The CCI on Wednesday allowed the stake acquisition in Max Life Insurance Company by Axis Bank, Axis Capital and Axis Securities. At present, the bank holds about 1% stake in Max Life and is also the biggest distributor of the insurer's products through banking channel. After the deal, Axis Capital Ltd and Axis Securities will acquire 2% and 1%, respectively.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday allowed the ₹1,500-crore Flipkart-Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) deal, which was announced last October. It will help Aditya Birla Fashion cut its debt and expand into new apparel categories and give Flipkart a significant edge over Amazon and consolidate its position in the apparel business.

Commodities Guru Jim Rogers says the new breed of investors who entered the market during the Covid crisis and before should know that investing works best only when one knows what she is investing in. “One should only invest in what s/he knows about. Do not listen to hot tips, or me. Everybody wants hot tips. Those would bankrupt you, ruin you,” the American investor said.

Sundaram Finance on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Rajiv Lochan as the new MD of the company with effect from April 1. TT Srinivasaraghavan, the current MD, completes his term on March 31 and is retiring from service after 38 years with the company. Under Srinivasaraghavan’s tenure as MD, the company grew its balance sheet from under Rs 800 crore to over Rs 30,000 crore currently.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech on Tuesday announced a 37.85% jump in net profit to Rs 519.3 crore for the December quarter, mainly driven by a surge in revenue and margin expansion. The IT arm of engineering major L&T had posted a net profit of Rs 376.7 crore in the year-ago period. It reported a 12% increase in revenues to Rs 3,152.8cr for the quarter as against Rs 2,811 cr a year ago.

ICICI Direct has worked out its Q3 (October-December’ 20) earnings estimates for the Banking & Financial Services sector. The brokerage house expects Axis Bank to report net profit at Rs. 2,448.3 crore up 39.3% year-on-year (up 45.5% quarter-on-quarter). Net Interest Income (NII) is expected to increase by 14.7 percent Y-o-Y (up 1 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs. 7,402.8 crore, according to ICICI Direct.

BharatPe has raised INR 50 Cr ($7 Mn) in from Trifecta Capital, as a part of its plan to raise $700 Mn of debt in the next two years. BharatPe plans to utilise the fund to increase its loan book to INR 5,000 Cr by 2022 and focus primarily on lending for growth. The platform has spent the initial two years in focusing on product building, gaining more clients, and building a dedicated team.

ICICI Direct revealed its Q3 (October-December’ 20) earnings estimates for the Banking & Financial Services sector. The brokerage house expects DCB Bank to report net profit at Rs. 80 crore down 17.2% year-on-year (down 2.8% quarter-on-quarter). Net Interest Income (NII) is expected to increase by 8.2% Y-o-Y (up 4.7% Q-o-Q) to Rs. 349.7 crore, according to ICICI Direct.

ICICI Direct worked out its Q3 (October-December’ 20) earnings estimates for the Banking & Financial Services sector. The brokerage house expects IDFC Bank to report net profit at Rs. 135.6 crore (up 34.3% quarter-on-quarter). Net Interest Income (NII) is expected to decrease by 3.3 percent Y-o-Y (up 11.8 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs. 2,044 crore, according to ICICI Direct.

ICICI Direct worked out its Q3 (October-December’ 20) earnings estimates for the Banking & Financial Services sector. The brokerage house expects Bandhan Bank to report net profit at Rs. 755.1 crore up 3.3% year-on-year (down 17.9% quarter-on-quarter). Net Interest Income (NII) is expected to increase by 28.8 percent Y-o-Y (up 3.2 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs. 1,984 crore, according to ICICI Direct.

ICICI Direct revealed its Q3 (October-December’ 20) earnings estimates for the Banking & Financial Services sector. The brokerage house expects SBI Life Insurance to report net profit at Rs. 390 crore up 0.1% year-on-year (down 4% quarter-on-quarter). Net Interest Income (NII) is expected to increase by 18.2% Y-o-Y (up 8.1% Q-o-Q) to Rs. 13,194 crore, according to ICICI Direct.

L&T Technology announced -1.56% fall YoY in Dec-20 quarter consolidated revenues at Rs1,400.70cr. The company reported a fall in top-line revenues across key verticals like Transportation and Plant Engineering. However, revenues from medical devices and telecom & hi-tech were up on a YoY basis, that partially compensated. Consolidated PAT for the Dec-20 quarter was lower by -9.18% at Rs186.90cr.

SEBI on Wednesday imposed a total penalty of Rs 25 lakh on two individuals for not complying with its directives to disgorge the unlawful gains made by them. The individuals are Mansoor Rafiq Khanda and Firoz Rafiq Khanda. The individuals were engaged in providing investment advisory services to investors upon the receipt of requisite fees without obtaining registration from the market regulator.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Wednesday reported that 10.11 lakh net subscribers in November 2020. The pension fund body further added that 6.41 lakh new members have joined EPFO and roughly 3.70 lakh net members exited and then rejoined EPFO, indicating switching of jobs by subscribers within the establishments covered by EPFO.

Emkay has revealed its Q3 (October-December’ 20) earnings estimates for the BFSI sector. The brokerage house expects Canara Bank to report net profit at Rs. 184.2 crore down 75.9% year-on-year (down 58.6% quarter-on-quarter). Excerpt: Net Interest Income (NII) is expected to increase by 15.3 percent Y-o-Y (down 2.9 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs. 6,116.5 crore, according to Emkay.