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☆ India's central bank approves highest-ever dividend to the government
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A youth walks past the entrance of the Reserve Bank of India head office in Mumbai on Nov. 17, 2021. The board of India's central bank approved a record surplus transfer of 2.11 trillion rupees ($25.35 billion) to the government for the fiscal year ended March, sharply above analysts' and government projections. The government had budgeted a dividend of 1.02 trillion rupees from the Reserve Bank of India, state-run banks and other financial institutions, interim budget estimates for the fiscal year 2024/25 show. The RBI board also decided to raise the contingency risk buffer (CRB) to 6.5% from 6% previously. Analysts had expected a surplus transfer in the range of 750 billion rupees to 1.2 trillion rupees, aided by strong foreign exchange earnings.

Persons: Garima Kapoor Organizations: Reserve Bank of India, Elara Locations: Mumbai, India's

☆ What’s next for Zee shares? Here’s what Wall Street analysts are saying after Sony merger was called off
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Shares of the Indian media house fell 34% on Tuesday, while investors shrugged off the impact on the $124 billion Japanese media and technology giant Sony. ZEEL-IN 1Y mountain What are analysts saying about Zee shares, moving forward? Citi sharply slashed its price target on Zee's stock from 340 Indian rupees to 180 Indian rupees. Zee has not stated whether it will pursue the merger while the litigation with Sony could hinder improvements in operations or explore a merger with other players," the analysts added. Similarly, Elara analysts added, "Possibility of any other strategic/financial partner buying majority stake in Zee could provide respite to valuation multiples."

Persons: Motilal Oswal, Zee, Motilal, Aliasgar Shakir, Karan Taurani, Pulkit Chawla, Emkay, Zee's, Punit Goenka, Chawla Organizations: Zee Entertainment, Sony, Zee, Citi, Wall, Reliance, Disney Star India, Motilal Oswal, Star, Disney, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Reliance Industries, Media, Elara, RIL, Zee Management, Quintillion Business Media, Bloomberg News, NDTV Locations: India, Zee

☆ Japan's Sony terminates $10 billion merger with India's Zee
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Japan's Sony Group said on Monday it has sent a termination notice to Zee Entertainment to call off a $10 billion merger of their Indian operations, following an impasse over who will lead the combined entity. It cited unmet conditions of the merger agreement as the reason for the termination. Although Sony did not specify on Monday what conditions were unfulfilled, a stalemate over who will lead the combined company had put the merger in danger. Zee proposed CEO Punit Goenka, but Sony disagreed in light of a market regulator probe into Goenka. On Friday, Zee had said it was committed to the merger and was working to close the deal through "good faith negotiations".

Persons: Mukesh, Zee, Punit Goenka, Karan Taurani Organizations: Sony, Zee Entertainment, Reliance Industries, Goenka, Reuters, Disney, Elara Capital, Netflix, Disney's Star, Zee, Bloomberg Locations: Mumbai, Maharashtra

The company already owns digital streaming rights to the popular Indian Premier League Twenty-20 (IPL T20) tournament. Ambani snatched away the rights from the Disney Plus Hotstar streaming service in a $2.9 billion bid last year, and then streamed games for free. This prompted Disney subscribers to flee - out of 61 million users in October 2022, about 21 million had left by July this year. Last year, Disney renewed its media rights to show International Cricket Council's tournaments in India from 2024 to 2027 after winning a bid for $3 billion. It later licensed the TV broadcast rights to India's Zee Entertainment (ZEE.NS) and only regained the digital streaming rights, a source told Reuters.

Persons: Mukesh Ambani, Francis Mascarenhas, Mukesh Ambani's, Walt Disney, Viacom18, Ambani, Karan Taurani, Aditya Kalra, Nandan Mandayam, Biplob Kumar Das, Sonia Cheema Organizations: Reliance Industries, REUTERS, Walt, Control, Cricket, BCCI, Indian Premier League, Disney, Elara, Reuters, Asia Cup, ICC Cricket, India's Zee Entertainment, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, India's

☆ Subway India is now charging extra for a cheese slice
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters —Subway sandwiches in India will no longer come with the option of a free cheese slice following revisions to its menu that analysts say are more about cost-cutting than just a matter of taste. They now charge 30 rupees ($0.40) extra for the cheese slice in most sandwiches, but are offering a free “cheezy” sauce instead. Subway has “replaced the cheese slice with liquid cheese blend … You just lost a loyal customer,” one unimpressed customer, Sumit Arora, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. A Subway store manager in New Delhi told Reuters the new cheese sauce costs 400 rupees per kilogram. If a customer adds the cheese slice — which was once free — it will now cost up to 15% more.

Persons: Domino ’, “, ”, Sumit Arora, Mayur, Karan Taurani Organizations: Reuters, Subway India, Brands, Twitter, India’s, Subway Locations: India, Nepal, New Delhi

☆ Subway India takes away free cheese slice, offers sauce as inflation bites
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Riddhima Talwani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

They now charge 30 rupees ($0.40) extra for the cheese slice in most sandwiches, but are offering a free "cheezy" sauce instead. Subway has "replaced the cheese slice with liquid cheese blend ... You just lost a loyal customer," one unimpressed customer, Sumit Arora, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. A Subway store manager in New Delhi told Reuters the new cheese sauce costs 400 rupees/kilogram. A cheese slice, said Culinary Brands' marketing head Mayur Hola, "can be added on at a small cost". A Subway sandwich costs around 200-300 rupees ($2.4 to $3.6) in India, and if a customer adds the cheese slice - which was once free - will now cost up to 15% higher.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Everstone, Sumit Arora, Mayur, Karan Taurani, Riddhima Talwani, Varun Vyas, Jatindra, Saurabh Sharma, Aditya Kalra, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Subway, Brands, Twitter, Reuters, India’s, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York City, U.S, India, DELHI, Nepal, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow

June retail inflation rose to 4.81%, higher than both the revised 4.31% for the previous month and the 4.58% expected in a Reuters poll of 55 economists. Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose to 4.49% against a revised 2.96% in May. Reuters GraphicsErratic and incessant rainfall in northern India could push vegetable prices higher in the coming months. Prices of vegetables will remain high in July and may push retail inflation to an "uncomfortable 5.3%-5.5%" this month, Nayar added. "We expect the monetary policy committee to see through the short-term spike in food inflation and remain on prolonged pause," said Garima Kapoor, economist at Elara Capital.

Persons: Aditi Nayar, Nayar, Garima Kapoor, Aftab Ahmed, Vineet, Christina Fincher, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: NEW DELHI, Reuters, Reserve Bank of India, Elara, Thomson Locations: India

NEW DELHI, May 13 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s streaming platform JioCinema announced premium pricing of 999 Indian rupees ($12) a year, its first step to move away from a free content model to fight global rivals such as Netflix and Disney in the country. The JioCinema website on Saturday showed the new premium pricing for Hollywood content, with the much-awaited Succession series available for streaming. JioCinema has become popular for showing the IPL cricket tournament on the platform for free in the ongoing season. The new pricing, according to the website, is only for premium content, while the matches continue to stream for free. Viacom18 won the IPL digital streaming rights from 2023 to 2027 for around $2.9 billion, rights which Disney previously held.

REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Reliance's JioCinema to lock horns with Netflix, DisneyWarner deal to boost English content, local content in focus tooExecutives say Warner deal will boost Reliance streaming plansJioCinema content quality key to beat rivals, analyst saysMUMBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - The video streaming business of Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest person, is likely to focus on pricing and local content following a deal with Warner Bros as it seeks to challenge the likes of Disney and Netflix, industry sources said. While Netflix and other rivals boast of content specially created for the India audience, JioCinema's current free offerings largely include old Hindi and local language movies. The big challenge is lack of fresh local and global content on JioCinema, something that will be become even more critical as the IPL season ends next month. They have also diversified into regional local language content. The only way to scale up is to really differentiate your content and make sure execution is right," he said.

☆ Instant View: Here’s what experts think of India's surprise rate decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

The monetary policy committee (MPC) retained the key lending rate or the repo rate (INREPO=ECI) at 6.50% in a unanimous decision. With the likely softening of CPI to the low- to mid-5% levels in the coming month, the current repo rate of 6.5% implies that India’s real policy rate will hover around 1% during 2023-24, while maintaining a policy rate differential of about 1.5% with the US. Room for additional rate hikes has been retained with MPC’s policy stance continuing to remain unchanged at ‘withdrawal of accommodation’. We believe the bar for future rate hikes has increased, especially since near-term prints of CPI will be sub 6%. Scope for further hikes is limited given our growth-inflation outlook and impact of the past rate hikes on the same.

☆ Indian regulator probes Adani's links to investors as Modi's office is briefed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

One of the sources said the focus of the probe would be whether any of the anchor investors are "connected" to the founder group. Last week, the group's flagship entity Adani Enterprises pulled its secondary share offering, India's largest ever, because of the sharp selloff. SEBI and the Adani Group did not respond to requests for comment about the investigation. The federal corporate affairs ministry, responsible for regulating Indian businesses, has briefed officials in Modi's office and been in touch with SEBI, the market regulator, one of the officials said. Modi's office and India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs did not respond to requests for comment about the regulatory probe into Adani after publication of the Hindenburg report.

[1/3] Indian billionaire Gautam Adani speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad April 2, 2014. Last week, the group's flagship entity Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) pulled its secondary share offering, India's largest ever, because of the sharp selloff. Adani has said Monarch was selected for previous share sales "for their credentials and ability to tap into the retail market". On Elara, Adani has said "innuendoes" that the firm was in any manner related to the conglomerate founders were incorrect. The federal corporate affairs ministry, responsible for regulating Indian businesses, has briefed officials in Modi's office and been in touch with SEBI, the market regulator, one of the officials said.

☆ India Budget 2023: Here's what the experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

"This budget, therefore, has rewritten the rules for financilisation of savings in India, which will induce expenditures rather incentivise savings. LAKSHMI IYER, CEO-INVESTMENT ADVISORY, KOTAK INVESTMENT ADVISORS LTD"India budget 2023 has offered a multi-dimensional view. The 3 Cs which stand out are - Capex increase - consumption boost - capital gains tax status quo. Additionally, the budget has provided significant direct tax benefits to individuals which will help increase disposable income and support spending. The budget keeps in mind the needs of future India while focusing on Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.

NEW DELHI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - India posted annual economic growth of 6.3% in its July-September quarter, less than half the 13.5% growth in the previous three months as distortions caused by COVID-19 lockdowns faded in Asia's third-largest economy. Economists warned, however, that growth momentum may ease in the December quarter due to higher interest rates and slowing exports. "Even as domestic growth drivers on services side continue to remain robust, weakening global demand amid tightening financial conditions remains the key risk for growth outlook for India," said Garima Kapoor, economist at Elara Capital. Slowing global growth has also started to hurt exports, which fell 17% over a year ago in October. "Services on the supply side and investments in the demand side would continue to be the main drivers of growth," said Sujan Hazra, chief economist at Anand Rathi.

[1/3] Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Preview - Doha, Qatar - October 12, 2022 An image of Brazil's Neymar is seen on a building REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/FilesJOHANNESBURG/BENGALURU, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Brazil are tipped to claim the World Cup for the sixth time in the tournament that kicks off Nov. 20 in Qatar, according to a Reuters poll that last successfully predicted the champions in 2010. The global survey of 135 football-following market analysts worldwide agreed with the bookmakers that Brazil would triumph for the first time since 2002. Almost half of respondents expected Brazil to win while 30% were evenly split between France and Argentina. If France were to retain the trophy they would be the first to do so since Brazil in 1962. Reuters Poll- 2022 FIFA World CupQatar has reportedly spent around 220 billion dollars on hosting the tournament - almost fifteen times more than the second-most expensive one - but 41% of respondents said it would have no long-term economic impact.

☆ INDIA RUPEE Rupee eases as Fed sticks to hawkish tone
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Anushka Trivedi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The rupee eased to 82.85 per dollar, against its previous close of 82.78. The currency had consolidated around 82.70 all of this week ahead of the U.S. central bank meeting. The Fed raised its benchmark funds rate by 75 basis points (bps) to 3.75%-4% as widely expected overnight. "This gives some breather to India as the country's central bank may not have to hike as aggressively." The Reserve Bank of India meets later in the day for a special meeting, most likely to discuss its first ever inflation target miss.

Members of media and Jammu and Kashmir government officials wait to enter a multi-screen cinema hall run by India's leading multiplex chain Inox before its inauguration in Srinagar September 20, 2022. "Even the Q3 releases, which happen to take place during the festive season, are somewhat muted and underwhelming in the response they are getting," film producer and trade analyst Girish Johar said. In the first quarter, Inox reported a 29% occupancy rate, while PVR said its rate was 33.6% in the same period. The two chains are set to merge in an all-stock deal and become the country's largest exhibition company with 1,546 screens across 109 cities. And we have some major challenges with the content in Q2," Inox Chief Executive Alok Tandon said in an earnings call on Wednesday.

The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), established in 2016, is mandated to keep inflation within 2 percentage points on either side of its 4% target. Reuters GraphicsGarima Kapoor, an economist at Elara Capital, said retail inflation was likely to ease to an average of 6% only by January-March. "We expect the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hike policy repo rate by another 40-50 bps this financial year," she said, and higher inflation could mean further rate hikes. Annual retail inflation (INCPIY=ECI) in September was higher than the 7.3% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, and above 7% the previous month, data released by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday showed. Food inflation, which accounts for nearly 40% of the CPI basket, rose 8.60% in September, compared to 7.62% in August.

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