HUL working hard to stand still
Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s (HUL’s) sales in volume terms grew by 6% from a year ago, aided by a 16.4% increase in spending on advertising and promotions (A&P). But sales in value terms grew by only 3.2%, as the company cut product prices to pass on lower input costs to spur sales growth.Despite cutting prices and hiking A&P spending, all HUL has managed to do is stand at the same spot—volume growth has been in the 6-7% range in the past four quarters. That suggests, at this point, consumption is not growing beyond a point. In fact, rural demand is slowing steadily and could even worsen if rural incomes remain under stress.
RBI suggests bank to hike provisions to tackle stressed assets
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to increase provisions to cover visibly stressed assets in the second half of this fiscal year.It marks the start of a long overdue clean-up of stressed assets by the banks, which are already laden with bad loans piled up during the economic downturn when a slowdown in demand and stalled projects made it difficult for borrowers to repay debt.The process may put pressure on the capital position of banks, but adequate funding has been assured by the government, said a senior RBI official.Liquidity support from the central bank will also be forthcoming if it is needed, said the official who declined to be identified.
Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone won best actor and actress award at 67th filmfare
While Ranveer got the award for his performance as Peshwa Bajirao I in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Bajirao Mastani', Deepika took home the trophy for playing the title character in Shoojit Sircar directorial, 'Piku.' Bhansali won the Best Director award for his period drama 'Bajirao Mastani' which also won the Best Film award.
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