Key trends in the asset management space in FY23 include: (1) continued pressure on yields, (2) increasing expense ratio (total opex / AAUM), and (3) outflows in debt AUM (FY22/FY23 industry outflow was at Rs1.8trn/1.4trn).

Housing finance sector is well poised to deliver 14% CAGR over medium term, in our view, on the back of increasing urbanisation, nuclearisation of households and rapidly growing rural penetration. Low-ticket HLs (Rs0.2mn-Rs1mn) reported strong 44% YoY disbursement growth in FY22.

The Asian markets are trading higher as strong corporate earnings boosted sentiments while investors await policy decisions from the Bank of Japan. Nikkei is trading higher by 0.57%, Hang Seng is trading higher by 0.80%, and Shanghai is trading higher by 0.64%.

Constellium’s (CSTM) Q1CY23 performance missed consensus estimates mainly due to higher costs and subdued shipments at packaging segment. Key points: 1) Packaging shipments were impacted by the ongoing destocking in North America and Europe.

Private insurers sold around 12.5 lakh policies in March 2023, while LIC sold 40.5 lakh schemes. The first-year premiums of private insurers rose 35% YoY to Rs 23,364 in the same period, with LIC's premium falling 32.1% to Rs 28,716.2 crore.

Spot HRC spread for sheet steel players has risen further in the week ended 26th Apr’23 compared to last week on falling coking coal prices. While HRC prices are broadly stable WoW in the traders’ market, coking coal prices are down by a further US$13/te, lowest since Aug’22.

The Asian markets are trading mixed tracking weak cues from Wall Street overnight. While Nikkei is trading lower by 0.53%, Hang Seng is trading higher by 0.44% and Shanghai is trading lower by 0.29%.

We visited Raipur (in Chhattisgarh) and interacted with several regional sales managers, area managers and distributors of retail/QSR/FMCG companies to gain first-hand insight on their business (at store level) and evolving competitive landscape.

1) SRF: R-22 price rose to Rs345/kg (+3.1% QoQ) in Q4FY23-TD; volumes were up 4.2% YoY to 1.9kte. In packaging films segment, spreads contracted QoQ for both BOPET and BOPP, which will put pressure on SRF’s packaging films margin. 2) Gujarat Fluorochemicals: PTFE price jumped 2.7% QoQ / 11.6% YoY to Rs1,051 while volumes fell 23.7% YoY to 1.9kte.

We hosted a call with a cement expert (Marketing Director of an unlisted mid-sized cement company) in South India to gauge the demand and pricing outlook in the region. Key takeaways: 1) FY23 demand is estimated to have grown 13-15% with strong momentum seen across all states.