Castrol India Announces Second Interim Dividend for FY 2019; Recalls Final Dividend for FY 2019

The Board of Directors of Castrol India Limited, at a meeting held today, declared a second interim dividend of INR 3/- per equity share for the financial year ended 31 December 2019. Simultaneously, the Board recalled the earlier recommended final dividend of INR 3/- per equity share for the same period (2018: final dividend INR 2.75/- per equity share).

The delay of the 42nd Annual General Meeting of the Company from April to July due to the national lockdown on account of the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted many shareholders, small and institutional.

The Board took this decision to pay an interim dividend during these unprecedented times to help release payment earlier to the shareholders.     

“Castrol India has always valued the enduring relationship it has with its investors. These are extraordinary times which require organizations to take extraordinary measures in order to support various stakeholders,” said Mr. R Gopalakrishnan, Chairman of Board of Directors after the meeting.  

This second interim dividend, is in addition to the previously declared interim dividend of INR 2.50/- per equity share (2018: interim dividend INR 2.25/- per equity share) for the financial year 2019. 

India's IT export target of $50 bn will be delayed, says NASSCOM

IT industry association NASSCOM said the export revenue target of 50 billion dollar by 2010 will be delayed by 3-4 quarters due to the global economic downturn, and warned of uncertainties in the near future.

The NASSCOM-McKinsey, however, presented an ambitious scenario for the Indian IT industry for the next 11 years saying the total revenue from export is expected to expand to 175 billion dollars by 2020 and revenues from the domestic market could achieve the 50 billion dollar mark.

"This, however, needs a concerted effort by both the industry and the government to ensure swift and sustained reforms in critical areas of education and infrastructure," NASSCOM said.

On the economic scenario, the organisation said the "global economic crisis will have far-reaching and as yet uncertain impact on the industry. Near term volumes and pricing is likely to come under pressure."

Commenting on the opportunities for the industry, Som Mittal, President, Nasscom, said, "The Indian IT industry is in the midst of unprecedented times because of the current economic environment. We expect the next few quarters to be extremely challenging with companies doing everything required to effectively overcome the challenges."

NASSCOM is of the view that the 2020 business landscape would be different from the one that was witnessed in the last decade as now it would be driven by global megatrends.

There are likely to be new verticals in the public sector, healthcare, media and utilities (which have adopted global sourcing only to a limited extent) along with new customer segments in the small and medium businesses.

"These new opportunities will result in export revenues of 175 billion dollar by 2020. On the back of these megatrends the Indian domestic industry too will experience significant growth and record a four-fold increase in revenues from 12 billion dollar in 2008 to 50 billion by 2020," it said.

"80 per cent of the incremental revenue growth by 2020 will be driven by opportunities outside of the current core markets, verticals and customer segments and the industry needs to redefine its value proposition to capture these," Mittal said.

The NASSCOM-McKinsey report said that India has been the destination for global sourcing over the last 10 years and has garnered a 51 per cent share of the industry today. India continues to be the most competitive among 25-30 low-cost locations even today.

Agencies