INTERNATIONAL, P10 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P10 GLITCH-DELAYED INTERACTION ON X GET NON-EXECUTIVE ROLES TO FEND OFF ACTIVIST PRESSURES Musk cozies up to Trump, pitches role in administration Ananya and Aryaman Birla inducted on Hindalco board Starbucks taps Niccol as CEO in a surprise move, replacing Narasimhan CHENNAI/KOCHI, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 85, 48 PAGES, `12.00 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 78,956.03 ▼ 692.89 NIFTY: 24,139 ▼ 208 NIKKEI 225: 36,232.51 ▲ 1,207.51 HANG SENG: 17,174.06 ▲ 62.41 `/$: 83.97 < > 0.00 `/€: 91.69 ▲ 0.07 BRENT: $81.30 ▼ $1.00 GOLD: `70,158 ▲ `481 — HERO MOTOCORP PROFIT RISES 36%, MISSES ESTIMATES HERO MOTOCORP HAS posted a 36.1% y-o-y rise in its standalone profit to 1,123 crore in Q1, reports fe Bureau. However, it missed Bloomberg consensus estimate of `1,157 crore. ■ PAGE 4 MOST STATE-RUN POWER DISCOMS YETTO BREAK EVEN EVEN AFTER THE reduction in their AT&C losses in the recent quarters, most stateowned discoms remain lossmaking, as per analysts, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 2 EXPLAINER Why UP wants more hybrids ■ PAGE 9 Commercial secrets given to competitors, says US tech giant ADITYA KALRA New Delhi, August 13 ANTITRUSTBODYCOMPETITION Commission of India (CCI) has taken the unusual step of recalling two reports that detailed alleged breaches of competition law byApple,which complained that the regulator had disclosed commercialsecretstocompetitors,including Tinder-owner Match. The movewill prolong an alreadydelayed investigation, which began in 2021, centering on Apple's alleged abuse of its dominant position in the apps market to force developers to use its proprietaryin-app purchase system,at a fee of up to 30%. Applehasalreadybeensubjecttoantitrust probesandordersinEurope,JapanandKorea, aswellaslawsuitsfromcorporaterivals.Ithas denied all wrongdoing. Reuters reported last month that two reports prepared by the antitrust investigations unit in 2022 and 2024 and circulated to concerned parties in July found Apple had exploited its dominant position in the market forappstoreson its iOS operating system, to the detriment of app developers,users and other payment processors. However, in an August 7 confidential orderthat Reuters is the first to report on,the CCIaskedallApple’sopponentsinthecasefor the return of the reports. RARE MOVE ■ Disclosures likely relate to Apple's India app store revenues, market share figures ■ Tinder owner Match and ADIF among those asked to return the reports ■ Two reports – in 2022 and 2024 – detailed market abuses by Apple ■ Such a recall of reports is rare and will require them to be revised ■ Probe centres on Apple forcing developers to use its own in-app purchase system at up to 30% fee INSIDE Reliance, Disney offer to sell some channels for faster merger nod PAGE 5 “It is imperative that such information be maintained confidential, ensuring that no unauthorised disclosure occurs,” the antitrust regulator said in a four-page order signed by its top four officials. Continued on Page 6 THEVOLATILITYINtheglobalequitieshas not taken the sheen off the primary market as four initial public offerings (IPOs) worth over `11,850 crore have sailed through in the first week of August. And this trend is likely to continue as 25 firms, with approvals from the Securities and ExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi),aresettohit the market to raise around `22,000 crore, according to data from PRIME Database. Some of the big names that have secured the market regulator’s approval include Bajaj Housing Finance, Asirvad Micro Finance, Premier Energies, Arkade Developers and Northern Arc Capital. “With the secondary market looking quiteexpensive,mutualfundsareexpected to participate actively in these IPOs.So,the trend is unlikely to change,”said an investmentbankerfromaleadingdomesticfirm. The primarymarket inAugust has been aided by the year’s largest IPO of Ola Elec- Jan Feb Mar *Data till August 9 11,853 Apr May Jun 2024 5,064 VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, August 13 4,924 (IPO fundraise in ` crore) 9,606 BUMPER OFFERINGS 3,628 SBI AIMS TO sell its 24% stake worth `18,420 crore in Yes Bank by end of March, reports Reuters. Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Dubai’s Emirates NBD are in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake. ■ PAGE 7 Issues worth `22,000 cr set to hit primary market 2,357 SBI AIMS TO SELL ITS YES BANK STAKE WORTH `18,420 CR CCI recalls Apple antitrust reports IPOs head for an august month 7,499 NEWS DELAY IN PROBE BY 3 MONTHS LIKELY 3,265 IN THE Jul Aug* Source: PRIME Database INSIDE FirstCry shares list at 46% premium over IPO price PAGE 7 Unicommerce eSolutions lists at a huge 96% premium PAGE 7 tric Mobility with the issue size of `6,146 crore. This, investment bankers believe, shows that there is confidence in the market. The Ola Electric IPO comes at a time whenequitymarketsacrosstheworldcame underbouts of intense selling pressure last week due to concerns over potential recession in the US, unwinding of yen carry tradesandgeopoliticaltensioninWestAsia. Evendomesticequitiesfeltthepressure as the benchmarks – Sensex and Nifty50 – fell around 1.5% each last week to register theirsecond consecutiveweek of losses. Despite this,Ola Electric IPO saw a subscription of 4.45x and the stock has surged 42.2% in three days since its listing. Continued on Page 6 MSCI lifts curbs on Adani GST Council to discuss Group, adds seven stocks rate rejig in Sept 9 meet IN A RELIEF for Adani Group, index provider MSCI has announcedtheliftingofrestrictions on the treatment of its stocks, particularlyregardingtheirfree float status, reports Vivek Kumar M. MSCI will also add seven Indian stocks — Dixon, Vodafone Idea,RVNL,Oil India, Zydus Lifesciences, Prestige Estates Project and Oracle Financial — to its India index from September2.ThiswillpushIndia’sweightto20%—justbehind China at 22.3%. It is expected thatthechangeswillleadtoforeign inflows of up to $3 billion. HDFC Bank slumps over 3% as MSCI to raise weight in two tranches ■ Page 7 THE GST COUNCIL, which will meet on September 9, is likely to make progress on the long-pending agenda of rate rationalisation, and review levy of GST on import of services by Indian entities from offshore branches, reports Priyansh Verma. TheCouncilmayalsodiscuss taxation of health insurance, including a proposal to cut the current 18% tax rate on the gross premium, and another one to remove such services from the ambit of the tax, sourcessaid.However,theissue of the contentious 28% levyon theonlinegamingindustrymay not be taken up. ■ Page 2 CHENNAI/KOCHI