After an outperformance in Q2FY2009, the Capital Goods sector underperformed the broader markets in Q3FY2009 amidst growing concerns of slowdown in order inflows and liquidity crunch. The Q3 saw the capital goods index underperform the benchmark index as the BSE Capital Goods index declined by 34.8% as against a 26.1% decline witnessed by BSE Sensex. The capital goods index in the monthly index of industrial production numbers continued to be volatile, as it rose by 3.1% in October 2008. The …

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Black Gold (i.e. Oil) has lost its sheen, and how! Today, the cost of a litre of petrol or diesel for Indian oil majors is less than the price of a bottle of packaged water. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that a litre of petrol costs about Rs 11 and diesel about Rs 14, excluding transportation and sundry other charges. By contrast, a one-litre bottle of water costs between Rs 12-15. 

Here’s how the arithmetic goes. A barrel of crude oil contains about …

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Amidst the rising concerns at the macro level, the business growth at the industry level remained strong in Q3FY2009. The year-till-date credit growth (till December 19, 2008) stands at 24.4%, better than the ~22.0% credit growth recorded in the same period last year. The healthy credit demand is primarily due to the fact that alternative funding sources (external commercial borrowings, foreign currency convertible bonds) have dried up with rising risk aversion. Though the role of domestic banks has increased, the …

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The top line of the front-line information technology companies is expected to grow in the range 6.1-11.7% in Q3FY2009. The growth in the top line is expected to be primarily driven by the depreciation in the rupee against the US Dollar. The rupee’s depreciation is likely to contribute 10-12% of the top line growth for the front-line IT companies. In dollar terms, the front-line IT companies may miss the revenue guidance on account of a sharp cross-currency movement and muted …

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Quest India invites you to participate in program “International Tax & Transfer Pricing” scheduled on January 22, 2009 at Hotel Intercontinental The Grand, Mumbai

Preamble

International Taxation and Transfer Pricing are high on the agenda of the industry. The field of International Taxation has gained tremendous importance in today???s globalised environment. Issues range from Withholding Tax cross-border Transactions/ Permanent Establishment / structuring to transfer pricing. Pursuing new opportunities also means confronting a wide array of new tax planning and compliance challenges.

In line …

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The Manmohan Singh government is readying a New Year booster for the Indian economy in the form of an economic stimulus part-II and is signalling that while major industry concerns are being addressed, the forthcoming financial fillip will not be followed by another for a while. The Indian industries have, on number of instances, urged the government to deliver a “message of hope’’ in this time of doom and gloom, which have been enforced by news of falling revenues, operational losses …

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Ahead of the New Year revelry, here is a warning from the Supreme Court for all parents — Do not lend your two-wheelers or cars to your children, who are eager to impress their peer group, without taking an appropriate insurance cover. For, if the youngster driving your vehicle meets with a fatal accident and, even if you have a third-party insurance cover, the insurer is not liable to compensate the death of your child, says the apex court.

People may …

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