SEBI has cleared the name as Ashish Chauhan for the post of MD and CEO of NSE. He is currently, the MD and CEO of BSE. Vikram Limaye demitted office on Saturday and while he was eligible for 5-year extension, he decided against opting for it. Ashish Chauhan can take charge post NSE shareholder approval. Ashish was at the helm of BSE for 10 years. An alumnus of IIT and IIM, Ashish Chauhan was with the NSE between 1993 and 2000, where he set up the derivatives segment. There are a lot of legacy issues he has to address.
A total of 6 out of the 10 most valuable companies on the NSE by market cap saw combined value erosion of Rs168,260 crore, largely dragged down by TCS. Nifty ended the week 1.06% lower. The biggest value loser was TCS at Rs99,270 crore after disappointing results; followed by Infosys losing Rs35,134 crore. Other value losers were HDFC Bank Rs18,172 crore, SBI Rs8,434 crore, HDFC Rs4,092 crore and ICICI Bank Rs3,159 crore. In contrast, Hindustan Unilever gained Rs17,129 crore while Reliance gained Rs6,802 crore.
Tata Steel has planned capital expenditure of Rs12,000 crore on its India and Europe operations during FY23. Tata Steel will invest Rs8,500 crore in India and Rs3,500 crore in Europe. In India, the focus will be on the Kalinganagar capacity expansion from 3MTPA to 8 MTPA. In Europe, the focus will be more on sustenance, product mix and environment related capex. This will be over and above the Rs12,000 crore the company will spend on the acquisition of Neelachal Ispat via Tata Steel Long Products Limited (TSLP).
To expedite the process of selling bankrupt Reliance Capital, lenders will carve out Reliance Commercial Finance (RCF) and Reliance Housing Finance (RHF) into a trust for separate resolution. The proceeds of the sale of these 2 companies will flow directly to the lenders. RCF and RHF have a combined debt of Rs25,000 crore. The biggest claim made against Reliance Capital is that of LIC at Rs25,333 crore. Currently, there are only 2 potential bidders interested in this distressed asset viz. the Piramal Group and Yes Bank.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained cautious on Indian equity markets, pulling out Rs7,432 crore so far in July 2022. The major fears are dollar strength and a likely recession in the US. However, this does look paltry compared to net withdrawal of Rs50,203 crore by FPIs in June 2022. However, most experts do concur that with the uncertainty in the forex market FPIs are unlikely to turn aggressive buyers any time soon. The biggest ever FPI outflow was in March 2020 when the FPIs had pulled out Rs61,973 crore.
ICICI Prudential Life posted net profits of Rs156 crore for the June 2022 quarter as against a net loss of Rs186 crore in Q1FY22. This was on the back of significantly lower claims and provisions which had peaked last year after the resurgence of COVID cases. The value of new business (VNB) surged 31.6% yoy to Rs471 crore in Q1FY23. The new business premium grew 24.4% yoy to Rs3,184 crore in Q1FY23. As on June end, ICICI Prudential had assets under management (AUM) of Rs230,072 crore with a debt-equity mix of 54:46.
FreshToHome, the online delivery start-up, will raise $125 million in a Series-D funding round. L Catterton and Amazon are potential investors. FreshToHome is eyeing Unicorn valuation ($1 billion), which may be tough when funds are drying up. Recently, even Byju’s struggled to raise funds from global PE investors. FreshToHome delivers fish, seafood, poultry, meat, fruit and vegetables and competes with Licious. FreshToHome delivers 2 million orders monthly across more than 150 towns in India and parts of the UAE.
Adani Ports has confirmed that its acquisition of the Haifa Port in Israel would boost trade lanes between Indian ports with key ports in Europe and the Middle East. Adani Ports has just bagged Haifa in consortium with Gadot for $1.18 billion. Adani Ports is the largest port developer and operator in India and this deal will open the lucrative Mediterranean region. After years of friction, Israel is also warming up to the Arab nations and that is likely to open up new trading opportunities for India with West Asia as well as Europe.