Samsung heir apologises for corruption, won't hand control to children

Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee, embroiled in a bribery scandal, on Wednesday made a rare apology over controversial succession plans and said he will not hand over management rights to his children at the family-controlled conglomerate. His first public statement in five years came after the Supreme Court in August overturned an appeals court ruling on the bribery case, raising the possibility of a tougher sentence and potential return to jail for the chief of South Korea's biggest conglomerate.
"We failed, at times, to meet society's expectations. We even disappointed people and caused concern because we did not strictly uphold the law and ethical standards," the 51-year-old Lee told a press conference at the company's Seoul office.
He also apologised for the behaviour of executives caught sabotaging labour union activities, and vowed to guarantee labour rights at the tech giant.
Some of Samsung Group's former and current executives have been investigated or convicted in other cases. For example, then-board chairman of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , Lee Sang-hoon, was jailed in December for sabotaging union activities. He has since resigned and lodged an appeal.
Lee's remarks come after Samsung Group's oversight panel in March advised him to apologise over the handling of succession, labour and others issues, and pledge to prevent any repeat of governance violations.
In January, Samsung set up the compliance committee after a judge overseeing Lee's bribery case criticised the conglomerate for its lack of an effective compliance system to prevent executive wrongdoing.
However, the committee, headed by a former supreme court judge, has faced scepticism from governance experts who called it a gesture aimed more towards securing leniency in court.

"Both apology and promise are vague. He did not specifically address what he has done wrong," said Kim Woo-chan, a professor of finance at Korea University Business School.

Marico shares jump 6% as Q4 earnings meet estimates, margin expands

Shares of Marico Ltd rose 6 per cent to Rs 301.65 on the BSE on Tuesday as the company's margin expanded in the March quarter and earnings largely met estimates despite 50 per cent decline on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.
The FMCG firm's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margin increased by 58 basis points YoY to 18.9 per cent in Q4FY20 owing to stable input costs and lower advertising spends. This also contained the impact on the top line, with Marico’s pre-tax profit declining 3 per cent YoY to Rs 262 crore versus analysts’ estimate of Rs 267 crore.
The net profit decline of 50.6 per cent to Rs 199 crore was because of tax credit in the year-ago period and Rs 10 crore of exceptional items in Q4FY20.
Moreover, the management also remained confident of maintaining FY21 operating margin at the FY20 level of around 20 per cent, led by robust cost-cutting, such as advertising spends.
On the other hand, Marico clocked its fastest volume growth of 25 per cent in Saffola edible oil as customers stocked up food and essential items in light of the pandemic and the lockdown. However, its major hair oil category, which contributes over 55 per cent to Marico’s India business, witnessed an 8-11 per cent volume decline in Q4, resulting in a 3 per cent fall in the overall domestic volumes.
This, along with lower realisation amid price correction in Parachute rigid and a 5 per cent fall in international business sales (22-23 per cent of consolidated revenue), resulted in a 7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) fall in the top line to Rs 1,496 crore, lower than the Bloomberg Consensus estimate of Rs 1,538 crore.
Brokerage firm Jefferies revised earnings per share (EPS) for Marico higher post the results, factoring in higher margin for FY21.
"Margin beat drives a positive earnings surprise. Current utilisation at 75 per cent signals a gradual stabilisation. Moreover, the stock offers attractive risk-reward," the brokerage said.
Analysts at Motilal Oswal Securities said,"MRCO has a more resilient portfolio of products than its peers to withstand the COVID-19 led sales and earnings decline in FY21. This is possible on account of (a) recovery in Parachute volumes before the COVID-19 impact, (b) successful turnaround and strong growth witnessed in Saffola edible oils and foods, and (c) better outlook for the international business compared to peers. Further, outlook on material costs is also better than the earlier expectation of a possible inflation."

At 9:40 AM, the stock was up 3 per cent as compared to 1.2 per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex. Around 48.1 lakh shares have changed hands on the NSE and BSE so far. In 2020 so far, Marico has fallen 9.83 per cent as compared to Sensex's 23.21 per cent plunge.

Israeli research team gets a step closer to developing a Covid-19 vaccine

As researchers and medical labs are stepping up their efforts to find a cure for Covid-19, the Isreal Defence Ministry said in a statement that the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) has completed the development phase of coronavirus antibody or passive vaccine, reports The Jerusalem Post.
The Israeli defence minister was briefed by the research team, who told that this antibody attacks the virus and neutralises it in the body. The institute is now preparing to get a patent for the antibody and contract for its commercial development. The defence ministry of Israel will coordinate this with the IIBR.
“I am proud of the Biological Institute staff, who have made a major breakthrough,” Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said Monday. “The Jewish creativity and ingenuity brought about this amazing achievement.”
Last month, IIBR told that it had begun testing the antibody-based vaccine prototype on rodents. The institute is also involved in plasma collection from people who have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection, hoping that this might help research.
A second Israeli research team, MigVax, has also reported that it is close to completing the first phase of development of a coronavirus vaccine. Last week, it secured a $12 million investment from OurCrowd to accelerate the path to clinical trials.

Israel has tested over 404,000 samples in the country and 16,246 came out positive. The country has reported 235 deaths till now

Vijay Mallya files appeal against extradition to India in loan fraud case

Vijay Mallya on Monday filed an application seeking leave to appeal in the UK Supreme Court, nearly two weeks after the embattled liquor baron lost his London High Court appeal against an extradition order to India on charges of fraud and money laundering related to unrecovered loans to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
The 64-year-old businessman had 14 days to file this application to seek permission to move the higher court on the High Court judgment from April 20, which dismissed his appeal against a Westminster Magistrates' Court extradition order certified by the UK Home Secretary.
"The leave to appeal has been filed. We have until May 14 to respond, said a spokesperson for the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represents the Indian authorities in the legal process of the extradition.

The leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is on a point of law of general public importance, which according to experts is a very high threshold that is not often met.

Samsung starts taking online pre-orders for TVs, ACs, and other electronics

Samsung on Monday announced pre-booking offers on electronic products for people who want to purchase televisions and digital appliances after a lockdown to contain the coronavirus is eased.
The South Korean electronics maker is taking orders online on Samsung Shop and seeks to get them express delivered from the Samsung Authorized Retailer as soon as deliveries are permitted. The offer applies to Samsung consumer electronics products -- televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines and smart ovens.
The company in a statement said, “As a precaution against the spread of the pandemic, Samsung has made arrangements across its retail and distribution channel, to help consumers to pre-book the products, without having to step out of their homes.”
Consumers pre-booking on Samsung Shop will get 15 per cent cashback when paying with HDFC cards. There is an options to choose no interest equated monthly instalments (no-cost EMIs) and long-term finance options, up to 18 months.
Customers are also entitled for cashback, even if they do not opt for EMI-based finance options, the company said in a statement.
According to Raju Pullan, Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business, Samsung India, in the past one month, the company has received thousands of queries from consumers across the country as to how they could buy our TV or digital appliances.

"Through our pre-book offer on Samsung Shop, we want to ensure our consumers get the fastest delivery possible as per the government regulation on relaxation of lockdown from a Samsung authorised retailer nearest to them, without having to step out of their homes till normalcy returns," said Pullan.

Lockdown drags mfg PMI to record low of 27.4 in April as units remain shut

The nationwide lockdown in April, coupled with a crash in export orders led to unprecedented contraction in manufacturing output, said the monthly Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey released on Monday.
On a worrying note, the survey pointed out that reduced demand led to new businesses collapsing at a record pace in April, while firms sharply pared their staff numbers.
Manufacturing PMI stood at just 27.4 in April, showing the sharpest deterioration in business conditions across the sector since data collection began over 15 years ago. In PMI parlance, a figure above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. PMI had already been on a downward curve, registering 51.8 in March, much below the eight-year high of 55.3 in January.
Despite industrial activity being partially opened after April 20, manufacturing activity could not resume fully as lack of labour and raw materials remained widespread while supply chains could not be established, industry bodies said. “After making it through March relatively unscathed, the Indian manufacturing sector felt the full force of the coronavirus pandemic in April,” said Elliot Kerr, economist at IHS Markit.
Tough situation
India’s overall industrial production rebounded in February to a seven-month high of 4.5 per cent, up from January’s 2 per cent. Figures for March, set to be released next week are expected to be slightly hit since lockdown began late in the month, on March 25. But it can take a bad turn given how the output of the 8-core sectors of the economy saw a record contraction of 6.5 per cent in March.

However in April, the PMI survey pointed out widespread business closures amid demand conditions remaining severely hampered. New orders fell for the first time in two-and-a-half years and at the sharpest rate in the survey's history, far outpacing that seen during the global financial crisis.

Won't cut flat price after lockdown is lifted: Godrej Properties MD

The Covid-19 crisis and lockdown are expected to hasten consolidation in the real estate sector and larger players are expected to gain. Godrej Properties, which is known for its joint ventures, will benefit out of the consolidation due to its strong balance sheet and sales capabilities, its managing director Mohit Malhotra tells Raghavendra Kamath in an interview.

How will Godrej Properties benefit from the consolidation that is likely to stem from the coronavirus crisis?

The consolidation is already happening. Those with balance sheet strength and sales capabilities will partner with other developers. We are already sitting on cash of Rs 2,500 crore and have a strong brand name, so we will benefit from the consolidation.

Are you seeing a surge in joint ventures and joint development proposals?

We are getting proposals. But there is no dramatic increase. Once the lockdown opens up, we will get to know the (real) situation.

How did you manage to post healthy sales in Q4 despite the lockdown?

We had done good numbers before the lockdown. We would have done even better had the lockdown not been imposed. During lockdown, we used video-conferencing and zoom calls effectively. We actually reworked sales by leveraging technology. Actually we had digitised our sales process one-and-a-half years ago.

How does FY21 look like and what are you doing to bring back the customer?

It is too early to comment. We have to wait for the lockdown to end. We are not doing anything special. We are in touch with customers through technology. We are using new ways of selling. A lot of innovations are going on.

Will you defer launches scheduled for this quarter?

There are a lot of projects in the final stages of approval. Depending on stage of approval and lockdown, we will take a call.

Do you have any plans of cutting apartment prices to boost sales?

We do not have any plans of cutting prices. The industry has been reeling under a slowdown for the past eight years. There is a limited scope to cut prices.

Barring South Mumbai, very few places have significant completed stock.