From Q3 results preview to SP family feud: 5 key developments

In other news, petrol pumps to accept plastic till January 13

Business Standard brings to you a list of five key developments across the country.

Q3 results preview
 

Corporate earnings for the October-December 2016 quarter are likely to be polarised as commodity producers will benefit from rising prices, while demonetisation will hurt consumption companies. The combined net profit of Nifty 50 companies is estimated to grow at the fastest pace in two years. However, the number of index companies expected to report a year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in revenue and net profit will also be the highest in six quarters.

Petrol pumps defer decision to not accept card payments 
 

Petrol-pump owners on Sunday night deferred till January 13 their decision to not accept credit- and debit-card payments for fuel sales, after banks put off the move to levy a charge on every plastic transaction. The roll-back was announced within hours of petrol-pump associations saying they would not accept card payments from Monday. The decision covers a majority of the 56,000 outlets in the country. The four banks that had said they would levy a charge on card usage at fuel pumps are HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank.

Is demonetisation the villain in Indian media’s growth story?

On Monday 9, the Rs 2,655-crore HT Media’s Hindustan Times will shut down seven of its editions, in Kolkata, Bhopal and Ranchi, among other cities. It has let go of dozens of people in the past few weeks. When the Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists condemned what it termed an ‘illegal decision’, Vineet Jain, managing director of its arch-rival, Times Group, tweeted, “I support HT. Wage board and demonetisation is hurting print industry. Print needs zero rating in GST.” (HT Media chief executive Rajiv Verma did not respond to repeated requests for an interview). Many newspapers are cutting print runs, reducing pages, holding recruitments and cutting non-essential expenditure.

 

WEF Davos meet
 

More than 100 Indian CEOs, along with some senior government leaders, will be in Davos next week for the World Economic Forum annual meeting. They will discuss ways to revive economic growth and strengthen global collaboration. It will be a five-day talkfest, starting January 16. The 47th Annual Meeting of the WEF will take place just before Donald Trump assumes Presidency in the US, and amid a growing focus on fight against terror across the world.

I am still SP boss, says Mulayam
 

The Samajwadi Party appeared to be on the verge of a split with Mulayam Singh Yadav asserting himself as party chief saying that a recent convention where Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was named the head of the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh, was illegal. After several rounds of failed patch up attempts between Mulayam and Akhilesh over the past week, Mulayam asserted his authority.