Tepid Q2 prediction for IT services giants; Festive rush at MSMEs

Hello,

The annual Hurun report card is out.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani reclaimed his position as India’s richest individual, with an increase of 2% in his wealth to Rs 8.08 lakh crore. He is followed by Gautam Adani whose wealth plummeted by 57% to Rs 4.74 crore, while Cyrus Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India retained his position at the third place.

In a notable shift, Radha Vembu of Zoho surpassed Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar to become the wealthiest self-made Indian woman on the list. Meanwhile, Kaivalya Vohra of Zepto emerged as the youngest entrant. 

Elsewhere, Flipkart has temporarily suspended its grocery service amid the rush during its flagship sale event The Big Billion Days. This is the Walmart-owned ecommerce company’s biggest annual sale.

Flipkart Grocery is expected to resume operations today, a company spokesperson told YourStory.

ICYMI: A look at all attempted and successful space missions to the Moon so far.

Spoiler alert: There have been 52 in total.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Tepid Q2 prediction for IT services giants
• Festive season rush at small businesses 
• Decolonising mental health

Here’s your trivia for today: In 1844, which two countries participated in the first-ever international cricket match?

IT services 

Tepid Q2 for IT services giants

India’s largest software service exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will report its earnings for the quarter ended September 2023 today, followed by Infosys and HCLTech tomorrow. Wipro will announce its results on October 18.

While the second quarter is considered to be the strongest for the Indian IT services sector, the fireworks will likely be missed this time due to the global macroeconomic slowdown. 

Lukewarm:

• Brokerage house Jefferies expects the growth for the Indian IT services companies to be around 0.5% on a quarter-on-quarter basis in constant currency terms.
• Overall the expectation is that companies would grow their revenues between -1% and +1%.
• Industry watchers say that, at the most, there would be a 20-40 basis points increase in margins for many companies driven by higher utilisation and operational efficiencies.

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Krutrim SI Designs

Amount: $24M

Round: Debt

Startup: SuperOps.ai

Amount: $12.4M

Round: Series B

Startup: Shiprocket 

Amount: $11M

Round: Extended Series E

MSME

Festive season rush at small businesses 

For micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India, the festive season brings joy but also adds complexities to operations in terms of managing working capital and inventory. 

Despite the hurdles, MSMEs are navigating the festive frenzy with determination.

Happy shopping:

• According to RedSeer Consulting, this year’s festive season will attract over 140 million shoppers online, with a projected GMV of around Rs 90,000 crore, up 18-20% from last year’s festive sales.
• Pankaj Jathar, VP and Country Head India of Etsy, says the company is initiating seller payments upon sale of a product on its platform, even prior to order delivery, to support small businesses in maintaining a stable cash flow for inventory development. 
• NBFCs, new-age funding platforms, and fintech firms catering to MSMEs are predicting a 40-50% increase in MSME loan sanctions this festive season over regular days.

Mental health

Decolonising mental health

“Red flags” and “boundaries”—concepts that form a crucial part of Western therapy do little to resolve long-standing generational trauma in India, believe new-age mental health professionals, who now advocate for decolonising mental health.

New lens:

• Decolonising mental health looks at nuanced interventions that work in and for societies that have a history of colonisation and racism, and where oppression often plays a role in indigenous, black and brown people’s mental health. 
• According to a 2018 study by the Indian Psychiatric Society, the family is a key resource in the care of patients in India, as its culture of interdependence gives it a preeminent status. It can therefore be extremely rewarding for families to collectively seek help.
• Cultivating the awareness to identify the trauma in the family line is just the first step. Next is operating with yourself to identify parts of yourself and others that are instrumental in perpetuating the trauma cycle, and have remained unresolved over generations.

News & updates

• Slow Q3: Samsung Electronics' third-quarter profit is expected to drop 80% from a year earlier as the effects of an ongoing global chip glut drive losses in what is normally the South Korean tech giant's cash cow business.
• AI race: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) plans to buy AI startup Nod.ai as part of an effort to bolster its software capabilities and catch up with Nvidia. The acquisition fits into the strategy because its technology enables companies to deploy AI models that are tuned for AMD's chips more easily. 
• Big profit: Price hikes for Pepsi products boosted the company’s bottom line, despite a decline in sales, according to the company’s third-quarter earnings. It increased prices globally by 11% on average, helping nudge revenue higher than analysts’ expectations despite volume falling 2.5%.

In 1844, which two countries participated in the first-ever international cricket match?

Answer: The United States of America and Canada, billed as the ‘British Empire’s Canadian Province’. 

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