Business

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Top Zomato leadership on Friday said that home services is one big market they are exploring to enter and make neighbourhood services like electricians, plumbers, etc. more accessible to customers.

However, according to Deepinder Goyal, Zomato Founder and CEO, "if at all we end up competing with Urban Company at a large scale, we know we are up against a formidable team and a very high-quality business".

Blinkit Founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa said in the company's Q2 FY23 shareholders' letter that at Zomato, "we run multiple small experiments to find ways in which local economies can benefit from technology, which makes products and services more accessible for customers" and "home services is one such experiment".

However, entering the home services segment "is not a big decision at our end".

"We will keep you updated on the progress here, if any," he noted.

Goyal added that since he was on the board of Urban Company, "I thought it was the right thing for me to step away given we were exploring this space".

They reacted to earlier reports of Zomato aiming to enter the domain of providing home services similar to Urban Company.

Hyperlocal services platform Urban Company's consolidated net loss more than doubled to Rs 514 crore in the financial year 2021-22, from Rs 249.2 crore in FY21.

Its expenses almost doubled to Rs 1,023.3 crore in FY22 from Rs 539 crore in FY21.

--IANS
na/vd

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Leading travel service provider MakeMyTrip on Tuesday said the gross bookings for fiscal year FY23 grew by 122 per cent (year-on-year) to reach $6.6 billion with adjusted operating profit at $70.3 million, a growth of 203 per cent (YoY) and highest-ever for the company.

The gross Bookings for Q4 grew by 80.7 per cent YoY in constant currency to $1.7 billion. Adjusted operating profit was $19 million in Q4, as compared to $12 million in Q4 FY22.

The company registered $5.4 million profit in Q4 FY23, as compared to a loss of $4.1 million in Q4 FY22.

MakeMyTrip said that the loss for FY23 was $11.2 million as compared to $45.6 million in FY22, being a reduction of $34.4 million.

"We witnessed robust recovery in travel demand with significant improvement in consumer sentiment during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. We capitalized on this trend to deliver strong results with over 120 per cent YoY constant currency growth in gross bookings," said Rajesh Magow, Group CEO, MakeMyTrip.

He said that the strategy of investing in the right areas coupled with "our initiatives to optimise certain costs has helped us to preserve and strengthen our moat".

"We remain well positioned for the next fiscal year with a strong pipeline of product innovation to further enhance customer experience," Magow added.

The online travel company last week collaborated with Microsoft to make travel planning more inclusive and accessible by introducing voice assisted booking in Indian languages.

The new, in-platform tech stack powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and Azure Cognitive Services, will converse with the user to offer personalised travel recommendations based on their preferences and curate holiday packages.

--IANS
na/

Chennai, May 16 (IANS) Indian government-owned Bank of Baroda on Tuesday said it closed FY23 with a net profit of Rs 14,109.62 crore.

In a regulatory filing the bank said for FY23, it had logged a net profit of Rs 14,109.62 crore (FY23 Rs 7,272.28 crore) on a total income of Rs 99,614.38 crore (Rs 81,364.73 crore).

For the period under review, the bank had provided Rs 7,136.90 crore under the head Provisions and Contingencies, down from Rs 13,002.41 crore.

Bank of Baroda had a gross non-performing assets (GNPA) of Rs 36,763.68 crore and a net NPA (NNPA) of Rs 8,384.32 as on March 31, 2023 as against GNPA of Rs 54,059.39 crore and NNPA of Rs 13,364.65 crore as on March 31, 2022.

According to Bank of Baroda, the Board of Directors had recommended a dividend of Rs 5.50 per equity share of Rs.2 each for FY23.

--IANS
vj/vd

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Global telecom carrier Vodafone on Tuesday said it plans to reduce 11,000 jobs over the next three years, with an aim to "simplify" both headquarters and local markets.

Margherita Della Valle, Group Chief Executive, said their performance has not been good enough.

"To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change. My priorities are customers, simplicity and growth. We will simplify our organisation, cutting out complexity to regain our competitiveness," she said in a statement as the company posted its FY23 results.

"We will reallocate resources to deliver the quality service our customers expect and drive further growth from the unique position of Vodafone Business," said Valle who was appointed CEO permanently earlier this month after five months as Nick Read stepped down as CEO in early December.

Vodafone said it has an action plan already underway, focused around three priorities -- significant investment reallocated in FY24 towards customer experience and brand, 11,000 role reductions planned over three years and Germany turnaround plan, continued pricing action and strategic review in Spain.

"We will change the level of ambition, speed and decisiveness of execution. We will have empowered markets focused on customers, scale up Vodafone Business and take out complexity to simplify how we operate," said the company.

The group revenue increased by 0.3 per cent to 45.7 billion euros in FY23 driven by growth in Africa and higher equipment sales, offset by lower European service revenue and adverse exchange rate movements. There was a significant reduction in net debt to 33.4 billion euros.

"We will be a leaner and simpler organisation, to increase our commercial agility and free up resources. We will focus our resources on a portfolio of products and geographies that is right-sized for growth and returns over time," said the company.

--IANS
na/prw

Seoul, May 16 (IANS) Automaker Kia will build a new electric vehicle (EV) plant in northern Mexico, a Mexican governor said on Tuesday.

While he did not elaborate on the details, like what models will be manufactured in a new plant, the governor uploaded a photo of Kia's EV9 SUV. He originally said an estimated investment could reach around $1 billion but later deleted the part from the post.

"More good news! Nuevo Leon consolidates as the ELECTROMOBILITY HUB: KIA once again bets on Nuevo Leon with an investment to expand its plant and produce two KIA car models," Samuel Garcia, governor of the northeast state of Nuevo Leon, tweeted earlier in the day.

He was in Seoul for an international forum seeking cooperation between South Korea and Latin America, reports Yonhap news agency.

Kia said it was considering the issue with a mid- to long-term perspective, but that nothing has been fixed yet.

In 2016, Kia opened a 3 million-square-foot plant in Pesqueria, near Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, which also houses education and testing centers. The plant is believed to produce two models -- the K3 sedan and the subcompact Pride -- and manufacture 400,000 units a year.

A new EV plant, which is expected to be built near the existing facility, will allow Kia to become eligible for federal subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which gives up to $7,500 in tax credits to buyers of EVs assembled in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Hyundai Motor, its smaller affiliate Kia and auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. said last month they will collectively make an investment of 24 trillion won (US$17.9 billion) to become the world's No. 3 EV maker in terms of sales by 2030.

Hyundai Motor and Kia aim to sell around 2 million and 1.6 million all-electric vehicles, respectively, by that year.

--IANS
na/

Mumbai, May 12 (IANS) With the latest official data indicating a cooling off in the headline inflation to 4.7 per cent in April, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that it proves the ‘monetary policy is on the right track, here on Friday.

Terming the official data as a very satisfying development, Das refused to comment if the release of the numbers would lead to change of the policy stance or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) becoming less hawkish.

He preferred to say that all this would be clear on June 8 when the next policy review will come up.

Das was speaking at the launch of the book 'Made In India' by the G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant in Mumbai on Friday evening.

He said the RBI is optimistic and fairly confident over India's 6.5 per cent real GDP growth rate though other analysts have differing views.

The RBI chief pointed out that private investments are picking up and it is visible in sectors like enlisted steel, cement and petrochemicals, among others, and any entrepreneur can testify on the growth momentum of higher sales notched every month.

Das said that if India grows at 6.5 per cent, it would contribute 15 per cent to the world growth during the year, "which is no mean achievement".

Das also stressed the need to continue with reforms, keep accessing the best technology and hike the expenditure on research and development, both in the public and private sectors.

In his book, Kant discusses how the Indian economy has emerged as one of the largest in the world with a vibrant startup ecosystem.

The Indian economy has come a long way since the time economic performance, shacked by Socialist politics and the licence-permit-quota raj, was christened as the ‘Hindu rate of growth'.

Kant has attempted to understand the remarkably robust and resilient growth story of the Indian business and enterprise, in a multi-faceted survey of the country's business heritage and culture.

The book includes accounts of the development of Indian business and enterprise from the pre-Independence era to the present, 75 years post-Independence.

There are inspirational accounts of the top business families or groups like the Tatas, Birlas, Walchand Hirachand Doshi, Wadias, Kirloskars, Shapoorji Pallonji, and the new age entrepreneurs like Sunil Bharti Mittal and Rahul Bhatia.

Also present at the launch were Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Uday Kotak, Nykaa CEO Falguni Nayar.

--IANS
qn/arm

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) Elon Musk on Friday confirmed that Linda Yaccarino, NBC Universal's Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships, will take over as the new CEO of Twitter, making "it the everything app".

"I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter! She will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design and new technology," Musk posted in a fresh tweet.

"Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app," he added.

Musk's role will transition to being executive chair and CTO, "overseeing product, software and system operations".

Yaccarino oversees about 2,000 workers in her role, similar to the current strength of Twitter staff after massive sacking by Musk following his $44 billion takeover late last year.

Her team oversees the monetisation strategy for Peacock, the NBC Universal's streaming service.

Yaccarino's team has also generated more than $100 billion in ad sales and entered partnerships with companies, including Apple, Snapchat, BuzzFeed, Twitter and YouTube, according to her bio.

In a Twitter poll last year, Musk had asked his millions of followers: "Should I step down as head of Twitter?"

"I will abide by the results of this poll," he had posted.

The poll amassed more than 17 million votes, with 57.5 per cent of the respondents calling for him to step aside.

However, Musk did not step down.

--IANS
na/arm

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) India's retail inflation, which is measured by consumer price index (CPI), fell to 4.70 per cent in April 2023 as food prices came down. In March, it was 5.66 per cent.

Food inflation too slid to 3.84 per cent in April from 4.79 per cent in March.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, retail inflation was at a high of 7.79 per cent in April 2022, while food inflation was 8.31 per cent during the period.

This is the second consecutive month when CPI-based inflation has remained below the RBI's tolerance level, which is between 2 per cent to 6 per cent.

The index of industrial production (IIP), which shows the growth rates of different sectors, fell to 1.1 per cent in March from 5.6 per cent in February.

"The price data was collected from 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages," the government said in a statement.

Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, Head - Research & Outreach, ICRA Ltd., said: "The April 2023 CPI inflation eased to an 18 month low of 4.7 per cent, benefitting from the high base as well as cooler than normal temperatures, which delayed the seasonal rise in prices of perishable items."

She noted that April 2023 was marked by above-average rainfall and lower than normal temperatures, which helped to keep prices of some vegetables in check.

"Notwithstanding the mixed month-on-month trends across food items, the YoY CPI food inflation is likely to remain subdued in May 2023 aided by the sustained high base (+ 8.0 per cent in May 2022). With El Nino expected to materialise only in the second half of the monsoon season as per the IMD, kharif sowing may not be impacted. However, any subsequent deficiency in monsoon rainfall could affect kharif yields and winter sowing, and thereby food inflation, which poses a risk to the CPI inflation trajectory," she said.

Nayar further said that although the impact of a favourable base effect related to escalation of geopolitical conflict is likely to have peaked in April 2023, ICRA foresees the CPI inflation to remain range-bound at 4.7-5 per cent in May-June 2023.

"With a dip in the CPI inflation below 5 per cent and surprisingly subdued IIP growth, we foresee a high likelihood of a pause from the MPC at its next meeting. However, a pivot to rate cuts appears quite distant.

"The timeliness and intensity of the monsoon onset would be known when the MPC meets at its next scheduled meeting in June 2023, which would feed into whether its CPI inflation projection of 5.2 per cent for FY2024 needs to be modified.

"We expect a rise in the supply of state government securities in May-June 2023, closer to the indicated amount, to prevent G-sec yields from easing meaningfully in the near term," she added.

Further, on IIP, Nayar said: "Most of the available high frequency indicators recorded a deterioration in their YoY performance in April 2023, relative to March 2023, partly on account of the unseasonal rainfall seen during the month. Accordingly, ICRA expects the YoY IIP growth to remain sub-2 per cent in that month."

--IANS
ans/pgh

Chennai, May 12 (IANS) Diversified engineering company Greaves Cotton closed FY23 with a net profit of Rs 115.10 crore and has declared a dividend of Re 0.90 per share.

In a regulatory filing, the company said it had closed FY23 with a net profit of Rs 115.10 crore (compared to previous year's Rs 27.08 crore) on a total income of Rs 1,592.29 crore (against last year's Rs 1,209.18 crore).

According to Greaves Cotton, it hopes to conclude definitive agreements with Runal Developers LLP for the sale of its land and building at Pune for Rs 284 crore.

--IANS
vj/prw/pgh

By IANSlife
New Delhi, May 12 (IANSlife) Designer Amit Aggarwal opened his third store, this one at Delhi's DLF Emporio, setting a new record. For the opening, attendees were treated to Aggarwal's unique world, where fashion and art converged to create a mesmerising experience, and set out on an enchanted voyage.


His collections have always been built around innovation, and the shop is no different. A clean and contemporary ambiance is created by the store's elegant minimalist design, which combines charcoal and metal materials. The goal was to infuse the store's merchandise with a feeling of adaptability and timelessness as well as an understanding of the ways in which fashion and art may interact with one another and affect one another.

Each pod constructed with distinctive handcrafted textiles is reminiscent of a nucleus that contains the blueprint for how we live, grow, reproduce, and regenerate. This is in keeping with the brand's language and values about perpetual evolution, narrating the tale of peace attained in a place of newfound optimism, creation, and the feeling of the absolute and infinite.

The evening witnessed conversations, an array of eclectic cocktails courtesy GreyGoose and a delectable culinary experience. The event kicked off with a magical tour of the store brought to life with whimsical floral arrangements by Interflora. Some of the prominent names that were present at the event included the ever so iconic and timeless Zeenat Aman wearing one of the most captivating designs of Amit Aggarwal. Guests from the evening included people from varied fields of fashion, design, art, bollywood and business included Uorfi, Kusha Kapila, and cast from the popular netflix show Class - Ayesha Kanga, Chayan Chopra, Moses Koul, Anjali Sivaraman and Naina Bhan.

Also present at the event were members from Indian Art Fair and Serendipity Arts festival.

Speaking on the occasion Amit Aggarwal adds "The idea was to have a space which speaks of brand narratives that transcends the boundaries of clothing and art and we needed an extension of the same to speak about the deeper, more thoughtful aspects of the brand that gets lost in retail."

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

--IANS
IANSlife/tb