Maruti Suzuki on Friday reported a 3.4% year-on-year increase in net profit to Rs 2,484.3 crore for the three months to September, beating Bloomberg consensus estimates. The bottom line was affected by a higher-than-expected tax outgo, up 26.51% on an annualised basis, and lower other income. Net revenues at the country’s biggest carmaker rose 21.8% year-on-year to Rs 21,768.2 crore, driven by a near-19% year-on-year jump in volumes and higher realisations of Rs 4.42 lakh per unit, up 3% year-on-year. However, analysts had expected a better show given an early festive season.

India has “very strongly” raised the issue of H-1B and L1 visas with the US, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said today, asserting that the American economy will find it difficult to cope with the reality as it has been immensely benefited by Indian IT professionals. The US has tightened the norms for issuing the most sought-after H-1B and L1 visas in line with the Trump administration’s goal to protect American workers from discrimination and replacement by foreign labour. In a new directive, the Trump administration this week made it more difficult for the renewal of H-1B and L1, popular among Indian IT professionals, saying that the burden of proof lies on the applicant even when an extension is sought.

NEW DELHI: Ashok Leyland is looking at investing Rs 400-500 crore in its electric vehicle business over the next three to five years. Managing director Vinod Dasari told ETthat the commercial vehicle manufacturer, the flagship firm of the Hinduja Group, aims to be future ready. At the same time, he said, the government needs to step up investments in electric vehicle technology to help bring down battery costs and encourage adoption of green mobility solutions.

“We are preparing ourselves for the electric vehicle movement that is going to happen over the next five to 10 years… it’s a question of survival… so (we will invest) at least Rs 400-500 crore over the next three to five years,” Dasari said. He said manufacturers cannot coerce consumers to purchase electric vehicles, and that demand for electric vehicles will take off only when electric vehicles start making economic sense for the buyer.

Automaker Maruti Suzuki reported 3.4 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 2,484 crore for the quarter ending September as against Rs 2,401 crore in the same period a year ago.

Net sales rose 7 per cent to Rs 21,438 crore as against Rs 20,048.6 crore a year ago, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Friday reported its September quarter net profit at Rs 3,696 crore with 18 per cent rise on the back of higher fuel sales. The company said in the BSE filing that September quarter revenue from operations increased 10 per cent and was at Rs 1.11 lakh crore versus Rs 1 lakh crore last year.

The average gross refining margin was at $6.08 per barrel for the April-Sept period.

Country's biggest cigarette maker ITC Ltd reported almost 6% rise in net profit at Rs 2,640 cr for the September quarter as against Rs 2,500 crore in year-ago period, helped by lower costs.

Total income during the quarter under review was Rs 10,258.13 crore as against Rs 14,091.96 crore in the year-ago period.

Private lender ICICI Bank saw a 34 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit for the September quarter but saw slight improvement in asset quality sequentially.

Standalone net profit was Rs 2,058 crore for the quarter ended September 2017 as against Rs 3,102 crore in the year ago period.

BENGALURU: Infosys has standardised its severance pay for top executives. For senior vice- presidents (SVPs) and executive vice-presidents (EVPs), it will be four months of their fixed salary. Severance pay had become a major bone of contention within the company over the past two years when seemingly arbitrary amounts were paid to former CFO Rajiv Bansal and former general counsel David Kennedy . Bansal was granted Rs 17 crore, while Kennedy , who was in the company for just two years, received $868,250 (about Rs 5.9 crore when he quit in January).

NEW DELHI: Equity investors continued with their strong run as Sensex and Nifty extended their gains in Friday's early trade.

30-share BSE Sensex opened with a jump of 81.19 points on 33,228.32 while the broader 50-share NSE Nifty started trading on 10,362.30, up by 18.50 points.

Bengaluru: Amazon India chief Amit Agarwal said on Thursday that the online retailer plans to double down on its investments in India, especially in key areas such as digital payments and the Prime membership programme.

Agarwal also reiterated the e-commerce firm’s earlier claim that it was the largest online retailer in India and dismissed research reports that the company had lagged arch-rival Flipkart during the Diwali season sale.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.