Business

Mumbai, Dec 13 (IANS) The share of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has underperformed in the last three months, and India's largest private firm stock is heading towards negative return for the first time in the last 10 years.

RIL, which holds an 8 per cent weight in Nifty, has corrected 15 per cent in the last three months. During this period, Nifty was down by 4.9 per cent.

RIL's stock has declined by 2.3 per cent since the start of 2024. This is the first time since 2014 that this stock is giving negative returns on an annual basis.

RIL's stock has been seeing a decline since the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in August. In the AGM meeting, no timeline was given for the monetisation of Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio , due to which investors were very disappointed.

RIL's stock has posted a return of -2.2 percent in September, -9.8 percent in October, -3 percent in November, and -3.9 percent in December.

Apart from this, Reliance Industries is facing heat from multiple levels. The margins of the company's oil-gas and petrochemical business are under pressure. The operationalisation of the New Energy Business, where a large part of the capital expenditure (Capex) is invested, is running behind schedule.

Meanwhile, the average revenue per user (ARPU) of the telecom business is growing at a slower pace than expected due to competition and SIM consolidation. However, the full impact of the tariff hike is yet to come.

RIL is restructuring and consolidating the retail business and that has delayed value unlocking for shareholders.

Apart from this, significant cash flow was expected from the capital expenditure made in the last few years, but due to global headwinds and margins pressure impact, it is below than expected and the company may need debt to fund future capital expenditure.

--IANS

avs/na

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) London-based consumer tech brand Nothing on Thursday launched two new wireless earbuds -- Ear and Ear (a) in India, with ChatGPT integration to enhance overall user experience.

Ear and Ear (a) are priced at Rs 11,999 and Rs 7,999, respectively. Ear (a) will be available for purchase starting April 22 while Ear will be available starting April 29 across online and offline channels.

Ear features a transparent earbud design, while Ear (a) takes a new direction with a fresh bubble design and yellow colour.

“By integrating ChatGPT with Nothing earbuds, including the new Ear and Ear (a), and with Nothing OS (operating system), we’ve taken our first steps towards change, and there’s more to come,” Carl Pei, CEO and Co-Founder of Nothing, said in a statement.

The company said that it has integrated Nothing earbuds and its OS with ChatGPT to offer users instant access to knowledge directly from the devices they use most.

With this integration, users with the latest Nothing OS and ChatGPT installed on their Nothing phones will be able to pinch-to-speak to the AI tool directly from their earbuds, including the newly launched Ear and Ear (a).

According to the company, Ear can last up to 40.5 hours after a full charge with the charging case or 8.5 hours of non-stop playback. The earbuds also support wireless charging at 2.5 watts.

On the other hand, Ear (a) users can get up to 42.5 hours of music playback after a full charge with the charging case, the company added.

--IANS

shs/uk

New Delhi/Chennai, April 19 (IANS) The baby-food brands sold by global giant Nestle in India contain high levels of added sugar, unlike the same products in the UK, Germany Switzerland, and other developed nations, revealed an investigation by Swiss organisation Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), sparking concern in the country at the violation of health guidelines.

The Indian government is reportedly looking into the issue of sugar being added to baby food.

Meanwhile, the share price of Nestle India Ltd went down in the bourses on Thursday following the study.

At the BSE, on Thursday, Nestle India’s shares opened at Rs 2,539 (Wednesday closing price Rs 2,547.15) and went down to close at Rs.2,462.75.

Findings showed that in India, all Cerelac baby products contain an average of nearly 3 grams of sugar per serving. The same product is being sold with no added sugar in Germany and the UK, while in Ethiopia and Thailand, it contains nearly 6 grams, the study said.

The report said that Nestle adds sugar to infant milk and cereal products in several countries which is a violation of international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases. Violations were found only in Asian, African, and Latin American countries.

However, a Nestle India Ltd spokesperson said the company has reduced the total amount of added sugars in its infant cereals portfolio by 30 per cent over the past five years and it continues to "review" and "reformulate" products to reduce them further. "We believe in the nutritional quality of our products for early childhood and prioritise using high-quality ingredients."

On Wednesday, the leading UK paper The Guardian reported that the Swiss food giant adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in "poorer countries". It cited data from Public Eye and IBFAN that examined Nestle baby food brands sold in these markets. Public Eye examined 115 products sold in Nestle’s main markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America across two key brands -- Cerelac and Nodi.

In India, all Cerelac baby cereal products examined by Public Eye contained added sugar -- on average nearly 3 gm per serving.

“Almost all the Cerelac infant cereals examined contain added sugar -- nearly 4 grams per serving on average, equal to roughly a sugar cube -- although they are targeted at babies from six months of age. The highest amount -- 7.3 grams per serving -- was detected in a product sold in the Philippines," the report said.

WHO expert Nigel Rollins was cited in media reports as saying that “this is a double standard that cannot be justified.”

--IANS

vj/sps/vd

Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,011 crore for the fourth quarter of 2023-24, up from Rs 1,704.74 crore during the same period of the previous year.

The bike maker posted a revenue of Rs 11,554.95 crore in the January-March quarter, up from Rs 9,192.73 crore during the same period last year.

The company’s board approved a dividend of Rs 80 per share of face value of Rs 10 each on equity shares for the financial year ended March 31, 2024, according to its stock exchange filing.

The shares of Bajaj Auto rose 1.61 per cent to Rs 9,062 on the BSE on Thursday before the fourth quarter results were announced.

--IANS

sps/vd

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Two-wheeler manufacturer Suzuki Motorcycle India on Thursday said that it has reached the landmark of producing 80 lakh units in the country.

The company achieved this production landmark in the 19th year of its operation with the last one million units added in just one year.

It started its operations in the country in February 2006.

It achieved its first 40 lakh production milestone within 13 years and manufactured the next 40 lakh units in less than six years.

"I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our workmen, engineers, and teams whose continuous efforts contributed to realising this achievement," Kenichi Umeda, MD, Suzuki Motorcycle India said in a statement.

"As we continue our journey, our focus remains on providing products that satisfy our customers both in India and in countries where we export our products," he added.

Suzuki Motorcycle India currently manufactures a diverse range of scooters and motorcycles for Indian as well as international markets.

The company offers scooters ranging from 125cc (Access 125, Avenis, Burgman Street & Burgman Street SX) to motorcycles ranging from 150cc and 250cc (Gixxer & Gixxer SF, Gixxer 250 & Gixxer 250 SF and V-Strom SX) as well as big bikes such as recently launched V-Strom 800 DE, Katana & Hayabusa.

--IANS

shs/pgh

Bengaluru, April 18 (IANS) IT software giant Infosys on Thursday declared a 30 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 7,969 crore for the January-March quarter of 2023-24, up from Rs 6,128 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

The company reported a revenue of Rs 37,923 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, according to a stock exchange filing.

Infosys also declared a final dividend of Rs 20 per equity share and a one-time dividend of Rs 8 per share.

India’s second-largest IT services company also announced the acquisition of In-Tech Holding GmbH, an engineering, research and development services provider.

Infosys share price went up 0.34 per cent on Thursday to settle at Rs 1,419.25, ahead of the fourth quarter results.

--IANS

sps/vd

Seoul, April 18 (IANS) The combined vehicle sales of South Korea's leading automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia fell 1.3 per cent from a year ago in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 in Europe, industry data showed on Thursday.

According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association both automakers sold a combined 2,78,432 units in Europe during the January-March period, down 1.3 per cent from the same period last year.

The data showed Hyundai Motor's sales inched up 1.3 per cent to 1,35,281 units, while that of Kia dropped 3.6 per cent to 1,43,151 units, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The combined market share of Hyundai and Kia for Q1 in Europe stood at 8.2 per cent, down 0.5 percentage points from last year.

For March alone, the combined sales of the companies fell 5.6 per cent on-year to 1,12,692 units. Sales of Hyundai declined 5.2 per cent to 53,357 units, and that of Kia shed 5.9 per cent to 59,335 units.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor and Kia have entered into a strategic partnership with leading battery company Exide Energy, as part of their electric vehicle expansion plans in India.

--IANS

shs/sd/bg

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Hindustan Zinc Limited on Thursday announced that it has now become the third-largest silver producer globally as per the World Silver Survey 2024 conducted by The Silver Institute in the US.

"The company's Sindesar Khurd Mine now stands as the world's second largest silver-producing mine moving up from last year's fourth position," the company said in a statement.

Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Chairperson of Hindustan Zinc, said: "Silver plays a pivotal role in the global energy transition and our recent record silver production of 746 MT paves the way for Atmanirbhar Bharat. Hindustan Zinc's production growth of 5 per cent year-on-year is attributed to increased ore production and enhanced grades."

--IANS

sps/pgh

New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The trend of rising foreign portfolio investment in India witnessed in the first week of March continued in the second week, says V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

FPIs were big sellers in January and modest buyers in February. But in March they turned big buyers having bought equity worth Rs 35,665 crores through March 15. This figure includes some bulk deals executed through the stock exchanges and, therefore, is not a true indicator of FPI activity. However, the rising trend of FPI investment continues, he said.

He said that an important feature of FPI investment for many months now has been its erratic nature. FPIs have been changing their strategy in response to the changes in the bond yields in the US.

Therefore, now that US bond yields have again spiked up in response to stubborn inflation, FPIs may again turn sellers in some of the days, going forward, he added.

An important trend in the market in March is the weakness in the mid and smallcaps and the resilience in largecaps. This also has persuaded FPIs to reduce the selling in the large-caps and even buying in limited quantities in sectors like banking, telecom and automobiles, he said.

--IANS

san/dan

New Delhi, March 7 (IANSlife) It was a houseful of stars at the debut of the Gucci Ancora S/S 24 collection in Mumbai. From Indian global brand ambassador Alia Bhatt to Vijay Varma, Athiya Shetty, Ahan Shetty, and Vedang Raina, there were many stylish celebrities spotted at the event. The house celebrated with an exclusive cocktail party held at the new flagship store in Jio World Plaza. Guests attending enjoyed the preview over drinks and a curated DJ set and live music performance.

Sabato De Sarno's creative vision for Gucci, encapsulated in the ever-evolving narrative of "Gucci Ancora," unfolds as a vibrant tapestry weaving together the joys of life, passion, humanity, and the irreverent glamour that defines the essence of the brand.

Bhatt played in a deep V-neck suit. Set to convey the essence of Gucci Ancora alongside the collection's arrival in stores, the House is orchestrating a series of events that will sweep through major cities worldwide.

Throughout February and March, notable takeovers and activations will be unveiled in key cities—from New York to Shanghai. Each locale will transform into a canvas, breathing life into the Gucci Ancora vision through carefully curated and immersive experiences.

The celebration provided a unique yet accessible opportunity for guests to intimately experience the exquisite craftmanship and irreverent glamour defining the collection.

IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in

--IANS

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