Toyota Glanza And Urban Cruiser Clock Cumulative Wholesales Of Over 1 lakh Units

* Both the models help TKM tap 66% first time buyers especially in Tier II & III markets in India  

True to its belief of delivering “Mass Happiness to All”, Toyota Kirloskar Motor witnessed a significant new milestone with the Toyota Glanza and the Urban Cruiser, together clocking cumulative wholesales of over 1 lakh units. Launched in June 2019 and September 2020 respectively, both the Glanza and the Urban Cruiser have received a phenomenal response from the customers, with the Glanza clocking over 65,000 units and the Urban Cruiser registering cumulative wholesales of more than 35,000 units.

Ever since its launch, the Glanza and the Urban Cruiser have played a significant role in catering to 66% of first-time Toyota buyers, especially in Tier II & III markets. This has also helped TKM garner young-millennial customers who are not only seeking exceptional automobile ownership experience, but also the best balance of economically viable options. Furthermore, customers have also availed comprehensive “Best in Class” ownership experience, through the specially designed value-added service programs such as Express Maintenance 60 (EM60), Q Service, Extended Warranty & Service Packages (SMILES).

Commenting on the success of Glanza and Urban Cruiser, Mr. Atul Sood, Associate Vice President, Sales, and Strategic Marketing, TKM, said, “Toyota takes great pride in its unrelenting efforts to ensure the highest customer satisfaction, and this milestone is a testament to the best ownership experience, exceptional sales & after sales services, as well as peace of mind that is offered to every single Toyota customer. The Glanza and the Urban Cruiser have witnessed phenomenal success over the years, with the Glanza registering more than 25% growth when compared to its sales in 2020. Thanks to both these models that have helped us strike a defined balance to reach young aspiring customers, who desire to own a Toyota early in their lives.

The success of Glanza and Urban Cruiser reiterates our belief that a good purchase experience is not just about the product, but about the entire ownership process.  Our focus on expanding footprints covering the tier II and tier III markets, has enhanced TKM product accessibility and service coverage to a wider and newer set of customer base. At present we are operational across 418 dealer outlets in the country. Furthermore, our virtual showroom has simplified the process of car buying by digitizing and integrating the key touchpoints in a customer’s purchase cycle, as a one-stop-shop solution. We thank our customers for their patronage, and we will continue to strive towards our commitment to providing an awesome experience,” he concluded.

An array of attractive offers, low cost of ownership, extended warranty, and customized finance schemes have helped Toyota maintain the sales momentum of the Toyota Glanza and the Urban Cruiser. Over the years, in addition to Toyota Finance Services (TFS), the company has partnered with several financial institutions to enable easy finance options at competitive interest rates for customers across a vast number of cities and towns in India. Similarly, through Toyota U Trust, upgraders and additional car buyers can avail one stop solution for reliable, transparent and easy buying & selling of used cars.

Happiest Minds Delivers Industry-Leading Y-O-Y Revenue Growth Of 47.2 Percent

 * Continues strong profitability performance with EBITDA of Rs 76 Crores, showing a y-o-y growth of 27.8%

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE:HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’, digital transformation and IT solutions company, today announced its consolidated results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021 as approved by its Board of Directors.

Joseph Anantharaju, Executive Vice Chairman said, “Our compelling offerings have made us the partner of choice for our customers in their Experience, Data and Cloud initiatives. The stellar results validate the value proposition that we offer our customers and the critical role we play in their strategic digital initiatives.”

Venkatraman N, MD & CFO said, “We continue to deliver all-around healthy financial and business performance. Revenue growth of 47.2%, EBIDTA at 26.1%, robust cash generation and healthy capital return ratios are testimony to this. Coupled with onboarding talent and healthy utilization levels, we are well-positioned to address the strong demand environment for Digital services.”

Ram Mohan C, CEO - IMSS and Member of the Executive Board said, “Our customers trust us to migrate, deploy, develop, and manage applications at scale and to ring-fence the digital ecosystem with multi-cloud implementation and management services using next-gen cloud and security tools.“

Financial highlights for

Quarter ended December 31, 2021

Operating Revenues in US$ terms stood at $37.8 million (growth of 5.5% q-o-q; 44.2% y-o-y)

Total Income of Rs 29,228 lakhs (growth of 6.6% q-o-q; 45.2% y-o-y)

EBITDA of Rs 7,631 lakhs, 26.1% of Total Income (growth of 8.8% q-o-q; 27.8% y-o-y)

PAT of Rs 4,892 lakhs (growth of 10.1% q-o-q; 16.1% y-o-y)

Free cash flows of Rs 7,585 lakhs

EPS (diluted) for the quarter of Rs 3.38 (growth of 10.5% q-o-q; 17.0% y-o-y)

Nine Months ended December 31, 2021

Operating Revenues in US$ terms stood at $106.7 million (growth of 43.6% y-o-y)

Total Income of Rs 82,027 lakhs (growth 42.8% y-o-y)

EBITDA of Rs 21,258 lakhs, 25.9% of Total Income (growth of 35.5% y-o-y)

PAT of Rs 12,909 lakhs (growth of 2.1% y-o-y)

Free cash flows of Rs  20,897 lakhs

EPS (diluted) for half year Rs 8.92 (decline of 0.3% y-o-y)

RoCE & RoE (nine months annualized) of 32.9% and 28.2% respectively

Our Business:

Clients:

195 as of December 31, 2021

11 additions in the quarter

Our People - Happiest Minds:

4,021 Happiest Minds as of December 31, 2021 (net addition for the quarter 225, nine-months 793)

Trailing 12 months attrition of 21.1%

Utilization of 81.0%, from 79.7% in last quarter

Key Project Wins:

For a global telecoms provider with operations in 200+ countries, Happiest Minds has won a multi- year, multi-million-dollar managed service contract to partner on their transformational and operational excellence journey

For a global EduTech SaaS company, Happiest Minds has won a multi-year, multi-million-dollar deal to provide End to End Infrastructure and Security Services by leveraging Microsoft Azure

For one of the world’s largest Transportation Mobility-as-a-Service Company, Happiest minds has been chosen to help them on their Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) security services

For a global enterprise SaaS company offering cloud-based directory as a service platform, Happiest Minds was chosen as their engineering partner

For a portfolio company of a large private equity firm, Happiest Minds is managing data quality and governance for its master data management (MDM) application hosted on Pimcore platform

For a global bank in business over 100 years, Happiest Minds is partnering them in their automation journey

For a global energy management technology company that manufactures software-driven solar energy solutions, Happiest Minds was chosen to develop the next generation, software-controlled Power Controller

For the US subsidiary of a multinational electronics corporation, Happiest Minds was chosen as their analytics and DevOps partner

Analyst Mentions:

Happiest Minds’ Digital Content Monetization (DCM) solution was featured in NASSCOM Cloud Case

study Compendium

Happiest Minds is recognized in Zinnov Zones as a

Leader for Enterprise Software

Leader for ER&D (Small & Medium Service Providers)

Niche-Established for AI Engineering

Niche-Established for IoT Services

Awards:

Happiest Minds is ranked among India’s Top 25 Best Workplaces in IT & IT-BPM 2021 by Great Place to Work® Institute

Happiest Minds wins Platinum and Gold Awards for its 2021 Annual Report from League of American Communication Professionals (LACP) - Annual Report is ranked #24 globally and #1 in India

Happiest Minds is recognized as a GOLD partner of the Intel Network Builders Winners' Circle

Priya Kanduri, Vice President & CTO - IMSS received the Women in Tech award at the 19th Edition of Asia Pacific HRM Congress & Awards

Preeti Menon, Senior Vice President & Global Delivery Head – PES is recognized among the Top 20 Female Cloud Leaders in 2021 by The Sociable

Kiran Veigas, General Manager – Corporate Marketing & Communications was awarded DMA Trailblazer Rising Star CMO 2021 award at the BrandMaster Award Nite.

PhonePe Pulse Unveils Digital Payment Trends For Q4 2021

* Merchant payments register a 37% QoQ growth hitting 3.15 Billion transactions

* Maharashtra becomes the first state to cross 1 Billion transactions in any given quarter

PhonePe, India’s leading fintech platform, today announced key digital payment trends from PhonePe Pulse Q4 (October - December) 2021. The latest report shows the tremendous pace at which the country is adopting digital payments.

The key highlights of this quarter were:

* The PhonePe platform drove a cumulative 6.63 Billion transactions in Q4, a 26% QoQ jump.

* The Total Payments Value (TPV) of transactions processed grew 26% QoQ to $155 Billion, mirroring the growth in the number of transactions.

* Money transfers with UPI and merchant payments continued to register massive growth reaching 2.72 Billion and 3.15 Billion respectively.

* 25 Million merchants were digitized across 15,700 towns and villages in India, which continued to help offline merchant payments register tremendous growth

Further, the trend of digital payments becoming a Pan-India habit which was observed in Q3, continued in Q4 as well with 722 out of 726 districts in the country clocking positive growth in the number of registered users and digital transactions.

Geographically, Goa (71%), Andaman (41%), Assam (37%) were the top 3 states and union territories in terms of QoQ transaction growth. Maharashtra registered 27% growth and became the first state to cross a billion transactions in a quarter (1.01 billion txns). Karnataka was a close second showing 24% QoQ growth and driving 932 million transactions.

Speaking on the release of the Q4 2021 Pulse insights, Karthik Raghupathy, Head of Strategy and Investor Relations at PhonePe said, “As predicted in our Q3 report, we saw the merchant transactions register robust QoQ growth driven by the holiday season, festivities and multiple e-commerce shopping sales. The data and insights from Pulse clearly indicate that the fundamental shift we are seeing in consumer behavior towards contactless payments is here to stay. As digital payments become an ingrained habit for both customers and merchants, we expect to continue seeing a surge in volumes across use cases for Q1 2022 as well. We are excited to see what interesting insights and trends the next quarter will unveil.”

Launched in September 2021, PhonePe Pulse is India’s first interactive website with data, insights and trends on digital payments in the country. The PhonePe Pulse website showcases more than 2000+ Cr transactions by consumers on an interactive map of India. More details and some interesting fun facts are available on pulse.phonepe.com.  

PNB Q3 Results: Net Profit Spikes 123% YoY To Rs 1,126 Crore, Beats Estimates

State-owned Punjab National Bank on Thursday reported a 123 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit at Rs 1,126 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021.

In the corresponding quarter last year, the company posted a net profit of Rs 506 crore. CNBC-TV18 Polls had predicted a profit of Rs 1,033.8 crore for the quarter under review.

However, total income during October-December 2021 declined to Rs 22,026.02 crore as against Rs 23,298.53 crore in the year-ago period, PNB said in a regulatory filing.

Emirates To Introduce First Class Services To Thiruvananthapuram

Emirates has announced it will introduce First Class services on the Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram route starting from February 3, 2022. The airline is currently the first and only international carrier to serve Thiruvananthapuram with First Class services – offering customers superior products, services and comfort in air and on-ground.

Emirates will deploy its wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three-class cabin configuration – offering 8 seats in First Class, 42 in Business Class and 185 spacious seats in Economy Class.

Travellers from Thiruvananthapuram can experience Emirates’ First Class product on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Emirates flight EK 523 will depart Thiruvananthapuram at 4:30hrs local time and arrive in Dubai at 7:15hrs, local time. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, Emirates flight EK 522 will depart Dubai at 21:40hrs and arrive in Thiruvananthapuram at 3:10hrs, the following day, local time.

Premium passengers can now experience ultimate luxury on-board Emirates’ First Class cabins boasting private suites with seats that recline to a full-flat bed, a personal electrically-controlled mini-bar, a wide-screen 32” HD LCD screen, electrically-operated privacy dividers, and gourmet fine dining. First Class customers can look forward to ultimate privacy, more personal space, and superior comfort on-board.  Emirates’ First Class passengers can also enjoy the luxury of First Class Lounge at Dubai Airport and complimentary chauffeur-driven airport transfer in Dubai.

Emirates launched its operations to Thiruvananthapuram in 2006 and the airline currently operates three weekly flights to/from the city.

90 Percent Of Buyers In North Bengaluru Are IT Professionals Below 40 Years: Cyriac Joseph

By Manu Sharma

Historically cities have developed around airports and rail hubs. Bengaluru is no different. North Bengaluru hence has emerged as one of the hottest destinations in the last decade or so and has been seeing rapid development on all fronts. In an exclusive interview with Manu Sharma (MS), Editor, Silicon Village, Cyriac Joseph (CJ), Head - Marketing, PR & Corporate Communication, Vaishnavi Group, leading real estate developer in Bengaluru, talks about the reasons for this boom in North Bengaluru and top localities for investment.

Excerpts of the interview:

MS: What according to you is the type of development North Bengaluru is seeing and why?

CJ: It is no surprise that North Bengaluru has been witnessing a real estate boom and this is expected to continue in the mid to long term as all major developers have lined up key residential and commercial projects for launch in the coming years.

North Bengaluru boasts of large integrated township developments, many SEZs, apartment complexes, villa / row house projects and plotted developments.

However, currently, plotted developments appear to be the favoured choice for real estate consumers. Typically, these ready-to-build and “plug & play” plots which are conceived with greenery, open spaces and sustainability, offer freedom and customised dwelling units for the buyer while at the same time offering the safety and security of a gated / secure community. Historically, we have also seen plotted developments offering significantly higher returns vis-à-vis other real estate investment options.

The reasons for the boom in North Bengaluru are several. Major IT / ITES and technology hubs have located here as it boasts of enviable social infrastructure in terms of educational institutions, shopping, retail & entertainment hubs along with seamless & quick connectivity to the airport, This, coupled with the focus on infrastructure development including Metro connectivity, sub-urban rail connectivity, connectivity to Arterial ring road etcare the demand drivers in North Bengaluru.

Currently, we see that North Bengaluru is the most preferred among seasoned investors as well as first time home buyers as a viable option for long-term real estate investment.

MS: What is the demographic profile of the buyers in North Bengaluru according to you?

CJ: We find that about 90 percent of the buyers are IT professionals in the age group of 30 - 40 years, not only from Bengaluru but from other cities as well. The typical salary bracket is Rs 10 - 15 lakh p.a.

MS: How does North Bengaluru lend itself for plotted developments? Which are the areas most suitable in North Bengaluru?

CJ: Yelahanka is a famed area in North Bengaluru with multiple defence establishments, thus making it one of the most peaceful and safest residential areas in Bangalore. For families with young children, senior citizens or even those looking to retire, Yelahanka offers a comfortable and cosy lifestyle. Other residential areas in Bangalore’s northern region include Devanahalli, Hebbal and Thanisandra – all of which have large banks of undeveloped land, thus making them investment favourites.

Top 3 Localities in North Bangalore

The North Bengaluru market has evolved as a prominent residential market. This location has the perfect mixture of cost-efficient and luxury housing. Over the past few years, North Bengaluru has witnessed the launch of several plotted, high-end apartment and villa projects as well as cost-efficient housing projects.

Hebbal: One of the major localities to have become a favourite spot for real estate developers. With a wide variety of MNCs, IT companies, Hebbal is well connected with good connectivity to all parts of the city and a drive time of under 30-minutes to the Kempagowda International Airport.

Devanahalli: Claim to fame: Proximity to KIAL and IT hubs like KIADB’s Hardware Park and the Aerospace Park.

Yelahanka: The price of property is observed to have risen on an exponential level since the International Airport was established. The locality is one of the most low-congestion zones in Bangalore. This locality is blessed with a dedicated green belt for itself. With regards to connectivity, Yelahanka is well-connected with NH7 and NH9.

MS: What is the reason behind growing current demand for plotted gated communities?

CJ: Plotted developments have become increasingly popular over time, and are now a major real estate trend in India. Plotted developments are typically offered within gated communities, especially in suburbs that offer plenty of space and land, without compromising on connectivity. In Bengaluru, the best examples of this are seen in plotted development projects in Bengaluru in areas such as Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Devanahalli and other key areas. 

Many people are also turning towards investing in plotted development projects because of the inherent benefits such as relatively lesser investment, the flexibility to build a dwelling unit as per the tastes and preferences of the buyer, higher returns and all the benefits of a gated community including amenities, safety and security, community living etc 

MS: What are the developments being planned by Vaishnavi Group in North Bengaluru?

CJ:

1.  Vaishnavi LifeVaishnavi Life is a premium plotted development located at Yelahanka Extension, just 20 minutes away from KIAL. Spread over 45+ acres, Life features 605 + pre-engineered & smart plots. The project is thoughtfully planned with a host of amenities such as a 32750 sq.ft clubhouse, 12 thematic parks, 2 acres of central activity space amongst others. 

2.   Mixed use development project of 2.25 million sq.ft with residential, commercial & support functions are planned as a part of the development. We are also exploring the integration of a metro station. 

MS: What are the USPs of Vaishnavi's Plotted development projects in North? Have you roped in any international architects/ landscape consultants?

CJ: Vaishnavi’s premium plotted developments are painstakingly planned and thoughtfully conceived keeping in mind the requirements of the end-user. Vaishnavi always lays special emphasis on greenery, open spaces and sustainability. Plots are pre-engineered & smart with underground electric conductor, water and sewage lines. Roads range from 9 metres and stretch up to 18 metres at the grand entrance.

For Vaishnavi Life, we are working with Element Design Studio. Headquartered in Singapore, Element Design Studio Pte Ltd is a boutique design studio that provides landscape master planning and full serviced landscape architecture services for hotels, resorts, residential developments, mixed-use projects and golf course landscapes.

Tecno Offers Memory Fusion Feature With Upto 5GB Additional Virtual RAM Via OTA Update

* Tecno’s Camon 18, Pova Neo, Spark 8T and Spark 8 Pro’s 'memory fusion' feature allow users to borrow additional GBs from storage capacity to work as RAM in extremely demanding conditions

TECNO, the global premium smartphone brand, recently announced that its proprietary ‘memory fusion’ feature will be available through OTA updates, across its range of smartphones. The feature allow users to virtually expand their available RAM with a single tap.

Today’s Gen Z and millennial consumers are always on the lookout for phones which offer uninterrupted performance at all times and has good storage. They want a smartphone that can switch between multiple apps faster, store large amounts of data, provide immersive gaming experiences and run memory-intensive applications with reduced lag. To address such multi-tasking needs, Tecno’s ‘memory fusion’ feature allow users to borrow additional storage capacity and allot it to RAM whenever needed, quickly and conveniently.

The technology has proved to significantly improve smartphone performance an 80% increase in the average application start-up time has been observed, as well as upto two-fold rise in the number of backend cache applications.

Camon 18: 48MP AI selfie and 48MP rear camera with expandable RAM upto 7GB at just INR 14,999

The CAMON 18 sports a 48MP AI front & rear Camera, and is powered by a Mediatek Helio G85 processor with Hyper Engine Gaming Optimization, providing an incredible gaming experience. The smartphone comes with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. TENCO’s Memory Fusion feature allows users to borrow an additional 3GB from storage capacity to work as RAM during heavy-duty usage scenarios.

POVA NEO: An ultimate powerhouse with a massive RAM up to 11GB at just INR 12,999

The POVA NEO offers seamless smartphone experience through a powerful 6GB high capacity LPDDR4x RAM + 5GB expandable RAM with Memory Fusion feature and unmatched 6000mAh battery. It comes with a 128GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage expandable up to 512GB through a dedicated SD Card slot. It runs on HiOS v7.6 based on Android 11.

Spark 8T: Expandable RAM upto 7GB with 50 MP camera at just INR 9,999

The Spark 8T sports a 6.6-inch FHD+ display, a 50 MP dual rear camera setup, with a massive 5,000 mAh battery. The TECNO Spark 8T is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio G35 processor. The smartphone comes with 4GB of RAM which can be further expanded up to 3GB with Memory Fusion.

Spark 8 Pro: Expandable RAM upto 7GB with 33W fast charging and Helio G85 superfast processor at just INR 10,999

The SPARK 8 Pro features a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, a triple rear camera setup with a 48-megapixel primary sensor, and a 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging. The smartphone offers up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC 5.1 internal storage. There is also an option for users to expand internal storage up to 512GB through a micoSD card.