Current account deficit touches 9 year high

Top of the Morning

In this episode, find out about Shapoorji pallonji’s exit from debt restructuring, also find out about income tax raids at Hero Motocorp.
Business Term of the Day: Debt restructuring

India’s external account – both the current account and the Balance of Payments – deteriorated during the December quarter to a surge in Crude oil prices and record pull out by foreign institutional investors. The current account- sum of India’s exports and imports of goods and services- ended in a deficit of deficit at $ 23.0 billion (2.7 per cent of GDP) touched a nine- year high. Overall the balance of payments ended in a modest surplus of $465 million compared to a surplus of $32.5 billion in the same period a year ago.

 

Future Retail: Debt-ridden Future Retail Ltd’s CEO Sadashiv Nayak has resigned from the post seven months after his appointment, according to a filing. Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani has been re-appointed as executive chairman of the company for three years, a regulatory filing said on Thursday.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) on Thursday said its board has approved raising of Rs 4,500 crore by allotting 3,38,34,58,645 equity shares to three promoter or promoter group entities at Rs 13.30 a piece.

 

Shapoorji Pallonji and Co (SPCIL) has exited a one-time restructuring scheme by paying ₹12,450 crore to all its leaders, according to a statement issued by the company on Wednesday. This includes Mistry family infusing over ₹5,100 crore into the company in the past one year. marquee monetization worth ₹3,750 crore from two of its assets, including Sterling Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd and Eureka Forbes Ltd.

Mining firm Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) on Thursday said it will invest ₹350 crore to develop up to 200 megawatt (MW) renewable energy capacity through a special purpose vehicle.

The Income Tax Department has found alleged illegal business expenses of over ₹800 crore, ₹60 crore “unaccounted” cash used to purchase land in Delhi and role of some shell companies after it raided Hero Motocorp and two other groups, officials said on Thursday.

Moving on to markets

 The markets are likely to start Friday’s session on a negative note amid globally weak sentiment as US and European markets logged in significant losses overnight.

The SGX Nifty futures were quoting at 17,430 levels at 7:55 am, hinting at a gap-down start of over 100 points on the Nifty50.

Business Term of the day

Debt restructuring is a process used by companies, individuals, and even countries to avoid the risk of defaulting on their existing debts, such as by negotiating lower interest rates. Debt restructuring provides a less expensive alternative to bankruptcy when a debtor is in financial turmoil, and it can work to the benefit of both borrower and lender.