Coal India will be investing up to Rs.50,000 crore of capex over the next five years, of which Rs.17,000 crore capex is slated for FY22. Coal India has already spent Capex of Rs.7,000 crore so far in FY22. Most of the incremental capex will be allocated to coal production and evacuation. Coal is an industry segment where regular capex is required just to maintain production. In the latest quarter, Coal India had been hit by trade receivables but confirmed it had sufficient cash flows to bankroll its committed investments.
FIIs have sold close to Rs.87,000 crore in the Indian equity markets since April this year. Ironically, during the same period, the Nifty gained 18%, notwithstanding intermittent volatility. During the same period, domestic investors almost offset the FII selling by buying equities worth Rs.69,000 crore. However, this only pertains to secondary markets and does not include IPO inflows from FIIs, which were substantial in the current fiscal year. FPIs are worried about Fed taper, high inflation, interest rates and index valuations.
In the midst of reports flying thick and fast about IOB and Central Bank of India being privatization candidates, both the banks have clarified that there was no official news on that front and that these were purely speculative. The government is slated to introduce the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 in the Winter Session of Parliament, which starts on 29th November. The core of the legislation was to take two PSU banks, other than IDBI Bank, private during the current fiscal. IOB and CBI rallied sharply in the day.
Larsen & Toubro Ltd signed MOU with the Tamil Nadu government to set up a data centre at Kanchipuram. L&T has committed to establish 90 MW capacity data centres and associated units in a phased manner over next 5 years. TN government committed uninterrupted power supply and infrastructure support to the project. L&T will establish hyperscale data centres at Kanchipuram to provide end-to-end data centre services with multi-cloud managed and cyber security services, digital transformation and app integration.
IPCA Labs board approved the acquisition of 26.57% in Lyka Labs with joint management control agreement with promoters of Lyka Labs. The 26.57% stake in Lyka was acquired from secondary markets for Rs.97.89 crore. As per extant SEBI regulations, IPCA Labs has made a public announcement to acquire 26% additional equity of Lyka Labs from public shareholders. Lyka specializes in injectables, lyophilized injectables and topical formulations. It gives IPCA access to the lucrative lyophilized injectables business.
Competition Commission of India or CCI approved the acquisition of minority stake in logistics services start-up, Delhivery Ltd, by FedEx Express. As part of the deal, FedEx will invest $100 million in Delhivery, which will also adopt the IPO route shortly. Under the deal, Delhivery will sell FedEx Express international products and services in India and provide pick-up and delivery facilitation across India. FedEx will also transfer some of its India assets to Delhivery. B2B services account for 80% of Delhivery revenues.
Punit Goenka, CEO and MD of Zee Entertainment, has confirmed that its deal with Sony Pictures was in the final stages of stitching up. He added that the combination of Zee and Sony Pictures will form the largest media player in India, with combined revenues of $2 billion. He also added that there was limited overlap in their businesses. Goenka added that Zee would invest in linear television and in growing digital pie. Goenka’s bitter battle with Invesco, Zee’s largest shareholder, is far from over and is still in the courts.
In an interesting move Nippon Mutual Fund is turning bullish on lower rated bonds of riskier companies in the midst of the economic recovery. Many of the lower rate companies not only survived but also improved operational and financial metrics. Nippon oversees nearly $15 billion of debt assets and hopes to move up the yield league tables. Nippon Fund sees a lot of opportunity in investing in quality non-AAA papers. One signal is that the ratio of credit rating upgrades to downgrades touched a 10-year high of 3:1.