India News

Black money list: Yash Birla among seven Indian names made public for Swiss a/c

Industrialist Yash Birla and son-in-law of late realty and liquor baron Ponty Chadha are among seven Indians with Swiss bank accounts whose names have been made public in Switzerland’s official gazette with regard to ongoing tax probes against them in India.

Two Mumbai-based individuals named in the famous City Limousines scam, a Delhi-based businesswoman Ritika Sharma and two others — Sneh Lata Sawhney and Sangita Sawhney– are the other Indians whose names have been made public.

Rupee breaches 64 mark as importers buy dollars

Continuing its weakness for the third straight day, the rupee dropped below the 64 mark, falling 17 paise, to quote at 64.15 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange as the American currency firmed up overseas on strong economic data.

Besides, increased demand for the dollar from importers and a lower opening in the domestic equity market weighed on the local currency, forex dealers said.

Tech Mahindra tanks over 10% on weak Q4 results

Shares of Tech Mahindra have tanked 13.4% to Rs 554, the sharpest intra-day fall since February 2011 on the NSE, after the company reported a nearly 500 basis points (bps) decline in EBITDA margins at 15.2% for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4) against 20.2% in the December 2014 quarter.

Meanwhile, the company had reported a 39% sequential fall in consolidated net profit (prior to special adjustments) to Rs 472 crore, due to higher employee expenses and cross-currency fluctuations. The company had posted a profit of Rs 777 crore in the previous quarter.

ICICI Bank, Axis cut employee headcount

After close to doubling their headcount in the past few years, leading private sector lenders ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have reduced their employee counts.

At the end of March this year, the employee base of ICICI Bank, India’s largest private lender, was 67,857, against 72,226 a year earlier. During 2010-2014, the bank’s employee base more than doubled from 35,256 to 72,226.

Tata Motors net profit tanks as JLR volumes disappoint

Consolidated net profit of Tata Motors, India’s biggest automobile company, dipped by a whopping 56 per cent in the final quarter of last financial year as China, Jaguar Land Rover’s biggest market, slowed down considerably.

The Mumbai-based company posted Rs 1,717-crore net profit for the quarter ended March, against Rs 3,918 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Bloomberg had estimated Tata Motors to report a net profit of Rs 4,092 crore for the quarter.

BHEL fourth quarter net down 52% to Rs 888 cr

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), the country’s largest power equipment manufacturer, has posted a 52 per cent drop in net profit during the fourth quarter ended March on slowdown in project execution. The company reported net profit of Rs 888.35 crore during the quarter against Rs 1,844 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous financial year.

The major decline in profit came despite a 10.2 per cent cut in expenses to Rs 11,286 crore during the quarter. The company managed to pull down employee benefit expense by 31 per cent to Rs 915 crore from 1,320 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous financial year.

Mahindra XUV 500 launched after facelift priced at Rs 11.21 lakh

Mahindra & Mahindra has launched the XUV500 after a facelift. Christened as the New Age XUV500, the car has been launched at the starting price of Rs 11.21 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The SUV was initially launched in the year 2011 and did wonders for the company’s sales chart, however for long, Mahindra XUV500 was expected to go under the scalpel for a much-needed refurbished look. Prior to this, company initiated a teaser on its website a day ahead of its launch displaying a tracker with the time remaining for its launch.