With 23 deals during April-June quarter, India unseated China in the fintech space - which is battling regulatory crackdown on such companies - to take the top slot. However, China with only 15 deals - a new five-quarter low - was ahead in deal size by $25 million at a total investment of $375 million - data from research firm CB Insights showed. India’s fintech investments grew 27% from $286 million in the January-March period to $350 million in April-June. The year- on-year growth for the quarter was 37%, up from $254 million in the same quarter last year. Notable deals included $58.2 million raised by Cred and $20 million pooled in by Zest Money.
NCLAT upholds insolvency plea against Sahara Q Shop
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) upheld the order of the Mumbai bench of NCLT, directing initiation of the insolvency resolution process against Sahara group subsidiary Sahara Q Shop. A three-member NCLAT bench headed by chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya upheld the order passed by the NCLAT, which had on December 15, 2017, admitted the plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against the company filed by one of its operational creditors. This order was challenged before the appellate tribunal by a shareholder of Sahara Q Shop, contending that there was no default in payment by the company as it could not pay to its creditors because the Supreme Court had prohibited ‘Sahara Group of Companies’ to pay any amount to any person in the ongoing contempt proceedings. However, the plea was rejected by the NCLAT observing that there was no such specific directions in the SC order.
Oil falls below $58 on recession fears
Crude oil prices fell more than 1% last week, extending the previous session’s 3% drop, pressured by mounting recession concerns and a surprise boost in US crude inventories. In a sign of investor concern that the world’s biggest economy could be heading for recession, weighing on oil demand, the US Treasury bond yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007. China’s threat to impose counter-measures in retaliation for the latest US tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods also weighed on oil prices. Brent crude fell as much as $1.81, or 3%, to $57.67 a barrel. The global benchmark was down $1.52, or 2.6%, at $57.96 and West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was down 80 cents, or 1.5%, to $54.43 in early trades. “Oil is getting whacked again as risk-aversion kicks in and fears of a trade war inflicted slowdown grip traders,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Four-fold rise in RCap Q1 net
The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital has reported an over four-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at £121.8 million for the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal, driven by higher income. The company’s profit was £29.5 million in the year-ago period. Total income increased by 31% to £ 608.3 million during the April-June quarter of 2019-20 as against £464.1 million in the corresponding period a year earlier. Total assets of Reliance Capital stood at £7.92 billion as on June 30, 2019 as against £8.39 billion a year ago. The company also said it did not raise any fixed deposits from the public. During the entire last fiscal, the company said it had reported a loss of £ 145.4 million. Reliance Capital has interests in asset management and mutual funds, pension funds, insurance, finance, stock broking, distribution of financial products, asset reconstruction, proprietary investments and other financial services.
