For the month of August, GST revenues came in at Rs.112,000 crore i.e. 30% higher than August last year. In the current year, the GST collections dipped below Rs.1 trillion in June but has recovered again from the previous month. Gross GST collections stood at Rs.112,020 crore of which central GST constituted Rs.20,522 crore, State GST Rs,26,605 crore and Integrated GST Rs.56,247 crore. The balance came by way of cess. This is tad lower than Rs.1.16 trillion in July. GST Amnesty Scheme has been extended to 30-Nov.
The board of Vedanta Ltd, approved an interim dividend of Rs.18.50 per share for FY22, aggregating to Rs.6,877 crore. The record date for the dividend has been set at 09-Sep. Incidentally, Hindustan Zinc had recently announced deferment of its interim dividend decision. Currently, Vedanta holds 64.92% stake in Hindustan Zinc. Vedanta reported record profits for the June quarter at Rs.3,336 crore. As per dividend distribution policy of Vedanta, it is supposed to pass on the entire dividend received from Hindustan Zinc.
SBI has raised Rs.4,000 crore via the issue of Additional Tier 1 bonds or AT1 bonds. The funds were raised at a coupon rate of 7.72%. Against the base issue size of Rs.1,000 crore, the expressions of interest from investors were to the tune of Rs.10,000 crore. SBI finally decided to accept Rs.4,000 crore at 7.72%. This is apparently the lowest pricing offered on AT1 debt, which is perpetual debt in nature. However, such AT1 bonds can be called back by the issuer after completion of 5 years. This will be a boost to PSU banks.
Tata Motors may be forced to cut down production in coming months due to shortage of semiconductors. Most of the other auto companies in India have already announced cutbacks in products due to the chip shortage. However, Tata Motors has not specified the quantum of production cuts proposed. Maruti has already hinted at up to 60% production cut for the same reason. Apart from Maruti, M&M, Nissan, MG Motors and Nissan have also announced production cuts. Ironically, this comes ahead of festive season.
The Indian government is all set to absolve bidders for Air India from any liability arising out of a lawsuit filed by Cairn Energy UK. It may be recollected that Cairn had claimed state run assets after it got an order favouring its claim to recover $1.2 billion from the Indian government. Air India, with its international assets, was an obvious target. Now the government has promised indemnity from any such tax related hassles to the bidders. The strategic sale of Air India is a key factor in the success of divestment program.
Equitas Small Finance Bank will enable users to open fixed deposits or FDS on Google Pay. Initially, this functionality will only be available for Google Pay users accessing from Android. Under the new scheme, Google Pay users can book an FD in 2 minutes, even if they do not have a banking relationship with Equitas SFB. The FD will also be covered under the Rs.5 lakh guarantee given by the RBI. Equitas SFB offers 6.35% return on FDs for one year. Proceeds of the deposit will be credited to the investor’s Google Pay account.
According to ICRA, hospital occupancy rates doubled during COVID 2.0 resulting in a steep rise in the revenues of hospital companies. In the first quarter ended Jun-21, the blended occupancy stood at 64.2% as against 36.8% in the first quarter of previous year. Most hospitals witnessed a spike in the COVID-19 related occupancies during Q1 FY22, in line with active cases in India. Occupancy levels were also boosted by longer average length of. However, average revenue per occupied bed fell by 4.2% on a yoy basis.
Shoppers Stop spurted 6% after it closed the sale of controlling stake in Crossword Bookstores, its 100% subsidiary for Rs.41.62 crore. Shoppers Stop will divest 51% stake right away and 39% in the next 12 months. Under the agreement, Agarwal Book House will take over all assets and brand. The sale of the Crossword Bookstores is largely in line with its broad intent of exiting all non-core areas and focusing on its core retail business. It also plans to expand First Citizen, Private Labels, Beauty and Omni-Channels.