Sensex Opens Lower; Hindustan Aeronautics IPO Makes a Weak Debut

Wed, 28 Mar 09:30 am

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Asian stocks are lower today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Nikkei 225 is off 1.77% while the Hang Seng is down 1.28%. The Shanghai Composite is trading down by 0.80%. US stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday, erasing earlier gains, as a decline in the broader tech sector brought the major averages down.

Back home, India share markets opened the day on a negative note. The BSE Sensex is trading lower by 152 points while the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 56 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened the day down by 0.5% & 0.7% respectively.

All sectoral indices have opened the day in red with metal stocks and PSU stocks witnessing maximum selling pressure. The rupee is trading at 64.80 to the US$.

In the news from the telecom sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, the proposal to merge Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, to create the country's largest telecom company, is in the final stages of approval.

The two companies last week announced the top deck for the soon-to-be-merged entity, naming Balesh Sharma as the new CEO.

Vodafone and Idea, the second and the third largest operators in the country, recently announced the new leadership team of the merged entity that will have Kumar Mangalam Birla at the helm as the non-executive Chairman.

The merger - slated to create India's largest telecom operator in terms of customer base and revenue market share - is expected to be completed by June this year, subject to statutory approvals.

The combination, which is set to dislodge the numero uno player Bharti Airtel, was imminent as the incumbent operators have been bruised by aggressive tariffs from newcomer Reliance Jio, triggering a price war in the industry.

The merged entity is projected to be worth over US$23 billion with a 35% market share.

Reportedly, the Department of Telecom is in the final stages of drafting the new National Telecom Policy 2018, and will thereafter place it before the Telecom Commission for approval.

One shall note that, the whole telecom business has been an underwhelming story so far. While the telecom subscriber base has increased from 300 million in 2008 to 1.2 billion in 2017, investors have little to cheer.

The BSE Sensex has gone up 3.25 times in nine years, but the BSE Telecom Index has not moved an inch from its levels of 2008.

Telecom Sector: A decade of Underperformance

Telecom companies are straddled with high debt, intense competition, and lack of pricing power. High spectrum costs and regulatory issues have hampered the sector.

While consumers have benefited from low costs and new players fighting for their share, investors have suffered.

Going forward, whether the situation will change in the future will be the key thing to watch out for.

Idea Cellular share price opened the day down by 0.4%.

Moving on to the news from the pharma sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Fortis Healthcare Ltd will sell its hospital business to Manipal Hospitals Enterprises Private Ltd, creating the largest provider of healthcare services in India by revenue.

Reportedly, for every 100 shares of Fortis held, a shareholder will receive 10.83 shares in Manipal Hospitals, the combined company that will be created following the deal.

Fortis said it approved the sale of a 20% stake in diagnostics chain SRL Ltd to Manipal Hospitals, providing Fortis with more than Rs 700.

Manipal Hospitals will be a publicly-traded company listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange, while remaining businesses with Fortis Healthcare will be an investment holding company with 36.6% stake in SRL.

Further, Dr Ranjan Pai and US-based private equity firm TPG Capital, a shareholder in Manipal Hospitals since 2015, will invest Rs 39 billion in Manipal Hospitals, to finance the acquisition of 50.9% stake in SRL.

Manipal Hospitals is in discussions to buy 30.9% held by other investors in the diagnostics chain.

The investment will also support the proposed acquisition of hospital assets owned by RHT Health Trust and the growth of the hospitals and the diagnostics businesses, the reports stated.

Fortis Healthcare share price opened the day down by 7.1%.

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