Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) reported a Q2FY20 Ebitda margin of 9.5% (Nomura: 8.5%, Consensus: 9.3%), helped by a 30 bps benefit to gross margin (Our estimate: 50 bps fall). The company said that the cost reduction helped margins. A fall in commodity prices and better inventory absorption may have also helped gross margins.

MSIL’s retail sales were slightly positive during the festive period, which is a good sign. However, the management said it needs to see if the turnaround sustains as the average `26,000/vehicle discount (was ~`17,000) helped demand.

Though loan growth slowed to just 8.4% year-on-year, State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday reported a good set of profits for Q2FY20, thanks to higher yields and a modest rise in expenses of just 7% year-on-year. At a time when interest rates are expected to trend down, SBI’s loan yields in Q2FY20 were 8.69%, higher than the 8.56% in the June quarter and 8.43% in September 2018.

Adobe Inc. exposed the data of 7.5 million of its creative-software customers, a person familiar with the matter said, in the latest example of a company leaving consumer information visible on the internet.

Adobe addressed the vulnerability the same day it was discovered, Oct. 19, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing the breach.

NTPC’s invitation for bids for setting up 1,200 MW of solar generation units received a tepid response, with only one company winning bids for 300 MW. According to industry sources, Chinese government-backed TBEA Energy was the lowest bidder, quoting a tariff of Rs 2.63/unit. The company specialises in making power transformers.

The ceiling tariff for the auction was set at Rs 2.65/unit.

The Pentagon has awarded Microsoft a USD 10 billion cloud computing contract called JEDI. The contentious bidding process for the contract pitted Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle, among others, against one another. Bidding for the huge government contract has attracted more attention than usual, sparked by speculation early in the process that Amazon would be awarded the deal. Tech giants Oracle and IBM pushed back with their own bids.

Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday announced a structure to make Reliance Jio (RJIL) debt-free, which is seen as a move to pave the way for a likely listing of its telecom business. As part of it, the company intends to transfer its telecom business and other digital initiatives to a wholly-owned subsidiary.

In the new scheme, RJIL’s debt will move to RIL. RJIL’s board approved an arrangement between RJIL and certain classes of its creditors, including debenture holders, for transferring identified liabilities of up to Rs 1.08 trillion to RIL.

Jeff Bezos retained the title of world’s richest person Friday as Amazon.com Inc.’s stock recovered from a sharp slide. Shares of the biggest online retailer fell 1.1% to close at $1,761.33, rebounding from a drop of as much as 9.1% in extended trading a day earlier, after the company reported its first profit decline in two years. Friday’s modest dip trimmed Bezos’s net worth to $109.9 billion, or $2.36 billion more than Bill Gates’s, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Mahindra Two Wheelers Europe, a Mahindra subsidiary, is set to seek full control of Peugeot Motorcycles (PMTC) for an undisclosed amount, the company said in a notification to the exchanges.

The move, it said, "reaffirms the commitment" of the group to future growth of the French company. The subsidiary currently holds 51 per cent in PMTC. It entered into the collaboration with PMTC, part of Groupe PSA in January 2015.

Indian equities on Friday opened marginally higher amid mixed cues from global markets. Disappointment over state election results kept the gains in check.

At 9.25am, the benchmark Sensex rose 0.2% to 39120 points while Nifty gained 0.02% to 11584.75 points.

CHENNAI : Public sector banks (PSBs) here like the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) are planning to give festival gifts to their employees.

The two banks have announced a Diwali gift of sweets/dry fruits/chocolates for their staff worth ₹1,000.

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