S&P Global hinted at a strong rebound in GDP in India even as it simultaneously pared China’s growth forecast. It has cited the imminent default of Evergrande as a key risk factor. While S&P maintained India’s growth forecast for FY22 at 9.5%, it cut China’s GDP estimates for CY2021 by 30 bps to 8%. The rating agency also pointed out that faster than expected tapering could create capital flow risks for India. It also pointed to the recent Chinese clampdown on IT, digital and online education companies as a risk factor.
Sahajanand Medical Technologies, a medical devices company with market leadership in stents, has filed its DRHP with SEBI for its proposed Rs.1,500 crore IPO. The IPO will comprise of a fresh issue of Rs.410.33 crore and an OFS of Rs.1,089.67 crore. The existing promoters and some of the early investors like Samara Capital and NHPEA Sparkle BV will take partial exit. The fresh proceeds will be substantially utilized to repay debt of Rs 255 crore. For FY21, Sahajanand had a 31% market share in Drug eluting stents (DES).
A rally in crude oil prices comes with its own set of problems and once again it is pushing domestic petrol and diesel prices higher. On Tuesday, petrol was up 20 paise and diesel 25 paisa per litre. In Delhi, petrol is sold at Rs.101.39/litre while diesel retails at Rs.89.57/litre. The Indian crude basket has now touched $76.89/bbl. The sharp rise is on the back of OPEC’s inability to boost supply, even as the hurricanes have impacted US output in the Gulf of Mexico. The resultant drawdown of inventories has pushed up prices.
Network specialist, Tejas Networks, was on upper circuit for the 4th session after Bharti Airtel selected Tejas as a partner for optical network expansion in key metropolitan markets. The higher capacity will enable Airtel to deliver superior experience to its customers in the midst of robust data consumption. Tejas sells high-end networking products to telcos, ISPs, utilities, defence and government entities across 75 countries. Panatone Finvest, part of Tata Sons, will buy 43.3% in Tejas Networks for Rs.1,850 crore.
NTPC scaled a yearly high of Rs.132.10 after announcing that it had won 1.9 GW of solar projects under the CPSU scheme. NTPC stock is up 16% in the past 1 month. In the first quarter ended Jun-21, power generation grew 17.2%. NTPC is the market leader in power generation and accounts for 23% of India’s total power supply. NTPC is also going green and it is on target to achieve 130 GW capacity by 2032, with nearly 50% being renewable. Most of the renewable green initiatives are under the NTPC REL subsidiary.
In its latest board meet, among other decisions, SEBI approved the framework for gold exchange. The gold exchange will entail gold trading via electronic gold receipts and help create a transparent spot market for price discovery. The Electronic Gold Receipts or EGRs will be traded, cleared and settled like any other security and will be classified as a security under the SCRA. SEBI will be the nodal regulator for the gold exchange. SEBI also approved the Social Stock Exchange for fund raising by social entrepreneurs.
Standard Life Investments plans to sell 5% stake in HDFC Asset Management Company via block deals. The total deal is likely to be valued at around Rs.3,042 crore or approximately $411 million. Interestingly, Standard Life has also been exiting the insurance business of the HDFC group in a series of tranches in the last few quarters. Standard Life plans to offer a total of 1.06 crore shares at a floor price of Rs.2,870 per share, which represents a discount of 6.65% to the Tuesday closing price. JP Morgan is the deal advisor.
Ummeed Housing Finance Private Limited or UHFL raised Rs.270 crore in equity from Norwest Venture Partners and Morgan Stanley PE Asia. Earlier in Feb-20, UHFL had raised Rs.140 crore from Morgan Stanley PE Asia. It will use these funds to enhance its AUM from Rs.650 crore to Rs.2,000 crore. UHFL is basically into funding affordable homes. The company is extremely bullish on the affordable homes market and it expects the affordable housing finance market to grow 3-fold to Rs.40,00,000 crore by fiscal year 2030.
