Continuity theme at Kotak Bank

In its analysis, ICICI Securities says the decision of Uday Kotak to step down from an executive role around 4 months ahead of the scheduled term has come as a somewhat negative surprise. Important to note is that Kotak would still remain associated with the bank as a non-executive director (thereby ensuring continuity).

The key monitorable for the stock would be the candidature and transition of the new MD & CEO. Considering the culture at the bank, promotion of an insider to the top job (vs a lateral hire) would be preferred by investors, in our view. There is no change in our earnings estimates. Maintain HOLD on the stock with the target price cut to Rs1,850 (earlier: Rs 2,000), valuing it at 2.6x FY25E core bank ABV (earlier: 2.8x).

Asset quality remains steady, and the strong CASA ratio will limit pressure on margins and enable a 15% PAT CAGR over FY23-25E. We retain our Neutral rating with a TP of `2,000 (2.7x FY25E ABV and Rs 560 for subs), the analysts said.

Kotak resigned from the MD & CEO position of the bank, effective September 1, ’23. A founding member of the bank, he has been part of the institution for the past 38 years. His contribution was thus pivotal in guiding the bank through its transition from being an NBFC to obtaining a banking license in 2003 and evolving as one of the most successful and reputed financial organisations in the country. Under Kotak’s leadership, the bank has become the fourth-largest private bank and has established a prominent presence across the financial services spectrum, including asset management, broking, investment banking, life insurance, etc.

Kotak has cited significant personal and other family commitments, besides a sequenced leadership transition at the bank, as the key reasons behind his resignation from executive responsibilities. The terms for Prakash Apte (Chairman) and Dipak Gupta (Joint MD) will also end on December 31, ’23.

Apple 15-inch MacBook Air buying guide: 10 things to know before you spend Rs 1,34,900

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Apple’s newly launched 15-inch MacBook Air is going on sale globally and in India starting from today. This is now the biggest MacBook Air that Apple makes at the time of writing. Heck, it’s the biggest MacBook Air that it has ever made, period. It essentially builds on the 13-inch model from last year, it has the same M2 chip as well, and comes as a no-brainer for those looking for more screen real estate inside a visibly compact chassis.

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The 15-inch MacBook Air was launched at WWDC 2023. It is being billed as the world’s thinnest 15-inch laptop.

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You get a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display with slim bezels and 1080p webcam up-top that’s housed inside a notch.

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The screen can peak 500nits and supports 1 billion colours. There is True Tone.

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Under the hood, you get Apple’s M2 chip with an 8-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. This can be paired with up to 24GB of unified memory.

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The Magic Keyboard onboard features a full-height function row with Touch ID and Force Touch trackpad.

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You get two Thunderbolt ports and a headphone jack.

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MagSafe charging is available.

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Rounding off the package are a 6-speaker sound system with support for spatial audio and a 3-mic array.

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The 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU/16-core Neural Engine), 8GB of unified memory, and 256GB of SSD price in India is set at Rs 1,34,900. A version with double the storage— 512GB— will set buyers back by Rs 1,54,900.

Rupee rises 7 paise to 82.73 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee rose by 7 paise to 82.73 against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a positive sentiment in equity markets. Rising crude oil prices and strengthening dollar, however, weighed on the Indian currency, according to forex traders. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened stronger at 82.67 and hit the level of 82.74 against the greenback.

Later, the rupee was trading at 82.73 against the dollar, registering a gain of 7 paise from its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee closed at 82.80 against the US dollar.

On the domestic front, GDP numbers will be important to watch and better-than-expected numbers could support the rupee, he said. GDP numbers are scheduled to be released on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.08 per cent to 103.61. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.33 per cent to USD 85.77 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 291.53 points or 0.45 per cent higher at 65,367.35 points. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 78.20 points or 0.40 per cent to 19,420.85 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 61.51 crore, according to exchange data.