VARIABLE-COST
United Breweries Q2 sales dip 3% as heavy monsoon hits key markets
United Breweries reported a 3% year-on-year decline in Q2 sales volume and value, hit by an “unusual monsoon” that flooded three breweries and hurt demand in key states like Karnataka, Odisha, and Telangana. Premium brands, however, grew 17%.
ET Soonicorns Summit 2025: How founders are choosing profitability over pure valuation chasing
At ET Soonicorns Summit 2025, founders across EVs, co-living, SaaS, fintech, edtech, and healthtech shared candid insights on scaling responsibly. Emphasising unit economics, disciplined growth, and sustainability, they argued that prioritising profitability and customer value matters more than chasing unicorn status.
Which stock market sector gave the most returns in the last 8 quarters? Here’s a performance tracker
From cement’s 71% surge to healthcare’s 34% plunge—our 8-quarter sectoral tracker reveals why putting all eggs in one basket is a costly mistake in today’s polarised market. By Sameer Bhardwaj.
UltraTech Cement Q1 Results Preview: PAT may jump 30% YoY on cost gains, higher volumes
UltraTech Cement is expected to post a 30% YoY rise in Q1FY26 profit, with revenue likely up 18%, driven by acquisitions, modest price hikes, and operational efficiency. Brokerages forecast 12–18% volume growth, with EBITDA/tonne seen rising across the board. While costs are slightly higher, improved realisations and scale benefits are expected to support margins.
Investing is easy, but hard to implement? Sanjay Bakshi explains the rules for value investors
Sanjay Bakshi emphasizes the importance of having a disciplined approach to investing by constructing filters to reject stocks that don't make sense. He highlights the behavioral challenges of investing and the necessity of focusing on business analysis over market analysis. He also notes the growth potential in India's expanding market, advising investors to concentrate on high-quality businesses.
Gen-AI is a massive tailwind for our business; expect to improve on industry growth rate of 12%: IKS Health Management
IKS Health, a healthcare platform serving 18% of US physicians, projects exceeding the industry's 12% growth rate. They aim for 30%+ EBITDA margins within two years, driven by tech leverage and the AQuity acquisition. Confident in long-term growth, they emphasize a large total addressable market and the potential of generative AI.
- Go To Page 1
Neutral on Swiggy, target price Rs 475: Motilal Oswal Financial Services
Motilal Oswal Financial Services has given Swiggy a neutral rating with a target price of Rs 475. They believe that Swiggy's food delivery business is stable and will continue to grow. However, they are concerned about the gap between Instamart and Blinkit in the quick commerce space. On mid-mile and last mile variable costs, Instamart is, however, strikingly, better than Blinkit.
Don’t foresee absolute power supply constraint current year: CARE Ratings
Sabyasachi Majumdar of CARE Ratings anticipates that there will be ample electricity available from various sources. The distribution companies' cooperation is crucial. Despite high costs, gas-based generation remains open for the peak season. Short-term tariffs are expected to stay elevated for now, driven by the robust PLFs and an election-year dynamics.
India Cements Q1 Results: Firm posts net loss at Rs 73.58 crore, revenue dips 5% YoY to Rs 1,437 crore
"The selling price of cement was lower during the quarter under review due to severe competition caused by supply overhang. There was a reduction in variable cost during the quarter on account of softening of fuel prices," ICL said an earnings statement
Power Min revises framework to supply cheapest power lot first to consumers
The gains out of the proposed Day-Ahead National Merit Order Dispatch Mechanism would be shared between generating stations and their consumers. This will result in increased annual savings for electricity consumers. The existing mechanism of merit order dispatch in real-time was made operational in April 2019. The mechanism optimised the total variable cost of generation pan-India while meeting technical and grid security constraints.
Gencos with high input cost allowed to sell power at up to Rs 50 per unit on energy exchanges
At present, there is a price ceiling of Rs 12 per unit in the Day Ahead Market (DAM) on the energy exchanges. With the ceiling, gencos having high variable costs for operating their plants are generally not keen on selling electricity on the energy exchanges and this in turn results in stranded power generation capacity.
New coal blending order to raise discoms' cost by Rs 11,000 crore in first half of FY24: Report
The new directive issued on January 9 will see discoms shelling out an additional Rs 11,000 crore in their power purchase bills during the first half of the next fiscal. Now the government wants thermal power plants or gencos to increase the imported coal blending to 6 per cent, Crisil Market Intelligence & Analytics said in a note on Monday.
Infosys to roll out 65% variable pay for Q2
Infosys employees will get 65% variable pay for the July-September quarter. For employees in the United States and Canada, the payout will be processed along with the second biweekly November payroll.
Woovly looks to woo investors as it achieves CM2 metric
Contribution Margin (CM) which indicates the aggregate amount of revenue available after variable costs to cover fixed expenses and provide profit to the company, is a metric for future profitability.
Stocks of these 6 high operating leverage companies can be good bets
While fixed costs have no relation to sales volume, the variable costs have a direct proportional relationship to sales revenue. Rising revenue and high operating leverage help expand profits through efficient utilisation of fixed costs.
Telcos find new order unclear on CCI, Trai roles
Some incumbents may shortly seek a clarification from the government on the matter, although this was not independently confirmed by the big phone companies.
TRAI fixes penalty for predatory tariffs
The regulator’s decisions are aimed at preventing a recurrence of an acrimonious war between India’s older telcos and Reliance Jio due to a lack of clarity thus far on the issue.
DTC suffered loss of over Rs 5,000 crore during 2010-15: CAG
The CAG has indicted DTC for favouring cluster buses "in excess" of the agreed share, thus "adversely" impacting the revenue earning potential of the corporation.
India Cements hopes to sustain momentum on infra spend, monsoon
The company plans to spend Rs 350 crore over a three-year period in capital expenditure and investments to adhere to certain emission norms.
Steel companies unable to recover variable costs: Prakash Kumar Singh, SAIL
Companies such as Bhushan Steel have been forced to realign operations after the aggressive expansion they had planned during the past few years.
Rs 1,006-crore package for people affected in enclaves exchange
The rehabilitation measures such as infrastructure development and rehabilitation assistance will help seamless integration of areas and people, it said.
Ultratech Cement Q1 Net dips 6 per cent to Rs 628 crore on lower prices
The Aditya Birla Group flagship had clocked a net profit of 669 crore during the April-June quarter of the last fiscal, it said in a statement.
HPGCL power too expensive for Haryana discoms
Despite a 20% rise in consumption of power in Haryana this fiscal, the HPGCL had to shut down units even at Hisar and Yamunanagar, with no buyers.
Coal import dependence for the sector continued to rise further
This is evident from steam coal imports increasing by 35% to about 70 MMT in April-September, 2013 from about 52 MT in April-September, 2012.
Govt mulls single bidding parameter for certain power projects
Govt plans to do away with variable cost as a criteria in bidding for new power projects where developers would be able to decide on the location and fuel.
Bajaj Auto's variable cost structure is turning out to be positive for company
Bajaj Auto's variable cost structure is turning out to be positive for the company in troubled times as far as its operating profitability is concerned.
Slower revenue growth will hit India Inc: Morgan Stanley
"Given the lack of big capex, the sensitivity of earnings to macro growth is likely to be lower than history," said Morgan Stanley’s India strategy report.
Is predatory pricing rational?
MCX-SX has accused NSE of predatory pricing in currency derivative segment, and the case is under review by the CCI.
Industry reaps cheaper inputs
Industries with high variable costs are also expected to improve their bottomlines on account of the fall in input prices.
Load More