Public sector banks (PSBs) are expected to pay out dividend over Rs 15,000 crore for the fiscal year ending March 2024, owing to profitability, reported PTI citing sources. All 12 PSBs collectively earned a profit of Rs 98,000 crore, lower by only Rs 7,000 crore than the entire 2022-23 fiscal year.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Sunday agreed to change the steep pay hike after a parliamentary committee recommended the banking authority to pause its hike implementation. The Commission on Public Finance (COPF) urged the central bank to stop the execution of pay rises, which would have increased salaries from 29 to 76 per cent across Central Bank staff of all grades. The committee called for an independent renumeration body to conduct a review of the hike.
IIFL Finance Ltd and JM Financial Products Ltd (JMFPL) are set to undergo special audits to take ahead the investigation into their regulatory violations, the Reserve Bank of India said via an official document. The banking regulator started the appointment process for auditors. It floated two separate tenders to appoint auditors for special audits for these two non-banking finance firms, reported PTI. The last date to submit bids is April 8.
Mother Dairy is planning to introduce 30 new products this summer, primarily focusing on ice cream and yogurt categories, anticipating a surge in consumer demand by 25-30 per cent, MD Manish Bandlish said. “Summer is the most anticipated season for our business, especially for categories like ice creams, curd, and beverages. With the Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) prediction of above-normal temperatures and a hot summer this year, we are expecting a multifold surge in demand for these categories,” he added.
Tech Mahindra announced that it aims to merge its two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Born Group and Tech Mahindra (Americas) to manage business operations, optimise costs, and reduce risks. The merger remains subject to regulatory approvals. The firm’s regulatory filing stated, “The appointed date of the plan of merger is April 1, 2024. A Plan of Merger of Born Group, Inc., a wholly-owned step-down subsidiary of the Company with its parent company viz. Tech Mahindra (Americas) Inc., a wholly-owned material subsidiary of the Company, has been approved by the respective companies on Friday, 22nd March 2024.”
Shirdi Sai Electricals Ltd (SSEL) is planning to begin operations at its new Rs 300 crore unit in Andhra Pradesh by September quarter. N Visweswara Reddy, CMD, said that the plant has an annual capacity of 300 tonne and is being developed over 8 acres.
The collective market valuation of 5 out of the top 10 most valued companies declined by Rs 1.97 lakh crore last week. IT giants TCS and Infosys reported the biggest decline in the valuation amidst a volatile trend in equities. Amongst the gainers were Reliance, SBI, ITC,etc.
Vedanta Ltd announced that it will invest $6 billion across businesses and will add at least $2.5 billion to annual EBITDA. Chairman Anil Agarwal noted that the firm ‘has a pipeline of more than 50 active projects and expansions to drive growth, which is expected to generate incremental revenue of over $6 billion and boost EBITDA from an expected $5 billion in the current fiscal ending March 31 to $6 billion in the next and up to $7.5 billion by FY27.’
Tata Group said on Saturday that it plans to transition to 70 per cent renewable energy by the end of the decade. Addressing the XLRI-Xavier School of Management convocation in Jamshedpur, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, said, “Nation-building impulse is as relevant now as it was earlier. There are major energy transitions, digital transitions in the form of AI and machine learning, and supply chain transitions that we are facing today. But, India is uniquely placed because we can invest in each of these transitions today because of the geopolitical advantages that our country has. By 2030, the Tata Group will move to 70 per cent green energy.”
Background
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Investors will be clocking movements in macroeconomic indicators globally. The quarterly GDP data for the US is scheduled to be released in the latter half of the week on Thursday. Notably, the second estimate revealed that the American economy grew at a rate of 3.2 per cent in the October-December quarter in 2023, against advance estimates of growth of 3.3 per cent.
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to deliver his speech on March 29 and the dialogue will focus on interest rate cuts and inflation outlook. Further, other data such as new home sales, durable goods orders, personal income and spending numbers, etc will also be released in the week.
The Bank of Japan will also release its monetary policy meeting minutes in the week, along with the unemployment data and retail sales figures. The final GDP growth number for the United Kingdom will also be shared towards the end of the week.
Domestically, investors will keenly be on the lookout for economic data such as current account and external debt numbers for the third quarter of the current fiscal year, to be released on Thursday.
Fiscal deficit and infrastructure output data for February will also be revealed in the week. The foreign exchange reserves data for the week ended March 22 will be out on March 29.
Further, fiscal deficit and infrastructure output data for February, and foreign exchange reserves for the week ended March 22 will be released on March 29.
Foreign institutional investors dumped Indian equities worth Rs 8,365.53 crore in the week ended March 22, 2024, however, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 19,351.62 crore during the period.
Read More: Investors To Clock Economic Data, Fund Flows, GDP Figures For US