Restaurant chain operator TTFB gives positive forecast amid rising revenue

Restaurant chain operator TTFB Co Ltd (瓦城泰統集團) yesterday offered a positive outlook for the second half of the year, after revenue last month grew 96.86 percent from a year earlier. A substantial increase in dine-in customers combined with a steady recovery in the local food-and-beverage market, as well as the arrival of the traditional high season for restaurants, are expected to boost the company’s sales in the coming months, the nation’s largest Thai food and full-service restaurant chain operator said in a statement. TTFB operates six restaurant chains — Thai Town Cuisine (瓦城泰式料理), Very Thai Restaurant (非常泰), 1010 Hunan Cuisine (1010湘), Very Thai Noodles (大心新泰式麵食), Ten Ten Hunan Bistro (十食湘) and Shann Rice Bar (時時香) — as well as new cuisine brands Yabi Kitchen and Thai BBQ. As of the end of June, the company operated 135 stores in Taiwan and four in China, it said in the statement. TTFB this year continued to develop new services and expand its sales channels, even as COVID-19 flare-ups discouraged many people from gathering outdoors in the second quarter. With bleak sales in the April-to-June quarter, TTFB’s revenue for the first half of the year dropped 6.01 percent year-on-year to NT$2.06 billion (US$68.7 million), while it reported a net loss of NT$28.45 million, or a net loss per share of NT$1.24. That was a 127.06 percent decline from net profit of NT$$105.11 million a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$4.59, company data showed. First-half gross margin fell to 47 percent from 51.36 percent a year earlier, it said. The company’s operations in China posted net losses of NT$23 million in the first half, as strict COVID-19 lockdown measures in Shanghai severely affected its headline figures, it said. As sales started out strong this quarter after last month’s revenue hit NT$430.66 million, up from NT$311.95 million in June, the company said

By Chen Cheng-hui

Credit card spending in H1 soars to 5-year high

Credit card spending in Taiwan approached NT$1.54 trillion (US$51.35 billion) in the first half of the year to reach a five-year high, as people showed a renewed willingness to spend amid easing concerns over COVID-19, the Financial Supervisory Commission said last week. The first-half figure was up NT$108.4 billion from the same period last year and marked the second-highest total for the six-month period since similar data were first compiled in 2018, commission data showed. In June, credit card spending reached NT$264.4 billion, up NT$6.4 billion from May, which Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Phil Tong (童政彰) on Thursday said was due to a recovery in spending on travel, dining out and shopping. Spending using Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) credit cards topped all banks at NT$43.7 billion in June, ahead of CTCB Bank (中國信託銀行) at NT$41.1 billion and E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) at NT$36.5 billion. Cards issued by the three banks accounted for almost 46 percent of all credit card spending in the month, the data showed. CTBC Bank issued more than 100,000 new credit cards in June, making it the largest credit card issuer in the nation for the eighth straight month, ahead of E.Sun Bank with 80,000 new credit cards issued and Cathay United Bank with 56,000. For the first six months, spending using credit cards issued by Cathay United Bank led all banks at NT$253.3 billion, followed by CTBC Bank with NT$241.3 billion and E.Sun Bank with NT$212.3 billion, the data showed. As of the end of June, 53.9 million credit cards were in circulation in Taiwan, up 0.45 percent from a month earlier and up 5.27 percent from a year earlier, the commission said. The nonperforming ratio of credit card debt was 0.18 percent on average as of the end of June, down 0.01 percentage points from a month earlier and down 0.05 percentage points

Legs of steel

Three wind turbine jacket foundations stand on a transport ship in Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. A total of six jacket foundations made by Sing Da Marine Structure Corp, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Steel Corp, are to be transported to be installed at the 900-megawatt Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms in two shipments this week, China Steel said. The wind farms, about 35km to 60km off Changhua County, are developed by Orsted Taiwan Ltd.

China cuts rates amid weak recovery

LOCKDOWN TOLL: Weak retail sales were due to COVID-19 disruptions, as Beijing’s strict virus policy was expected to continue depressing consumer activity, an analyst said

China’s central bank yesterday slashed key interest rates in a bid to kick-start the country’s stuttering economic recovery, as data showed factory output and retail sales for last month came in weaker than analysts’ expectations. The People’s Bank of China cut its policy rates, bringing its seven-day reverse repurchase rate — a key rate at which the central bank provides short-term liquidity to banks — to a new low. It also cut its one-year medium-term lending facility to 2.75 percent from 2.85 percent and injected an extra 400 billion yuan (US$59.15 billion) in lending markets, surprising forecasters, although some analysts believe this might not be enough to revive credit growth. The world’s second-biggest economy saw a bounce in business activity as some COVID-19 restrictions eased in June, but the boost is fading and Beijing remains welded to a “zero COVID-19” policy of snap lockdowns and long quarantines, which has battered sentiment. Last month, China’s industrial production rose 3.8 percent year-on-year, down from a 3.9 percent rise in June, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics said. Retail sales grew at a slower-than-expected 2.7 percent from a year earlier, down from 3.1 percent in June, while the urban unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent, the bureau said. “The risk of stagflation in the world economy is rising, and the foundation for domestic economic recovery is not yet solid,” the bureau said in a statement. “We think the weakness in retail sales was due to renewed virus disruptions and the blow to consumer sentiment from the problems in the property market,” Capital Economics Ltd senior China economist Julian Evans-Pritchard said in a note yesterday. The central bank “seems to have decided it now has a more pressing problem,” Evans-Pritchard said. The virus remains a risk, with “zero COVID-19” meaning that “targeted lockdowns will remain commonplace, depressing consumer activity and spending,” he said,

Thai economy slow, despite tourists’ return

CONFLICT FEARS: In addition to concerns over the war in Ukraine, the NESDC said it was monitoring the economic effects of China’s military exercises around Taiwan

Thailand’s economy grew 2.5 percent in the second quarter as returning foreign tourists failed to offset high inflation and concerns over regional tensions, the country’s main economic agency said yesterday. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, although visitor numbers are slowly improving with the relaxation of travel rules since May. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tension over Taiwan could put any economic recovery at risk, the Thai Office of National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) said. “We have to continue monitoring to see how long counteraction from China over Taiwan will last,” NESDC Secretary General Danucha Pichayanan said, referring to Chinese military exercises around Taiwan proper, which Beijing initiated after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei on Aug. 2 and 3. “The relaxing of our COVID controls, the recovery of tourism are factors that support the growth,” he said. The agency said that GDP rose 2.5 percent in the April-to-June quarter compared with the same period a year earlier — well below the anticipated growth of 3 percent. The NESDC also revised the expected full-year growth rate from 2.5 to 3.5 percent to 2.7 to 3.2 percent. Kasikorn Research Center economist Charl Kengchon called the results a “mixed bag,” with the tourism boost failing to lift growth. “I think that is because inflation hit a 14-year high in June, so it is a drag on spending both [in the] household sector and business,” he said. Inflation in June reached 7.7 percent and was at 6.5 percent for the quarter, the NESDC said. The effects of the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Taiwan Strait were also a worry, affecting supply chains, Charl said. “We expect Thailand exports to cool in tandem with the global economic growth next year, so we have to rely so much on tourism,” he said. Thailand welcomed

Japan economy grows 2.2% in Q2 on revived spending

GLOOMY FORECAST: With COVID-19 restrictions eased, consumer spending returned to normal, but growth would likely slow again amid rising infections, an analyst said

Japan’s economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the April-to-June quarter, the government said yesterday, as consumer spending rebounded with the gradual lifting of COVID-19 pandemic precautions. After keeping its borders closed to most travelers throughout the pandemic, Japan has slowly begun reopening to tourism, as business has returned more or less to normal after various voluntary restrictions were eased. That means families are venturing out and spending more, even as coronavirus infection rates have soared with the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19. A revised estimate put growth for the world’s third-largest economy as flat in the first quarter of the year, upgraded from an earlier reading of a 0.5 percent contraction. The reading for the last quarter was below forecasts for 2.5 percent annual growth. In quarterly terms, the economy expanded 0.5 percent, surpassing its pre-pandemic size, but slightly weaker than analysts had expected. “Nevertheless, it suggests that pent-up demand from COVID-19 reopening could continue to underpin growth ahead,” IG Asia Pte market strategist Yeap Jun Rong (葉俊榮) said in a commentary. Private consumption rose at an annual rate of 4.6 percent, but appeared to be constrained by surging prices. After decades of fighting deflation, or weakening prices and wages, soaring global costs for energy and other commodities are hitting Japanese pocketbooks and balance sheets. Japan imports nearly all of its oil, gas and coal as well as food and industrial components used in manufacturing. The inflation rate remains relatively low. The Bank of Japan’s most recent estimate for the fiscal year through March next year is for 2.3 percent consumer inflation, way below the recent four-decade high levels of 8 to 9 percent in the US that now show signs of easing. However, the Japanese yen also has weakened, to two-decade lows against the US dollar, making imports relatively more expensive. Yesterday, the US dollar

Chinese tech giants share algorithms with Beijing

China’s Internet giants from Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) to ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動) have shared details of their prized algorithms with Beijing for the first time, an unprecedented move aimed at curbing data abuse that might end up compromising closely guarded corporate secrets. China’s Internet watchdog on Friday published a list describing 30 algorithms that firms including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) and Meituan (美團) employ to gather data on users, tailor personal recommendations and serve up content. Although the public list stopped short of revealing the actual code, it was not clear the extent to which Internet firms may have revealed their underlying software to regulators in private. The algorithms that decide which TikTok videos, WeChat posts and Instagram photos users see are considered the secret sauce of many online services, critical in capturing user attention and driving growth. China in March adopted regulations that require Internet firms to disclose such tools, an effort to address complaints about data abuse that also helps regulators keep Internet firms on a tighter leash. Tech industry algorithms are jealously guarded and have been at the heart of political controversies around the world. That disclosure requirement sets China apart from countries such as the US, where Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet Inc have argued successfully that algorithms are business secrets, even as lawmakers and privacy advocates seek to better understand how they curate content and manage data. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) requires only basic information from the companies, but it might seek more details to investigation allegations of data contraventions, said Zhai Wei (翟巍), an executive director of the Competition Law Research Center at East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai. China has been tightening regulations to rein in the once-unchecked expansion of the country’s tech giants. Last year, the country introduced the Personal Information Protection Law

German minister opposes taxing ‘excessive’ profits

Germany should not tax “excessive” company profits earned amid an economic and energy crisis, as that would interfere with market forces, German Minister of Finance Christian Lindner said in an interview on Sunday when asked about the windfall levies imposed elsewhere in Europe. Italy and Britain are among those to introduce windfall taxes this year on energy firms that have benefited greatly from tight fuel supplies as state coffers emptied during the COVID-19 pandemic and costs to shelter the poorest in society have climbed. “To me, much and possibly everything speaks against a possible excessive profit tax when I think about it closely,” Lindner of the Free Democratic Party told public broadcaster ZDF. “It would mean that we would offer up our tax system to arbitrariness,” he said in the broadcaster’s summer interview series with politicians. Britain introduced a 25 percent windfall tax on oil and gas producers’ profits in May to help fund support for households. Lindner said that vaccine producers were rightly reaping high profits because their risks had been high, and that while electricity supplies are tight, higher prices were the correct consequence to steer market responses. Lindner referred to his initiative at the EU level published on Sunday to try and waive the value-added tax on a new gas levy, which Germany was to announce yesterday, to spread the additional energy costs out more evenly. “We don’t want to — and must make sure that the state does not — benefit financially from this solidarity levy,” he said. He said he would stick to what he saw as tight fiscal spending as far as possible in order not to fan inflation any further. Others in Germany’s three-party ruling coalition have different views. While German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party says imposing windfall taxes would be challenging, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate

World Business Quick Take

CHINA Home prices keep falling Home prices fell last month for the 11th consecutive month, underscoring how government relief efforts are failing to curb the country’s spiraling real-estate crisis. New home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, declined 0.11 percent from June, when they sank 0.1 percent, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed yesterday. Existing-home prices fell 0.21 percent, the same as a month earlier. Residential prices have been declining in smaller cities, the bureau said in a separate official statement. UNITED STATES Fuel costs fall at pumps The average price of regular-grade gasoline fell US$0.45 over the past three weeks to US$4.10 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said on Sunday that the continued decline came as crude oil costs also remain low. Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas was in the San Francisco Bay area, at US$5.36 per gallon. The lowest average was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at US$3.38 per gallon. UNITED KINGDOM Labour calls for cap freeze The main opposition Labour Party yesterday called for an energy price cap to be frozen in fall to help people deal with another expected surge in fuel bills. Labour leader Keir Starmer said his party, if in power, would cap energy costs at the current level of ￡1,971 (US$2,386) per year for six months from October and would pay for it by extending the windfall tax on oil and gas companies in the North Sea. Charities are warning that millions of people could be forced into poverty if the government does not soften the blow with a new support package. AIRLINES Malaysia Air to add A330neos Malaysia Airlines Bhd has agreed to acquire 20 Airbus SE A330neo planes to update its fleet of widebody jets, Airbus said yesterday. Under the deal, Malaysia Airlines would buy 10 planes from Airbus and lease 10

TAIEX rebound to continue: Allianz

AFTER 1.68 PERCENT GAIN: Investors await earnings calls this week at E.Sun Financial, King’s Town Bank, Taiwan Cooperative Financial and Fubon Financial

Taiwanese stocks are expected to continue to rebound this week, in line with a rise in US equities in the past few sessions, Allianz Global Investors Taiwan Ltd’s (安聯投信) Taiwan equity research team said in a note on Friday. However, investors should be cautious in chasing prices and for the time being focus on select stocks with better fundamentals, Allianz said. The TAIEX closed at 15,288.97 points on Friday, posting a weekly increase of 1.68 percent from 15,036.04 points on Aug. 5, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Over the same period, the FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index, which comprises Taiwan’s top 50 stocks in terms of market capitalization, rose 1.13 percent to 11,882.44 points, while the Formosa Stock Index, which measures the aggregate performance of the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange, gained 1.74 percent to 17,410.68 points, the data showed. “Based on indicators such as return on equity, Taiwanese stocks seem to have broadly reflected the most pessimistic scenario,” Allianz said. “However, judging from the latest financial results and outlooks unveiled by several listed companies, the market has not fully reflected investors’ concerns over the effects of inventory adjustments and the weakening end-market demand.” In the near term, the local stock market is likely to follow the lead of Wall Street, as the 8.5 percent rise in the US consumer price index last month was better than expected and might lead the US Federal Reserve to continue with moderate interest rate hikes, equity strategists said. Investors are expected to watch closely this week’s investors’ conferences at several financial heavyweights such as E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), King’s Town Bank (京城銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co (合庫金控) and Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控). They are likely to focus on the impact of interest rate hikes on net interest margins, the effects of volatile equity and

By Chen Cheng-hui

Taiwan-US trade deal talks to start soon: John Deng

‘PLANS PROCEEDING’: The two sides will hopefully reach an agreement before an APEC summit in the US late next year, Taiwan’s chief trade negotiator said

It “will not be long” before Taiwan and the US start negotiations under the Taiwan-US 21st Century Trade Initiative, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) said on Saturday. Preparations in Taiwan and the US are proceeding as planned, and the two sides would soon announce the date for the formal beginning of talks, said Deng, Taiwan’s chief trade negotiator. US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell on Friday said that US officials are developing an “ambitious road map for trade negotiations” that would be announced “in the coming days.” The first round of negotiations is likely to focus on topics on which the two sides share similar views, such as those related to bilateral ties and issues that have been discussed in detail at WTO and APEC forums, Deng said. The two sides will hopefully wrap up negotiations before the start of an APEC summit hosted by the US late next year, he said. The initiative, launched on June 1, seeks to facilitate discussions leading to a trade agreement between Taiwan and the US, with topics ranging from best practices to facilitate trade, digital trade, efforts to fight corruption, small and medium-sized enterprises, environmental protection and nonmarket economies.

Asia analysts expect biggest profit drop since 2018

Asian stocks just cannot catch a break. Fresh from being whipsawed by rising geopolitical tensions over Taiwan, they now face what is forecast to be the worst earnings season since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earnings per share for MSCI Asia Pacific Index members slid 16 percent in the three months through June from a year earlier, the steepest decline in eight quarters, analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence showed. That contrasts with a 9 percent gain for companies in the S&P 500 Index even as the US economy edged toward a recession. The prospect of dwindling profits adds to the negatives that have dragged the MSCI Asia Pacific Index down almost 16 percent this year, putting it on course for its worst annual performance since 2018. These include China’s COVID-19 lockdowns — a key reason for the region’s poor earnings performance, a slowdown in the semiconductor cycle and political furor over US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. While the Asian stock benchmark just capped a fourth week of gains as US inflation slowed, the durability of the recovery is already being questioned. “All the elements are not in place for a sustainable up-move,” said Rajat Agarwal, an Asia equity strategist at Societe Generale SA. Earnings have yet to enter a new cycle, geopolitical tensions will continue to be priced in and financial conditions remain restrictive, he said. A slowdown in China is one of the major factors pushing down regional earnings, particularly as Chinese firms make up about 20 percent of the MSCI Asia gauge. Profits for MSCI China Index constituents are expected to slide 12 percent in the June quarter from a year earlier, dragged down by COVID-19 curbs, a cratering in the property market and dislocated supply chains. Weakness in export-oriented sectors such as semiconductors is also hurting.

Kim Forest posts net profit of NT$86.4m as COVID-19 test kit demand surges

Kim Forest Enterprise Co (金萬林) on Thursday reported net profit of NT$86.4 million (US$2.88 million) for the first six months of this year, up 148 percent from a year earlier, as higher demand for its COVID-19 test kits and cancer testing services boosted revenue 74.05 percent to a record NT$429 million. Earnings per share were NT$2.14, a record for the first half of a year, compared with NT$0.86 a year earlier, the molecular testing company said. Kim Forest attributed the growth to higher demand for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing and other COVID-19-related products amid a surge in local cases of the disease. Although domestic spread has slowed in the past few months, demand for COVID-19 testing remains solid as many workers, especially at hospitals and airports, still need to get tested regularly, the firm said. Kim Forest said demand for PCR testing would persist if the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 drives a new surge in local cases. Separately, BRIM Biotechnology Inc (全福生技) said it is planning to increase its paid-in capital by issuing 20 million to 24 million new shares, The company seeks to fund phase 3 trials of its BRM421 drug for dry eye disease, BRIM said in a statement on Friday. Priced at NT$25 per share, the issuance is expected to raise NT$500 million to NT$600 million in fresh capital, the company said. BRIM said that it would discuss protocol for the final-stage trials set to start next quarter with the US Food and Drug Administration. The company said it is optimistic that BRM421 would be approved as a first-line treatment for the common eye condition. The company reported net losses of NT$141 million in the first half of the year, or losses per share of NT$2.03, due to rising research-and-development expenses and marketing costs. It reported net losses of NT$18.46 million a

By Kao Shih-ching

Gasoline prices to drop this week

Domestic gasoline and diesel prices are to drop this week after two weeks of price increases, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said in separate statements yesterday. Prices at CPC stations are to drop by NT$0.2 per liter this week, following an increase of NT$0.3 per liter last week, the state-run refiner said. After factoring in anticipated progress on reviving the Iran nuclear deal and expectations of a rebound in the country’s crude oil production, as well as the appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar, which rose NT$0.003 against the US dollar last week, CPC said that its floating oil price formula showed the cost of crude oil last week decreased 0.9 percent from the previous week. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC stations are to fall to NT$29.6, NT$31.1 and NT$33.1 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while the price of premium diesel is to drop to NT$27.4 per liter. Formosa’s prices for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline are to decrease to NT$29.6, NT$31.1 and NT$33.1 per liter respectively, while the price of premium diesel is to be NT$27.2 per liter, it said. The firm said other factors also weighing on the oil market last week included a sharp drop in US gasoline inventories, a weaker US dollar index against other major currencies and the International Energy Agency’s upward revision of a forecast for global crude oil demand this year.

By Chen Cheng-hui

Resonating with Taiwanese

People yesterday flock to the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in the city’s Cianjhen District on the final day of the Creative Expo Taiwan. This year’s event, themed “Resonance Island,” was the first edition of the annual expo held outside Taipei. Featuring 500 domestic and foreign creative brands and intellectual property licensees, the 10-day expo attracted more than 500,000 visitors, the Kaohsiung Bureau of Cultural Affairs said.

Saudi Aramco posts record profit

FURTHER GROWTH EXPECTED: The company’s quarterly profit of US$48.4 billion beat forecasts of US$46.2 billion amid what it called ‘strong market conditions’

Oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco) yesterday unveiled record profit of US$48.4 billion in the second quarter of this year, after Russia’s war in Ukraine and a post-COVID-19 pandemic surge in demand sent crude prices soaring. Net income leaped 90 percent year-on-year for the world’s biggest oil producer, which clocked its second straight quarterly record after announcing US$39.5 billion for the first quarter. “While global market volatility and economic uncertainty remain, events during the first half of this year support our view that ongoing investment in our industry is essential — both to help ensure markets remain well supplied and to facilitate an orderly energy transition,” Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser said. “In fact, we expect oil demand to continue to grow for the rest of the decade, despite downward economic pressures on short-term global forecasts,” he said. Net income rose 22.7 percent from the first quarter in “strong market conditions,” Saudi Aramco said. Half-year profit was US$87.9 billion, up from US$47.2 billion in the same period of last year. The company is using the windfall to reduce debt and invest in a huge expansion of its production capacity, rather than boost payouts to shareholders. Saudi Aramco paid an US$18.8 billion dividend in the second quarter and is planning to disburse the same amount in the third quarter. The quarterly profits, the highest since the firm’s flotation in late 2019, beat analyst forecasts of US$46.2 billion. Saudi Aramco was priced at 40.8 riyals ahead of the Saudi Arabian stock exchange’s opening yesterday. Saudi Arabia has sought to open up and diversify its oil-reliant economy, especially since Mohammed bin Salman’s appointment as crown prince and de facto ruler in 2017. Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency said global oil demand would this year rise more than previously forecast, as heat waves and soaring gas prices prompt

Indian investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala dies at 62

Stock investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, dubbed “India’s Warren Buffett” with an estimated net worth of US$6 billion, died early yesterday at age 62, his family said. A chartered accountant by profession from the western state of Rajasthan, Jhunjhunwala started dabbling in stocks while in college and went on to manage a stock trading firm, RARE Enterprises Pvt Ltd. “Rakesh-ji passed away surrounded by his family and close aides,” a family member told Reuters, using a term for respect. The cause of death was not immediately announced. The promoter of India’s newest airline, ultra low-cost Akasa Air, Jhunjhunwala appeared days ago at its public launch. He is survived by his wife and three children. Jhunjhunwala’s excellent communication skills helped small investors understand the stock market, said businessmen and bankers based in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, who had interacted with him for more than 30 years. His insights on the economy made him a popular TV celebrity. Jhunjhunwala’s bets include a number of companies run by Tata Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates. They include Tata Motors Ltd, watchmaker Titan Co Ltd, Tata Communications Ltd and Indian Hotels Co, which runs the Taj hotel brand. Other investments include Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd and Federal Bank Ltd. Major politicians and business leaders mourned his death on social media. “Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was indomitable,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter. “Full of life, witty and insightful, he leaves behind an indelible contribution to the financial world. He was also very passionate about India’s progress. His passing away is saddening. My condolences to his family and admirers.” Uday Kotak, chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd and a friend from school days, said Jhunjhunwala had “believed stock India was undervalued,” and was right. “Amazingly sharp in understanding financial markets,” Kotak wrote on Twitter. “Will miss you Rakesh!”