Hi š, Tanvi here.
Filter Coffee hits your inbox every morning with notable tech and business news scoops to jump start your day.Ā
Sign up below for free. š
Letās go ahead and get started:
Market summary: šĀ
Good start to this week so far but weāre nowhere near making up for last weekās losses. A lot rides on the US elections which are scheduled for today.
US:
S&P 500 - up 1.23%
Nasdaq 100 - up 0.29%
India:
Nifty 50 - up 0.23%
Sensex - up 0.36%
First things firstĀ š
Indiaās manufacturing PMI continued its upward climb as October index value touched 58.9 -- the highest levels seen in nearly a decade, marking a 4% month-over-month expansion.Ā
A measure of production activity across the country, manufacturing PMI is calculated by surveying the countryās largest businesses for production volumes, inventory, hiring etc. The October uptrend indicates businesses slowly increasing production capacity, hoping that consumer demand will continue to be strong.Ā
The October data also suggested that the cost of raw materials (input costs) for businesses was slightly higher than normal, as inflation remains high for certain goods and services. But those hiccups will be resolved over a longer frame. What matters right now is that these data points give investors and corporations tremendous confidence in recovery.
While weāre talking about broad economic matters,Ā
Central government has finally decided to extend its MSME credit scheme for another month, pushing the deadline to the end of November. So far some 60 lakh borrowers have taken loans through the scheme, yet nearly ā¹1 lakh crore amount of the total ā¹3 Lakh crore that was sanctioned, is yet to be applied for. The scheme was put into motion to extend an emergency credit line to micro enterprises and SMEs, but response has been kinda lukewarm.
As weāve said before, it's hard to ascertain whether it's the red-tape that discourages people from applying or if people really donāt need the benefit. Odds are, it isn't the latter.
Healthcare consolidation š
Manipal Hospitals will buyout Columbia Asia Hospitals group, in a deal thatās pegged at about ā¹2,100 crores, adding Columbiaās Ā 11-odd hospitals to Manipalās extensive portfolio of facilities.
The acquisition will be funded using a mix of debt and equity, and a couple of private equity investors including TPG and Temasek will be pitching in as well, with eventual settlement leading to Manipal holding about 60% stake, while others take the rest.Ā
The transaction makes Manipal Indiaās second largest healthcare chain now, only behind Apollo, with the combined entity owning 27 hospitals across 15 cities with more than 7,300 beds and a pool of 4,000+ doctors. The company aims to facilitate nearly 4 million patients annually!
What matters: it does appear that Columbia wasnāt interested in operating in India anymore and wanted to exit the market altogether.Ā
But clearly COVID has put Indiaās health infrastructure under the spotlight like never beforeāexposing the good as well as the bad. Expect investors and major capital allocators in the arena to move in swiftly and capitalize on opportunities that became visible. The health-infra segment will be interesting to watch over the next few years.
Spurring creativity š¦
Last year, Twitter launched an internal initiative to keep a pulse on pop-culture and leverage whatās hot on social media to create tailored campaigns for brands. The initiative, called Arthouse, was quite successful, and now Twitter wants to launch it in India.Ā
Basically, the Arthouse team will work with ad-agencies who in turn will work with brands to identify creators on Twitter who can create ads, write scripts, dance, or just market via āentertainmentā. As plain ads stop to appeal to the masses on social platforms lately, brands are widely leaning on creativity and quirkiness to get noticed. Some examples from the US.
Twitter hopes to capitalize on Indiaās festive season and move the needle on digital advertising as well as engagement on its platform so the company can save face infront of investors for the next quarter. The 25%+ sell off from last week still hurts. Ouch. Anyway, some 18 million hardcore Indian Twitter users are the testbed.
Takeaway: Twitter has massively fallen behind on innovating with its platform and is now actively drawing pages from the books of Instagram, FB, TikTok to help bridge the gap. Regardless of whether this helps them or not, this can be a sweet opportunity for agencies and influencers in India to shine.
What the bankers say? š°
HDFC Bank, a passionately owned stock for many long-term investors in India, reported a pretty impressive quarter. Profits declined a bit but interest income grew and the loan book expanded a decent amount, while bad loans seemed to be under control. Some highlightsā
Net profit for HDFC fell 27.5% in the quarter, yet managed to exceed investor expectations
Net interest income was up 21%
Total loan advances grew 10% for HDFC -- a respectable expansion even as real estate industry remains broadly frozen in India
Lastly, bad loans weren't as bad, with ratio of 1.81% improving a tad bit
In all, the quarter wasnāt their best but considering the environment, it certainly managed to exceed expectations and stock promptly jumped 7%. Also, HDFC sounded positive about improvements in loan applications and retail demand coming up as India crawls back to normalcy.
Tweet of the day --
What else are we snackinā šæ
š 100% Swadeshi - MPL is set to be the sponsors of the new kit of the Indian cricket team, dethroning Nike from its partnership of over 14 years. MPLās 3 year deal with BCCI is worth ā¹120 crores.
š Democratized access eliminates cost - The Maha Education Dept. has started FREE online classes for the students of 11th Std to make sure that no academic sessions are lost due to the pandemic. The classes are being conducted for the students of Arts, Science, Commerce and over 60K students have enrolled via YouTube.
Hit that š if you liked todayās issue.
You can forward this email or share FC on social media by clicking the button below. Thanks and Ciao! š