The week in charts: US polls, FMCG slowdown, CEO salaries

Every Friday, Plain Facts publishes a compilation of data-based insights, with easy-to-read charts, to help you delve deeper into the stories reported by Mint in the week gone by. 

Republican candidate Donald Trump has won the US elections, while India faces a slowdown in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales. Abhay Bhutada, managing director of Poonawalla Fincorp, is among the highest-earning executive heads of Nifty 500 companies.

Trump trumps

Despite pre-poll surveys giving Democratic candidate Kamala Harris a slight edge over Republican opponent Donald Trump, the results have scripted a historic comeback for the latter. Trump secured 295 electoral votes, sweeping key swing states and comfortably surpassing the majority threshold. Markets, which had begun leaning toward a Trump victory in the lead-up to Election Day, responded positively to the results. US stocks and Bitcoin hit record highs, while the dollar strengthened. However, concerns linger over Trump’s stance on immigration and his approach to trade tariffs.

Double whammy

The FMCG sector is facing a combination of rising input costs and slowing urban demand, which is eroding sales growth and hitting profitability. A Mint analysis of 21 listed companies in the BSE FMCG index, which have reported their Q2 results, shows that bottom-line growth declined to 8%, down from an 11% rise in the previous quarter. Sequentially, aggregate net profit dropped nearly 5%, while operating profit fell 4%. Analysts attribute this slowdown primarily to softening urban demand, even as rural markets show signs of recovery.

Sony’s surge

$1 billion: This is the annual revenue Sony India is expected to achieve from its consumer electronics business this fiscal year, Mint reported. Sony India's sales in stood at $900 million in 2023-24. The company is set to achieve this milestone 30 years after it was registered in the country as efforts to diversify the revenue stream beyond television along with greater demand for premium products have helped. According to Sunil Nayyar, managing director of Sony India, the company has seen a steady year-on-year revenue growth of over 20%.

Pay trends

A fat pay package for top executives at companies has often sparked debate worldwide. In India, while the packages remained quite huge, the growth median remuneration of top executives slowed down to 8.6% in FY24 from 9.8% the previous year, a Mint analysis of 491 of the Nifty 500 companies showed. Abhay Bhutada, Poonawalla Fincorp MD topped the list with ₹241 crore remuneration in FY24, followed by Pawan Munjal chairperson, Hero MotoCorp and Shantanu Khosla, executive vice chairperson, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals.

Robust activity

India’s manufacturing and services sectors saw an upswing in October, buoyed by festive season demand. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed to 57.5, up from 56.5 in September, while the Services PMI increased to 58.5 from 57.7. Manufacturing benefitted from a surge in new orders and stronger international sales, while the services sector experienced robust customer demand. Both sectors have remained resilient for nearly three years, consistently posting above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction.

Power struggle

$850 million: Is the amount Bangladesh owes the Adani Group for power supply, prompting the company to increase pressure for repayment. The Adani group had earlier planned to cut electricity supply if the dues continued, which would have affected at least 10% of Bangladesh’s electricity consumers. However, after intense negotiations the crisis-hit nation agreed to fresh repayment terms. Adani Power’s Godda Thermal Power Station in Jharkhand is the largest power supplier to Bangladesh.

Job crisis

More urban Indians, across demographic groups, are facing difficulty in finding jobs compared to two years ago, reveals the latest round of YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey. Currently, 47% of urban Indians say finding a job is "difficult," up sharply from 34% in December 2022, when the survey last asked the same question. The perception of difficulty has grown most among post-millennials, rising from 35% to 51%, and among women, from 36% to 51%, compared to a rise from 32% to 44% among men.

Combating pollution

With Diwali behind and winter setting in, pollution levels are rising across much of India, driving a surge in Google searches for air purifiers—a seasonal trend seen each year. Media reports indicate that air purifier sales have jumped by about 50% as the Air Quality Index (AQI) worsens, particularly in Delhi and its neighbouring regions.

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