In a setback to the Future group, the Delhi High Court refused to interfere in the decision making powers of the SIAC. Future had moved to terminate the arbitration proceedings at the SIAC. However, that has now been struck down by the Delhi High Court. Amazon had sought arbitration at Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) alleging that FRL had violated the ROFR given to Amazon. Last month, the CCI had suspended its approval for Amazon’s purchase of Future Coupons, but the last word will be from SIAC.
For FY21, Flipkart India reported 25% higher revenues of Rs.43,357 crore. However, the net loss for the year stood at Rs.2,445 crore. The company has reported an additional net loss of Rs.2,881 crore under Flipkart Internet. Currently, Flipkart is engaged in a fierce battle for the online marketplace with Amazon and Reliance JioMart. However, with the backing of Wal-Mart, Flipkart has the required pockets to match up to Amazon. The gross merchandise value (GMV) during the festival season grew by 23% yoy this year.
It looks like sugar companies are once again in a sweet spot as is evident from the slew of sugar stocks that are recording new highs on a regular basis. Most of the sugar stocks like Triveni Engineering, Balrampur Chini and many other sugar companies scaled new yearly highs. This season, sugar prices are expected to rise 16-17% due to a pickup in industrial demand and higher exports. A sharp fall in inventory levels is also likely to help sugar prices sustain. Ethanol blending is the other big opportunity in sugar.
HDFC Bank loan book grew 16.4% in the De-21 quarter to Rs.12.6 trillion. The retail loan book showed a much more robust growth at 13.5% on a yoy basis and 4.5% on a sequential basis. The growth in corporate and wholesale loans was relatively more muted at 7.5% on a yoy basis. The deposit base of HDFC Bank saw growth of 13.8% at Rs.14.46 trillion, with retail deposits growing by 17% on yoy basis against flat wholesale deposits. CASA deposits grew 43% yoy and accounts for 47% of the deposit base of HDFC Bank.
In a sigh of relief for Hindustan Unilever, the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation called off the boycott of HUL products. This was after HUL met the representatives of the Union and assured that their demands would be addressed. The traditional distributors had an objection to better terms being offered to the new B2B platforms like Jio and Metro Cash and Carry. However, the issue with Colgate is yet to be resolved and for now the boycott continues. AICPDF will not stock Colgate products in Mumbai.
Reddy Labs will launch Molflu (Molnupiravir) at Rs.35 per capsule to treat COVID-19. The COVID course comprises of 40 tablets over 5 days so the total medicine cost would be Rs.1,400 which makes it a lot more affordable. Molflu will be available in pharmacies from next week. Reddy Labs has already signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Merck Sharpe Dohme (MSD) to manufacture Molnupiravir in India. Reddy Labs has received emergency-use authorisation from the DCGI to market Molnupiravir.
In the calendar year 2021, India spent $55.7 billion on gold imports, double of 2020 and even higher than the record $53.9 billion spent in year 2011. In a way, the price drop also helped to boost the demand for gold even as jewellers were aggressively stocking up on gold ahead of the festival season in 2021. In volume terms, gold imports stood at 1,050 tonnes in 2021 compared to just 430 tonnes in 2020. Domestic gold prices scaled Rs.56,191/10gm in Aug-20 but fell to Rs.43,320/10gm in Mar-21, boosting gold demand.
ICRA expects India’s pharma industry to grow at 9-11% in FY22, driven by robust demand from emerging markets. In Q2, revenue growth stood at 6.4%. The demand momentum was impacted by normalisation of the base and pricing pressures in the US market. While EMs will see 13-15% growth, Indian markets will see 14-16% while Europe will grow 9-11% in FY22. This was evident in the second quarter, with the EMs clocking 30.6% sales growth. ICRA also expects the operating markets and net margins to be robust.