Weekly Capsule (Jun 19 – Jun 23) and Impact Analysis
| Major News Item | Impact Analysis |
| Ø FM has affirmed that GST rollout will be on schedule on 01st July | Ø There were doubts over the timely implementation as industry associations had requested for a postponement
Ø However, with nearly 80% of the businesses registered under the GST, the government has decided to go ahead on time
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| Ø Three large steel borrowers to be referred to liquidation by lenders | Ø Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel and Electrosteel Castings have been identified for liquidation under IBC to recover dues
Ø Now the priority of the banks will be to ensure that the value of the assets are protected while working for a resolution
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| Ø Modi and Donald Trump are scheduled to meet in the US on June 26th | Ø The H1-B visa issue and the impediments for Indian IT industry are likely to come up for discussion in the meeting
Ø Modi is also expected to discuss the issue of terrorism as well as China’s expansionist designs in the South China Sea
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| Ø Foreign holdings in private sector bonds touches record high | Ø Foreign Portfolio Investors have already exhausted 91% of their $51 billion limit in private corporate bonds
Ø This demand has been largely driven by higher effective yields in India and a stable rupee
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| Ø Indian government freezes dividend payout to Cairn UK by Vedanta | Ø Indian government has frozen dividends worth $53 million payable to Cairn UK by Vedanta, which owns Cairn India
Ø Cairn UK has already disputed a capital gains tax levy of $2 billion in a transaction dating back to 2006
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| Ø SEBI goes a step forward towards solving the RBI NPA issue | Ø The shares acquired by investors in distressed companies will not be subject to the open offer requirement of SEBI
Ø Also, the benchmark price will not be the 6-month average but the book value or the fair value, as the case may be
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| Ø SEBI takes one more step towards discouraging P-Notes | Ø SEBI has imposed a levy of $1000 on each P-Note opened by an FII, which could make P-Note investing unviable
Ø SEBI has also proposed to simplify the entry, on-boarding and compliance requirements for registered FPIs
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| Ø Moody’s welcomes the RBI move to attack bank NPAs through IBC | Ø According to Moody’s this move will caution banks and borrowers about being lax in such transactions
Ø The one-time loss will result in a cleaning up of the bank balance sheets, which will allow resumption of credit
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| Ø Crude prices touch a 10-month low during the week | Ø Weak crude prices were driven by a glut of supply from the US shale and from Libya and partially from Nigeria
Ø The OPEC supply cuts at 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) has not been able to make any dent
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| Ø JP Morgan raises concerns over L&T on tepid state finances | Ø State governments account for nearly 35% of the order book position of L&T and hence are material
Ø Most state governments are already under strain due to rising debt and the possibility of farm loan waivers |
| Ø China to be finally included in the MSCI International EM Index | Ø Considering its $7 trillion market cap, China’s inclusion will result in outflows from other EMs like India
Ø Most ETFs and Index funds benchmark EM investments on the MSCI index and that will lead to demand for China equity
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| Ø Air India revival decision likely to be announced soon | Ø Ministry of Civil Aviation is keen to revive Air India rather than selling of the National Flag Carrier to private parties
Ø Air India has debt in excess of Rs.50,000 crore and has been consistently making operating losses
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| Ø Farallon denies being in talks to acquire a stake in Essar Steel | Ø Essar had been negotiating with Farallon to hive of its steel business, which has been deep in losses and debt
Ø Farallon has clarified that it is neither in talks nor has evinced any interest in any stake in Essar Steel
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| Ø Morgan Stanley continues to be very bullish on M&M | Ø According to Morgan, M&M could be the best play on the revival in rural demand in India post a good monsoon
Ø Its rural SUV segment as well as the LCV segment have a strong rural franchise and could be the big beneficiaries
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| Ø Credit Suisse questions the business model of RCOM | Ø According to CS, despite the proposal to cut debt by half to Rs.25,000 crore, RCOM will be net negative
Ø Competition in telecom post the Jio launch will mean that the EBITDA of RCOM will only keep falling further
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| Ø Tata Steel and JSW could emerge as white knights for steel assets | Ø While the companies are yet to confirm, Macquarie expects that this could be a likely solution to the steel NPA problem
Ø Steel companies like Essar, Bhushan and Electrosteel are ridden with debt and a saviour could be the only answer
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| Ø Vishal Sikka downplays the role of H1-B visas in Indian IT sector | Ø According to Sikka only 6 lakh visas have been issued against millions employed by the IT sector
Ø With the shift to greater automation and digital platforms, Sikka expects these to reduce further
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| Ø Analysts continue to pin hopes on Lupin despite the sharp fall in price | Ø Lupin has corrected by over 50% over the last 2 years on the bank of negative US FDA news flows
Ø Most analysts believe that at these valuations, Lupin may be a very attractive bet from a long term perspective
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| Ø OPEC could be staring at another bear market in oil | Ø With the Qatar imbroglio, the OPEC may lose further control over its ability to regulate output of OPEC members
Ø The last bear market was seen in early 2016 and the supply dynamics indicate that it could repeat this year
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| Ø RIL and BP to withdraw arbitration against government on gas pricing | Ø This withdrawal is a pre-requisite for the companies to realize higher prices on the sale of gas
Ø The price of gas from deep-sea and difficult terrain has been set at $5.56/unit as against $2.48/unit for normal gas
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| Ø Azim Premji raises red flags over the Flipkart – Snapdeal merger | Ø Premji’s family office is a minority investor in Snapdeal and has objected to the $1 billion sale of Snapdeal
Ø Premji has objected that the $90 million payable to early investors like Kalaari, Nexus and the Bahls |
