A US-based private equity firm is likely to sell up to a 6.4% stake in a housing finance company through an open market transaction on Tuesday.

According to a term sheet, an entity of the private equity firm will sell 1.66 crore shares at a floor price of ?775 per share, aiming to raise approximately ?1,256 crore. The floor price represents a 5% discount to the previous day’s closing price of ?794.90.

The housing finance company’s stock has underperformed this year, with a gain of only 1.2%, compared to a 13% rise in the benchmark index. As of June 30, 2024, the private equity firm held a 32.68% stake in the company.

The leadership of a major cement company has assured employees that it will be business as usual for them despite a change in ownership. Employees were told that the ownership transition will not affect their careers, and that experienced and high-performing workers will continue to be recognized and rewarded.

Staff were reassured that there is no need to feel insecure or threatened, and that the company’s future remains strong. Employees were encouraged to continue working with full dedication, with the message that operations and policies will largely remain the same.

The acquiring cement company announced that it will acquire a 32.72% stake from promoters and associates for ?3,954 crore to expand its presence in the highly competitive Southern cement market. An open offer of ?3,142.35 crore has also been announced to acquire an additional 26% of the company from existing shareholders.

Reflecting on the company’s origins, the leadership noted that the early days of the cement business involved exploration and resource discovery, which laid the foundation for its long-standing operations.

People may be able to begin constructing an apartment sonner than before as CMDA is set to introduce deemed NOCs for highrise buildings (HRB), particularly those above five floors or 18 metres tall. CMDA, which introduced online plan permission in May 2022, on average approves 70 plans every month and more than 70 highrise buildings every year. The numbers were 35 and 60 prior to 2022, say CMDA officials. But issuing approvals took at least 45 days, especially because of the process of getting NOCs from stakeholder departments. CMDA officials say there are 21 departments, including state and Union govt agencies, involved in issuing NOCs to highrise and non-highrise buildings and layouts and sub-division approval in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Most departments are integrated with cmdaonlineppa.tn.gov.in, but developers of highrise buildings only need approval from Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services, Airports Authority of India (if it is 30.5 metres high or above 10 floors), CMRL (if building is within metro alignment), and WRD (if it’s near water bodies). South, said that if implemented this will be a major breakthrough in the housing and construction industry. “Home buyers will also benefit as delivery will be quicker. The speedy approval process will attract large investments from other states to TN.” 
 

For real estate properties purchased before 2001, the cost of acquisition for calculating long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax will be either the fair market value (FMV, not exceeding the stamp duty value) as of April 1, 2001, or the actual cost of the land or building.

The indexation benefit allows taxpayers to compute gains from the sale of capital assets after adjusting for inflation. For properties purchased before 2001, the FMV (not exceeding the stamp duty value) can be used as the base to determine the indexed price. The indexed price is then deducted from the sale price to calculate LTCG, which is taxed at 20%.

For properties acquired prior to April 1, 2001, the cost of acquisition as of that date is defined as either the original cost to the owner or the FMV of the property (subject to the stamp duty limit).

For example, if the sale price is ?1 crore and the indexed cost of acquisition is ?36.3 lakh, the LTCG would be ?63.7 lakh, and the tax at 20% would amount to ?12.74 lakh.

A leading cement manufacturer reported a 50.82% decline in consolidated net profit to ?36.57 crore in the June 2024 quarter, due to falling cement prices and weak demand amid the Lok Sabha elections. The company had posted a net profit of ?74.36 crore in the same quarter last fiscal year.

Revenue from operations fell 6.81% to ?2,093.55 crore, compared with ?2,246.66 crore a year ago. Total expenses in the quarter were ?2,054.11 crore, down 4.3%.

In the first quarter of FY25, the company incurred ?281 crore in expenses, with estimated total capex, including maintenance, at ?1,200 crore. Net debt stood at ?4,975 crore as of June 30, 2024.

Shares of the company settled 1.48% lower at ?800.20 per share on the stock exchange.

A global asset management firm has acquired a tech park in Chennai for approximately ?2,100 crore. The prime office asset was previously jointly owned by a real estate developer and a pension fund.

The property, located in Chennai’s Porur area, spans over 12.6 acres and has a gross leasable area of 2.4 million sq ft, comprising three Grade A office towers. Several leading corporate tenants occupy the commercial complex.

The exit pertains only to this Chennai asset, while the previous partners continue their collaboration on other properties.

Private equity investment in Indian real estate remained resilient in the first half of the year. Institutional investment in the sector surged to $4.8 billion across 40 deals in the first half of 2024, reaching 81% of the total investment made in 2023, which was $5.8 billion.

The Indian office sector has continued to see strong demand growth, bucking the global trend of sluggishness.

A global asset management firm has acquired a tech park in Chennai for approximately ?2,100 crore. The prime office asset was previously jointly owned by a real estate developer and a pension fund.

The property, located in Chennai’s Porur area, spans over 12.6 acres and has a gross leasable area of 2.4 million sq ft, comprising three Grade A office towers. Several leading corporate tenants occupy the commercial complex.

The exit pertains only to this Chennai asset, while the previous partners continue their collaboration on other properties.

Private equity investment in Indian real estate remained resilient in the first half of the year. Institutional investment in the sector surged to $4.8 billion across 40 deals in the first half of 2024, reaching 81% of the total investment made in 2023, which was $5.8 billion.

The Indian office sector has continued to see strong demand growth, bucking the global trend of sluggishness.

A leading low-income housing finance company is expecting over a 20% increase in its order book and home loan disbursements, as the upcoming budget is expected to support housing-for-all initiatives.

The company has requested the government to redefine income criteria for the economically weaker section (EWS) to ?5 lakh and for the low-income group (LIG) to ?10 lakh.

It disbursed ?6,000 crore in FY23 and ?7,100 crore in FY24. Uttar Pradesh is the largest market, contributing nearly 15% of revenue, while metro areas such as Delhi and Mumbai also contribute significantly. The company is exploring expansion into the Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir.

Focusing on the low-income housing segment, the company has an assets under management (AUM) of ?16,566 crore as of December 31, 2022, with operations across 20 states and union territories and a network of 424 branches and offices.

Due to rising construction costs, the government may consider redefining priority sector lending limits from ?35 lakh to ?50 lakh in metro locations and from ?25 lakh to ?35 lakh in non-metro areas, as well as merging urban and rural housing schemes for CLSS subsidies while maintaining the same subsidy amount

A leading cement manufacturer reported a marginal growth of 0.69% in net profit for the quarter ended June 2024. Profit after tax stood at ?145 crore in Q1 FY25, compared with ?144 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The company’s net consolidated total income was ?3,671 crore in Q1 FY25, a slight decline of 0.27% from ?3,681 crore recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Installed cement capacity as of June 30 stood at 45.6 million tonnes (MnT), with a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 0.17x. Cement volumes increased 6.2% year-on-year to 7.4 MnT, while renewable energy consumption rose to 35%.

Although overall demand remained weak during the quarter, margins improved due to better input costs and the reversal of certain inefficiencies from the previous quarter. The company added 2 MnT of cement capacity in the southern region and plans to add another 2.9 MnT in the North East and East regions during FY25.

Additionally, 1 MnT capacity was commissioned at existing units in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, taking the total installed capacity to 17 MnT in the South and 46.6 MnT nationwide. This expansion aligns with the long-term strategy to increase total cement capacity to 110–130 MnT by 2031.