ET NEWS

Shares of Regaal Resources made a strong debut on Wednesday, listing at a 39% premium on the exchanges. The stock opened at Rs 141.80 on BSE and Rs 141 on NSE, compared with the issue price of Rs 102, reflecting a 38.2% gain.The Rs 306 crore IPO, comprising a fresh issue of Rs 210 crore and an offer for sale worth Rs 96 crore, received an overwhelming response with an overall subscription of over 150 times.The issue had opened for bidding between August 12–14 and attracted strong demand across categories, with QIBs subscribing 190.96 times, NIIs a massive 356.72 times, and the retail category 57.75 times. The company also raised Rs 91.8 crore from anchor investors ahead of the IPO.Regaal Resources, incorporated in 2012, manufactures maize starch, modified starch, and co-products like gluten, germ, and fiber.Its 54-acre zero-liquid-discharge plant in Kishanganj, Bihar, caters to industries such as food, paper, animal feed, and adhesives, with exports to Nepal and Bangladesh.Financially, the company has delivered strong growth, with revenue rising 53% year-on-year to Rs 917.6 crore in FY25, while profit after tax more than doubled to Rs 47.7 crore.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered his assurances that US troops would not be sent to help defend Ukraine against Russia after seeming to leave open the possibility the day before.Trump also said in a morning TV interview that Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO and regaining the Crimean Peninsula from Russia are "impossible." The Republican president, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders held hours of talks at the White House on Monday aimed at bringing an end to Russia's war against Ukraine. While answering questions from journalists, Trump did not rule out sending US troops to participate in a European-led effort to defend Ukraine as part of security guarantees sought by Zelenskyy.Trump said after his meeting in Alaska last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Putin was open to the idea of security guarantees for Ukraine.But asked Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" what assurances he could provide going forward and beyond his term that American troops would not be part of defending Ukraine's border, Trump said, "Well, you have my assurance, and I'm president." Trump would have no control over the US military after his terms ends in January 2029.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later on Tuesday emphasised that "US boots will not be on the ground" as part of any potential peacekeeping mission.The president also said in the interview that he is optimistic that a deal can be reached to end the Russian invasion, but he underscored that Ukraine will have to set aside its hope of getting back Crimea, which was seized by Russian forces in 2014, and its long-held aspirations of joining the NATO military alliance."Both of those things are impossible," Trump said.Putin, as part of any potential deal to pull his forces out of Ukraine, is looking for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.Trump on Monday said that he was arranging for direct talks between Putin and Zelenskyy.But the Kremlin has not yet said whether Putin, who has resisted previous calls by Trump and others for direct negotiations on ending the war, is committed to a face-to-face meeting with the Ukrainian leader.Asked whether Putin has promised Trump that he'll meet directly with the Ukrainian leader, Leavitt responded affirmatively. "He has," Leavitt said of Putin.Trump early on Monday during talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders said that he was pressing for three-way talks among Zelenskyy, Putin and himself.But after speaking to Putin later in the day, Trump said that he was arranging first for a face-to-face between Zelenskyy and Putin and that three-way talks would follow if necessary."It was an idea that evolved in the course of the president's conversations with both President Putin, President Zelensky and the European leaders yesterday," Leavitt explained.Trump said he believed Putin's course of action would become clear in the coming weeks."I think Putin is tired of it," Trump said. "I think they're all tired of it. But you never know. We're going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks. That I can tell you."

Investors who focused on specific sectors and themes have fared better than those who bet on benchmark indices in 2025, which has been a rollercoaster year for the stock market, according to an ET study. The benchmarks Sensex and Nifty moved up 4.5% and 5.6%, respectively, this year, while NSE Defence, Capital Markets, Auto, Bank, Metal, and India Consumption indices gained between 7% and 19% in 2025. Out of the 13 sectoral and thematic indices used in the study, seven have advanced and six have declined this year. While most of the indices saw a mix of outperformers and laggards, Nifty’s IT index only had laggards. 123396678123396683In contrast, in the 12-share Nifty Bank index, only IndusInd Bank has declined this year. The index is up 9.8% year-to-date.

Mumbai: Citi said the Securities and Exchange Board of India's proposal to ease minimum public offer rules for mega Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) could remove a key hurdle for Reliance Jio's listing.According to the regulator, companies with a post-issue market capitalisation above ₹5 trillion (₹5 lakh crore) would only need to float at least 2.5% of shares, instead of the current 5% requirement.For Jio Platforms, valued by Citi at about $135 billion (₹11.7 lakh crore) in enterprise value with equity worth over $120 billion (₹10.4 lakh crore) - a lower threshold would halve the offer size to over $3 billion, compared with $6 billion under existing rules, the brokerage said."A 5% public offer would amount to $6 billion+ of share supply, which is fairly large for the Indian market to absorb, especially as 35% is reserved for retail investors," said Citi's Saurabh Handa and Prerna Goenka in the note. "A 2.5% public offer for Jio would amount to $3 billion+ of share supply, which we believe not only reduces the supply overhang at the time of the IPO but could also limit hold-company discount concerns for RIL."Citi reiterated Buy rating on Reliance with a target of ₹1,690, implying an upside of 19% from Tuesday's close of ₹1,420. The stock gained 2.8%. Citi said RIL's annual general meeting on August 29 is expected to draw investor focus on any update on Jio's listing in the wake of the regulatory proposals.Sebi's plan is aimed at preventing large stake sales risk flooding the market and depressing prices despite strong prospects.Under Sebi's proposals for easing IPO norms for large issuers, companies with post-issue market cap above ₹50,000 crore would need to sell only 8% against 10% now, while those above ₹1 lakh crore and ₹5 lakh crore would dilute 2.75% and 2.5%, compared with 5% earlier.The timeline to meet the 25% minimum public shareholding would be extended - up to five years for firms with a post IPO market cap of above ₹50,000 crore and up to 10 years for those above ₹1 lakh crore.

The National Housing Bank is tightening oversight of housing finance companies for breaching loan-to-value (LTV) norms on high-value home loans, two people aware of the development told ET. Supervisory inspections by the mortgage regulator found cases where loans above ₹s75 lakh were sanctioned at up to 90% LTV, in violation of the 75% cap. The National Housing Bank (NHB) has directed individual lenders to reclassify such advances as non-home loans (NHL)."The regulator has taken cognisance of a few mortgage lenders disbursing higher amounts on loans for high-value residential apartments," said an official aware of the NHB cautions. "The NHB has sent communications to these companies to stop such practices and classify them as non-home loans."As per existing rules, loans of up to ₹30 lakh can have an LTV of up to 90%, those between ₹30 lakh and ₹75 lakh up to 80%, and loans above ₹75 lakh up to 75%. The scrutiny is also influencing market transactions, with HFCs purchasing loan portfolios from peers now insisting on explicit disclosures of whether the underlying assets are classified as home loans or non-home loans before adding them to their own books. "Earlier, while buying loan pools, HFCs weren't seeking LTV disclosures. But after the regulatory crackdown, they are asking for explicit home loan and non-home loan classifications in the books," said another official.123394316Both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NHB have been cracking down on lenders flouting LTV norms. Regulators have observed that during periods of stress or economic downturns, borrowers with LTV ratios above 80% face significantly higher stress and are more prone to default.The RBI, in December last year, had cautioned lenders against excessive exposure to all types of top-up loans (including home top-up loans), which are additional credit facilities extended to customers against their existing mortgages.While many lenders perceive these loans as low-risk, they are often sanctioned with minimal due diligence, liberal underwriting, and weak adherence to prudential norms on loan-to-value ratios, risk weights, and end-use verification, the central bank had noted.The banking regulator had warned that such practices could create systemic risks, particularly if the value of the underlying collateral turns volatile or faces a cyclical downturn. At the end of September 2024, HFCs had a total outstanding housing loan portfolio of ₹6.25 lakh crore, compared with the overall industry size of nearly ₹34 lakh crore, NHB data showed.