HYDERABAD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2026 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. NO. XXII 242, 44 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 83,674.92 ▼ 558.72 NIFTY: 25,807.20 ▼ 146.65 NIKKEI 225: 57,639.84 ▼ 10.70 HANG SENG: 27,032.54 ▼ 233.84 `/$: 90.60 ▲ 0.11 `/€: 107.70 ▲ 0.41 BRENT: $68.78 ▼ $0.62 GOLD: `1,55,398 ▼ `601 2.13 Core Dec 2025 KEY CHANGES Weighting of items like food (~46% to ~37%) lowered to reduce index volatility Total 299 Total 40 358 2012 series Food * January 2026 core inflation seen subdued Jan 2025 2012 series 308 259 -2.71 * Overall Services Goods 5.97 2.75 4.45 NUMBER OF ITEMS IN CPI BASKET 3.71 CPI % change, y-o-y 1.33 A FIRMING OF price momentum, coupled with a revision of the gauge, pushed retail inflation to 2.75% in January, the highest print since May 2025, official data released on Thursday showed, cementing the chances of an extended rate pause by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The January inflation, measured by the revised consumer price index (CPI) with an updated base year of 2024, was largely on expected lines, though economists said the older series (with the base year of 2012) might have pegged inflation about 40 basis points lower. Annual retail inflation under the old series had stood at 1.33% in December and 4.26% in January 2025. The new series seeks to capture changing consumption patterns with revised weighting for components, ON A SMOOTHER TRACK 4.26 KULDEEP SINGH New Delhi, February 12 Jan 2026 2024 series 50 2024 series ENHANCED COVERAGE (%) HUL standalone financials Revenue Ebitda Net profit 2.1 135.8 4.4 the company prioritising volume-led revenue growth in FY27, as price changes triggered by goods and services Towns 40 Markets 25 Items 19 Source: MoSPI 42.62% in the 2012 series to 36.75%, the National Statistics Office said. Economists feel this change alone will reduce the “noise element” in the new index and make inflation figures more stable. Continued on Page 4 EDIT: »INSIDE « ECONOMISTS SEE STABILITY LINESON EXPECTED A WELCOME REVISION, WRITES RBI EXPECTED TO REMAIN INPAGE 2 IN REBASED INDEX PAGE 2 PAGE 8 P C MOHANAN PAGE 8 LOWER FOR LONGER MODE IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 4 US’TEXTILESTARIFF RELIEFTOBESAMEAS BANGLADESH:GOYAL INDIAWILL RECEIVE the same benefits as Bangladesh on textiles exports to the US if raw materials are sourced from America, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, report Mukesh Jagota and Narayanan V. » INSIDE « IT INDEX AT 10-MONTH LOW, DRAGS MARKET DOWN P 7 USV BUYS `1,583-CR STAKE IN WELLBEING NUTRITION P 6 NBFCs LOOK OVERSEAS FOR CHEAPER FUNDS P 7 DAC nod to purchase of 114 Rafale,6 Boeing jets AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA New Delhi, February 12 90 RAFALE TO BE MADE IN INDIA MOVING TO CLOSE one of India’slargestmilitarydeals,the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared on Thursday a proposaltopurchase114Rafale fighteraircraftfortheIndianAir Force (IAF) from France under an inter-governmental deal. Top government officials said that 90 of these aircraft would be manufactured in India.The proposal’s clearance by the DAC,headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,comes days before the arrival in India of French President Emmanuel Macron. On a three-day visit starting February 17, Macron will be attending the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi and will also hold talkswith Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. A final agreement will be Acquisition Council clears multiple proposals worth an estimated ■ Defence `3.60 lakh crore ■ Approval comes days before French President Emmanuel Macron’s arrival in India on February 17 signed once commercial negotiations conclude and the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approves the acquisition. The DAC also cleared the procurement of six additional Boeing P-8I maritime surveillance and anti-submarine ■ Of the 114 Rafale, 90 will be manufactured in India with close to 50% indigenous content warfare aircraft from the US for the Indian Navy. The Ministry of Defence, in a statement, said the DAC accorded acceptance of necessity (AoN) for multiple proposals for an estimated `3.60 lakh crore. Continued on Page 4 ● MARTIN SORRELL, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, S4 CAPITAL ‘If (brands) don’t use the new methods, they get taken apart’ The global advertising business is undergoing some serious transformation with consolidation becoming critical across agency networks. Martin Sorrell, founder and executive chairman of S4 Capital, talks to Christina Moniz about the need for agencies to reexamine their business models and the challenges facing WPP, the advertising holding company that he founded. Excerpts: As AI takes centre stage, is it time for legacy agencies to look at completely new business models? AI is particularly affecting creative agencies since it operates in areas like visualising and copyrighting, bringing down the cost and time.We charge our clients by the hour, but we should charge for output. Media planning and buying will never be the same again, since these functions will be eventually done algorithmically. Clients are shifting budgets PRIYA NAIR, CEO & MD, HUL We see a stronger FY27 than FY26 led by favourable macroeconomic factors Report on Page 6 Items like online shopping, streaming services (OTT), rural house rent added; improved coverage for telecom charges, rail & air fares, and fuel notably food and housing. The weighting of food, the index’s most volatile component prone to supply shocks, has been slashed from 7,075 (` cr) Q3FY25 Q3FY26 Chg (%, y-o-y) 3,001 THE COUNTRY’S LARGEST consumer goods company, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), sees a virtuous cycle of growth kicking in for the sector in FY27 after a challenging FY26, marked by GST-led trade disruptions, volatile commodity costs, and urban slowdown woes. On Thursday, HUL CEO and Managing Director Priya Nair signalled that consumer sentiment and demand were finally improving in both urban and rural areas, with PROFIT UP 136% 3,640 VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, February 12 3,564 Newseriesin,Jan retail inflationrisesto2.75% HUL signals demand uptick 15,146 15,805 BASEYEARMOVEDFROM2012TO2024; WEIGHTINGFORFOODCUT towards output and performance and our business needs to adapt accordingly. In the global $1.2-trillion advertising market, $900 billion is digital across platforms like Google, Meta,Amazon,TikTok and Alibaba.Agencies need to focus on where the growth is — which is not the remaining $300 billion,which is linear TV, traditional media and live sports. Holding companies are still overindexing on traditional media. & Continued on Page 4 ❝ ITWILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW JIOHOTSTAR COMPETES WITH PLATFORMS LIKE YOUTUBE IN INDIA HYDERABAD tax (GST) rate rationalisation stabilise in the market. Continued on Page 4 Hindalco profit declines 45% HINDALCO INDUSTRIES REPORTED a 45% year-onyeardeclineinnetprofitforthe thirdquarterofFY26at`2,049 crore, below Bloomberg estimate of `4,141 crore, reports Urvi Malvania. The fall was largelyduetotheimpactoftariffsandafireatitsUSsubsidiary Novelis’ Oswego facility. The Aditya Birla Group’s metals arm’s revenue from operations jumped to `66,521 crore, up 13.9% from `58,390 crore in theyear-ago-period. ■ PAGE 6