Today’s Rundown

Happy Tuesday! Today we are talking about some of the biggest headlines from these industries:

1. Pharma

2. Auto

3. FMCG

4. Energy

The Markets 

Sector Overview 

• Shares of Wockhardt Pharma surge by 5% on Friday after the company announces successful use of WCK 5222, also known as Zaynich, to treat a cancer patient in the US. Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman of Wockhardt has stated that the company plans to introduce the drug, priced at $15000, in India at a significant discount of 85%-90%. (Source: CNBC-TV18)

• India plans to offer PLI (production-linked incentive) schemes to promote local manufacturing of GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1) drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity, in 2026. Industry experts say Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s patent on semaglutide - a GLP-1 agonist and a key ingredient in it’s wildy popular obesity drug Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic is set to expire in India, also in 2026. (Source: The Economic Times)

• Quality assurance of drugs manufactured in India continue to remain a concern after news comes in that a CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organization) risk-based inspections of over 400 pharmaceutical manufacturing units over the past year and a half resulting in the closure of 36% of these facilities, revealed by DCGI (Drug Controller General of India) Rajeev Raghuvanshi at an Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) event. (Source: Livemint)

Top Gainers:

• Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, a brand present in India for over 20 years, is looking to partner with an Indian automaker to grow it’s business further in a price competitive market. It considers finding a local partner a very attractive scenario, as it aims to make deeper inroads into the Indian market with the help of a domestic entity that has close linkages in the supplier ecosystem, a rich understanding of local customer preferences and economies of scale that can drive down the European carmaker’s costs in India’s predatory market. (Source: Livemint)

• Auto sales reports June 2024: Tata Motors domestic PV (Passenger vehicle) sales down 7.9% at 43,524 units YoY, total domestic sales up 1.5% in Q1. Maruti Suzuki compact segment sales down 0.7% YoY, PV sales up 3.1% YoY, Utility vehicle sales rise nearly 21% YoY, total sales up 12.4% YoY, beat analyst’s expectations. VST Tillers and Tractors total sales fall 20% since last year. Extensively discussed in report (Source: Zee Business)

• Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported it’s highest ever monthly sales at 27,474 units in June 2024. The company has witnessed 40% YoY growth. The company also mentioned that the recently launched Urban Cruiser Taisor SUV performed beyond expectations with order intake doubling to the previous month. (Source: The Times Of India) 

Top Gainers:

• India’s FMCG sector to have sustained growth rate of 7-9% in 2024, supported by government initiatives to stimulate consumption and create job opportunities, a report from ICICI Lombard General Insurance said. A huge factor being the online sales channel for FMCG which is also increasing and has been valued at Rs 1.7 trillion. (Source: Business Standard)

• Asian Palm Oil Alliance urges HUL to reconsider it’s decision to reduce use of palm oil content in it’s soaps by 25%, as the move could have serious implications for millions of palm oil farmers worldwide, particularly smallholders, said APOA. (Source: The Economic Times)

   

• The Coca-Cola Company has shut down it’s Bottling Investments Group (BIG), under which the US beverage maker operates it’s worldwide bottling operations, including in India. The move directly impacts India as Coca-Cola India’s wholly- owned bottling company, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), was controlled by BIG. (Source: The Economic Times)

ENERGY

Top Gainers:

• Navratna PSU Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) shares went up 6% after the company reported a whopping 382% year-on-year growth in loan sanctions. IREDA provides financial assistance for renewable energy (RE) projects. (Source: Trade Brains)

• Shares of JSW Energy were up 4% on Thursday after the company revealed that JSW Energy Neo via it’s subsidiary, has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for wind and solar projects with cumulative capacity of 1,325 MW, comprising of 1,025 MW with Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited and 300 MW with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited. The wind PPA for 1,025 MW represents the SECI’s largest single tranche agreement, featuring a blended tariff of Rs 3.62 per kWh for a 25 year supply period. These projects are located in Gujarat (JSW Renew Energy Eight Limited) and Karnataka (JSW Renew Energy Four Limited) scheduled to commence operations within 24 months, increasing the company’s locked in wind capacity to 4.8 GW. (Source: Business Standard)

• World Bank approves $1.5 billion more in financing for the second '‘Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation’ to help India boost the production of green hydrogen and electrolysers, critical technology needed for green hydrogen production. This operation is aligned with the government’s energy security and the World Bank’s Hydrogen for Development (H4D) Partnership. According to the World Bank, the reforms are expected to result in the production of at least 4,50,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen and 1,500 MW of electrolysers per year from FY 25-26 onwards. (Source: Swachh India NDTV)

This has been your friendly neighbourhood news aggregator and prime information source, Uptick. And once again thank you so much for subscribing!