Latest news with #Kurian
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
PMJVK scheme to foster development in underprivileged regions: George Kurian
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs George Kurian inaugurated a skill development centre granted by the Minority Affairs Ministry under Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) at Amal College of Advanced Studies, Nilambur, on Friday (July 18). Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kurian said that India would become a developed nation by 2047. He said the PMJVK scheme was designed to foster development in underprivileged regions by providing top-notch infrastructure, enhancing educational opportunities and promoting skill development. Notably, 25% of the scheme's funds are earmarked for minority communities for their holistic development, he said. Mr. Kurian said that the future generation would have access to state-of-the-art technology, training and infrastructure. The scheme will provide a stipend of ₹27,000 to school and college students, he said. P.K. Basheer, MLA, presided over the function. P.V. Abdul Wahab, MP, was the chief guest. District Collector V.R. Vinod, Minority Welfare Department director Sabin Sameed, Nilambur block panchayat president P. Pushpavalli, vice president Pathumma Ismail, block development officer A.J. Santhosh, district panchayat member Sherona Roy and college principal K.P. Mohammed Basheer spoke. The government sanctioned ₹7.92 crore for the skill development centre under the PMJVK scheme. The facilities at the centre include a seminar hall, an electronics lab, a survey and GPS lab, an IT lab, counselling rooms, store rooms, rest room for women, disabled-friendly toilets, a logistics lab, an electrical lab, a plumbing lab, a language lab, training centres, a yoga centre and faculty and administrative offices. Mr. Kurian also inaugurated a girls' hostel complex constructed at a cost of ₹9.97 crore. The hostel can house 216 girl students. It has 156 beds for undergraduate students and 48 beds for postgraduate students. The hostel has a dormitory with 12 beds. Apart from a room for the matron, the hostel has a dining hall, a kitchen, a gymnasium, a multipurpose hall, and utility areas.
Economic Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Go for bottom-up stories in SMIDs; IT stocks look good in medium-term: Shibani Sircar Kurian
Shibani Sircar Kurian, Senior EVP, Sr. Fund Manager & Head -Equity Research, Kotak Mahindra AMC, says small and midcap stocks benefit from a bottom-up approach, despite near-term headwinds in discretionary tech spending due to uncertainty in Europe and North America. BFSI sector in North America shows steady improvement, and trade tension resolution could revive tech spending. AI adoption presents long-term opportunities for Indian IT services, making the sector constructively viewed in the medium-term. Kurian further says mid and small-cap stocks are currently valued higher than their historical averages, making earnings performance a critical factor for market direction. While first-quarter earnings are projected to grow in the mid-single digits, expectations for FY26 anticipate near double-digit growth. Improvement in corporate earnings, particularly in the second half of the year, will be essential to justify current valuations. How do you analyse the markets right now because of late, the markets have been consolidating at higher levels, waiting for some more clarity on what could happen on the tariff front and the earning season is also in full swing. What factors are at play for the markets and what sentiment are you catching hold of right now? Shibani Sircar Kurian: Over the last year or so, Indian markets have been fairly resilient in the backdrop of what is happening globally with all the tariff related uncertainty and geopolitical tension. Having said that, if you look at calendar year to date, on a relative basis, Indian markets have somewhat underperformed the emerging market pack. In that context, macro and policy factors continue to remain fairly buoyant, and policy has been supportive. We have been seeing improvement especially as far as rural consumption trajectory goes with improving income. However, the biggest factor to watch out from our market perspective, apart from the global factors, is what happens to corporate earnings. All of last year we saw muted trends in terms of corporate earnings delivery with low single-digit earnings growth for FY25 and we were also seeing earnings downgrades every quarter and that has led to our markets today trading at valuation, which if you look at Nifty at over 22 times one year forward earnings, is close to fair value range. The midcaps are trading at slight premium to their long-term history and the smallcaps are trading at a significant premium to long-term history. For our markets from here on, earnings delivery becomes crucial. In this quarter, which is the first quarter, expectations are of mid-single-digit earnings growth. But when you look at the full year as a whole which is FY26, at this point in time expectations are of improvement of close to double-digit earnings growth for the year as a whole. Therefore, delivery of earnings in this context of valuations becomes important and hopefully from here on, in the second half of the year, we should start seeing improvement as far as corporate earnings goes. I am taking a look at your weightage on equities. Like you just mentioned, you are marginally underweighting on midcap and underweight on the entire smallcap space. But recently, the trend in the market is that every time there is a little bit of an upsurge, it is the broader end of the market that is doing much better compared to the benchmarks. What could be a trigger other than valuations? Could it be earnings or could it be some other factors that could lead to you resetting your view or your weightage on the SMIDs basket? Shibani Sircar Kurian: So, as far as the SMIDs are concerned, it is not that we have been completely avoiding the space. It has been more bottom up in nature looking at companies where there is visibility in terms of earnings delivery. In terms of valuation, especially the smallcap index is trading at a much higher premium as compared to its long-term history and therefore, a lot of the movement that we have seen in that segment has been on the back of multiple re-rating. Earnings delivery has played a role in some cases. However, a lot more multiple re-rating has resulted in the movement in the broader market space and therefore, from here on, earnings growth becomes important. Even last quarter or the full year of last year, coming to earnings delivery, smallcaps specifically as an overall basket, saw disappointment and therefore, multiples just kept re-rating without the earnings playing through. Therefore, our overall strategy where the small and midcaps have been to look at stocks that are more bottom up in nature, look at companies with strong balance sheets, and companies where there is earnings delivery but trading at reasonable multiples. Therefore, our view is that if earnings growth picks up and there is a more broad-basing of earnings, then the segment will start getting more attractive because then the valuation will multiply. Does it make sense to look at bottom-up stories or would you say stick where there is earnings visibility, case in point being IT? Should one be looking at that sector right now? Shibani Sircar Kurian: Yes, absolutely. Bottom-up stories do make sense especially when you are looking at the small and midcap segment, where you have to be a lot more stock specific rather than look at the entire basket. Our view is that there are near-term headwinds primarily because of uncertainty on discretionary tech spend where large geographies such as Europe and North America are concerned. However, when you look at the commentary of some of the companies that have already reported earnings for this quarter, it seems to suggest that A) the macro environment is not worsening. B) in large verticals such as BFSI, we are seeing steady improvement especially where North America BFSI is concerned. Therefore, our belief is that as and when we get closer to some sort of settlement where all the trade related tensions are concerned, some amount of discretionary tech spend, which has been missing in action for so long, possibly would come back leading to earnings and revenue growth normalising in line with their long-term trajectory. The second aspect is that within the sector there are pockets where valuations are fairly third aspect is from a slightly longer term perspective, if you look at what is happening in AI and adoption of AI by enterprises globally, our view is over a period of time it will lead to considerable amount of work for the Indian IT services space, specifically for those companies who are able to evolve and build talent and capabilities to cater to that demand. IT, in the near term, will possibly see some headwinds but with a medium-term, our view on the sector remains fairly constructive. Of late, the consumption basket seems to be picking up, especially the case of staples that is garnering some bit of an investor interest. After those decent Q1 updates coming in from select companies, what is your view on the consumption basket? Have you made any adjustment with respect to the staple basket or the allocation over there or within consumer discretionary? Are you liking any particular pocket at this point in time? Shibani Sircar Kurian: The overall consumption space has been a laggard for the last couple of years. Within the segment, our preference has been for the discretionary basket over staples. In staples, there are some segments where valuations are looking relatively attractive, especially the long-term averages. There are a couple of things on the consumption side; one, the monsoons have been progressing well. Foodgrain sowing data seems to suggest that the output on food grains and crops should be good for this year. Secondly, real rural wages, after a long period of time, seem to be on an uptick and, inflation, especially food inflation, being under control is helping there. The third aspect has been the policy support – both in terms of the budget and the tax benefits that have come through for the middle-income segment as well as the rate cuts that have been announced by RBI. Our belief is that mass or the middle-income segment is where the consumption basket should start to improve as we progress through the year. Then, of course, the festive season and the like which is more time-bound and cyclical in nature come through. Therefore, if you look at our preference within the consumption basket, our preference has been for discretionary consumption, especially that end of discretionary consumption which is more mass or middle income in segment. For instance, two-wheelers, some parts of consumer durables, airlines, retail are the segments where the trajectory in terms of growth and earnings should improve given that there are initial and nascent signs of consumption coming back.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Go for bottom-up stories in SMIDs; IT stocks look good in medium-term: Shibani Sircar Kurian
Shibani Sircar Kurian , Senior EVP, Sr. Fund Manager & Head -Equity Research, Kotak Mahindra AMC , says small and midcap stocks benefit from a bottom-up approach, despite near-term headwinds in discretionary tech spending due to uncertainty in Europe and North America. BFSI sector in North America shows steady improvement, and trade tension resolution could revive tech spending. AI adoption presents long-term opportunities for Indian IT services, making the sector constructively viewed in the medium-term. Kurian further says mid and small-cap stocks are currently valued higher than their historical averages, making earnings performance a critical factor for market direction. While first-quarter earnings are projected to grow in the mid-single digits, expectations for FY26 anticipate near double-digit growth. Improvement in corporate earnings, particularly in the second half of the year, will be essential to justify current valuations. How do you analyse the markets right now because of late, the markets have been consolidating at higher levels, waiting for some more clarity on what could happen on the tariff front and the earning season is also in full swing. What factors are at play for the markets and what sentiment are you catching hold of right now? Shibani Sircar Kurian : Over the last year or so, Indian markets have been fairly resilient in the backdrop of what is happening globally with all the tariff related uncertainty and geopolitical tension. Having said that, if you look at calendar year to date, on a relative basis, Indian markets have somewhat underperformed the emerging market pack. In that context, macro and policy factors continue to remain fairly buoyant, and policy has been supportive. We have been seeing improvement especially as far as rural consumption trajectory goes with improving income. 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Try This at Home Home Fitness Hack Shop Now Undo However, the biggest factor to watch out from our market perspective, apart from the global factors, is what happens to corporate earnings. All of last year we saw muted trends in terms of corporate earnings delivery with low single-digit earnings growth for FY25 and we were also seeing earnings downgrades every quarter and that has led to our markets today trading at valuation, which if you look at Nifty at over 22 times one year forward earnings, is close to fair value range. The midcaps are trading at slight premium to their long-term history and the smallcaps are trading at a significant premium to long-term history. For our markets from here on, earnings delivery becomes crucial. In this quarter, which is the first quarter, expectations are of mid-single-digit earnings growth. But when you look at the full year as a whole which is FY26, at this point in time expectations are of improvement of close to double-digit earnings growth for the year as a whole. Therefore, delivery of earnings in this context of valuations becomes important and hopefully from here on, in the second half of the year, we should start seeing improvement as far as corporate earnings goes. I am taking a look at your weightage on equities. Like you just mentioned, you are marginally underweighting on midcap and underweight on the entire smallcap space. But recently, the trend in the market is that every time there is a little bit of an upsurge, it is the broader end of the market that is doing much better compared to the benchmarks. What could be a trigger other than valuations? Could it be earnings or could it be some other factors that could lead to you resetting your view or your weightage on the SMIDs basket? Shibani Sircar Kurian : So, as far as the SMIDs are concerned, it is not that we have been completely avoiding the space. It has been more bottom up in nature looking at companies where there is visibility in terms of earnings delivery. Live Events You Might Also Like: Mihir Vora on where to look for opportunities in the broader market In terms of valuation, especially the smallcap index is trading at a much higher premium as compared to its long-term history and therefore, a lot of the movement that we have seen in that segment has been on the back of multiple re-rating. Earnings delivery has played a role in some cases. However, a lot more multiple re-rating has resulted in the movement in the broader market space and therefore, from here on, earnings growth becomes important. Even last quarter or the full year of last year, coming to earnings delivery, smallcaps specifically as an overall basket, saw disappointment and therefore, multiples just kept re-rating without the earnings playing through. Therefore, our overall strategy where the small and midcaps have been to look at stocks that are more bottom up in nature, look at companies with strong balance sheets, and companies where there is earnings delivery but trading at reasonable multiples. Therefore, our view is that if earnings growth picks up and there is a more broad-basing of earnings, then the segment will start getting more attractive because then the valuation will multiply. Does it make sense to look at bottom-up stories or would you say stick where there is earnings visibility, case in point being IT? Should one be looking at that sector right now? Shibani Sircar Kurian: Yes, absolutely. Bottom-up stories do make sense especially when you are looking at the small and midcap segment, where you have to be a lot more stock specific rather than look at the entire basket. Our view is that there are near-term headwinds primarily because of uncertainty on discretionary tech spend where large geographies such as Europe and North America are concerned. However, when you look at the commentary of some of the companies that have already reported earnings for this quarter, it seems to suggest that A) the macro environment is not worsening. B) in large verticals such as BFSI, we are seeing steady improvement especially where North America BFSI is concerned. Therefore, our belief is that as and when we get closer to some sort of settlement where all the trade related tensions are concerned, some amount of discretionary tech spend, which has been missing in action for so long, possibly would come back leading to earnings and revenue growth normalising in line with their long-term trajectory. You Might Also Like: Buy on dips; expect a 1,000-point rally over next 30-45 days: Rahul Sharma The second aspect is that within the sector there are pockets where valuations are fairly reasonable. The third aspect is from a slightly longer term perspective, if you look at what is happening in AI and adoption of AI by enterprises globally, our view is over a period of time it will lead to considerable amount of work for the Indian IT services space, specifically for those companies who are able to evolve and build talent and capabilities to cater to that demand. IT, in the near term, will possibly see some headwinds but with a medium-term, our view on the sector remains fairly constructive. Of late, the consumption basket seems to be picking up, especially the case of staples that is garnering some bit of an investor interest. After those decent Q1 updates coming in from select companies, what is your view on the consumption basket? Have you made any adjustment with respect to the staple basket or the allocation over there or within consumer discretionary? Are you liking any particular pocket at this point in time? Shibani Sircar Kurian : The overall consumption space has been a laggard for the last couple of years. Within the segment, our preference has been for the discretionary basket over staples. In staples, there are some segments where valuations are looking relatively attractive, especially the long-term averages. There are a couple of things on the consumption side; one, the monsoons have been progressing well. Foodgrain sowing data seems to suggest that the output on food grains and crops should be good for this year. Secondly, real rural wages, after a long period of time, seem to be on an uptick and, inflation, especially food inflation, being under control is helping there. You Might Also Like: How should you position yourself in IT and pharma now? Neeraj Dewan answers The third aspect has been the policy support – both in terms of the budget and the tax benefits that have come through for the middle-income segment as well as the rate cuts that have been announced by RBI. Our belief is that mass or the middle-income segment is where the consumption basket should start to improve as we progress through the year. Then, of course, the festive season and the like which is more time-bound and cyclical in nature come through. Therefore, if you look at our preference within the consumption basket, our preference has been for discretionary consumption, especially that end of discretionary consumption which is more mass or middle income in segment. For instance, two-wheelers, some parts of consumer durables, airlines, retail are the segments where the trajectory in terms of growth and earnings should improve given that there are initial and nascent signs of consumption coming back.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Union min Kurian launches two projects under PMJVK in Siaha
Aizawl: Union minister of state for minority affairs and fisheries, animal husbandry & dairying George Kurian laid the foundation stone for two projects under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) in Mizoram's southern Siaha district through virtual mode on Wednesday. The event was held at Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) Golden Jubilee Hall with two legislators from the district, Dr K Beichhua and K Hrahmo, attending the event virtually as well. Kurian highlighted the vision and aspirations of the Centre for Vikshit Bharat 2047. He said in line with the govt's vision for India to be a developed nation by the centenary of its Independence in 2047, various developmental works have been carried out in different parts of the country. Kurian also said northeastern states and Mizoram in particular have witnessed robust transformation under dynamic leaders of the central govt at present and expressed optimism that the projects bring about groundbreaking advancement for the people of Siaha. Beichhua, who is also state BJP president, and chief executive member (CEM) of MADC M Laikaw also delivered short oration, each conveying their appreciation to the central govt for their broad attitude towards the uplift of minority and empowerment of marginalised communities of the country.
Mint
10-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Expert view: Elevated valuations to cap returns of Indian stock market, says Kotak AMC's head of equity research
Expert view: The Indian stock market is currently sitting at premium valuations, so one should have moderate return expectations, says Shibani Kurian, senior fund manager and the head of equity research at Kotak Mahindra AMC. In an interview with Mint, Kurian shared her views on how retail investors can make money in this market and her expectations from Q1 results 2025-26, among other things. Here are edited excerpts of the interview: The current equity market remains volatile on the back of geopolitical risk, tariff-related uncertainties and regulatory risks. In this context, Indian markets have remained fairly resilient, though on a relative basis, India has underperformed some global peers (in US dollar terms) to date. India's macroeconomic variables, as evidenced by high-frequency economic indicators, continue to hold up well, and policy has remained supportive. Hence, we believe that the structural opportunity for Indian equities remains intact with a longer-term perspective. However, in the near term, one may have to anchor returns expectations to more moderate levels as valuations are elevated. At present, Nifty trades at a PE (price-to-earnings) of nearly 22 times FY26E EPS (earnings per share), with consensus estimating earnings growth at low double digits for FY26E. Large caps continue to be better placed from a risk-reward perspective. They are now trading at a slight premium to their historical average, while mid- and small caps are still trading at multiples higher than their long-term average. Earnings delivery becomes even more critical, especially for mid- and small caps. As we navigate the current markets, we would consider buying high-quality companies at reasonable valuations with visibility of earnings growth. The key risks at present are more global in nature and include any further flare-up in geopolitical tensions and tariff-related uncertainties, which could affect global growth. We would also watch out for policy changes in the US, fiscal and monetary. A clearer picture may emerge only after the US concludes trade deals with major economies and trading partners. On the domestic front, apart from policy-related measures, the key factor to watch out for is the delivery of corporate earnings growth in FY26 after muted growth in FY25. Monsoon progress and distribution will be other key monitorables in the short term. In the current market, retail investors should continue with their disciplined approach to investing based on their individual risk profile and asset allocation goal while keeping in mind a long-term investment horizon. SIPs remain one of the best ways to invest in the markets. Data shows that 183 of the BSE 500 stocks are still trading at more than 50 times trailing 12-month PE ratios. Hence, in the very near term, given current market valuations, investors should temper their return expectations while focusing on the long-term structural opportunity in the Indian equity markets. Q1FY26 earnings are likely to remain modest, with the Nifty 50 companies expected to post mid-single-digit earnings growth (excluding one-off gains in specific cases). While top-line growth is likely to remain muted, margins are likely to expand at a slow pace. Select sectors, such as energy, healthcare services (hospitals), telecom, chemicals, and cement, are likely to lead earnings growth, while autos, consumption, and utilities are likely to drag. Overall, the consensus expectation for FY26 is low double-digit earnings, which is an improvement from the levels of corporate earnings reported in FY25. Earnings in the second half of the financial year 2025-26 (H2FY26) are likely to be better than those in H1FY26 as the impact of lower policy rates, tax cuts, etc., starts to be factored in. Over the medium term, we expect the IT sector to be a key beneficiary of structural tailwinds like AI, cloud and data adoption. As AI adoption evolves from GenAI to agentic AI, we believe IT services companies to be the key proxy players in areas like data centre refresh and app transformation. In the near term, given the geopolitical scenario and trade tensions, there is some degree of uncertainty over discretionary tech spending. However, we expect demand recovery once trade tensions ease and the US economy witnesses growth stimulation from the "One Big Beautiful Act." Given the structural and cyclical demand tailwinds and the growth potential, we consider valuations reasonable in many cases. PSU banks have witnessed significant improvement in their operating performance, both in terms of growth and profitability, during the post-COVID period. Asset quality, too, has improved considerably in the post-COVID period after the peak stress seen pre-COVID. Over the past few years, PSU banks have narrowed the growth and ROE (return on equity) differential versus their private bank peers, even while they lag on ROA (return on assets). This has also been reflected in the sector's valuation re-rating. More recently, PSU banks have continued to grow at a pace close to industry averages. Most banks remain well-capitalised and are generating healthy ROEs, sufficient to fund their growth. Valuations are close to long-period averages. We would prefer large PSU banks with a strong liability franchise, and be cautious of those with low float and where valuations are ahead of fundamentals. Read all market-related news here Read more stories by Nishant Kumar Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations expressed are those of individual analysts or broking firms, not Mint. We advise investors to consult with certified experts before making any investment decisions, as market conditions can change rapidly and circumstances may vary.
