Morning Buzz: Tiger Global exits Flipkart; overseas remittances soar to beat tax hit, and more

(File photo) A worker at Flipkart stores items inside its fulfilment centre on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, September 23, 2021. Image: REUTERS/Samuel Rajkumar

Tiger Global exits Flipkart with $3.5 billion profit

Tiger Global has sold its remaining four percent stake in Flipkart to Walmart. The total gain on the investment made first in 2009 stands at $3.5 billion. In 2009, the company had invested $9 million in Flipkart at a $42 million valuation. In total, the company had invested $1.2 billion in Flipkart with a peak holding of 33 percent. During the Flipkart acquisition by Walmart in 2018, Tiger had sold 1 percent to Walmart, taking home $1 billion. This would rank as one of the biggest gains by Tiger Global. In China, the company had made $5 billion in its JD.com sale on a total investment of $200 million.
(The Economic Times)

Profit growth moderates but valuations climb

Equity valuations are rising again even as profit growth stagnates. As a result, the PE multiple of the BSE Sensex has risen to a 17-month high of nearly 25 times from the 23.7 times at the end of December 2022 and 21.6 times at the end of June 2022. Since December 2022, the price-to-book ratio has moved to 3.6 times from 3.4 times. Overall corporate earnings were up 9 percent in FY23 against expectations of 16-17 percent. For FY24, growth is expected at 10-18 percent, but Q1FY24 numbers have disappointed.
(Business Standard)

Overseas remittances soared in May to beat TCS Hit

Outward remittances soared to $2.9 billion in May as Indians front loaded their spending to beat the 20 percent levy on overseas spending. This number was a 40 percent increase from the year earlier. The levy has since been postponed to October 1, and there is still no clarity on how overseas credit card spends are going to be taxed.
(The Economic Times)

FMCG companies see strong growth in digital revenues

Consumer companies are seeing an increase in sales from digital channels. At Tata Consumer, digital sales registered a 28 percent growth, while 22 percent growth came from modern trade. Marico expects its digital-first portfolio to account for Rs400 crore in annual sales from FY24. This highlights that consumers have a growing preference for convenience and that companies have moved to formulate digital-first strategies to tap into this demand. Most of the growth in the digital channel is coming from the premium end.
(BusinesLine)