Newsmakers: Cap on air fares, Bajaj Auto, Lupin Q1 earnings

Auto firm Bajaj Auto on Thursday posted their Q1 results with net profit rising 37.14 per cent standing at Rs 1,014.80 due to higher sales and other income. Net sales rose 7.2 per cent from a year ago to Rs 5,505.06 crore against Rs 5,133.37 crore a year ago. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) expanded by 140 basis points from 19.7 per cent to 21.1 per cent during the recently concluded quarter, Bajaj Auto said.

The government is looking at ways to curb predatory airfares, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said on Thursday, only two days after he ruled out considering a mechanism to deal with such practices. There could be three approaches, including through aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) , to prevent predatory pricing ways, Sharma, who is the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, said.

Pharma major Lupin has acquired a US-based privately held research-oriented generic company Gavis Pharmaceuticals LLC and Novel Laboratories Inc. for $880 million. The acquisition enhances Lupin's scale in the US generic market and also broadens its pipeline in dermatology, controlled substance products and other high-value and niche generics. The firm also reported a 15.96 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 525.02 crore for the quarter ended June 30, mainly on account of decline in its overseas sales.

Seven Indian companies, including Reliance Industries and Tata Motors, are among the world's 500 largest companies, according to a list compiled by Fortune that has been topped by retail giant Walmart. The Indian companies on the 2015 Fortune Global 500 list are Indian Oil ranked 119 on the list, Reliance Industries (158), Tata Motors (254), State Bank of India (260), Bharat Petroleum with revenues of $40 billion (280), Hindustan Petroleum and ONGC (449).

IT firm Wipro reported Rs 2,187.7 crore net profit (consolidated) in the first quarter of the current fiscal. The firm posted Rs 2,227 crore net profit in Q4 of last fiscal. On a y-o-y basis, the firm reported a 4 per cent rise in Q1 net profit. It posted Rs 2,103 crore net profit in the Q1 of last fiscal. Its income from operations came at Rs 12,370 crore in the reporting quarter against Rs 12,171 crore in the January-March quarter of last fiscal. The earnings were announced after market hours. The Wipro stock closed 0.52  per cent higher on the BSE.