BENGALURU, MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVII 315, 16 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 IN THE NEWS HUL plans foods biz revamp after ice-cream split HUL IS LOOKING to revitalise its `15,294-crore foods business, CEO & MD Rohit Jawa tells Viveat Susan Pinto. The move comes as the firm sets out on a path of putting sales growth first over margins. ■ PAGE 4 PMvows 'harshest' consequences for Pahalgam attackers PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi on Sunday vowed the "harshest" response to the "perpetrators" behind the Pahalgam attack that left 26 dead. ■ PAGE 3 NEWDELHI SEEKS‘PARITYTREATMENT’FROMWASHINGTON Trade deal with US may be rich in tech content ● Indiaforeasingof exportcontrolson AI,biotech,telecom MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, April 27 INDIAWILL PITCH hard for the US to ease export controls on assortedhigh-technologysectors in negotiations forthe proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) withtheworld'slargesteconomy. Indian negotiators, who wrapped up the talks under mutuallyagreed terms of reference (ToR) between the two countries late last week, have DRIVING A HARD BARGAIN ■ India is using the BTA opportunity to address the long-standing issue of restricted access to US technologies ■ The US is keen on greater market access for farm goods and e-commerce, besides data sharing and IPR demanded that the US should enable Indian firms to upgrade and operate in cutting-edge tech sectors like telecommunicationsequipment,biotechnol- Earlybirds get a jolt 1.9 Q1 Q2 Q3 FY25 Q4 FY25 Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1 -27.5 32.4 -54.4 just 5.5% year-on-year (y-oy) with net profits rising 6.1%. For 126 companies (excluding banks and financials),revenues were up 8% yo-y but net profits grew just 4.7%. oftechtrade issueintheBTA wouldopen another channelof communication ■ On tech trade, India might seek parity with access that US has offered to Australia and Britain ■ India may also seek some concessions as a member of the Quad group ogy,artificialintelligence,pharmaceuticals,quantumcomputing and semiconductors, sourcesprivytothemattersaid. Both sides insist that India will KISHOR KADAM & ANANYA GROVER Mumbai, April 27 -36.2 Sam Sample of 126 companies excluding banks & financials -143.3 FY25 Q3 Q2 Q1 Q4 OPM (bps, y-o-y) -59.7 337.1 262.4 Q4 Q2 Q3 FY25 5.5 Q1 15.2 THE MARCH QUARTER results from the early birds reflect margin pressures as businesses continue to grapple with tepid demand and increase in raw material costs. With demand expected to remain subdued — whether for consumer goods in the local market or software services overseas — most of the companies that have announced their results have seen either a ratings downgrade or a cut in earnings estimates for 2025-26. Net sales for a sample of 163 early birds were up by 9.3 KISHOR KADAM New Delhi, April 27 8.0 3.7 9.5 7.1 Net sales (% chg, y-o-y) REVIEW ■ Theinclusion be the first country to have a trade deal with the US to avoid reciprocal tariffs. Continued on Page 5 DIIstopFPIsintop firms’ownership MARGIN PRESSURE RESULTS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM Sample of 163 companies including banks & financials Source: Capitaline In this sample, Reliance Industries (RIL) accounts for more than a third of the sales. RIL’s consolidated sales rose 10% in the same period. Continued on Page 5 AT A TIME when foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were heavy sellers of Indian equities, domestic institutional investors’(DII) strong support to the market has led to their ownership hitting an all-time high in Nifty 500 firms. Better still, their ownership has exceeded FIIs for the first time ever in the JanuaryMarch quarter, according to data sourced from Capitaline and Primeinfobase. FPIs net offloaded shares worth $13 billion (`1.11 lakh crore) during the last quarter of fiscal 2025,as rising yields and a stronger dollar in the US markets prompted many FPIs DOMESTIC DRIVE Ownership*(%) 20 10 0 12.77 FPIs DIIs 18.11 17 17.86 11.95 Jun 2009 Mar 2025 *Nifty 500 companies Source: Primeinfobase, Capitaline to shift away from risky emerging markets. At the same time, DIIs pumped in as much as `1.89 lakh crore. Continued on Page 5 Make bolder impact in your industry with Open, Software-defined Automation. Open innovation. Transform with open-source automation. Open efficiency. Accelerate with digital-first solutions. Open new possibilities. With advanced data analytics. #DiscoverOpen Scan to learn more BENGALURU
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