Business News Live: Adani Enterprises' debut public bond sale to see strong demand

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the central bank will permit at least two industry bodies to operate as a self-regulatory organisation for the fintech sector. Das said the RBI has cleared the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) because it met all the requirements and added that it will also be looking at other two applicants.
 

Walmart-backed fintech major PhonePe on Wednesday said the market cap overhang is a challenge for the potential listing of the company and can not go to the market based on the current numbers and market share.

He also said the company plans to enter the European market in the next five years. It may be mentioned here that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) proposed a 30 per cent market cap limit for third-party application providers (TPAPs) in November 2020.
 

Hinduja Group-owned IndusInd International Holdings on Wednesday contended before the National Company Law Tribunal that the GST liability of Rs 850 crore is a sticky issue in the implementation of Reliance Capital's resolution plan. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing IndusInd International Holdings, told the tribunal that it has received 7 approvals, including from the RBI and Sebi. 
 

 In a fresh offensive to curb pesky calls, Trai has asked the industry that if a higher tariff should be introduced for calls and SMSs beyond a certain limit in a graded manner, according to a new discussion paper on measures to tighten norms around telemarketing communications.
 

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd (PGHH) on Wednesday reported 46.40 per cent decline in profit after tax at Rs 81.06 crore for June quarter 2024 on account of increased spending. The company, which follows July-June financial year, had reported a profit after tax of Rs 151.24 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. However, PGHH's revenue from operations was at 931.75 crore as against Rs 852.53 crore a year ago.
 

State Bank of India (SBI) will strive to become the most valued financial institution and also increase its net profit, the lender's new Chairman, C S Setty said on Wednesday as he asserted that this is India's decade. Soon after taking charge of the nation's largest bank, Setty assured employees that all efforts would be made to grow SBI into the 'Best Bank' in the country. As of today, he said in his message, SBI proudly serves over 50 crore customers, with market leadership positions across products and has achieved 1 per cent Return on Assets on arguably the country's largest balance sheet.
 

Tata Steel on Wednesday said it has acquired about 178 crore additional equity shares of T Steel Holdings Pte Ltd for $280 million, taking the total fund infusion into its Singapore-based arm to $1,337 million.
 

 Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said efforts are on to make UPI and RuPay "truly global", as he outlined focus areas of the central bank going forward.

Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest 2024, the governor said the Reserve Bank's focus is on financial inclusion, deepening digital public infrastructure (DPI), consumer protection and cyber security, sustainable finance and global integration of financial services.

Fintech firm One97 Communications -- the owner of Paytm brand -- has received the government's approval for downstream investment in wholly owned subsidiary Paytm Payments Services Ltd, a regulatory filing said on Wednesday.

The company will reapply for a payment aggregator (PA) licence, it said.  

The maiden public issue of bonds by India's Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), is expected to witness strong demand as yields are attractive, four merchant bankers said on Wednesday.

The company plans to raise up to 8 billion rupees ($95.3 million) through this issue, which includes a greenshoe option of 4 billion rupees.

IPO-bound travel tech platform OYO has projected a three-fold rise in its profit after tax for the current financial year at over Rs 700 crore, Founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal told employees in a town hall on Wednesday, sources said. Earlier this year, OYO reported its first-ever profit after tax of nearly Rs 229 crore for FY24.
 

Hyundai Motor said on Wednesday it was targeting annual global sales of 5.55 million vehicles by 2030, up 30% from 2023, as it plans to double its hybrid lineup to counter a slowdown in global electric vehicle (EV) demand. The South Korean firm also said it would buy back up to 4 trillion won ($3 billion) of stock between 2025 and 2027 and pay a minimum of 2,500 won per share in quarterly dividends in a package that would return 35% of its profit to shareholders, up 10 percentage points from the current policy.

Now Indian visitors to Paris, France can book their Eiffel Tower tickets easily using UPI payments, Patrick Branco Ruivo, CEO of Eiffel Tower announced on Wednesday, August 28. 

Now tourists can book tickets for the Eiffel Tower using UPI directly when they are applying for a French Visa.
 

PDS Ltd, a fashion sourcing and manufacturing platform serving global leading brands and retailers, on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 430 crore through qualified institutional placement. The company has successfully completed the QIP raising Rs 430 crore (around $51 million). The QIP attracted robust interest from institutional investors, with a subscription exceeding two times the issue size, PDS Ltd said in a statement.
 

Challa Sreenivasulu Setty has assumed the charge as the new Chairman of the State Bank of India, according to a disclosure report filed by the bank on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Setty was among one of the Managing Directors of the bank and looked after International Banking, Global Markets and Technology verticals before taking over Dinesh Kumar Khara as the 27th Chairman of the country’s biggest state-owned lender.

Amazon is planning to enter the booming quick commerce market in India, competing directly with vertical giants such as Swiggy, Blinkit, and Zepto, according to media reports. 

The reports suggest that Nishant Sardana, the company leader responsible for smartphones and accessories, will be leading the expansion to the quick commerce category. 
 

Shares of Orient Technologies Ltd on Wednesday listed with a premium of nearly 41 per cent against the issue price of Rs 206.

The stock made its debut at Rs 290, a jump of 40.77 per cent from the issue price on the BSE. Later, it surged 47.79 per cent to Rs 304.45.

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Home-grown FMCG major Emami is looking for double-digit growth in the current fiscal year and will keep exploring inorganic and strategic opportunities to enter into new product categories, its Chairman R S Goenka said. Emami's focus will be to grow revenues with robust margins, generating adequate cash flows to reinvest in the business and strengthening sustainability, he said while addressing the AGM of the company. The company remains "optimistic about future growth" supported by a favourable economic landscape, forecast of a normal monsoon, anticipated rural market recovery, government initiatives, and promising macroeconomic factors, contributing to a "confident outlook", Goenka added.
 

Japan's Nikkei share average closed higher on Wednesday amid a weaker yen, but earnings from AI darling Nvidia later in the day kept investors cautious. The Nikkei ended up 0.22 per cent at 38,371.76, reversing early declines, as the yen extended its slide against the dollar throughout the session. That put the index close to the top of its narrow range since mid-month, which has been anchored around the psychological 38,000 mark.

Bharti Airtel will hold over 50 per cent stake in Indus Towers after completion of the ongoing Rs 2,640-crore share buyback scheme of the telecom infrastructure firm, a regulatory filing said on Wednesday. Telecom infrastructure major Indus Towers commenced the buyback of over 5.67 crore shares at Rs 465 apiece on August 14, representing approximately 2.107 per cent of a total number of equity shares in the paid-up share capital of the company.
 

Markets regulator Sebi has debarred 14 entities including, Rana Sugars promoters' and other related entities from the securities markets for two years and slapped a Rs 63-crore fine on them on charges of diversion of funds. The regulator also prohibited Inder Pratap Singh Rana (promoter), Ranjit Singh Rana (Chairman), Veer Pratap Singh Rana (MD), Gurjeet Singh Rana, Karan Pratap Singh Rana, Rajbans Kaur, Preet Inder Singh Rana and Sukhjinder Kaur (promoter) from holding any position as director or key managerial person of any other listed company for two years.
 

Fiberglass-reinforced polymer products supplier Aeron Composite Ltd has said it has raised Rs 15.17 crore from the anchor investors. The Ahmedabad-based company has allotted 12,14,000 equity shares to as many as 10 fund schemes at Rs 125 per share, the upper end of its IPO price band, Aeron Composite said in a statement. India Ahead Venture Fund, Nav Capital VCC, AG Dynamic Funds Limited, Craft Emerging Market Fund PCC, Finavenue Capital Trust and Galaxy Noble Global Opportunities Fund PCC are among the anchor investors, it added.
 

Government bond yields moved sideways early on Wednesday as traders bided their time before a slate of economic data from the United States and at home to set the tone, with the benchmark bond yield holding at 6.85%.

As of 9:30 am, the 30-share S&P BSE Sensex was trading 30.22 points lower at 81,681.54, while the broader NSE Nifty 50 was trading 3.25 points lower at 25,014.50.

Beleaguered edtech giant, Byju's, once valued at $22 billion, is again under the radar as big foreign investors like General Atlantic and Prosus approached the Supreme Court of India to raise their grievances in relation to the ongoing insolvency process of the company. The top court has been urged by the investors to take into account their view, while making a decision on Byju's future, as per a court filing viewed by news agency Reuters.

Byju's, an online educational company that saw unprecedented fame during the COVID-19 pandemic, is now in a legal wrangle with the United States' lenders who seek $1 billion in unpaid debts. The dispute has triggered the bankruptcy process, further worsening the situation for the company and its founder and CEO, Byju Raveendran.

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Australian consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in four months in July as government rebates on electricity provided a temporary drag, while core inflation dipped to its lowest in six months in a sign costs were gradually cooling.  Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed its monthly consumer price index (CPI) rose at an annual pace of 3.5% in July, down from 3.8% in June but just above market forecasts of 3.4%. The CPI was flat in July from June as costs for electricity and petrol fell, but rents and food rose.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino on Wednesday reiterated the central bank's stance that it would adjust the degree of monetary easing if it becomes confident that its outlook for economic activity and prices will be realised. But he also stressed that the central bank would need to monitor developments of financial and capital markets with the "utmost vigilance" as they remain unstable.

Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the day. Watch this space for all the latest updates from the stock market and the business world.

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