standalone revenues of Rs.9,065 crore for Dec-21 quarter. This is a 46% spike on yoy basis. This is subject to confirmation by the statutory auditors. During the quarter, D-Mart added 17 stores to take its store count to 263. The stock rallied 61% in calendar 2021. D-Mart, which is owned by Avenue Supermarts Ltd, had reported a 113% jump in net profits in the Sep-21 quarter. D-Mart has continuously focused on squeezing inventory acquisition costs and passing on to the consumers.
HDFC Life Insurance announced completion of acquisition of Exide Life Insurance, including all regulatory approvals. This will make Exide Life a 100% subsidiary of HDFC Life and it will also commence the process of complete merger of Exide Life into HDFC Life. As consideration, HDFC Life has paid Rs.726 crore apart from allotting 870.22 lakh shares of HDFC Life at Rs.685 per share. Post this deal, Exide Industries holds 4.1$ in HDFC Life. The total deal is valued at Rs.6,687 crore. Exide Life has a strong presence in South India.