Page 2 - Corporate India

Learn from the villains

India Inc needs to realise that the standards of corporate ethics and governance are much below acceptable levels

High borrowing costs, weak rupee likely to impact corporate India: Report

Corporate India is facing increasing borrowing costs given the rise in bank lending rates, potentially dampening industrial production and revival in domestic demand going forward, says a report. According to a Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) report, high borrowing costs and weakness in rupee is expected to impact corporates, while uncertainties in the global market has the potential to derail the global growth story. According to Arun Singh, Lead Economist, Dun & Bradstreet India, while the borrowing costs for companies are rising given the increase in bank lending rates, a weak rupee has also added to the borrowing woes of corporates sourcing funds from the global markets. "The rise in lending rates in general and borrowing cost in specific can dampen the industrial production and the revival in the domestic demand," Singh said. Meanwhile, hedging costs have increased and dollar loans have become costlier. "On top of that, we have heightened uncertainties in the global market ...

Corporate India announced $8-bn deals last month, Jan-Jul tally at $74 bn

Corporate India announced merger and acquisition deals worth USD 8.7 billion in July this year, following which the deal tally for the first seven months of this year stood at USD 74.16 billion, says a report. According to Grant Thornton's M&A Dealtracker there were 49 M&A deals worth USD 8.71 billion in July, a nearly 22 fold increase on a year-on-year basis, driven by two large outbound acquisitions valuing over USD 1 billion each. In the January-July period, there were 284 M&A deals worth USD 74.18 billion, primarily on account of revived domestic and cross-border deal activity, witnessing an increase of over seven times in deal values. The year so far has registered 12 deals in the billion-dollar category and 33 deals valued at and over USD 100 million each. The telecom, e-commerce, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, banking and IT sectors led the deal activity, capturing 94 per cent of the total deal values in the January-July period. The start-up sector dominated ...

Why corporate India needs to focus on mental health of its employees

Corporate India is facing a huge mental health crisis amongst its employees. But what are companies doing about it

'India Inc's M&A, PE deals hit $60.5 bn in 2017; outlook bullish for 2018'

Corporate India's deal tally, including M&As as well as private equity, amounted to USD 60.5 billion driven by big ticket consolidation and the outlook for remains bullish for this year, says a report. According to assurance, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton, there were 1,147 deals (M&A and PE) worth USD 60.54 billion last year. In 2016, there were 1,485 such transactions worth USD 57.85 billion. "This momentum was largely driven by big ticket consolidation across sectors as companies divested distressed assets in an effort to reduce debt. On the other hand, corporates with strong balance sheets drove acquisitions to capture the market share and increase competitiveness," Grant Thornton India LLP Partner Prashant Mehra said. On the merger and acquisition (M&A) front, the year saw 411 deals valued at USD 40 billion, continuing the declining trend after peaking in 2015. The fall in the deal tally is mainly due to the absence of multi-billion-dollar ...

Corporate India is still a global minnow in terms of profits

Mumbai, 20 NovemberA strong rally on Dalal Street has made India one of the biggest in terms of market capitalisation globally but corporate India is still a global minnow in terms of actual profits. During the 12 months ending September this year, the combined net profit of BSE 500 companies at around $69.5 billion was a fifth of the combined net profit of China's 300 biggest companies and a ninth of that at the euro zone's 500 biggest listed companies.The gap with America is more. During the year ending September, S&P 500 index companies reported combined net profit at $1,101.7 bn, about 16 times more than the combined net profit of India's top listed firms.India has been the top performing major market in dollar terms, with the combined market capitalisation (m-cap) of the BSE 500 up 29.3 per cent in those 12 months. In the same period, it was up 25.2 per cent in China, 28 per cent in Europe and 22 per cent om average globally. India is now the second largest emerging market in

Corporate profits, markets can double in next 4-5 years: Prateek Agrawal

Says, 'We are hopeful since minimum support prices for crops are up and public sector employees have started to get wage hikes'

Corporate India works to up its ethics quotient

Multinational and Indian companies team up to improve their compliance practices

Corporate India sees a tussle between growth and ethical conduct: EY survey

Vantage point: Insights from cutting-edge research

Stressed balance sheets, bad loans cast cloud over Modi-led India rebound

Private capital investments contracted 2.1 percent in the first three months of this year

India Inc's deal tally at $33.49 bn in Jan-Apr: Thornton

Corporate India announced deals worth USD 1.96 billion in April through 28 transactions taking the year-to-date deal tally to USD 33.49 billion, says a Grant Thornton report. According to the assurance, tax and advisory firm, M&A values nearly halved in April while volumes declined by 36 per cent due to the absence of domestic action which saw a ten- fold decline on a year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, cross-border activity grew eight-fold supported by Flipkart's USD 1.4 billion investment round. In the January-April period, there were 133 transactions worth USD 33.49 billion, registering a three-fold jump over the corresponding period last year when there were 168 transactions worth USD 11.52 billion. "High-value transactions led to a nearly three-fold growth in M&A values - with two deals in the billion dollar club and 16 deals valued more than USD 100 million contributing to over 95 per cent of total M&A deal values put together," the report said. Going forward, the ...

Corporate India to offer increments in 5-10% range for FY18

Demonetisation drive has no affect on hiring new recruits

Corporate India's growing legal budget

Increase in compliance costs, growing number of M&A deals and rise in litigation are fuelling India Inc's legal and professional expenses. Sun Pharma tops the list of legal spenders, as it has been grappling with regulatory issues in the Ranbaxy acquisition over the past two years. Reliance Industries has seen its legal expenses rise by 50% in FY16, largely due to its ongoing spat with ONGC. Pharma and information technology companies were among the largest spenders on legal services

Pay bonanza for promoters and top managers

The combined pay for India Inc's top management was up 30 per cent in FY16, growing at the fastest pace in nine years

India Inc's forex loans jump 21 per cent in 2016

Corporate India raised 21 per cent more loans at $17.2 billion since January this year as compared to the same period a year ago

Penalising individuals makes corporate India uneasy

This approach is consistent with the international best practices in countries such as France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, where directors and officers are liable for breach of competition law

Testing time ahead for SC/ST Act, corporate India

If the courts admit the complaint filled by Kerala police against Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the bottling arm of Coca-Cola India, and its senior executives, this will be the first instance when the stringent provisions of the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act 2015, will be put to test.Legal experts point out that this could also open up "a can of worms" for several disputed mining and infrastructure projects in tribal-dominated areas.The amended Act was notified in April this year. Any offence against SCs and STs is non-bailable and punishable under provisions of the Indian Penal Code. Anybody booked under this Act goes through a trial in a special court within 60 days of filing of the chargesheet. The amended Act prescribes higher compensation for offences, ranging anywhere between Rs 85,000 and Rs 8,25,000."If the case is admissible in the court of law, this will be the first time that the stringent provisions of the amended SC/ST A

Firms go slow on external commercial borrowings

Softening of commodity prices have negated the need for raising foreign currency for many oil marketing companies and commodity importers

How corporate India plans to crack the India growth story

India Inc seems to be optimistic about growth opportunities in the country. Two surveys - one of around 100 chief executive officers (CEOs) and the other of 30 chief financial officers (CFOs) - show corporate India is focussing its energy on tapping the domestic market. Around two-thirds of India-based CEOs are confident of their company's growth prospects over the next 12 months, against only 35% globally. Around 70% of these CEOs plan to increase headcount in their businesses over the next 12 months. Getting down to brass tacks, CFOs expect the health of the country's economy to be the biggest driver of a company's growth. This will be supplemented with merger and acquisition (M&A) activities, along with a dose of financial restructuring of companies. Around two-thirds of the CFOs interviewed expect moderate spending and investment to support top line growth, but plan to keep a close eye on profitability. Here is a snapshot of the surveys: