BQuick On Nov. 14: Top 10 Stories In 10 Under Minutes

This is a roundup of the top stories of the day.

1. Yes Bank Chairman Steps Down

Yes Bank Ltd. Chairman Ashok Chawla has resigned with immediate effect, said the bank in a statement to stock exchanges.

• Chawla had been non-executive, independent, part-time chairman of the bank since Oct. 30, 2016. He has been on the board of the bank since March 2016.
• Chawla was stepping down as the bank would need a chairman who can devote more time to the lender during the upcoming management transition, the private lender said in its exchange filing.
• Rana Kapoor, chief executive officer of the bank, is set to step down by the end of January after the RBI declined him a third term.

Chawla’s name had cropped up in a CBI chargesheet.

2. ‘$10-Billion Deals Just The Beginning’

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. sealed new deals worth $4.9 billion each in the last two quarters as India’s largest software services provider’s investment in automation to cloud computing starts to pay off. Rajesh Gopinathan, its managing director and chief executive officer, said it’s just the beginning.

• “If you look at any of the contracts that have been spoken about, almost all of them bet on a very core technology transformation,” Gopinathan told BloombergQuint in an interview.

• TCS, which began its digital foray with small discretionary orders, has now entered a phase where the demand has soared, said Gopinathan, who succeeded N Chandrasekaran who took over as group parent Tata Sons Ltd.’s chairman in February last year.
• Clients will allocate a larger portion of their spend to technology five years from now, he said.

Here’s more from the exclusive interview with the TCS boss.

3. UltraTech Gets NCLAT's Nod

UltraTech Cement Ltd. has got the NCLAT’s approval to acquire Binani Cement Ltd.

• The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal rejected Dalmia Group’s bid saying it’s discriminatory to some of the creditors of Binani Cement.
• On Aug. 30, the NCLAT had reserved its judgement on the Binani Cement insolvency matter.
• Dalmia Bharat-led Rajputana Properties had emerged as the top bidder for acquisition of assets of Binani Cement.
• But subsequently UltraTech, which was the second highest bidder, came back with a revised higher offer, backed by the original promoters of Binani Cement.

Here’s the story so far.

4. Zee Entertainment Stake: Suitors Lining Up

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said it has so far received interest from technology companies as promoters of India’s largest broadcaster plan to sell up to half their stake.

• The company expects at least binding offers to come in and binding deals to happen in the next six months, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka told BloombergQuint in an interview.
• The promoter Essel Group is looking at an equal strategic partnership at this stage, he said.
• Promoters, led by Subhash Chandra, plan to sell up to half of their 41 percent holding in the company, Essel Group said in an exchange filing by Zee Entertainment. That’s part of its strategy to turn into a tech-media company, it said.

Goenka wants a partner who can bring in technology and global reach.

5. Indian Markets End Flat, U.S. Stocks Rise

Indian equity benchmarks were little changed as gains in oil & gas, banking and FMCG shares were offset by losses in IT and pharma stocks.

• The S&P BSE Sensex Index ended flat at 35,142.
• The NSE Nifty 50 Index dipped 6 points to 10,576.
• Six of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange of India ended lower led by the NSE Nifty Information Technology Index's 2.45 percent drop.
• On the flipside, NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index was the top gainer, up 2 percent.
• The rupee gained sharply and closed above the 72-per-dollar mark.

Follow the day’s trading action here.

U.S. stocks rose, with beaten-down technology shares pacing the gains after consumer-price data offered mixed messages on the outlook for inflation.

• The S&P 500 rose for the first time in five days, while the Nasdaq 100 jumped more than 1 percent.
• West Texas Intermediate crude climbed above $56 a barrel after plunging the most in three years Tuesday.
• The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased one basis point to 3.15 percent, the largest increase in more than a week.

Get your fix of global markets update here.

6. Earnings: M&M, IDBI Bank

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s profit rose in the July-September quarter, surpassing analyst estimates even as its operating margin contracted.

• The maker of utility vehicles and tractors reported a net profit of Rs 1,779 crore for the three months ended September, an increase of 26 percent from the year-ago period.
• The bottom line was aided by a one-time gain of Rs 137.5 crore. The financials include numbers of its commercial vehicle unit—Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd.
• Revenue rose 6 percent to Rs 12,790 crore.
• The company expects moderate growth for trucks and the commercial vehicle segment for the second half of the current financial year.

Here are the key highlights.

IDBI Bank Ltd., which is in the midst of an ownership transition, reported a large loss in the second quarter of the current financial year as bad loans continued to rise.

• The lender reported a net loss of Rs 3,602.49 crore in the July-September period compared to a loss of Rs 197.84 crore in the same period last year.
• Net interest income, or the bank’s core income, fell 21.5 percent to Rs 1,300.9 crore compared to Rs 1,657.5 crore in the same period last year.
• Asset quality pain for the bank, which already has the highest proportion of bad loans, continued.
• The gross non-performing assets ratio rose to 31.78 percent in the second quarter compared to 30.78 percent in the first quarter of the year.

The ownership transition is nearing completion.

7. Crude Fall: The Pros And Cons

A fall in Brent crude prices is expected to boost the marketing margin of oil retailers.

• So far in November, the margin on sale of every litre of petrol and diesel jumped more than twofold over last month, according to BloombergQuint’s calculations.
• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of higher gross marketing margin as it contributes the most to the company’s overall operating income.
• Shares of oil marketers jumped 14-41 percent as the Asian benchmark declined more than 20 percent from its high.

But that means Inventory losses are also likely.

8. KKR Eyes Opportunities Amid Uncertainty

The Indian unit of global investment firm KKR & Co. is looking to snap up business lines of the country’s non bank lenders, as they seek to unlock capital against a backdrop of tight liquidity and higher rates.

• In particular, the non-banking financial units of KKR India are scouting for businesses in the housing finance segment or those that lend to small and medium enterprises, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
• A default by the once AAA-rated Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services group has led to a funding squeeze and increased risk aversion towards Indian NBFCs.
• Many of these firms are now looking to sell both loan portfolios and complete business lines to generate cash.
• This gives the two NBFC units of KKR India an opportunity to buy functional business lines, which bring along a branch network and the staff needed to service loan books, rather than just loan portfolios, said the person quoted above.

KKR is interested in assets in the Rs 1,000-5,000 crore range.

9. Supreme Court Reserves Rafale Deal Probe Order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its order on pleas seeking a court-monitored probe into the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.

• A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph heard the arguments advanced by various parties.
• The apex court said that since it was dealing with the requirements of the Air Force, it would like to hear from an Air Force officer and “not the official of the Defence Ministry.”
• “The decision we need to take is whether to bring the fact on pricing in public domain or not,” a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.

The bench told the Attorney general that there's no question of any debate on pricing without making the facts public.

10. Countdown To Nov. 19

The government hopes that the Reserve Bank of India will address issues related to liquidity for non-bank lenders and credit flow for small businesses in its next board meet on Nov. 19, according to a senior government official.

• The official said that some resolution on these issues—which the government thinks are major problems that need immediate attention—is expected at the meeting.
• The government also believes seamless credit flow to micro, small and medium enterprises, considered the backbone of the Indian economy, is another issue needing quick resolution.
• There is a possibility the central bank may bring in a special dispensation for lending to MSMEs, BloombergQuint had earlier reported.

Dialogue on RBI’s capital framework is work in progress.