ET NEWS

Keir Starmer, who has just embarked on a keenly-watched India visit, has been accompanied by more than 100 business leaders from Britain. According to some reports, this is the largest-ever trade mission from the UK to India.The stated aim of the delegation is to boost the 2025 Free Trade Deal between India and UK, with a target taking bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030. The UK Prime Minister arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday ahead of his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Starmer, along with his delegation, was received at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and Governor Acharya Devvrat.The two leaders are set to meet in Mumbai on Thursday to advance the India–UK strategic partnership. Their agenda includes participation in the CEO Forum and the sixth edition of the Global Fintech Fest.Modi and Starmer are expected to review the progress of the India–UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, guided by the ‘Vision 2035’ roadmap. Discussions will cover key sectors such as trade and investment, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate and energy, health, education, and cultural exchange.A central focus of the talks will be the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), seen as a cornerstone of the evolving economic relationship between the two nations. The leaders will also exchange perspectives on regional and global developments and interact with business leaders, policymakers, and innovators to explore new avenues of cooperation.

Britain will not pursue a visa deal with India, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, as he aims to deepen economic ties with the country following this year's trade agreement. Starmer begins a two-day trip to India on Wednesday, bringing a trade mission of businesses to promote the trade deal, which was agreed in May, signed in July and due to come into effect next year. Starmer said that visas had blocked up previous efforts to seal a trade deal, and that, having reached an agreement which had no visa implications, he didn't wish to revisit the issue when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on Thursday. "That isn't part of the plans," he told reporters en route to India when asked about visas, adding the visit was "to take advantage of the free trade agreement that we've already struck". "Businesses are taking advantage of that. But the issue is not about visas." Starmer is trying to take a more restrictive stance on both immigration amid high public concern about the issue, as his Labour Party trails the populist Reform UK party in polls. He said visas would not be on the table in order to attract tech sector professionals from India, after U.S. President Donald Trump hiked fees on H-1B visas, though he said more broadly he wanted to have "top talent" in Britain. Asked if he would stop issuing visas to arrivals from countries who won't take back foreign criminals or people wanted to deport, Starmer said it was a "non-issue" with India as there is a returns agreement, but it was something he would look at more broadly. "We are looking at whether there should be a link between visas and returns agreements," he said.

Mumbai: Investors looking for undervalued opportunities in equities could consider the exchange-traded funds tracking the Nifty Private Bank index, as weak show by these lenders' shares has resulted in valuations falling below the 10-year average.In the last year, the Nifty Private Bank Index lost 6.15% compared with the Nifty 50's loss of 4.82%. Over the last three years, the index returned 10.1% versus the Nifty's 12.8%."The Nifty private bank index is one of the pockets relatively better placed in the current market scenario," says Anil Ghelani, head - Passive Investments and Products, DSP Mutual Fund.The Private Bank Index trades at a price-to-book value - a valuation measure - of 2.57, lower than its 10-year average of 2.92. The share of private banks in the overall market cap is 9% compared with their share in profits, which is 12%. This suggests these lenders are contributing a higher share of corporate profits than the value that investors are assigning them."Given their strong balance sheets, consistent profitability and close linkage to India's economic expansion, private banks remain well-positioned as a preferred investment sector and continue to serve as a reliable proxy to the country's growth story," says Chintan Haria, principal investment strategy, ICICI Prudential AMC.124374214A study by DSP Mutual Fund shows that the market share of private banks has doubled in the last two decades. The market share of private banks in loans, which stood at 19% in 2003, is now 40%. In the same period, the share of deposits has moved up from 17% to 36%. In terms of valuations, nine out of 10 portfolio stocks currently trade at or below their 10-year average valuations.The product may, however, not be suitable for risk-averse individuals. "The portfolio is exposed to concentration risk and not for conservative or retail investors. Only those who have seen market cycles and understand volatility should opt for this fund," says Anup Bhaiya, MD and CEO, Money Honey Financial Services.The Private Bank Index comprises a portfolio of 10 stocks, with the top four banks - ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, and Axis Bank - accounting for 80% of the portfolio.

Kolkata: India's central bank has proposed significantly higher provisioning requirements for lenders across a range of asset classes under a new expected credit loss (ECL) framework, aimed at aligning domestic norms with global standards and strengthening credit risk management.The Reserve Bank of India has proposed 100% provisions against unsecured loans after one year of these being classified as credit impaired, while all other categories of loans will attract 100% provisions after four years of such classification.Overall, banks may be required to maintain minimum provisioning floors ranging from 0.25% to 5% for performing assets, depending on the asset class and credit risk stage. Unsecured retail loans and corporate exposures will attract the highest Stage 2 provisioning floor of 5%, while farm loans and small enterprise loans will see a lower floor of 0.25% in Stage 1.The ECL framework will replace the current Incurred Loss (ICL) framework for provisioning followed by banks. NBFCs have already adopted the ECL framework. The framework introduces a three-stage model for asset classification based on credit risk deterioration. Stage 1 assets will require 12-month ECL provisioning, while Stage 2 and Stage 3 assets - those with significant increase in credit risk or credit impairment - will require lifetime ECL provisioning.For Stage 3 assets, provisioning requirements escalate with the duration of impairment. Unsecured loans will require 100% provisioning after one year in Stage 3, while secured exposures such as home loans and gold loans will see stepped-up provisioning from 10% to 100% over a four-year period.

Mumbai: The net profit growth for the Nifty 50 companies in the three months to September at the aggregate level is expected to remain in double digits for the fourth consecutive quarter while revenue may fail to grow above 10% for the sixth quarter in a row. The growth will be driven by select companies from automobiles, cement, metals and pharma sectors. Analysts expect the growth prospects to improve in the second half of the current fiscal aided by the stimulus of recent rationalisation in the goods and services tax (GST) rates.Nifty 50 companies at the aggregate level are expected to report 7.2% and 12.6% year-on-year growth in revenue and net profit, respectively, for the September quarter, according to the ETIG estimates.A muted performance by the banking and finance companies is likely to limit the overall growth for the sample. According to Gautam Duggad, institutional research head, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, earnings growth for the companies covered by the broking firm would rise to 16% from 9% after excluding these companies.Chetan Shenoy, research head, Anand Rathi Wealth, expects a steady results season with 6-7% earnings growth supported by domestic cyclical sectors such as capital goods, energy and select consumption-oriented sectors. "While global headwinds and export weakness may weigh on select sectors, aggregate earnings momentum for the Nifty 50 universe should remain resilient, aided by stable macros and easing input cost pressures," Shenoy added.The sample's operating margin is expected to improve by 80 basis points year-on-year to 21.2%. According to Vinit Bolinjkar, research head, Ventura Securities, blended margins may either remain flat or slightly improve. "Tailwinds from lower energy and freight costs and support from weaker rupee are offset by pressure on banking profitability, higher credit costs and GST-related transition frictions in staples and retail segments.Analysts are optimistic about future growth prospects. Opportunities: According to Bolinjkar, government capital expenditure and housing demand support sectors, including cement, building materials and construction, while automobiles are likely to gain in the near term from festive demand and lower GST rates.Shenoy believes that the recent policy tailwinds, including income-tax relaxation, GST rationalisation, and repo-rate cuts are set to stimulate consumption, credit demand, and corporate profitability though US tariff uncertainty remains a key challenge.According to Duggad, coordinated efforts by the government and RBI through tax incentives and accommodative monetary policy are expected to boost demand and drive growth in the coming periods. He expects Nifty 50 earnings to grow 9% for FY26 compared with the 5% growth in the previous year. 124374169AutomobilesDemand for two-wheelers and commercial vehicles (CV) recovered in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. Two-wheeler volume grew in double digits year-on-year in the September quarter while the passenger vehicle growth was weaker in single digit. Among the index companies, Mahindra and Mahindra, Eicher Motors and Hero Motocorp are likely to report double digit net profit growth.Banking, FinanceCredit growth slowed to 10.3% year-on-year as of September 19 from 13.1% a year ago whereas deposit growth fell to 9.5% from 11.6% during the period. In addition, the lending rates will fully reflect the impact of the recent interest rate cuts while its effect on deposit rates will be spread over the next few quarters thereby impacting net interest margin.Capital GoodsThe order books of companies kept ringing during the quarter helped by projects in sectors including power, railways and defence. With softer raw material prices, operating margins are expected to improve year-on-year. Larsen and Toubro is likely to report a double-digit growth in revenue and profit for the quarter.CEMENT Cement price remained stable while falling in the last week of September as companies passed on the GST rate reduction. Cement volume is expected to grow in single digits excluding capacity addition. UltraTech is likely to report strong revenue and profit growth on a lower base a year ago. CONSUMER GOODS Performance of companies is expected to be affected by the transition to the new lower GST rates given the constraint on changing package sizes and channel utilisation. However, festive demand may offer support to the volume growth. The sector companies in the Nifty index are expected to deliver a low-single digit net profit growth for the September quarter. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Top-tier firms are likely to report either a decline or low single digit growth in the dollar denominated revenue growth. Operating margins may show pressure for companies which undertook salary increases during the quarter such as TCS while Infosys may benefit due to an absence of salary revision. METALS Due to lower product prices amid slack in demand, ferrous companies are likely to report lower net profit for the September quarter. On the other hand, non-ferrous companies may report double-digit growth driven by an uptick in prices. PHARMACEUTICALS A transition to the new GST regime is likely to affect domestic formulations business while the US generics business will show an impact of higher competitive pressure. Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s are expected to report low single-digit net profit growth while Apollo Hospitals is expected to report strong double-digit growth helped by sustained demand. OIL AND GAS Benign crude oil prices during the quarter compared with the previous year and higher retail fuel margins augur well for downstream oil marketing companies, which are expected to report strong performance. Upstream oil producers, on the other hand, may show pressure on profitability due to lower crude prices. TELECOM The sector will continue to benefit from subscriber additions and improved per user tariff rates. Bharti Airtel, the sole telco in the Nifty 50 is likely to post strong revenue and profit growth for the quarter.