NEW DELHI: Snapdeal.com may be set to acquire Exclusively.in, a site that sells designer brands, as one of the country's largest online retailers looks to strengthen its fashion business to take on rivals Flipkart-owned Myntra and Jabong amid a consolidation drive.
Two people familiar with the deal said Snapdeal is expected to take over Exclusively as part of its acquisition plans following the October funding of $627 million raised from Japanese telecom and internet giant Softbank. The deal has been the works for months and is likely to come through as Exclusively founder Sunjay Guleria has agreed to the valuation, said one of the persons.
ET couldn't confirm how much Snapdeal is likely to pay for the business. Guleria declined to comment as did a Snapdeal spokesperson. Guleria had sold the Sher Singh apparel brand along with co-founders in 2012 to Myntra. While India's rapidly e-commerce sector is dominated by companies such as market leader Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal, among others, it also comprises smaller and specialty online sellers, many of which may be looking to exit as funding dries up for them. Earlier this month, Mahindra Group acquired baby products online retailer Babyoye.com.
Snapdeal has created one of India's largest online marketplaces but the company is playing catchup with online fashion leaders such as Myntra and Jabong in that space. The company plans to use Exclusively to shore up its fashion offerings besides extending it to offer global bridge-to-luxury and even luxury brands, said one of the persons cited above. The stakes are high for fashion as the segment is turning out to be the fastest-growing segment for online retailers.
Last year, Flipkart acquired Myntra as part of its fashion push. Even Amazon, a relatively late starter in fashion and lifestyle, is making a concerted effort to build its fashion portfolio. It's planning its own line of private labels for apparel and other lifestyle products, making India perhaps the first country in which the US e-commerce giant will do so.
In December, Snapdeal acquired giftrecommendation site Wishpicker for an undisclosed amount as its first buyout after raising money from Softbank. Last year, Flipkart raised $1.9 billion from its investors, valuing the company at $11 billion. Amazon said last year it would invest $2 billion in the India business. On Saturday, ET reported that Snapdeal is in talks with investors to raise another $400 million that would possibly value the company at $5 billion.
Success in my Habit
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Discounts not viable for e-tailers in long run: Report
MUMBAI: E-commerce companies have incurred combined losses of around Rs 1,000 crore due to heavy discounting strategy and this model is not feasible in the long run, a PwC report said.
"Offering lower prices will not be viable in the long term. Despite luring in customers in the initial stages, lower prices won't be able to retain customers in the long run. While the discounting will continue for some more months, e-tailers are thinking beyond discounts to acquire customers and build loyalty," the report said.
The combined losses faced by e-tailing companies as a result of their discounting strategies now stand at almost Rs 1,000 crore, the report said without giving the timeframe for these losses.
Out of a total of 1,005 respondents surveyed as part of the PwC study from India, almost half the respondents said they preffered to shop online due to better deals and discounts offered by these retailers.
"A majority of e-commerce players are start-ups and, therefore, are working towards rapidly scaling up their market share. They have been aggressively planning and implementing discounting strategies, which would make the customer sit up and take notice," it said.
Pointing out that price has emerged as the biggest differentiator driving consumers to shop online or in-store, it said the customer habits have changed, as they are used to dicounts throughout the year.
The PwC report said the 'predatory' pricing strategy of e-commerce companies isn't helping their stand with the premium brands.
It found that with valuations of e-commerce companies skyrocketing, there is increasing pressure from investor firms to cut down on discounts and concentrate on making profits.
"Offering lower prices will not be viable in the long term. Despite luring in customers in the initial stages, lower prices won't be able to retain customers in the long run. While the discounting will continue for some more months, e-tailers are thinking beyond discounts to acquire customers and build loyalty," the report said.
The combined losses faced by e-tailing companies as a result of their discounting strategies now stand at almost Rs 1,000 crore, the report said without giving the timeframe for these losses.
Out of a total of 1,005 respondents surveyed as part of the PwC study from India, almost half the respondents said they preffered to shop online due to better deals and discounts offered by these retailers.
"A majority of e-commerce players are start-ups and, therefore, are working towards rapidly scaling up their market share. They have been aggressively planning and implementing discounting strategies, which would make the customer sit up and take notice," it said.
Pointing out that price has emerged as the biggest differentiator driving consumers to shop online or in-store, it said the customer habits have changed, as they are used to dicounts throughout the year.
The PwC report said the 'predatory' pricing strategy of e-commerce companies isn't helping their stand with the premium brands.
It found that with valuations of e-commerce companies skyrocketing, there is increasing pressure from investor firms to cut down on discounts and concentrate on making profits.
Infosys: Re-skilling, not layoffs will address new challenges
MUMBAI: Even as the furore over layoffs in the IT sector is yet to die down, Infosys has said re-skilling talent is the answer to rapidly changing technologies in the software landscape.
"It is not that there are tens and thousands of people (available) with experience in new technologies. The idea is to re-skill people. If technology changes and people don't have those capabilities, you've to re-skill them and re-orient them," Infosys, chief operating officer, Pravin Rao told on the sidelines of an industry event last week.
He was responding to a question on recent instances of layoffs in the over $100 billion domestic IT industry.
Last month, India's largest software services provider TCS had said only 1,000 jobs have been axed in the country due to non-performance, clarifying that this is a part of normal working and not due to any mass restructuring exercise as being speculated.
The Tata-group company had said it carries out performance reviews every year, which result in this "involuntary attrition" and added that the overall number of 2,574 includes only 1,000 jobs locally.
TCS chief executive N Chandrasekaran had attributed the action to a performance review, where the employees were found to be wanting in skill sets. He had added that all the companies carry out such exercises.
Infosys' Rao said the Bangalore-based company has made 20,000 offers on campuses for hiring freshers in FY16 and will await to see how many of them actually join.
He, however, conceded that going forward the pace of hiring will trail the revenue growth for the industry.
On industry lobby Nasscom's target of a 12-14% growth in exports for FY16, Rao declined to give Infosys' view on the matter saying its too early to comment on it and the company is assessing the landscape by speaking to clients.
He said Infosys continues to be interested in acquisitions and would look for targets in Japan, Nordic countries and Latin America.
"We're very clear what we want to acquire but it takes time," he said.
Infosys welcomes the pro-activeness of the government in launching initiatives like Digital India and will "actively participate" in the opportunities that come about as part of the same.
"It is not that there are tens and thousands of people (available) with experience in new technologies. The idea is to re-skill people. If technology changes and people don't have those capabilities, you've to re-skill them and re-orient them," Infosys, chief operating officer, Pravin Rao told on the sidelines of an industry event last week.
He was responding to a question on recent instances of layoffs in the over $100 billion domestic IT industry.
Last month, India's largest software services provider TCS had said only 1,000 jobs have been axed in the country due to non-performance, clarifying that this is a part of normal working and not due to any mass restructuring exercise as being speculated.
The Tata-group company had said it carries out performance reviews every year, which result in this "involuntary attrition" and added that the overall number of 2,574 includes only 1,000 jobs locally.
TCS chief executive N Chandrasekaran had attributed the action to a performance review, where the employees were found to be wanting in skill sets. He had added that all the companies carry out such exercises.
Infosys' Rao said the Bangalore-based company has made 20,000 offers on campuses for hiring freshers in FY16 and will await to see how many of them actually join.
He, however, conceded that going forward the pace of hiring will trail the revenue growth for the industry.
On industry lobby Nasscom's target of a 12-14% growth in exports for FY16, Rao declined to give Infosys' view on the matter saying its too early to comment on it and the company is assessing the landscape by speaking to clients.
He said Infosys continues to be interested in acquisitions and would look for targets in Japan, Nordic countries and Latin America.
"We're very clear what we want to acquire but it takes time," he said.
Infosys welcomes the pro-activeness of the government in launching initiatives like Digital India and will "actively participate" in the opportunities that come about as part of the same.
Monday, February 16, 2015
PM inaugurates GE’s multi-modal manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune
New Delhi: PM: World is taking note of India's economic growth; Government is working towards predictability in policies and laws
PM: Global technology and talent of Indian youth can together create a win-win situation
PM: Government working to improve ease of doing business
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today said that the world is taking note of India's GDP growth, which has risen to 7.4 percent - and added that experts are now describing India as the fastest growing economy in the world. He said that he expects this to rise even further, and that the 21st century would be Asia's century, with India playing a key role in it.
Inaugurating GE’s multi-modal manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune, the Prime Minister said there were immense possibilities for manufacturing in India. He said India's demographic dividend was a magnet to attract investment. He said the Government was working towards creating a skilled talented workforce which would attract the world to India. He said global technology (Vishwa Dhan) and the talent of Indian youth (Yuva Dhan) could together result in a win-win situation for all.
The Prime Minister said the Government was working towards predictability in policies and laws, that would boost confidence of investors.
The Prime Minister said his Government is working towards improving "ease of doing business." He complimented the Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis for doing a lot to improve ease of doing business, and reducing drastically the number of permissions required for setting up industry. He particularly praised the Chief Minister's initiatives in the hospitality sector.
The Prime Minister congratulated GE for the state of the art manufacturing facility they had set up, and welcomed GE's announcement for further investment. He said this was a big boost to the 'Make in India' initiative.
The Prime Minister said that in India, water, land and sky - jal thal aur nabh - all had great possibilities in manufacturing. He invited GE, which is already present in land and sky, to also invest in water - implying shipbuilding. He invited GE to invest in defence manufacturing, where FDI has been raised to 49 percent.
The Prime Minister said Pune - which was now being called the "Detroit of India" - had immense potential to emerge as a hub of defence production. He also emphasized that the Railway sector could become an engine of economic growth, and offered huge possibilities.
The Governor of Maharashtra Shri Vidyasagar Rao, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis, and Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar were present on the occasion.
PM: Global technology and talent of Indian youth can together create a win-win situation
PM: Government working to improve ease of doing business
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today said that the world is taking note of India's GDP growth, which has risen to 7.4 percent - and added that experts are now describing India as the fastest growing economy in the world. He said that he expects this to rise even further, and that the 21st century would be Asia's century, with India playing a key role in it.
Inaugurating GE’s multi-modal manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune, the Prime Minister said there were immense possibilities for manufacturing in India. He said India's demographic dividend was a magnet to attract investment. He said the Government was working towards creating a skilled talented workforce which would attract the world to India. He said global technology (Vishwa Dhan) and the talent of Indian youth (Yuva Dhan) could together result in a win-win situation for all.
The Prime Minister said the Government was working towards predictability in policies and laws, that would boost confidence of investors.
The Prime Minister said his Government is working towards improving "ease of doing business." He complimented the Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis for doing a lot to improve ease of doing business, and reducing drastically the number of permissions required for setting up industry. He particularly praised the Chief Minister's initiatives in the hospitality sector.
The Prime Minister congratulated GE for the state of the art manufacturing facility they had set up, and welcomed GE's announcement for further investment. He said this was a big boost to the 'Make in India' initiative.
The Prime Minister said that in India, water, land and sky - jal thal aur nabh - all had great possibilities in manufacturing. He invited GE, which is already present in land and sky, to also invest in water - implying shipbuilding. He invited GE to invest in defence manufacturing, where FDI has been raised to 49 percent.
The Prime Minister said Pune - which was now being called the "Detroit of India" - had immense potential to emerge as a hub of defence production. He also emphasized that the Railway sector could become an engine of economic growth, and offered huge possibilities.
The Governor of Maharashtra Shri Vidyasagar Rao, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis, and Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar were present on the occasion.
India aims US$ 10 billion telecom exports in five years: Rakesh Garg
New Delhi: The Government of India aims to increase exports of telecom products and services at 25 per cent compund annual growth rate (CAGR) in the next five years to reach US$ 10 billion, said Mr Rakesh Garg, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India.
Telecom exports from India currently stands around Rs 32,000 crore (US$ 5.14 billion), of which Rs 20,000 crore (US$ 3.21 billion) comes from products and equipment and the remaining Rs 12,000 crore (US$ 1.92 billion) from services.
The Government of India is making efforts to reduce electronic products imports and to meet requirement of domestic market through indigenous production and has also offered various incentives to the industry to boost domestic manufacturing in the field of electronics.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of Communications & Information Technology have established the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) to promote and develop the export of telecom equipment and services has conducted the sixth edition of buyer seller meet on February 13, 2015, in which 49 buyers from 19 countries participated for sourcing telecom equipment and services. The buyers represent telecom service providers and system integrators largely from South-East Asia, Latin America as well as from Africa.
TEPC has created this platform with the objective to bring potential buyers from across the globe to meet the quality telecom equipment and services suppliers of India to develop long-term business relations.
India's ability in frugal innovation to develop world-class telecom equipments is helping operators to offer services at very low costs, saig Mr Garg. He laid emphasis on the need to build long-term partnerships between overseas buyers and Indian companies, keeping in view the continuous technological changes happening in telecom sector.
Telecom exports from India currently stands around Rs 32,000 crore (US$ 5.14 billion), of which Rs 20,000 crore (US$ 3.21 billion) comes from products and equipment and the remaining Rs 12,000 crore (US$ 1.92 billion) from services.
The Government of India is making efforts to reduce electronic products imports and to meet requirement of domestic market through indigenous production and has also offered various incentives to the industry to boost domestic manufacturing in the field of electronics.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of Communications & Information Technology have established the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) to promote and develop the export of telecom equipment and services has conducted the sixth edition of buyer seller meet on February 13, 2015, in which 49 buyers from 19 countries participated for sourcing telecom equipment and services. The buyers represent telecom service providers and system integrators largely from South-East Asia, Latin America as well as from Africa.
TEPC has created this platform with the objective to bring potential buyers from across the globe to meet the quality telecom equipment and services suppliers of India to develop long-term business relations.
India's ability in frugal innovation to develop world-class telecom equipments is helping operators to offer services at very low costs, saig Mr Garg. He laid emphasis on the need to build long-term partnerships between overseas buyers and Indian companies, keeping in view the continuous technological changes happening in telecom sector.
Cipla to form 40:60 joint venture with Biopharm in Algeria
Mumbai: Cipla Ltd said on Friday that it has signed a binding agreement with its existing foreign distribution partner, Biopharm SPA in Algeria, to form a joint venture company in that market.
The new joint venture, in which India’s second largest generic drug maker will hold 40% equity through its European subsidiary Cipla (EU) Ltd, will manufacture and market respiratory products for Algeria. The new company is expected to make an investment of up to $15 million to build a factory.
Cipla (EU)’s initial investment in cash in the joint venture is expected to be $6 million.
Cipla informed the stock exchanges on Friday that none of the people belonging to promoter or promoter group companies will have any interest in the transaction and it is not a related party transaction for the company.
The transaction is subject to execution of definitive agreement and applicable approvals.
The formation of the joint venture is part of Cipla’s strategy to create a global footprint through direct presence in the foreign markets, moving from its traditional business model of partnering with local companies to enter those locations. In this process the company has had acquired companies as well as formed subsidiaries in Europe, the US, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the past couple of years.
In an unrelated development, Cipla said on Friday that it has been awarded $188.95 million of Global Fund ARV (anti-retroviral) Tender as the Indian drug maker has been selected as a panel supplier. The contract is effective from 1 January and will run for three years. The supply of anti-HIV/Aids drugs under this tender will begin in the current quarter.
“We are extremely proud to have won this tender from Global Fund and this tender offers us a great opportunity to make HIV/AIDS treatment accessible to more than 140 countries,” said Subhanu Saxena, managing director and global chief executive, Cipla.
Cipla has been associated with Global Fund since 2002 and has been one of the suppliers with a long-term contract for supplying anti-malarial drugs.
The new joint venture, in which India’s second largest generic drug maker will hold 40% equity through its European subsidiary Cipla (EU) Ltd, will manufacture and market respiratory products for Algeria. The new company is expected to make an investment of up to $15 million to build a factory.
Cipla (EU)’s initial investment in cash in the joint venture is expected to be $6 million.
Cipla informed the stock exchanges on Friday that none of the people belonging to promoter or promoter group companies will have any interest in the transaction and it is not a related party transaction for the company.
The transaction is subject to execution of definitive agreement and applicable approvals.
The formation of the joint venture is part of Cipla’s strategy to create a global footprint through direct presence in the foreign markets, moving from its traditional business model of partnering with local companies to enter those locations. In this process the company has had acquired companies as well as formed subsidiaries in Europe, the US, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the past couple of years.
In an unrelated development, Cipla said on Friday that it has been awarded $188.95 million of Global Fund ARV (anti-retroviral) Tender as the Indian drug maker has been selected as a panel supplier. The contract is effective from 1 January and will run for three years. The supply of anti-HIV/Aids drugs under this tender will begin in the current quarter.
“We are extremely proud to have won this tender from Global Fund and this tender offers us a great opportunity to make HIV/AIDS treatment accessible to more than 140 countries,” said Subhanu Saxena, managing director and global chief executive, Cipla.
Cipla has been associated with Global Fund since 2002 and has been one of the suppliers with a long-term contract for supplying anti-malarial drugs.
ITC to acquire Savlon, Shower to Shower brands from Johnson and Johnson
Kolkata: In a rare break from its tradition of building brands on its own, ITC Ltd said on Friday that it had agreed to buy Johnson and Johnson’s Savlon antiseptic and Shower to Shower body talc brands, as the company seeks to reinforce its range of personal care products.
In a statement, ITC said it had entered into agreements with Johnson and Johnson Ltd and Johnson and Johnson Pte Ltd for buying the Savlon and Shower to Shower trademarks and related intellectual property for use primarily in India, subject to regulatory approvals.
ITC, India’s biggest cigarette maker, is seeking to expand its personal and home care products range by using its vast distribution reach and to reduce its dependence on its tobacco business. These are its first acquisitions in the personal care products range.
“It takes several years to develop brands in a fiercely competitive personal care segment, and by buying existing brands ITC is now trying to simplify its task at least in some categories,” said Aashish Upganlawar, an analyst at the Indian arm of Elara Capital Plc, a financial services firm.
Investors welcomed the acquisitions. ITC shares rose 2% to end at Rs.378.05 apiece on BSE on a day the benchmark Sensex gained 1% to 29,094.93 points.
The company didn’t disclose the value of the brand purchases, but experts estimated that it may have paid up to four-five times the two brands’ combined annual revenue of nearly Rs.100 crore.
The two brands together clocked revenue of Rs.90 crore in 2013-14, according to an estimate by brokerage firm Religare Capital Markets Ltd. Of this, Savlon with its products including antiseptic soaps and handwash, earned Rs.65 crore, while the balance came from Shower to Shower prickly heat powders.
The two brands made up a mere 1% of ITC’s sales from non-cigarette consumer goods in 2013-14 at Rs.8,099.21 crore.
“We have maintained that we would take every road possible to reach our goal of achieving Rs.1 trillion sales in the new consumer goods segment in the next 15 years (ending 2030) and today’s announcement is in line with that strategy,” said a spokesperson for ITC.
Cigarettes contributed 85% to the company’s profit and 41% to its sales in the first nine months of the year to March. ITC also has a presence in hotels.
While ITC has seen success in categories like foods, its personal care brands like Vivel and Fiama Di Wills have lagged behind more established rivals.
“The deal is expected to increase ITC’s focus and presence in personal care, where it has been facing growth issues,” said Abneesh Roy, associate director (institutional equities research) at Edelweiss Securities Ltd, another brokerage firm.
Still, it will face tough competition from Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd’s Dettol, which dominates the antiseptic category and is also among the top five soap brands in the country. Savlon is a distant second to Dettol, which clocked sales of Rs.700-800 crore in 2013-14, according to industry estimates.
Savlon and Shower to Shower were not central to Johnson and Johnson’s portfolio that focuses on baby care and skin care products, oral care and over-the-counter products, such as cough syrup Benadryl, in India, said Roy of Edelweiss.
“While the deal looks relatively cheap and the two brands are largely undersold in India so far, ITC can make money from them if it invests wisely and boosts their sales in the next two years,” said Upganlawar of Elara Capital.
ITC’s move of buying consumer brands is in contrast with its strategy so far of building its own brands. Company chairman Y.C. Deveshwar said in several recent public speeches that ITC would take on competitors by launching more and more new brands.
Friday’s deal with Johnson and Johnson will be ITC’s first purchase in the personal care segment. Last year, it had bought Bengaluru-based Balan Natural Food Pvt. Ltd’s B Natural brand to enter the beverages market. It had also purchased confectionery brand mint-o from Delhi based Candico in 2002.
ITC’s non-cigarette business has been expanding rapidly.
In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, revenue from other consumer goods at Rs.6,444.74 crore was 21% of its total revenue. The category is yet to make a net profit on a regular basis and often slips into the red, depending on cyclical investments.
ITC’s acquisitions in the consumer goods segment comes at a time when its cigarette sales are sliding because of higher taxes and consequent price hikes.
The company’s fiscal third quarter results were dragged down by falling cigarette sales and disappointed many analysts. According to their estimates, cigarette sales contracted 13% by volume year-on-year in the December quarter due to steep hikes in value-added taxes in several states.
ITC’s net profit grew by an annual rate of 10.4% in the December quarter to Rs.2,635 crore and it looks impossible, at least for now, for the company to return to its earlier net profit growth rate of 18-20%, analysts said.
In a statement, ITC said it had entered into agreements with Johnson and Johnson Ltd and Johnson and Johnson Pte Ltd for buying the Savlon and Shower to Shower trademarks and related intellectual property for use primarily in India, subject to regulatory approvals.
ITC, India’s biggest cigarette maker, is seeking to expand its personal and home care products range by using its vast distribution reach and to reduce its dependence on its tobacco business. These are its first acquisitions in the personal care products range.
“It takes several years to develop brands in a fiercely competitive personal care segment, and by buying existing brands ITC is now trying to simplify its task at least in some categories,” said Aashish Upganlawar, an analyst at the Indian arm of Elara Capital Plc, a financial services firm.
Investors welcomed the acquisitions. ITC shares rose 2% to end at Rs.378.05 apiece on BSE on a day the benchmark Sensex gained 1% to 29,094.93 points.
The company didn’t disclose the value of the brand purchases, but experts estimated that it may have paid up to four-five times the two brands’ combined annual revenue of nearly Rs.100 crore.
The two brands together clocked revenue of Rs.90 crore in 2013-14, according to an estimate by brokerage firm Religare Capital Markets Ltd. Of this, Savlon with its products including antiseptic soaps and handwash, earned Rs.65 crore, while the balance came from Shower to Shower prickly heat powders.
The two brands made up a mere 1% of ITC’s sales from non-cigarette consumer goods in 2013-14 at Rs.8,099.21 crore.
“We have maintained that we would take every road possible to reach our goal of achieving Rs.1 trillion sales in the new consumer goods segment in the next 15 years (ending 2030) and today’s announcement is in line with that strategy,” said a spokesperson for ITC.
Cigarettes contributed 85% to the company’s profit and 41% to its sales in the first nine months of the year to March. ITC also has a presence in hotels.
While ITC has seen success in categories like foods, its personal care brands like Vivel and Fiama Di Wills have lagged behind more established rivals.
“The deal is expected to increase ITC’s focus and presence in personal care, where it has been facing growth issues,” said Abneesh Roy, associate director (institutional equities research) at Edelweiss Securities Ltd, another brokerage firm.
Still, it will face tough competition from Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd’s Dettol, which dominates the antiseptic category and is also among the top five soap brands in the country. Savlon is a distant second to Dettol, which clocked sales of Rs.700-800 crore in 2013-14, according to industry estimates.
Savlon and Shower to Shower were not central to Johnson and Johnson’s portfolio that focuses on baby care and skin care products, oral care and over-the-counter products, such as cough syrup Benadryl, in India, said Roy of Edelweiss.
“While the deal looks relatively cheap and the two brands are largely undersold in India so far, ITC can make money from them if it invests wisely and boosts their sales in the next two years,” said Upganlawar of Elara Capital.
ITC’s move of buying consumer brands is in contrast with its strategy so far of building its own brands. Company chairman Y.C. Deveshwar said in several recent public speeches that ITC would take on competitors by launching more and more new brands.
Friday’s deal with Johnson and Johnson will be ITC’s first purchase in the personal care segment. Last year, it had bought Bengaluru-based Balan Natural Food Pvt. Ltd’s B Natural brand to enter the beverages market. It had also purchased confectionery brand mint-o from Delhi based Candico in 2002.
ITC’s non-cigarette business has been expanding rapidly.
In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, revenue from other consumer goods at Rs.6,444.74 crore was 21% of its total revenue. The category is yet to make a net profit on a regular basis and often slips into the red, depending on cyclical investments.
ITC’s acquisitions in the consumer goods segment comes at a time when its cigarette sales are sliding because of higher taxes and consequent price hikes.
The company’s fiscal third quarter results were dragged down by falling cigarette sales and disappointed many analysts. According to their estimates, cigarette sales contracted 13% by volume year-on-year in the December quarter due to steep hikes in value-added taxes in several states.
ITC’s net profit grew by an annual rate of 10.4% in the December quarter to Rs.2,635 crore and it looks impossible, at least for now, for the company to return to its earlier net profit growth rate of 18-20%, analysts said.
India remains FIIs’ top pick, $2.87 billion pumped in Jan
Mumbai: India continues to be a preferred market for foreign investors. Listed India-focused funds saw record inflows of $1.7 billion in January this year, while most other emerging markets (EMs) saw redemptions to the tune of $3 billion. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pumped in $2.87 billion into Indian equities in January, most of this coming from listed funds.
In February so far, FIIs have remained net sellers to the tune of $348 million. Kotak Institutional Equities has a foreign fund tracker, which gives comprehensive view on fund flows of listed funds (passive exchange traded funds, or ETFs, and active non-ETFs) into India and other emerging markets. The tracker intends to monitor both passive and active fund flows to get a sense of intent and direction of foreign investors.
Listed funds account for a large part of FII activity in India, claim experts. According to Kotak, net inflows into India amounted to $1.3 billion with active and passive channels attracting capital in January. India-focused active funds saw inflows worth $800 million while their passive counterparts roped in 880 million during the period. India continues to be an outlier as most other emerging markets have seen outflows during the month. Funds benchmarked against the MSCI EM Index pulled out $2.5 billion in January. Equity strategists believe India and China are benefiting at the expense of other markets such as Brazil and Russia.
Fund flows into ETFs have remained strong in 2014. nearly $150 billion went into US equity ETFs in 2014. Deutsche Bank Research says: “Fund flows to developed country equity and bond funds did much better than those to emerging markets in 2014; the trend seems to have extended into 2015. Importantly, the increase in the stock of global financial assets has not helped the volume of turnover in equity and bond markets, which remain below the 2011 peak.”
In February so far, FIIs have remained net sellers to the tune of $348 million. Kotak Institutional Equities has a foreign fund tracker, which gives comprehensive view on fund flows of listed funds (passive exchange traded funds, or ETFs, and active non-ETFs) into India and other emerging markets. The tracker intends to monitor both passive and active fund flows to get a sense of intent and direction of foreign investors.
Listed funds account for a large part of FII activity in India, claim experts. According to Kotak, net inflows into India amounted to $1.3 billion with active and passive channels attracting capital in January. India-focused active funds saw inflows worth $800 million while their passive counterparts roped in 880 million during the period. India continues to be an outlier as most other emerging markets have seen outflows during the month. Funds benchmarked against the MSCI EM Index pulled out $2.5 billion in January. Equity strategists believe India and China are benefiting at the expense of other markets such as Brazil and Russia.
Fund flows into ETFs have remained strong in 2014. nearly $150 billion went into US equity ETFs in 2014. Deutsche Bank Research says: “Fund flows to developed country equity and bond funds did much better than those to emerging markets in 2014; the trend seems to have extended into 2015. Importantly, the increase in the stock of global financial assets has not helped the volume of turnover in equity and bond markets, which remain below the 2011 peak.”
India offers Cutting Edge it Technologies at Frugal cost- Says it Secretary
New Delhi: Secretary, Department of IT & Electronics, Government of India Shri RS Sharma said that India offered a wide variety of sophisticated IT technologies at frugal cost to the technology acquirers and solution providers. He was Addressing the inaugural of the 15th edition of Indiasoft (India IT Show) which began in Delhi today. The international IT event and conferences are attended by over 400 delegates from abroad. Billed as the one of the largest IT shows focused on small and medium enterprises and organized by Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), the show was participated by 150 exhibitors form India.
Sketching the dramatic transformations taking place in the digital eco-system of India, Shri Sharma said that digital India program would be a game changer in India's march towards development. All social welfare and governance programs would be working on digital platform. For instance the unique identification program launched by the Government has so far enlisted 750 million people and it would be covering the entire population. The cost of enlisting an individual in the scheme might work out to be cheapest in the world. While similar ID card program in the UK cost Pound 150 per individual, in India it entailed only Rs 100 only. It could even work out to be cheaper, when the project gets completed. Shri Sharma invited the foreign delegates to adapt the Indian technologies, which combine innovation with frugality, speed and scale. That suited the need and affordability of countries, which are passing through various stages of development. Also, a variety of newer technologies are developed such as digital lockers, digital certificates etc. which would enable a person to store digitally all records and forward them as and when they are required by relevant organizations . Enhanced digitization would also help eliminate the last mile leakages in some of the social welfare programs like employment guarantee, subsidy transfer programs etc. Referring to the financial inclusion programs being launched by the government, Mr. Sharma mentioned that the high mobile phone penetration would be used to reach out the target group. India has over 950 million mobile phones. Since the PC and broadband penetration are not very high, mobile texting would be used for reaching out the target group to inform them about their bank balances and other facilities like direct subsidy transfer etc,. At the same time, every effort will be taken to increase the quality broadband penetration. India would have 250,000 touch points connected with optical fiber , wherein every person would have access to the net.
Shri Nalin Kohli, Chairman, Organizing Committee, Indiasoft Referred to the steady growth in India's software and services exports, which is estimated to touch US 86 billion this year. Shri J K Jadoo, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India said that the IT sector would emerge as a one trillion dollar worth segment by 2025 and India would be home to over 1000 cutting edge technologies. Shri D K Sareen, Executive Director, ESC referred to the innovative approaches of ESC to enhance the presence of Indian IT companies across the global digital eco-system. Later addressing a press conference along with a high-powered delegation from Russia on the potential of the Indo-Russian cooperation in IT, he said that areas like R&D, development of complex products and solutions should merit the attention of both countries not only for each other’s requirements but for third country exports. Importantly, ESC has signed a number of MOUs with important business organizations from various parts of the world and its statistical year book was released.
Sketching the dramatic transformations taking place in the digital eco-system of India, Shri Sharma said that digital India program would be a game changer in India's march towards development. All social welfare and governance programs would be working on digital platform. For instance the unique identification program launched by the Government has so far enlisted 750 million people and it would be covering the entire population. The cost of enlisting an individual in the scheme might work out to be cheapest in the world. While similar ID card program in the UK cost Pound 150 per individual, in India it entailed only Rs 100 only. It could even work out to be cheaper, when the project gets completed. Shri Sharma invited the foreign delegates to adapt the Indian technologies, which combine innovation with frugality, speed and scale. That suited the need and affordability of countries, which are passing through various stages of development. Also, a variety of newer technologies are developed such as digital lockers, digital certificates etc. which would enable a person to store digitally all records and forward them as and when they are required by relevant organizations . Enhanced digitization would also help eliminate the last mile leakages in some of the social welfare programs like employment guarantee, subsidy transfer programs etc. Referring to the financial inclusion programs being launched by the government, Mr. Sharma mentioned that the high mobile phone penetration would be used to reach out the target group. India has over 950 million mobile phones. Since the PC and broadband penetration are not very high, mobile texting would be used for reaching out the target group to inform them about their bank balances and other facilities like direct subsidy transfer etc,. At the same time, every effort will be taken to increase the quality broadband penetration. India would have 250,000 touch points connected with optical fiber , wherein every person would have access to the net.
Shri Nalin Kohli, Chairman, Organizing Committee, Indiasoft Referred to the steady growth in India's software and services exports, which is estimated to touch US 86 billion this year. Shri J K Jadoo, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India said that the IT sector would emerge as a one trillion dollar worth segment by 2025 and India would be home to over 1000 cutting edge technologies. Shri D K Sareen, Executive Director, ESC referred to the innovative approaches of ESC to enhance the presence of Indian IT companies across the global digital eco-system. Later addressing a press conference along with a high-powered delegation from Russia on the potential of the Indo-Russian cooperation in IT, he said that areas like R&D, development of complex products and solutions should merit the attention of both countries not only for each other’s requirements but for third country exports. Importantly, ESC has signed a number of MOUs with important business organizations from various parts of the world and its statistical year book was released.
UK’s Rexam to set up plants in Andhra, Rajasthan with £100 mn investment
Hyderabad: Beverage can maker Rexam Plc will build two plants in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan at an investment of about £100 million, adding 1.6 billion cans to its annual production capacity.
London-based Rexam already operates a plant in Mumbai.
The new plants, which will initially entail an investment close to £50 million each, will come up at Sri City in Chittoor district (about 50km from Chennai), and at Mahindra World City in Jaipur, the company said in a statement on Thursday. The company has secured land for the two projects.
“These investments will support and enable us to take advantage of the continued exciting growth of the beverage can in India. Having plants in different locations across the country will ensure we have a better footprint and position to meet the needs of our customers in the region over the long term,” Craig Jones, sector director of Rexam’s Africa, Middle East and Asia (AMEA) regions said.
The Sri City plant will be operational first—by the second half of 2016, followed by the Jaipur plant. The two plants will generate 150 jobs locally, the company said. Rexam’s Sri City plant will be located in the vicinity of PepsiCo Inc.’s largest beverage manufacturing plant in the country. The beverages and snack maker is investing Rs.1,200 crore in its Sri City plant.
Rexam operates 55 plants in 20 countries, providing employment to 8,000 people.
London-based Rexam already operates a plant in Mumbai.
The new plants, which will initially entail an investment close to £50 million each, will come up at Sri City in Chittoor district (about 50km from Chennai), and at Mahindra World City in Jaipur, the company said in a statement on Thursday. The company has secured land for the two projects.
“These investments will support and enable us to take advantage of the continued exciting growth of the beverage can in India. Having plants in different locations across the country will ensure we have a better footprint and position to meet the needs of our customers in the region over the long term,” Craig Jones, sector director of Rexam’s Africa, Middle East and Asia (AMEA) regions said.
The Sri City plant will be operational first—by the second half of 2016, followed by the Jaipur plant. The two plants will generate 150 jobs locally, the company said. Rexam’s Sri City plant will be located in the vicinity of PepsiCo Inc.’s largest beverage manufacturing plant in the country. The beverages and snack maker is investing Rs.1,200 crore in its Sri City plant.
Rexam operates 55 plants in 20 countries, providing employment to 8,000 people.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)