Author: Supriya Jena

Shares of Kalyan Jewellers, a jewellery company from Kerala, rose by 9.4% to Rs 548.65 on Monday. This increase followed a statement from Motilal Oswal AMC, which is an asset management company. They denied rumors that their managers were bribed to invest more money in Kalyan Jewellers. They described these claims as false and harmful, saying it was an attempt to damage their good name.

The management at Kalyan Jewellers had already addressed these rumors during a recent conference call with analysts. Motilal Oswal stated that they have a strong reputation built on honesty and transparency over the last 40 years. They urged everyone to ignore these false claims and rely on trusted sources for information.

Despite strong performance, Kalyan Jewellers’ shares had dropped 16% in the past week and more than 30% over the last month. Before this decline, the company’s stock had increased by an amazing 940% since their public offering in March 2021, reaching a peak of Rs 795 earlier this month.

Investor confidence in Motilal Oswal also fell, causing their shares to drop nearly 7% last week. However, on Monday, they rebounded by 4%, trading at Rs 827.10.

Last week, Kalyan Jewellers’ Executive Director, Ramesh Kalyanaraman, called the bribery and other allegations completely ridiculous. He confirmed that they are not planning to buy any aircraft and currently only operate a helicopter.

Even with the negative sentiment, Kalyan Jewellers reported strong business results, with a 39% increase in revenue and a 41% rise in their Indian business compared to the previous year. They also opened 24 new stores and experienced a 24% growth in same-store sales, thanks to festive and wedding seasons.

As of December 31, foreign investors held 16.37% of Kalyan Jewellers’ shares, while domestic ones owned 13.58%. The company’s founders, led by Kalyanaraman T.S., owned 62.85%. Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund owned the largest mutual fund stake at 6.30%. Kalyan Jewellers operates 349 stores globally, with plans for continued growth.

Analysts are still positive about the company’s future. Eight out of eight analysts recommend buying Kalyan Jewellers shares, with an average target price of Rs 761

The International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is becoming a crucial place for finance with strong rules, great infrastructure, and smart leaders. But to reach its full potential, the IFSC needs more financial activity. This was a key topic at a recent primary markets conference held at the IFSC.

How Government and Regulators Can Help

For the IFSC to flourish as a global financial hub, it needs help from the government and regulators. In the past, special policies and incentives have really helped markets grow. For instance, when the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) started in 1992, the Indian capital market was valued at ₹1 lakh crore. Now, over 30 years later, it is worth 400 times more.

The IFSC could benefit from creative ideas and policies from the government, such as issuing foreign currency bonds. Lower taxes like reduced withholding tax can encourage more bond issuers, growing the bond market. Additionally, attracting global companies to issue bonds in IFSC would help showcase India’s financial services globally.

Ideas Discussed at the Conference

Several important ideas were discussed at the conference to boost activities and attract more investors and issuers:

1. Attracting Investors
– Incentives for Domestic Investors: To make more investors participate, two strategies were suggested:
– Increasing Investment Limit for Mutual Funds: This would allow mutual funds to access more money and develop platforms in the IFSC.
– Expanding the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) Limits: Allowing people to invest in different currencies through the IFSC would bring in more funds.

2. Encouraging Issuers
– Dual Listing: Allowing companies to list their shares at both IFSC and other markets would make the IFSC more appealing.
– Private Trading of Unlisted Companies: Setting up trading for shares of private companies could create new opportunities, especially for early investors.

Learning from Successful Global Models

Globally, platforms for unlisted securities have done very well. For example:
– NASDAQ Private Markets: This platform allows private companies to trade their shares before going public, facilitating over $30 billion in transactions.
– Facebook Pre-IPO Trading: Facebook traded its shares on private platforms before going public, showing that private trading can bring liquidity.

A similar system at the IFSC could be transformative. Though the current focus is on listed companies, allowing trading in shares of companies planning to list in the next few years would help investors while paving the way for future public listings.

Conclusion

The IFSC has established a solid foundation with its regulatory framework and infrastructure. However, to become a world-class financial hub, it needs to attract more investors and introduce innovative financial tools. By following these suggestions and learning from global successes, the IFSC can shine as a top destination for financial services worldwide. The groundwork is laid; now it’s time to bring in the action to make this a memorable success!

On Monday, January 20, people will be watching closely how shares of Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel perform. The Indian government is thinking about a plan that would help these companies by cutting their bills significantly. This has to do with a Supreme Court order from 2019 that asked these companies to pay a lot of money called adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

If the government goes ahead with this idea, it could mean a huge relief—over ₹1 lakh crore (which is a lot of money) for these telecom companies. Most of this relief will help Vodafone Idea, which is struggling to pay back its debts. Currently, Vodafone Idea owes thousands of crores to the government, starting in the financial year 2026, which puts its future in doubt.

Under the new proposal, Vodafone Idea could potentially reduce its dues by over ₹52,000 crore, while Bharti Airtel could cut theirs by nearly ₹38,000 crore. Another player, Tata Teleservices, could reduce its dues by about ₹14,000 crore. However, Reliance Jio will not be affected as it doesn’t owe any legacy dues.

The people discussing this plan are from the finance ministry, the telecom department, and the cabinet secretariat. There’s hope that the government will announce this in their upcoming budget on February 1. This would be the second big relief package for this financially troubled sector since September 2021. Just last month, the government also helped by allowing Vodafone Idea to stop providing bank guarantees worth ₹24,800 crore for their past spectrum dues, making it easier for banks to lend them money.

The government wants to keep the telecom market competitive, allowing three strong private companies to compete alongside state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). The telecom industry has been facing tough times, especially after Reliance Jio came into the market in 2016, leading to intense competition and financial struggles.

In October 2019, the Supreme Court ordered telcos to pay ₹1.47 lakh crore in AGR dues. This amount included ₹92,642 crore for license fees and ₹55,054 crore for spectrum usage charges. Most of these dues are due to interest, penalties, and other charges that have added up over time.

Last year, in September 2024, the telecom companies tried to challenge the Supreme Court’s decision, but the court turned down their request. Vodafone Idea then had AGR dues of ₹70,300 crore, and Airtel owed ₹36,000 crore. Because of accumulating interest and penalties, the latest estimates until March 2025 suggest that Vodafone Idea could owe between ₹80,000 to ₹85,000 crore, Bharti Airtel between ₹42,000 to ₹44,000 crore, and Tata Teleservices between ₹17,000 to ₹19,000 crore.

Tech Mahindra’s shares will be a topic of interest on Monday, January 20, after the company shared some exciting news: in the last three months ending December 31, 2024, they enjoyed a fantastic 93% increase in their found profit, reaching Rs 983 crore (about $119 million!). This is much higher than the Rs 510 crore profit from the same time last year.

For the quarter, Tech Mahindra’s revenue, which is the money they earned from their business, went up a little bit—by 1.4%—to Rs 13,286 crore compared to Rs 13,101 crore last year. When we look just at the dollar amount, they made $1,567 million this time, which is slightly down from last year and also a bit lower than the previous quarter.

Their Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (that’s a complicated way of saying their profit before some costs are taken out) increased by 3.4% from last quarter and jumped up 57.8% compared to last year.

Here’s what different experts are saying about whether it’s a good time to buy, sell, or hold Tech Mahindra’s stock:

– Nomura: They are optimistic and have a ‘Buy’ rating, suggesting a target price of Rs 1,900. They see that Tech Mahindra is progressing well and believes they are on track to meet their goals over the next few years. They expect good revenue growth.

– Morgan Stanley: They think it’s a good idea to hold the stock and have set a target price of Rs 1,750. They are somewhat cautious, predicting that it won’t have a lot of growth due to how the company is set up. However, earnings performed better than expected, especially in certain industries like healthcare and finance.

– Citi: They are not very positive and have given Tech Mahindra a ‘Sell’ rating, with a target price of Rs 1,440. They felt that the latest earnings weren’t as good as expected and think tough market conditions will hurt future earnings.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions shared by the experts are personal and do not reflect the views of NiftyStat.

IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd will share its third-quarter results this Monday. Experts believe the company could earn between Rs 133.4 crore and Rs 140.5 crore in profit after tax (PAT), which would be an increase of about 63% to 72% from last year. They also predict that the revenue for the quarter ending in December 2024 will grow by about 15.4% to 15.5%, reaching between Rs 352.4 crore and Rs 352.7 crore.

On Friday, shares of IndiaMART went up nearly 2% to Rs 2,283.05 on the BSE. Despite this recent increase, the stock has dropped 12.24% over the past year and 24.87% in the last three months, indicating some struggles for the company.

Brokerage JM Financial expects IndiaMART to add only 1,800 new paying suppliers this quarter, much less than the average of 4,500 per quarter. They believe this slower growth is due to seasonal challenges and high cancellation rates in some subscription types. Revenue growth is expected to be around 15.5%, backed by strong deferred revenue, and collections could grow by 6% compared to last year. They estimate that the company’s earnings margins will improve by about 780 basis points due to lower operational costs, predicting a PAT of Rs 133.4 crore for the December quarter.

On the other hand, Nuvama predicts a stronger increase in subscribers, estimating 2,500 new additions this quarter, along with a 15.4% growth in revenue. However, they think margins might decrease slightly by 30 basis points, which would take it to 38.4%. Nuvama estimates the PAT could reach Rs 140.5 crore, thanks to good revenue collection. They also emphasize the need to keep an eye on subscription trends and the company’s plans for future growth.

In the last quarter (Q2FY25), IndiaMART reported a PAT of Rs 135.1 crore, which was an impressive 95% increase from the same time last year, along with an 18% bump in revenue to Rs 348 crore. The company credits cost-saving measures and strong future revenues for its good results.

Market feelings about the stock are mixed. Of the 20 analysts who follow IndiaMART, nine suggest buying the stock, four say to hold it, and seven recommend selling. The average target price for the stock is Rs 2,862 per share, indicating it could go up from where it currently stands.