Page 38 - India Inc

India Inc to lobby against imposition of cess

May prefer a higher tax rate to gain input credit benefits

India Inc keen to tap into advanced psychometrics

Psychometric assessment identifies specific personality trait that could highlight suitability for specific roles

India Inc expects sales, demand to pick up in second half

Project commissioning rises, stalled projects back on track

Credit Suisse report: No turnaround in India Inc's indebtedness yet

Corporate performance might have seen a slight improvement in the June quarter, however, the number of stressed companies has gone up. According to analysis by Credit Suisse, the share of companies with interest coverage ratio of less than one increased to 39 per cent in June, from 38 per cent in the previous quarter. The share of 'chronically stressed' companies - those with interest coverage (IC) ratio of less than one in the past four of eight quarters - also increased to 33.5 per cent, compared with 32 per cent in the March quarter. IC is the ability of a company to make interest payments on its debt and it is arrived at by dividing earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) by interest expense for a particular period. "Our index of corporate health saw a slight deterioration in June 2016 quarter, as the share of companies having IC of less than one increased to 39 per cent (from 38 per cent in Q4) of the sample debt. Our sample of 3,700 listed non-financ

Letters: Regulation needed

With reference to the piece, "India Inc needs choice in auditing" (September 26) by Vishesh C Chandiok and Yogesh Sharma, mandatory firm rotation (MFR) in auditing presents a great opportunity to medium-sized audit firms in India to scale up their operations and join the big league in the audit profession.If such MFR is coupled with loosening of existing guidelines for audit firms relating to advertising, solicitation and affiliation to foreign networks, it is likely to provide further boost to small and medium-sized audit firms in India.There is bound to be a significant amount of churning in the auditors of listed and other large companies once MFR comes into effect after April 2017. Whether this increased volatility will enhance auditor independence and increase the size of the audit profession or lead to its shrinkage due to disincentives - in the form of class action suits, higher regulatory oversight and increased compliance costs for companies - is something only time will tell.

No turnaround in India Inc's indebtedness yet, says Credit Suisse

Share of companies with interest coverage ratio of less than one increased to 39% in June from 38% in the previous quarter

Vishesh C Chandiok & Yogesh Sharma: India Inc needs choice in auditing

Having a few firms audit large and listed companies is not in the interest of either vibrant capital markets or a vibrant economy

India Inc's external borrowing jumps 4-fold to $3.17 bn

Indian companies had raised only $750.77 million from overseas markets in the same month last year

Mounting sick leave makes India Inc nervous

Business chamber Assocham estimates offices are facing staff crunches of 15 to 25 per cent with the various strains of fever

India Inc's foreign investment fell 84% in Aug at $399 mn

Palava Dwellers was among top investors, parking 21.75 mn in its wholly-owned arms abroad

Promoter-CEOs take it all

C-suite salaries need to take a governance test

India Inc foreign borrowings down 44% at $1.2 bn in July

Among major borrowers using the automatic route to raise money were HDFC, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Adani Transmission

Is India Inc well equipped to tackle fraud?

Although several recent surveys involving India's CXOs have indicated a good understanding of fraud and measures to mitigate it, there appears to be a major gap in how these are implemented on the ground, reveals a study by Deloitte. Around half of the 250 CXOs, who took the online assessment by Deloitte Forensic India said they had fraud risk management in place. A snapshot of the analysis:MEASURES TAKEN TO PREVENT FRAUD86% of the respondents indicated that they had a written code of conduct for employees but only 53% highlighted that employees were required to sign it annually75% have identified people within their organisations who can resolve employee queries on ethical dilemmas and guide them on understanding the code of conduct better57% of the respondents indicated that their organisations did not conduct independent fraud risk assessment of key functions and processes every two yearsMEASURES TAKEN TO DETECT FRAUD37% of the respondents indicated that over 75% of their processes

Road to 70: Family comes first for India Inc

Business Standard analyses top corporate groups since Independence and how they have stood the test of time

Profitability gets a boost in June quarter

Operating margins for ex-finance and oil companies at 4-year high

Managing the media

Default of loans by Indian companies is making headlines every day, but there are many that have managed to remain below the radar despite taking thousands of crores of loans from banks. While Vijay Mallya has become the poster boy of India Inc defaults, some companies that are getting negative press have hired spin doctors so that they can remain outside the media glare. One option suggested by spin doctors is to stay away from Mumbai and Delhi because a large chunk of the national media is based in the two cities. Another strategy is to deny any information about default and blame journalists for running an agenda on behalf of competition. This was exactly how Kingfisher ran its campaign till the chickens came home to roost.

CEO salaries at top blue-chips soar; average nears Rs 20 cr

But this this is still less than a sixth of the average CEO salaries at top-listed companies in the US

Despite infra troubles, top 200 Indian firms outperform Chinese peers

However, high interest rate environment in India reduces debt servicing ability of leveraged firms, can result in financial stress

Industry sees uptick in sales, profitability by Dec: Survey

However, private sector remains elusive about pumping in fresh investment due to continuous under-utilisation of capacities

Private firms' investments on slow lane

Only a third of plans have taken off over 2 years