SBI to invoke guarantees despite IBC proceedings
State Bank of India, India’s largest lender, has decided to invoke personal and corporate guarantees of defaulting firms even when they face bankruptcy proceedings but the move could face legal challenges from promoters unwilling to part with their assets. Two senior officials of the bank said that letters have been issued to all officers in charge of credit that they must immediately invoke the personal and corporate guarantees. “As many as 200 such notices for invoking guarantees would be issued by the bank,” one person told ET on condition of anonymity.
Tata steel wants to bid afresh for Electrosteel on MAT relief
Tata Steel has sought an opportunity to bid afresh for bankrupt Electrosteel Steels on the ground that clarity had emerged regarding taxes to be paid on acquiring a stressed asset subsequent to the deadline for submissions has passed, said two persons with knowledge of the development. ET reported on January 9 that Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources had submitted the highest bid pegged at about Rs 4,500 crore compared with the Tata Group’s Rs 3,500-crore offer.
GST mop-up rises marginally in Dec to Rs. 86,703 crore
Revenue collections under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) have risen marginally in December after falling for two straight months. The Finance Ministry on Thursday said the total revenue mop-up under GST for December 2017 (received up to January 24) was Rs. 86,703 crore. It stood at Rs. 80,808 crores in November and Rs. 83,000 crore in October. Before that, it was significantly higher at Rs. 92,150 crores in September. The Ministry further said that one crore taxpayers have been registered under GST of which 17.11 lakh are composition dealers, who are required to file returns every quarter, the Ministry further said.
Maruti Suzuki likely to open 4-5% higher on Monday post Q3 results
Maruti Suzuki Ltd is expected to open higher and could well rally 4-5 percent once trading resumes on Monday after India’s largest car maker reported 3 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in profit at Rs 1,799 crore for December quarter. Even though the net profit was in line with estimates, analysts are positive on future earnings visibility for automaker largely supported by strong order book, new product launches, and improvement in margins due to loyalty reduction. Maruti Suzuki today said the board has approved a revision in the method of calculating royalty which would result in lower royalty payments for new model agreements starting the Ignis.
Govt hikes duty drawback rates on 102 items to make exports more competitive
The finance ministry on Thursday increased duty drawback rates on 102 items to make Indian exports more competitive. The ministry, however, seems to have ignored the recommendations of a parliamentary standing committee on commerce to allow exporters to use the duty drawback scheme to take care of all the embedded taxes they have to pay under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Under the pre-GST regime, the government used the duty drawback scheme to refund both excise and customs duties paid on inputs used for exports.
D-Mart parent Avenue Supermarts Q3 profit jumps 65.8% on improved gross margins
Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which runs the D-Mart supermarkets chain, on Friday posted a 65.77% jump in its net profit on account of overall increase in margin mix and improved operating costs. Its net profit stood at Rs251.76 crore on a standalone basis for the quarter ended 31 December, compared to Rs151.87 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. D-Mart’s total income in the quarter under review stood at Rs4,108.47 crore, up 22.71%, against Rs 3,347.85 crore in the year-ago period, Avenue Supermarts said. “The company has seen a 65.8% jump in net profits due to gross margin increase and improved operating costs,” Avenue Supermarts chief executive Neville Noronha said.
Govt to introduce new service for company name reservation
Companies having authorized capital of up to Rs 10 lakh can soon be incorporated without paying any fee, according to the government. The move is part of process re-engineering initiatives aimed at making the “incorporation process speedy, smooth, simple and reducing the number of procedures involved for starting a business,” an official release said today. As part of the initiatives, the corporate affairs ministry would be introducing “RUN (Reserve Unique Name)” web service for reservation of company names. The service would be launched on Friday.
Mukund Rajan-led group offers at least $1 billion for Tata Tele assets
A set of Tata group executives, led by its head of international operations Mukund Rajan, has placed a bid for Tata Teleservices Ltd’s enterprise business, in what will potentially be a management buyout. Rajan and some of the top executives of Tata Teleservices are being backed by a consortium led by TPG Capital and a large sovereign pension fund in their bid for the assets of the telecom company, which include 125,000 route km of fiber network, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. If the consortium wins the bid, Rajan will move out of the Tata group to manage the business, the person said requesting anonymity.
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