ITC gets into organic food

Wholesale inflation drops, SpiceJet makes a profit, and Meesho comes home.

Jun 17, 2025

🗓 Morning, folks!

Markets kicked off the week on a strong note, with Sensex and Nifty rising nearly 1% each, bouncing back from last session’s dip.

The rally was broad-based, led by financials, energy, and midcaps, as improving global cues and selective buying lifted overall sentiment.

💡 Spotlight: Shipping stocks are sailing high as tensions in the Middle East escalate, pushing up freight rates and investor interest.

Shares of Shipping Corporation of India and GE Shipping rose up to 3%, building on Friday’s gains after Israel launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear program. The conflict has now entered its fourth day, with continued attacks on both sides.

Meanwhile, the Baltic Dry Index which is a key benchmark for global shipping costs has surged nearly 41% in the last month, with 38% of that coming in June alone.

Let’s hit it!

1 Big thing: Wholesale inflation drops to 14-month low 📉

India’s WPI inflation cooled to 0.39% in May, down from 0.85% in April, the third straight month of decline, as food and fuel prices softened.

The deets: the drop was driven by easing prices in food, fuel, and manufactured products.

Primary food articles saw a decline of -1.56%, the second month in a row.
Vegetable prices fell -21.6%, hitting a 28-month low.
Other big movers included potato which came in at -29.4%, onion at -14.4%, pulses at -10.4%, eggs, meat & fish at -1.01%.
Prices in the cereals basket rose, but at a slower pace
Fuel & power prices dropped -2.27% in May

On the flip side, some food prices ticked up with fruits rising 10.17% & milk 2.66%

Zoom out: the sharp dip in WPI inflation follows a similar trend in retail inflation, which dropped to a 75-month low of 2.82% in May, thanks to a steep fall in vegetable and pulses prices.

This signals a broad-based cooling in price pressures across both wholesale and consumer levels especially in essential food items.

Big theme: with inflation softening across the board, the RBI now has greater room to ease monetary policy. So far in 2025, it has cut the repo rate by 100 basis points, bringing it down to 5.5%, with the most recent being a 50 bps cut in June. This steady decline in inflation could support borrowing, spending, and overall economic growth in the months ahead.

2. Servify gears up for IPO 💸

Servify, a device lifestyle management platform, is gearing up to join the IPO club by 2026, aiming to raise $250-300 million.

Founded in 2015, Servify started out as an app for regular consumers but later shifted to helping businesses. Now, it offers after-sale services like repairs & support under other companies' names, working with big brands like Apple, Samsung, and HP.

The deets: With this fundraise, the company is expected to be valued between $1.5- $2.3 billion. It plans to file its DRHP with SEBI within the next six months.

Worth noting: Servify is poised to become the first Indian company in the device lifecycle management space to be listed on the bourses.

Zoom out: India's Device Lifestyle Management market is booming, driven by growing demand for warranty, repair, and protection services as mobile and connected devices multiply. With Servify leading the IPO race and competitors like Cashify also eyeing a public listing, this space is poised for rapid growth in the coming years.

3. SpiceJet is back in the profit zone ✈️

SpiceJet flew in with a strong Q4, reporting its highest-ever quarterly profit and a second straight profitable quarter.

By the numbers:

Q4 standalone net profit: ₹324.87 crore, up 174% YoY from ₹118.9 crore
Q4 revenue: ₹1,942 crore, up 17.6% QoQ
FY25 full-year profit: ₹48 crore, its first annual profit in 7 years
Passenger load factor: 88.1%, reflecting solid demand

The passenger load factor is a key performance indicator in the transportation industry, particularly for airlines, that measures the capacity utilization of a transport provider. It essentially indicates how full the available seats are on a flight.

Alongside earnings, the airline also announced a major aircraft lease restructuring.

SpiceJet credited its strong numbers to a tight operational focus, rising demand, and improved yield environment.

Zoom out: after years of turbulence, SpiceJet seems to be making a steady return to stability boosted by high demand and strategic restructuring. With the full-year profit finally back in sight, investors may be hoping the airline’s turnaround has cleared for takeoff.

4. ITC bites into organic food 🥗

ITC has completed the ₹400 crore all-cash acquisition of Sresta Natural Bioproducts (SNBPL), marking its official entry into the fast-growing organic food segment.

SNBPL makes and sells organic food products like grains, pulses, and spices under the 24 Mantra Organic brand, using crops grown without chemicals by farmers across India.

The why: ITC is sharpening its focus on future-ready, health-focused foods, and SNBPL gives it an immediate leg-up in the organic space, both in India and overseas.

The brand already has a wide product portfolio, strong recall, and global distribution networks, especially in the US.

Big theme: India’s organic food market is currently valued at around ₹13,000 crore & it is expected to grow at a rate of 20–25%, reaching ₹30,000–₹35,000 crore by FY27.

The country has the largest number of organic producers globally, with over 4.6 million certified farmers and 2.9 million hectares under organic cultivation.

While we are on acquisitions,

Genetic testing firm 23andMe, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, is being acquired by TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit led by 23andMe co-founder and ex-CEO Anne Wojcicki, for $305 million.

The catalyst: after a 2023 cyberattack and lawsuit settlement, the company collapsed, prompting Wojcicki to resign and re-enter the scene as an independent bidder.

Pharma major Regeneron initially emerged as the buyer with a $256 million bid, but Wojcicki’s offer topped it, leading Regeneron to step back.

5. Aspora banks on the diaspora 💰

Aspora, a startup building financial tools for non-resident Indians (NRIs), has raised $50 million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, valuing it at $500 million.

The company started as Pipe.com’s India pivot, and first launched remittances for UK-based NRIs in 2023.

It now operates in Europe and the UAE, and charges a flat transfer fee with what it calls the “Google rate” for currency essentially mimicking what users see when they search FX rates online.

The startup says 80% of users send money to their own Indian accounts, not just to family, signalling that wealth creation, is driving NRI remittances.

Why it matters: Aspora is using remittances as a wedge to build an NRI-first financial platform.

The next step for the company is to launch in the US which is India’s biggest remittance corridor.

Zoom out: global players like Wise and Remitly, and Indian rivals like Abound, are in the mix. But Aspora’s verticalised approach, faster rollout, and diaspora-first thinking has investors like Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru backing it to win.

6. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

1. HBL wins big railway safety deal 💪

HBL Engineering gained over 2% after bagging contracts worth over ₹163 crore from South Central Railway to implement and upgrade the Kavach train safety system.

Kavach is India’s indigenously developed automatic train protection system, designed to prevent collisions, enforce speed limits, and alert loco pilots in case of signal errors.

The deets: the main contract valued at ₹133 crore involves installing Kavach across the Vijayawada–Ballarshah section. The rollout covers a 446-km stretch, 48 stations, and 10 locomotives, with an expected timeline of 18 months.

Separately, HBL received a ₹30.6 crore order to upgrade Kavach from Version 3.2 to Version 4.0 across the Mudkhed–Manmad section (350 km), to be completed in 24 months.

Background: just last month, HBL became the first company approved to implement Version 4.0 of the Kavach system, India’s latest and most advanced version of its train collision avoidance technology.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🇮🇳 Homecoming: IPO-bound Meesho will pay ₹2,461 crore in taxes to shift its base from the US to India.

🪙 Golden glow: Gold hits record ₹1,01,078/10g on MCX as Israel-Iran tensions boost safe-haven demand.

☢️ Uranium boost: India to nearly quadruple uranium imports by 2033 to power its nuclear energy push.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

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