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The Centre on Thursday approved the transfer of the Air India building in Mumbai from AI Assets Holding Company Ltd to the Maharashtra government for a sum of Rs 1,601 crore. The Maharashtra government has agreed to waive Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) dues amounting to Rs 298.42 crore, which would have been payable by AI Assets Holding Company Ltd."GoI has approved transfer of Air India building, Mumbai of AI Assets Holding Company Ltd to Government of Maharashtra (GoM) at consideration of Rs 1601 cr. GoM has agreed to waive dues of Rs. 298.42 cr, which would have been otherwise payable by AIAHL to GoM for this transaction," DIPAM said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).The decision marks a strategic development for Maharashtra, as the Air India building holds prime importance due to its proximity to 'Mantralaya', the state government's administrative headquarters. Earlier, AI Assets Holdings Ltd, a state-owned entity overseeing Air India's debt and assets, had rejected a previous offer from the Maharashtra government for office accommodations within the building.The transfer of the Air India building is part of the Air India divestment plan, where the government assumed the airline's debt of around Rs 45,000 crore along with its non-core assets, including approximately 111 properties comprising office buildings and housing colonies. These assets were valued at Rs 14,718 crore, as per a government statement released in 2021.This decision underscores the strategic realignment of assets and resources, facilitating the efficient utilization of government properties and promoting administrative synergy within Maharashtra.(With inputs from ANI)

Shares of NMDC fell over 4% on Thursday to the day's low of Rs 197.15 on the NSE after Kotak Institutional Equities warned investors of sharp price cuts and earnings downgrade going ahead. The domestic brokerage trimmed its fair value to Rs 195 from an earlier Rs 205 while retaining a ‘Sell’ view. The valuations remain expensive amid downside risks, Kotak noted.It's losses now extend to 19% in six straight sessions. In its stock review note, Kotak said that seaborne iron ore prices have come down by 25% in the past one month to $106/ton which is an 18-month low. The sharp fall has been led by a bleak outlook on Chinese steel demand and rising iron ore inventory in the world's second-largest economy along with a lack of cost support. "NMDC’s fines prices are at a 35% premium to export parity and we expect a sharp cut in prices, likely in April 2024. We also believe that the best volume growth is behind us in 11MFY24 and will see only a moderate 3.8% CAGR over FY2024-26E, similar to last decade," the Kotak note said.Moreover, the domestic iron ore market surplus should significantly increase in FY2025E led by weak domestic steel prices. With the recent correction the stock prices have slipped below the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) of Rs 226.50 while still trading above their 200-day SMA. The stock has had a good run over the past 12 months having rallied 75%. It has outperformed Nifty which has delivered returns of 28% during this period. NMDC has witnessed 22% year-on-year volume growth in 11MFY24 which is an aberration in Kotak's view and cannot be extrapolated with FY2023 having a low base due to export duty in 1HFY23. Moreover, increasing captive iron ore by integrated steel companies remains a structural headwind for NMDC, it said it forecasts a 3.8% CAGR volume for FY2024-26E, similar to last decade.In February, Aditya Birla Mutual Fund sold shares worth Rs 193 crore in the company. Also Read: Gopal Snacks debuts at 13% discount to issue price(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Private carrier SpiceJet has finalised lease agreements for ten aircraft as it prepares for the upcoming summer schedule which usually sees higher demand, the company said in a press release on Thursday.SpiceJet has been on a settlement spree in recent weeks, with the Ajay Singh-led carrier resolving disputes with three companies. These settlements, SpiceJet says, resulted in total savings of around Rs 685 crore.As a part of these settlements, SpiceJet acquires three additional airframes and engine.Shares of SpiceJet were trading with gains around 7.6 per cent as of 10:40 am.The company terminated the services of three employees after an internal audit found that some senior executives had cancelled scheduled flights to operate charters, leading to financial losses for the low-cost carrier, people directly involved in the matter told ET. The carrier recently announced resolution of a Rs 413 crore dispute with Echelon Ireland Madison One, a Rs 93 crore dispute with Cross Ocean Partners and a Rs 250 crore dispute with AerCap subsidiary Celestial Aviation.The company reportedly plans a Rs 2,250 crore fundraising effort by selling shares and warrants. SpiceJet, which has been facing multiple headwinds, is of the view that the raised funds are expected to play a pivotal role in financing operational expansion initiatives, including fleet enhancement, route network expansion, and technological advancements.In its latest move, aiming to save about Rs 100 crore on an annual basis, low-cost airline SpiceJet is set to lay off at least 1,000 employees.On February 13, a spokesperson of the airline SpiceJet confirmed that the manpower rationalisation was part of its cost-cutting strategy, besides ensuring profitable growth.

MUMBAI - Private banks, which have always been the favourites of institutional investors, lost the spot to public sector banks who are touching the sky riding on retail bulls. So far in 2024, all public sector banks have given double-digit returns to investors. On the contrary, private sector banks have seen single to double-digit fall in share prices. Among the worst hit is sector heavyweight HDFC Bank, whose shares have corrected nearly 17% and this was largely triggered by the earnings downgrades post the December quarter results. At a time when there are growing concerns over the froth in the midcap and smallcap segments, investors are being advised to shift money to blue chips. However, if one looks at the FII data, then they have sold financial stocks relentlessly in the last two months, pulling out nearly Rs 40,000 crore. Given that FPI concentration is high in the financial sector, and particularly in private banks, the sharp fall in the stocks clearly shows from where the big bucks were pulled out. Arguing that the proverbial Goldilocks period is over for the financial sector, global investment bank Goldman Sachs recently issued a “sell” call on retail favourite YES Bank, while downgrading ICICI Bank to “neutral” from “buy”. The investment banker cited three major headwinds for the financial sector - rising pressure on the cost of funds due to structural challenges in the funding environment, growing concerns on rising consumer leverage, and pressure on operating costs. 108481699 While private banks are out of the radar, public sector banks are having a jolly ride. Second rung banks like Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, andPunjab National Bank have rallied 35-47% so far in the calendar year. 108481718 From a valuation standpoint, while private banks are trading at a price-to-book (P/B) valuation of 2.3x against the 10-year average of 2.5x, PSU banks are at 1.2x against the long-term average of 0.8x. “Over the last few years, PSU RoEs dipped primarily due to the drag from PSU banks among others. However, the sharp earnings turnaround on asset quality improvements and attractive valuations contributed to PSU banks’s positive stock performance and earnings upgrade,” said Kedar Kadam, director - listed investments, Waterfield Advisors. However, most money managers have turned a bit cautious on the overall PSU space, and therefore, public sector banks are no exceptions. “Given the sharp rally in these stocks, current valuations warrant caution as the tide has lifted all the boats,” Kadam said. Sharing a similar thought, Amnish Aggarwal of Prabhudas Lilladher too suggests that incrementally one should be cautious in the PSU space at this point. “The kind of return we have seen will not be there, but many of them will still give you steady returns incrementally from here on,” Aggarwal said. The question now is will and when the euphoria around PSU bank stocks will end. As for the private banking space, analysts are being highly selective here and one stock that they are keeping their faith on despite the massive underperformance is HDFC Bank. Given most of the large and mid-sized private banks are trading in a close valuation band, Goldman Sachs believes that visibility on loan growth, PPOP-ROA and credit quality will play an important role in the near term. However, it has retained its “buy” rating on HDFC Bank with a price target of Rs 1,915, while Bernstein has held on to its “outperform” rating. (Data inputs from Ritesh Presswala) <div style="min-height:768px" id="zhnSl"><script type="text/javascript" src="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/js_denmarkembed.cms?v=1&chartid=zhnSl&type=dw&script_ver=v1&source=https://et-infographics.indiatimes.com/graphs/zhnSl/1/" charset="utf-8"></script><noscript><img src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/zhnSl/full.png" alt="" /></noscript></div>(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)