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BANKING
Private-sector
lender HDFC Bank has launched its toll-free banking service which will help
customers in carrying out six basic banking transactions just by dialling the
numbers.
Customers will receive an instant SMS with the information requested including mini statement and balance enquiry on their registered mobile number, said Nitin Chugh, HDFC Bank head (digital banking).
Besides, other four services requests -- download mobile banking app, cheque book request, account statement and email statement -- can be made by dialling toll-free numbers.
"This is part of our efforts to expand convenience banking through digital initiatives," he said, adding that this service is completely free of cost and no charges are applicable to the customer either while making the call or receiving the SMS.
Customers with even the most basic mobile handset can use this service to access their accounts from any location at any time of the day or night.
For this service, the customer needs to register first via SMS, or net banking or by visiting the nearest branch or ATM. However, customers already registered for SMS banking can immediately avail of the service.
The full range of services ensures that every customer has access to their bank account in a manner they are most comfortable with, he said.
Customers will receive an instant SMS with the information requested including mini statement and balance enquiry on their registered mobile number, said Nitin Chugh, HDFC Bank head (digital banking).
Besides, other four services requests -- download mobile banking app, cheque book request, account statement and email statement -- can be made by dialling toll-free numbers.
"This is part of our efforts to expand convenience banking through digital initiatives," he said, adding that this service is completely free of cost and no charges are applicable to the customer either while making the call or receiving the SMS.
Customers with even the most basic mobile handset can use this service to access their accounts from any location at any time of the day or night.
For this service, the customer needs to register first via SMS, or net banking or by visiting the nearest branch or ATM. However, customers already registered for SMS banking can immediately avail of the service.
The full range of services ensures that every customer has access to their bank account in a manner they are most comfortable with, he said.
BUSINESS
Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti Airtel looks set to become the largest mobile operator in
Mumbai as the company is likely to announce the acquisition of Khaitans-owned
Loop Telecom, the oldest mobile operator in the city.
Loop, which has over 3 million customers in the city, had not participated in the telecom auctions that concluded last week. Expiry of its airwaves at the end of the 20-year licence in the 900 MHz band would have meant the end of its operations. With Bharti taking over, its customer base as well as its tower infrastructure will now come under the ambit of the country's biggest mobile operator.
According to market data, Bharti had about 4 million customers in Mumbai in November. Acquisition of Loop will increase its customer base to over 7 million. Vodafone with 6.9 million customers (as of November) is currently the biggest operator in the city.
Loop, which has over 3 million customers in the city, had not participated in the telecom auctions that concluded last week. Expiry of its airwaves at the end of the 20-year licence in the 900 MHz band would have meant the end of its operations. With Bharti taking over, its customer base as well as its tower infrastructure will now come under the ambit of the country's biggest mobile operator.
According to market data, Bharti had about 4 million customers in Mumbai in November. Acquisition of Loop will increase its customer base to over 7 million. Vodafone with 6.9 million customers (as of November) is currently the biggest operator in the city.
FINANCE
Online fashion retailer Myntra will allow
local stores and boutiques to sell their products on a new marketplace that it
plans to launch by April, in a move aimed at earning profits and expanding its
reach in India's smaller towns and cities.
Myntra is the latest of India's large online
retailers to launch a marketplace — where the company does not stock inventory
but links sellers and buyers. Last April, multiproduct retailer Flipkart also
switched to a hybrid model, by launching its own marketplace that now hosts
about 1,000 retailers. The Bangalore-based company is the largest among the
single-product portals to take this route and expects to have about 500 vendors
signed up within the first year of its operations. "We would like to make
a serious effort towards this (marketplace) direction," said Ashutosh
Lawania, co-founder of Myntra, who expects about a fifth of the company's total
business to come from the marketplace over the next one year.
According to Lawania, Myntra will continue to sell premium and
private label brands
through the inventory model, while local and boutique brands will be sold
through its marketplace. "For us, both components are very important. In
the future, while the (marketplace) could grow and grab a larger slice of the
pie, both will co-exist," he said.
INDIA BUSINESS
One of the biggest Indian-owned businesses in the
wider Gulf, the R.P. (Ravi Pillai) Group plans to deploy $1.5 billion (Dh5.5
billion) on real estate development in Dubai, with two projects in Business Bay
and another at Downtown. It is the first time the $3 billion plus entity is
getting into realty in these markets, with general and industrial construction
having been its core focus until now.
Acquiring the plots came to a “few hundred millions
of dirhams”, according to a top official. The Group is targeting real estate as
contributing 10 per cent of overall turnover before the end of the decade.
During this period, group turnover is projected to grow at between 5-10 per
cent, according to the founder and chairman, Dr Ravi Pillai in a telephone
interview from Bahrain where the Group is headquartered.
The 3 million square feet project will have serviced
apartments, residences and a dedicated retail precinct as well as a five-star
hotel. Others include a five-star hotel in Dubai Marina to be operated by
Crowne Plaza, a four-star hotel in Bur Dubai to be managed by India’s ITC
Group; and a serviced apartment complex near Downtown Dubai.
In India, the Group has in the recent past built up
a property portfolio, but principally in hospitality and through management
contracts with Leela Group and ITC Hotels.
INDIA
MANAGEMENT
The Fleet Management
service is tailored to suit each operator’s needs and this is the first of its
kind in the country. The company has also displayed its latest heavy haulage
truck - the Scania R 500 6x4 - with a top of the line V8 engine.
Part of Scania's
comprehensive global service offering, supporting the driver, as well as
managing the transport operation and the vehicle fleet, the Fleet Management
service offers customers the possibility to monitor, analyse and control their
fleet operations leading to maximised uptime and enhanced road safety.
This is a major
benefit for operators running all kind of transport operations, comprising a
number of independent services that can be combined to suit individual
operators’ needs and can be installed in all Scania haulage trucks and buses.
The Scania R 500
6x4 features the first-ever V8 engine on Indian roads, offering high torque
ratings at low speed, essential for super over-dimensional cargo (ODC)
transport. With the automated gear changing system, Scania Opticruise, it will
be the first vehicle of its kind on the Indian market to carry super ODC across
the country under the most demanding of highway conditions.
Scania also
showed off other products like the Scania P 410 8x4 and the G 410 with
new features such as the automated gear changing system for manual gearboxes
which results in significant improvements with respect to precision, gear
selection, performance and reliability.
Madison India Capital Management LLC, a mid-market
private equity firm focused on media, communications and business services with
a typical investment appetite of $5-20 million, has picked up a minority
stake in Gurgaon- and New York-based iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd, a
provider of remote and on-site tech support services. The transaction
includes a mix of primary and secondary investments. The exact quantum of the
investment could not be immediately ascertained.
An email sent to iYogi co-founder and CEO Uday Challu
to confirm the development did not elicit any response till the time of
publishing this article.
Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff Co.
(AMSS) acted as the Indian legal advisor while PricewaterhouseCoopers acted as
the financial advisor to Madison India Capital Management on this deal.
VCCircle was the first to report that iYogi is raising $60 million in a pre-IPO
round of funding from private equity investors.
In an earlier interview with VCCircle, Challu had
said that the firm, mostly catering to the B2C market, is now planning to tap
small and medium businesses (SMBs) in a big way across Indian and European
markets. The firm is clocking $100 million in revenues.
LOGISTICS
Menlo Logistics (Menlo), the US$1.6 billion global
logistics subsidiary of Con-way Inc. CNW +0.72% , today announced a
new partnership with Starbucks
Corp. to provide logistics management services for the global coffee
company's growing operations in Thailand. Specifically,
Menlo will provide warehousing, inventory and transportation management
services for Starbucks' chilled, frozen, air-conditioned and ambient products
from a new 7,635-square-meter dedicated warehouse located at Bangna Km.23 in
Bangkok. The scope of the relationship with Starbucks includes warehouse
returns, transfer management, pick and pack, labeling and kitting, and
repackaging as needed. Menlo will also manage nighttime product delivery to
Starbucks stores and will design the daily and weekly delivery routing for
chilled and ambient products to all Starbucks stores throughout Thailand.
"We
needed a reliable partner in Thailand that could analyze our specific needs and
execute a plan to reduce costs, further streamline our operations and improve
service tracking," said Ravee Purananda, Senior Manager of Supply Chain
Operations at Starbucks. "Menlo is providing us with a comprehensive
logistics solution designed to meet those needs, and we look forward to further
developing our presence in Thailand with their support."
MARKETING
Japanese auto
firm Nissan today terminated its agreement with Hover Automotive India for
exclusive sales, marketing and distribution of Nissan branded vehicles and
parts in India, ahead of the market launch of its Datsun brand in the country.
Without
specifying reasons, the company said in a statement that its Indian subsidiary
- Nissan
Motor India Private Ltd (NMIPL) - has assumed full responsibility for the
sales, marketing and distribution of all Nissan-branded vehicles and parts in
India, with immediate effect from February 14, 2014. It further said
"agreement with Hover
Automotive India Pvt Ltd for exclusive sales, marketing and distribution of
Nissan branded vehicles and parts in India has been terminated."
Commenting on
the development, Nissan President (India Operations) Kenichiro Yomura said:
"Nissan is now at a point of maturity in India where the time is right to
establish our own marketing and distribution operations. Nissan's priority will
be to ensure a smooth transition from current operations. We remain committed
to our customers and will continue to deliver high quality products and
services."
Further details
about the business structure will be announced in due course, the company said.
Comments from
Hover could not be obtained as calls to spokesperson remained unanswered.
The development
follows Nissan's announcement last November that Datsun vehicles would be sold
directly through Nissan Motor in India and not its erstwhile partner Hover.
RETAIL
Retail lending at major private and public sector
banks is growing faster than corporate advances, as lenders worry about the
impact of a slowing economy on business houses, show data until December, 2013.
Banks are increasingly relying on retail loans to
drive credit growth as they feel their chances of turning into non-performing
assets (NPA) are much lower. Retail loans are also an avenue for portfolio
diversification, thanks to their smaller size and distributed customer base.
According to RBI data, gross outstanding credit to
the retail sector as on December 27, 2013 stood at R9.99 lakh crore, up 15.8%
y-o-y. In the same period leading to December 27, 2013, outstanding credit to
industry was up 14.1% y-o-y at R24.11 lakh crore.
In case of state-run Bank of Baroda (BoB), the
retail loan book stood at R42,777 crore as of December 2013 mainly led by home
loans of R18,398 crore.
In an analyst call after its latest earnings
announcement, the bank had said that continued to expect higher-than-industry
loan growth for 2013-14, focussing on retail and small and medium enterprises
(SME) loans. The bank's total domestic lending as of December 2013 was up 18.1%
y-o-y.
“We have renewed focus on retail loans as we believe
the risk of NPAs are much less here. As home loans consist of the largest chunk
of the retail loan segment, the bank feels safe as the house could always be
used for recoveries,” said BB Joshi, executive director, Bank of Baroda.
For private sector lender Axis Bank, loan growth was
33% in retail segment y-o-y, taking the bank's domestic retail loan book to
R64,126 crore in December 2013. However, the bank’s corporate loan growth was a
meager 3% at R97,407 crore during the same period.
______________________________________________________________
Source of Information for this issue : Google alert accessed on 17th and 18th Feb 2014
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Best wishes
Compilation
Sabita Sahu
Junior Librarian
Concept, Layout and Editing
Syamaghana Mohanty
Chief Librarian
Information and Documentation Division, Chanakya Central Library
Asian School of Business Management
Shiksha Vihar Bhola,
Barang Khurda Road, Chandaka
Bhubaneswar-754012
www.asbm.ac.in
Tel:0674-2374832, 2374833
E-mail:library@asbm.ac.in, chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.in
Sabita Sahu :Junior Librarian and Syamaghana Mohanty : Chief Librarian, Knowledge and Information Services Unit, Chanakya Central Library, Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar. chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.in ; www.asbm.ac.in
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