At $1.9 billion, Wipro’s third-quarter revenue missed analyst estimates but was in line with the management’s forecast. Net profit fell 1% quarter-on-quarter to $309 million in the three months ended 31 December. The company also provided a weak outlook for the growth in the fourth quarter of 2016-17, stating that it expects revenue growth between 1% and 2% in constant currency terms. Wipro has lagged behind competitors Infosys and TCS for years. Chief executive Abidali Neemuchwala, who will complete a year on the 1st of February, has said it would take at least three-four quarters for the steps he has taken to show results.

2. Trump pulls out of the Trans Pacific-Partnership

In tune with his poll promises, newly anointed US President Donald Trump signed an executive order formally withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The move is expected to boost US manufacturing. It will also allow space for China to step into a more influential role in the Asia-Pacific region. Following the US’s pullout, Australia and New Zealand said they hoped to salvage the deal by encouraging China and other Asian countries to join. The TPP has been in the making for five years and requires ratification by at least six countries accounting for 85% of the combined GDP of member states.

3. Maruti posts strong Q4 results

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd recorded a 47.5% year on year jump in net profit in the third quarter of 2016-17. The company managed to grow sales marginally even as many of its peers saw sales decline. Net profit rose to Rs1,744.5 crore for the quarter from Rs1,183 crore in the same period a year earlier. Net sales grew to Rs19,173 crore from Rs16,957 crore. The company battled a seasonally weak sales quarter and demonetization woes by offering higher discounts.

4. Fidelity cuts Flipkart valuation

The chances of Flipkart raising money in a down round rose further when it came to light this week that US mutual fund Fidelity Investments reduced the valuation of its holdings in Flipkart by more than a third in November. A down round start-up parlance for a funding round where the company has to raise money at a lower valuation than in the previous round. Flipkart is now valued at $5.58 billion by Fidelity, similar to the $5.54 billion valuation figure by Morgan Stanley.

5. IDBI officials arrested in Mallya case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a former chairman of IDBI Bank Ltd, three other bank officials and four Kingfisher Airlines executives for allegedly laundering money for Vijay Mallya. CBI believes that these officials sanctioned loans worth hundreds of crores despite Kingfisher’s poor financial condition, and that these loans were used to settle debts. The arrests have left the banking fraternity concerned about the possibility of a further decline in credit disbursements. The latest credit expansion figures from the Reserve Bank of India show a slowdown in lending during 2016, compared to the previous year.

6. Vedanta raises money to refinance debt

Mining and metals firm Vedanta Resources Plc has raised $1 billion by selling bonds to help refinance its debt obligations. The new bonds will mature in 2022 and were sold at a coupon of 6.375%. The company has used the money raised to buy back part of two series of bonds maturing in 2018 and 2019. According to data from S&P Global Ratings, Vedanta has bank loan maturities of $1 billion due in fiscal 2018 and $500 million in fiscal 2019. This is in addition to bond maturities of about $2 billion in fiscal 2019.

7. Sugar output likely to fall this year

In advance estimates released this week, the Indian Sugar Mills Association stated that sugar production in India will be 15% lower in comparison to last year. The industry lobby attributed lower production to a drought in Karnataka and Maharashtra that is forcing mills to close crushing early. Indian mills are likely to produce 21.3 million tonnes of sugar during 2016-17. This is the lowest in seven years. Despite the lower production, ISMA has ruled out imports, saying there are sufficient stocks left over from the previous year.

8. Strong response to BSE IPO

The Rs1,234.4 crore initial public offering (IPO) of Asia’s oldest stock exchange, BSE Ltd, received bids for more than 51 times the shares on offer on the third and last day of subscription. The issue, which opened on Monday, represents 28.26% of BSE’s pre-share sale capital. According to the draft prospectus, 302 shareholders are selling their shares, notable among which is Singapore Exchange Ltd, which made its exit by selling its 4.7% stake and offloading 5.09 million shares. In total, existing shareholders are selling 15.42 million shares through an offer for sale.

9. Business sentiment declines

The 76th round of the Reserve Bank of India’s Industrial Outlook Survey shows a fall in business sentiment. Responses from 1,221 manufacturing companies recorded during October-December 2016 showed that firms were less optimistic in the quarter in comparison to the previous one. Firms perceived availability of finance from banks and other sources to have worsened. They were also less optimistic about order books, capacity utilization and imports. Sentiment about profit margins remained unchanged due to less pessimism about the cost of finance and raw material.

10. India improves marginally in 2016 Corruption Perception Index

India recorded a small improvement in Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index. India’s score this year rose two points to 40, from 38 in 2015. The index scores countries in a range from 0 to 100, with zero meaning highly corrupt and 100 meaning very clean. The lowest score was recorded by Somalia (10) while New Zealand and Denmark topped the index by scoring a 90. Transparency International ranks 176 countries on perceived levels of corruption in the public sector using data from the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and other institutions.

Charts by Prajakta Patil and Vipul Sharma.

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