Business wrap: HUL, ICICI Bank beat estimates; Facebook centre in Sweden

Confused and intimidated by the amount of news hurtling at you everyday? Well, to make your life easier, here’s a quick round-up of the major local and international business and economic news events that happened today.

Corporate results:

Today was a key day for investors in terms of corporate results. Among the most keenly-awaited results were those of ICICI Bank, India’s largest private-sector lender. It reported a 22 percent jump in net profit for the quarter ending September on lower provisions and stable asset quality. The results were better than expectations.Other public sector banks like Bank of Baroda, IOB and UCO Bank also posted better than expected results.

[caption id=“attachment_119927” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“While ICICI Bank, HUL and Wipro reported better-than expected revenues, Bharat Petroleum reported a loss.”]  [/caption]

IT firm Wipro also released better-than-expected results on the back of improved volume growth. Net profit increased by 1.2 percent to Rs 1,300.9 crore, while sales advanced 18 percent to Rs 9,094.5 crore.Even better, the management is positive in its outlook and sees no pricing pressure. The company added 5,240 employees during the July-September quarter.

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Consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever also beat analyst estimates and delivered a 22 percent increase in net profit for the September-ended quarter to Rs 689 crore. Net sales were up 18 percent at Rs 5,522 crore. All its business segments delivered double-digit growth for the third consecutive quarter.

In contrast, Bharat Petroleum reported a net loss of Rs 3,229 crore for the September-ending quarter, up 51 percent primarily because of high crude oil prices and product prices which could not be fully passed on to consumers. Net sales, however, grew 19 percent to Rs 42,282 crore.

Financial markets:

Thanks to the imminent failure of its Rs 40,000 crore disinvestment target this year, the UPA government is eyeing any cash-rich public sector undertakings (PSUs) rapaciously. According to The Indian Express, the PMO has “directed” 10 ministries and departments to look at 24 cash-rich PSUs for surpluses that are unlikely to be needed for investment in the next 12 months. Read _Firstpost_'s take on it here.

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Personal finance news:

The era of the Internet has opened a plethora of ways for people to make money. The_Economic Times Wealth_supplement has an article on the various ways one can profit from online ventures. One click of a mouse and you can have access to millions of customers. For these and other personal finance ideas, check out our personal finance updates here .

Infrastructure news:

A struggling power sector is threatening to take down the lenders who funneled money into what was once considered to be the next ‘big thing’ in India’s investment ideas. Judging by the estimated level of losses that the power distribution sector is racking up and the way projects are taking their own time to be commissioned on the generation side, it’s very likely that banks funding the power sector could be heading for some major trouble. Read more here .

Economy news:

The National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) that was green-signalled by the Union Cabinet on 25 October is really an acknowledgement of monumental failure - the failure of 60 years of flawed, centralised policy-making. Read Firstpost's opinion on the subject.

Media/advertising news:

US advertising group Omnicom is making its biggest push into India with the acquisition of a majority stake in Mudra Group, one of the country’s largest advertising conglomerates, according to the Financial Times. The deal will give Omnicom, the company behind agencies such as BBDO and DDB, a new foothold in one of the world’s largest emerging consumer markets. Financial details of the transaction were not released. Read more here .

International news:

Australia’s Qantas Airways returned to the air on Monday after grounding its entire global fleet over the weekend in a bold tactic to force the government to intervene in the nation’s worst labour dispute in a decade. The Qantas dispute has dragged on for months but escalated after the airline announced plans to cut 1,000 jobs and order $9 billion worth of new aircraft as part of a makeover to salvage its loss-making international business. Read more here.

The Japanese central bank sold the yen for the second time in less than three months after it hit another record high against the dollar. A strong yen hurts Japan’s export-led economy as it makes goods more expensive to foreign buyers. Finance minister Jun Azumi said the yen’s strength did not reflect the true state of Japan’s economy.For more details, click here.

Facebook is setting up a data centre in Lapland, Sweden, according to the BBC. Temperatures in the city of Lulea, in the north-east of the country, make it the perfect location for the social media giant’s first non-US data centre. Facebook can use outside air for cooling its servers for up to 10 months of the year. The facility will process data from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It will cover 30,000 square metres.

Jon Corzine of MF Global Holdings is scrambling to rescue the securities firm from a crisis partially of his own making. It is nearing a deal to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as Monday and sell assets to Interactive Brokers Group, the newspaper reported. Corzine reportedly made big bets, worth more than $6 billion, on sovereign bonds issued by European countries, which knocked MF Global’s own debt ratings to junk and drained investors’ confidence in the firm. Read more here .