The growth in the auto finance market is dependent on auto sales supported by strong economic fundamentals such as rising incomes, well-structured labour market, favourable tax rates, low-interest rates, low fuel prices and investments in automotive factories and their capacity expansion. The auto sales in the US recorded a volume sales of more than 17 million units in 2015 and reached 17.91...

The asset light model is a business strategy, where an organisation focus on growth with relatively low capital investment. This results in capital efficiency by focusing capital on core assets and result in the best return for investors. This is achieved through a reduction in spending on owning a network, infrastructure and manpower by outsourcing, licensing or asset sharing, etc. While an...

The industry is marred by a slow growth in the world trade and overcapacity In the pre-recession period (i.e. before 2008-09), the world trade was booming and freight rates were peaking. But in late 2008 to 2010, the container trade declined under the reeling impact of global recession. There was a slow recovery in the container trade, which mainly comprised electronics, packed food...

The graphite electrodes find application mainly in the steel manufacturing through Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route. EAF steel is mainly produced in EAFs by melting steel scrap through the generation of heat with the help of electricity. Graphite electrode act as an electrical conductor in the furnace owing to its high electrical and thermal conductivity and higher-temperature strength,...

The aviation industry has witnessed a mammoth growth in the last decade. IATA or the International Air Transport Association reported that revenues in the sector increased to $746 billion (2014) from $369 billion (2004). A significant portion of this growth can be attributed to the low-cost carrier segment, which is said to account for about 25% of the market share. LCCs or the “no-frills...

Indonesia’s ban on unprocessed mineral export in 2012 turned out to be a boon for the Philippines as it swiftly replaced Indonesia as the top supplier of some of the raw mineral ores to China, specifically the nickel ore. China’s nickel ore import from the Philippines increased by 22% to ~36mn tonnes in 2014. However, soon (in Jul 2014) Philippine’s government realised that despite being the...

The casino industry generates income from people who engage in gambling. It is due to the social and economic stigma attached to gambling in a casino that this is generally regarded as a negative activity in many countries and hence considered illegal to operate in certain geographies. Owing to these reasons, the casinos are mostly concentrated in and around tourist destinations and are...

Rental yields are a function of gross rent charged and property prices, while the former is directly dependent on the income level of a country or a region, the latter is influenced by a variety of factors including public policy, demand-supply gap and speculative appreciation. Thus, this results in varied rental yields. Although high rental yields augur well for the real estate sector and...

Rental yield is one of the most important criteria for determining the success of a regional mall developer’s portfolio. A strong portfolio is one which continuously generates high rental income with consistent demand for space in a locality or region. Moreover, other factors such as occupancy rate, market value of the portfolio, types of tenants, lease expiration profile, tenant cost of...

Online content companies have mostly transformed the way people surf the internet, may it be Google for the search engine optimization (SEO), Facebook for networking, Alibaba for e-commerce or Netflix for entertainment. These corporations have collectively and consistently inculcated the convenience factor in the minds of their consumers, who would hardly compromise on surfing the internet...

The global consumption of electricity is expected to grow 48% by 2040, as per the EIA. In order to meet this demand and simultaneously address the global challenges of clean energy, climate change and sustainable growth, there is an urgent need for economically effective renewable energy technologies. The cost-competitiveness of renewable power has increased and this was witnessed through...

  The annual global jewellery retail sales have grown at a CAGR of around 5% from USD 146 billion in 2005, this is expected to reach USD 250 billion in 2017. The top 5 regions for the jewellery retail sales are the US, China, India, Middle-East and Japan, together these account for 64% of the global jewellery retail sales. The jewellery retail industry is highly fragmented with...

The US Fed did it again! The Fed during its two-day monetary policy meeting, which ended on the 14 th  of December, 2016 raised the interest rates by 25 BPS in the range of 0.50%-0.75%, this was in line with the broader expectations of the markets, economists and analysts across the globe. Notably, this was the second-rate hike by the Fed in past decade following a similar increase in...

The cruise line industry grew globally at a CAGR of 8% during 2009-15 and raked over USD 39.0 bn of revenue in 2015 (Source: Statistica). The industry derives over 75% of the revenue from the sale of tickets to passengers, while other sources of revenue include onboard services like a casino, equipment rental, and retail concessions. Onboarding expenses (food, concessions, etc.) are a...

Cement production is mostly localised and the industry is typically driven by a surge in construction activity and infrastructure development projects globally. An advancement in technology, urbanisation, high disposable incomes and a rise in the number of nuclear families have resulted in the growth of demand for houses and supporting infrastructure, this has led to an increase in demand for...

The US Fed kept the benchmark Fed fund rate in the range of 0.25%-0.50%, this was announced in the monetary policy meeting in September 2016. The agency stated through the policy statement and a press conference that the economy will continue to see the growth. The central bank moderately reduced its expectations on the long-term economic and inflation growth, but it was positive on the...

The car rental industry not only offers mobility and convenience to those who do not possess a car, but is a lucrative commuting option for business and leisure travellers. The economic development, a rise in per capita income and rapid transportation across the globe have contributed to a growth in the industry. The sector is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% during 2016-21 (Source:...

The oil market witnessed a significant demand-supply imbalance during the past 2 years and this led to a sharp decline in the global prices. The prices for the major international benchmark, ICE Brent declined from its peak of ~$100 per barrel (in the mid-2014) to the intermittent lows of around ~$35 per barrel (in the first half of 2016). The surplus situation was mainly due to a persistent...

The GPS (Global Positioning System) industry has grown in the civil market over the years, whereas initially it was only used for military purposes. In today’s world, various industries around the globe have broadened the use of GPS. The GPS market generated $9.1 billion in 2011 and is expected to generate $26.36 billion by the end of 2016, registering a growth at a CAGR of 23.7%. The demand...

Rubber is one of the most widely consumed commodities in the economy. This is used in the tyre industry, the manufacturing sector (belting, etc.) and is also widely needed in the healthcare sector. Additionally, among all the segments, tyre accounts for 3/4 th of the total rubber consumption globally. The rubber industry as a whole is sub-divided into two divisions, natural rubber (made from...