INDIA'S HNI CLUB TO SWELL 3 TIMES IN 10 YEARS

India and China are together projected to treble the number of high net worth individuals (HNIs) from 4.48 lakh in 2008 in the next one decade, as per a report collated by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Capgemini, which pegged the number of Indian HNIs at 84,000 for the past year. After seeing a 22.7% growth in the population of HNI in 2007 to 1.23 lakh - the highest percentage jump in the world - India saw a 31.6% drop in the number of HNIs past year. India happened to witness the second-biggest drop in the population of the rich, as defined by the survey, behind Hong Kong, which recorded a 60% drop in HNIs in 2008.

The survey defined HNIs as those with investable assets of at least $1 million (Rs 5 crore), excluding their primary residence and consumables. With the Indian economy showing clear signs of revival and the stock market bouncing back, the number of HNIs in the country is expected to bounce back soon.

The Economic Times

INDIA, INC. VS ITS U.S. PEERS

A country’s stock market and the performance of the respective blue chip companies is often seen as the barometer of its economic health, and a gauge of investment sentiment. On that parameter, the Indian companies have outclassed its U.S. peers by a wide margin for the first time.

The total 30 companies on the Sensex, the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange of India, have shown average growth in net sales at 7.75% and a dip in net profit of 13.20% in the third quarter of the current financial year. This is in sharp contrast to the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 companies’ profits declining by about 35% on an average, during October-December 2008. This is the sixth consecutive quarter when the profits of the U.S. companies declined, compared to the first quarterly fall in the aggregate profits for the Sensex companies in the recent years.

The robust performance by Indian companies could help explain the optimistic outlook of the Government that estimates Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) for next financial year to reach $40 billion, twice the amount received during the first half of the current financial year.

PRIVATE EQUITY MAKES INROADS IN INDIA

Private equity is gaining greater acceptance in India where rising borrowing costs and a tanking stock market have shut down other means of funding, forcing family-owned businesses to tap a source they had once shunned.

The Financial Express

Infosys net rises 21% in 2007-08

The US slowdown is hitting Indian IT, but perhaps not as much as investors had anticipated. Infosys Technologies led a sharp stock market recovery on Tuesday, following its guidance of a 19% to 21% increase in revenues for fiscal 2008-2009 and an increased dividend pay-out ratio.

The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/
Infosys_net_rises_21_in_2007-08/articleshow/2954647.cms

India’s market cap crosses Rs 70 lakh crore-mark

Investors’ wealth on the Indian bourses has crossed Rs 70,00,000-crore milestone for the first time in history, with an average increase of over Rs 40 crore in every minute of trading during 2007. The total wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market capitalisation of all the listed Companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange, has surged to a record high of Rs 70,38,538 crore (over $1.7 trillion), the latest data available with the bourses show. This marks a ten-fold surge in the total market value in just about four and a half years. It stood at about Rs 7,00,000 crore in May 2003. The investors’ wealth has grown by Rs 34,14,181 crore, or about $970 billion, since the beginning of 2007. Taking into account the 249 days of trading so far this year, this means an average gain of about Rs 13,711 crore a day or about Rs 41 crore a minute.

The Financial Express
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/
Indias-market-cap-crosses-Rs-70-lakh-croremark/255870/

World's top IPO - $8-bn; India's total - $8.3-bn

Indian bourses saw over eight billion dollars worth of initial public offers in 2007, but this is just a shade higher than the world's single-largest IPO that was brought by a Russian company, latest data show. The worldwide IPO activity raised a record capital of 255 billion dollars till November in 2007, including 8.3 billion dollars on Indian bourses, according to data compiled by international consultancy firm Ernst and Young. India was the fifth largest market in terms of number of IPOs and seventh largest in terms of the proceeds for the year, E&Y said.

The Financial Express
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/
Worlds-top-IPO-8bn-Indias-total-8-3bn/254467/