Covid-19 pandemic pushed India’s Taj Hotel chain to look to cut costs
“This was the historic opportunity to review our fixed and variable costs,” Chief Executive Officer Puneet Chhatwal said Wednesday.
By Bloomberg | Posted by Kanishka Sarkar
PUBLISHED ON NOV 25, 2020 03:56 PM IST
Indian Hotels Co., the luxury hotel chain run by the Tata Group, used the coronavirus-imposed lockdown to see where it could save costs.
“This was the historic opportunity to review our fixed and variable costs,” Chief Executive Officer Puneet Chhatwal said Wednesday in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The industry never experienced such a revenue decline in last 100 years.”
The firm, which owns the iconic Taj brand and operates The Pierre in New York City, didn’t cut any jobs but redeployed some staff elsewhere in the salt-to-software Tata empire, Chhatwal said. The company slumped to a 3.8 billion rupee ($51 million) loss in the six months ended Sept. 30 from a 1.4 billion rupee profit a year earlier, as a 73% plunge in revenue eclipsed 36% cost savings.
Its shares have rebounded 82% from a six-year low in May as India’s economy gradually reopens. Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a strict and sudden lockdown in March to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Sensex, Nifty inch lower; all eyes on Reliance ahead of results
Reuters
UPDATED ON JAN 22, 2021 09:44 AM IST
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.2% to 14,569 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.2% at 49,528.03.
Intel probes potential early unauthorized access to earnings report
Bloomberg
PUBLISHED ON JAN 22, 2021 07:43 AM IST
The stock fell almost 5% in extended trading after the company’s new CEO committed to in-house manufacturing during a conference call with analysts.
‘Economic recovery seeing phoenix-like rise’
By Gopika Gopakumar, Livemint, Mumbai
PUBLISHED ON JAN 22, 2021 06:13 AM IST
The Indian economy shrank 23.9% in the first quarter and 7.5% in the second quarter on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. RBI expects the economy to contract by 7.5% in the current fiscal to March.
Sensex may breach 100k in 5 years as reforms take hold
By Nasrin Sultana, Livemint, Mumbai
PUBLISHED ON JAN 22, 2021 06:03 AM IST
Foreign institutional investors led the investments in Indian markets in 2010-20. During the decade, FII investments in Indian equities stood at $107.38 billion, with only four years of outflows
Bitcoin drops close to $30,000 mark as head-turning rally stalls
Bloomberg
PUBLISHED ON JAN 22, 2021 05:58 AM IST
Bitcoin has seen a stellar rally as prices more than doubled after passing $20,000 for the first time in December.
_1611273570700_1611273608707.JPG "Each of the four startups will get <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>5 lakh as marketing assistance over a period of one year to launch Minimum Viable Product in the market, an official release said.(Hemant Mishra/Mint Archive)")
UP govt gives ₹5 lakh marketing assistance to four startups under new policy
ANI, Lucknow
PUBLISHED ON JAN 22, 2021 05:35 AM IST
In a boost to 'Start In UP' programme under the new UP Startup Policy-2020, the Policy Implementation Unit (PIU) approved marketing assistance to four startups on Thursday.
BSE Sensex: From 1,000 to 50,000 in 30 years
By Vineet Sachdev
UPDATED ON JAN 22, 2021 04:05 AM IST
The Sensex has nearly doubled from its lows in March and has risen nearly 50 times in three decades — the benchmark was on 999 on January 1, 1991.
UK, EU in spat over diplomatic status of bloc's ambassador
AP, London
UPDATED ON JAN 21, 2021 11:22 PM IST
Joao Vale de Almeida is the 27-nation EU’s envoy to the U.K., which left the bloc last year. The EU says he should be given the same status as a national ambassador, like the rest of the bloc's 143 envoys around the world.
Twitter to restart giving blue ticks from January 22: All you need to know
Written by Poulomi Ghosh
PUBLISHED ON JAN 21, 2021 10:20 PM IST
In 2017, the micro-blogging platform stopped its verification programme saying it felt arbitrary and confusing to many people.
India within striking distance of attaining positive growth, says RBI
PTI, Mumbai
PUBLISHED ON JAN 21, 2021 08:25 PM IST
The economy contracted by a massive 23.9 per cent in the first quarter and 7.5 per cent in the second quarter on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Saudi Aramco excludes emissions data in disclosures to investors
Reuters
PUBLISHED ON JAN 21, 2021 05:43 PM IST
The world's biggest oil company's self-reported carbon footprint might nearly double, adding as much as 55 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to its annual tally, if those facilities are included, according to the report.
$200 bn extra savings, lockdown boosts household savings to 20-yr high: Report
PTI, Mumbai
PUBLISHED ON JAN 21, 2021 05:40 PM IST
Historically households have been funding a third of the capital formation of the rest of the economy.
Rupee gains 6 paise to close near 5-month high of 72.99 vs USD
PTI, Mumbai
PUBLISHED ON JAN 21, 2021 05:28 PM IST
It finally closed higher by 6 paise at 72.99 to the dollar, a level not seen since September 1, 2020.
Budget 2021: CII seeks customs duty exemption for defence imports in pvt sector
By Rahul Singh
PUBLISHED ON JAN 21, 2021 05:03 PM IST
The industry body said the taxes were affecting the private sector’s competitiveness across all projects, especially “large value, long-gestation period” programmes such as shipbuilding
Sensex breaches 50k-mark, ends lower on profit-booking
PTI, Mumbai
UPDATED ON JAN 21, 2021 04:24 PM IST
The broader NSE Nifty slipped 54.35 points or 0.37 per cent to close at 14,590.35.