Category: Finance

Aye Finance gears up for aggressive pan India expansion

Loknath Das

Aye Finance, CapitalG backed fintech lender, has announced plans for aggressive Pan-India expansion in the current fiscal. After a successful year which saw Aye reaching a milestone AUM figure of INR 1000 crores, the fintech lender will be opening 67 new branches to service the credit needs of a larger number of Indian micro enterprises. Aye has been rapidly expanding its footprint and in this round Aye is entering the new states/UT of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh along with strengthening its branch presence in the…

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Piramal sells entire 10% stake in Shriram Transport for ₹2,300 crore

Loknath Das

New Delhi: Ajay Piramal-controlled Piramal Enterprises Ltd on Monday sold its entire stake of about 10% stake in commercial vehicle financier Shriram Transport Finance Co Ltd., citing a “broader strategy” to leverage opportunities for growth in its financial services business. As of 31 March, Piramal held 22.6 million shares in Shriram Transport, which specialises in financing second-hand trucks, representing a 9.96% stake. The stake sale will fetch Piramal approximately ₹2,300 crore, based on the closing price of the stock on Monday. “Earlier this year in April 2019, Piramal Enterprises Ltd. had announced…

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Rel Cap, Rel Home Finance plumb fresh 52-week lows

Loknath Das

NEW DELHI: Hitting their fresh 52-week lows, shares of Reliance CapitalNSE -10.36 % fell over 13 per cent to Rs 73.30 while those of RelianceNSE -0.73 % Home FinanceNSE -0.49 % declined over 7 per cent to Rs 13.85 in Friday’s session. Both stocks extended their losing streak to third consecutive session amid reports that Sebi and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs are looking into the sudden resignation of PWC as auditor of Reliance Capital and Reliance Home Finance and have asked the stock exchanges to collect all necessary information including trade details and statements made…

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AU Small Finance Bank gains as Edelweiss initiates coverage, sees 24% upside

Loknath Das

Edelweiss Securities has initiated coverage on AU Small Finance Bank with a buy rating and target price of Rs 880 apiece, implying 24 percent potential upside from current levels. At 0916 hours IST, it was quoting at Rs 712, up Rs 3.85, or 0.54 percent on the BSE. The non-banking finance company continues to deliver high loan growth without any asset quality incident and 30 percent-plus asset CAGR remains plausible for an extended period, the brokerage said. It feels operating and financial leverage will continue to play through and return on average…

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Finance ministry mulling 3-5% tax in Budget on cash withdrawal of 10 lakh a year

Loknath Das

NEW DELHI: Withdrawing a cumulative ₹10 lakh a year can attract 3-5 per cent tax if a proposal going around in the Finance Ministry takes shape in the Budget to track high value cash deals and make digital payments mandatory. In its push towards a digital economy, the central government is thinking of introducing a tax of 3-5 per cent on cash withdrawal of ₹10 lakh in a year, a move to discourage cash usage in the economy and resultant black money. Paying ₹30,000-50,000 for ₹10 lakh annual withdrawal will be seen as a loss, the…

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Finance ministry mulling 3-5% tax in Budget on cash withdrawal of 10 lakh a year

Loknath Das

NEW DELHI: Withdrawing a cumulative ₹10 lakh a year can attract 3-5 per cent tax if a proposal going around in the Finance Ministry takes shape in the Budget to track high value cash deals and make digital payments mandatory. In its push towards a digital economy, the central government is thinking of introducing a tax of 3-5 per cent on cash withdrawal of ₹10 lakh in a year, a move to discourage cash usage in the economy and resultant black money. Paying ₹30,000-50,000 for ₹10 lakh annual withdrawal will be seen as a loss, the…

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Family finance: Salaried Krishna needs to align investments with goals

Loknath Das

P. Vamsee Krishna, 37 years, stays with his homemaker wife and two children, aged 10 and eight, in his own house, in Hyderabad. He is a software engineer, who brings in a salary of Rs 1.05 lakh a month. Besides his own house, for which he has taken a home loan and a top-up loan, he also has a plot of land. He is servicing the home loan and a gold loan with EMIs of Rs 19,200. His goalsinclude building an emergency corpus, saving for kids’ education and weddings, retirement, and…

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Draft norms for ‘on-tap’ licensing of small finance banks by August end

Loknath Das

On-tap licensing is a time-efficient feature that will allow parties to obtain the licence on-demand basis and eligible parties won’t have to wait. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue draft guidelines for ‘on-tap’ licensing of Small Finance Banks (SFB) by the end of August 2019 with a view to enhance supply of credit to small borrowers and encourage competition. On-tap licensing is a time-efficient feature that will allow parties to obtain the licence on-demand basis and eligible parties won’t have to wait. In September 2015, the RBI had…

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An open letter to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Loknath Das

Dear Madam Finance Minister, Welcome to the exciting world of finance that you have just taken charge of. I have covered this space as a beat reporter for 25 years and so I am taking the liberty to give a glimpse of this sector as I see it. First, my biases: I have a gender bias and I am truly happy that India has her first woman finance minister (the only previous instance was more a part-timer). Not just me, but even men say women bring more sincerity, honesty,  integrity…

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High finance cost subdues May’s automobile sales

Loknath Das

Sridhar V., Partner with Grant Thornton India said slowdown across the industry has impacted passenger car sales coupled with the impasse due to election, stress on financing and high base numbers. Slowdown across the industry has impacted passenger car sales coupled with the impasse due to election (Representational Image) New Delhi/Mumbai: Base effect, along with high finance cost and liquidity constraints continued to subdue automobile sales in May. According to experts, subdued consumer sentiment and the just concluded general election also had a major part in sales slowdown. On Saturday, automobile…

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