JIOFIN

May 19 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL - INVESTS 49.5 MILLION RUPEES IN JIO ALLIANZ GENERAL INSURANCE

Source text: ID:nBSEbybRyD

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Updates to add graphic.

By Katrina Hamlin

HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Prudential PRU.L, 2378.HK has a punchy plan to shake up its life insurance business in India: it's buying a controlling stake in Bharti Life Insurance. Tapping its new partner's telco and asset management customers is a risky alternative to the tried-and-tested model of distributing products via a bank but could be an ingenious way to kickstart growth.

The $38 billion group agreed to acquire 75% of Bharti Life from ​Bharti Life Ventures and 360 ONE Asset Management ONEW.NS for $389 million, it said on Sunday.

That means Prudential CEO Anil Wadhwani is doing a switcheroo: the transaction requires Pru to reduce its stake in an existing venture with ICICI Bank ICBK.NS to under 10%, from 22%, per the company. It could well go on to divest what remains, leaving Bharti as its key partner.

The Indian business is in need of a reboot. New business sales there fell 2% last year, and its ranking among private life insurers fell to fifth from third a year earlier. That was a disappointing result for what ought to be a high-growth market. The world’s most populous country has only 3% penetration in the life insurance space, Prudential reckons.

Wadhwani’s solution is a creative one. Insurers often lean on large banks like ICICI to reach potential policy buyers. But the target’s main attraction is Bharti Airtel’s BRTI.NS nearly 300 million smartphone customers in India, compared with ICICI’s roughly 80 million retail banking clients, per data from Bharti and BCG Matrix. Overlapping markets in Africa could also open up other emerging markets, while the telecom company's asset management arm could help Pru reach India’s high net worth individuals.

But making it work could be tough. JioBlackRock, a joint venture between BlackRock BLK.N and Jio Financial Services JIOF.NS, is tapping additional distributors to sell its products after trying a digital direct model that leaned on its connections to Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecoms group.

And while the deal price seems fair, it’s not a bargain, valuing the company at just over $500 million, or around 1.5 times its embedded value as of September. That’s in line with the average for rivals SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS, HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS and the Life Insurance Corporation of India LIFI.NS, per Visible Alpha, and just below 1.6 times for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS. Shareholders sent Pru’s stock down 2% in morning trade in Hong Kong. That's probably because Wadhwani's punt for better rewards in India comes with higher risks.

Follow Katrina Hamlin on Bluesky and Linkedin.

CONTEXT NEWS

Insurer Prudential said on May 17 that it has agreed to acquire a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance from ​Bharti Life Ventures and 360 ONE Asset Management for an initial cash consideration of $389 million, with a potential additional consideration of up to $78 million, subject to certain conditions.

Prudential’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 2.26% to HK$116.8 in morning trade on May 18.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on HAMLIN/katrina.hamlin@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: katrina.hamlin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

May 14 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• GOLDMAN SACHS BANK EUROPE SE SELLS 2.7 MILLION SHARES IN JIO FINANCIAL VIA BLOCK DEAL ON NSE, MORGAN STANLEY ASIA BUYS STAKE - EXCHANGE DATA

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((reuters.briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

May 13 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL - CO AND ALLIANZ INCORPORATE JIO ALLIANZ GENERAL INSURANCE LIMITED JOINT VENTURE

• JIO FINANCIAL - TO INVEST 49.5 MILLION RUPEES FOR 50% STAKE IN JAGIL

Source text: ID:nBSEbdqFf2

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

May 6 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL - SUBSCRIBES TO 300 MILLION JIO FINANCE PLATFORM AND SERVICE SHARES FOR 3 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE3LkYc3

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

April 28 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO CREDIT: APPROVED RAISING 35 BILLION RUPEES THROUGH RIGHTS ISSUE

Source text: ID:nBSE72wFXs

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

April 22 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JOINT VENTURE WITH ALLIANZ EUROPE B.V. FOR GENERAL INSURANCE BUSINESS IN INDIA

• CO AND ALLIANZ FORM 50:50 GENERAL INSURANCE JOINT VENTURE IN INDIA

• JV COMPANY WILL LAUNCH OPERATIONS POST RECEIPT OF APPROVALS

Source text: ID:nBSE1Tw9c2

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

April 17 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES Q4 CONSOL PROFIT 2.72 BILLION RUPEES

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES Q4 CONSOL TOTAL REV FROM OPS 10.19 BLN RUPEES

• JIO FINANCIAL - APPOINTMENT OF ANNAPOORNA VENKATARAMANAN AS A GROUP CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

• DECLARES DIVIDEND OF 0.60 RUPEES PER SHARE

• ACCEPTED REQUEST OF ABHISHEK HARIDAS PATHAK TO RELEASE HIM FROM THE POSITION OF GROUP CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

• ABHISHEK HARIDAS PATHAK TO STEP DOWN FROM POSITION OF GROUP CFO

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((reuters.briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 17 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO PAYMENTS BANK INTRODUCES UPI-BASED CASH WITHDRAWAL SERVICES

Source text: ID:nBSE7J0N7b

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 13 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• GRANT OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION BY IRDAI TO ALLIANZ JIO REINSURANCE

• CERTIFICATE TO ALLIANZ JIO REINSURANCE TO COMMENCE BUSINESS AS REINSURANCE CO

Source text: ID:nBSEbtcxQw

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• CO ALLOTTED SHARES WORTH 20 BILLION RUPEES OF SUBSIDIARY JIO CREDIT

Source text: ID:nBSE8jFL4N

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL - S. ANANTHARAMAN RESIGNS AS GROUP CHIEF RISK OFFICER

• JIO FINANCIAL - APPROVED APPOINTMENT OF SANDEEP KHETAN AS A GROUP CHIEF RISK OFFICER

Source text: ID:nNSE7xgPVL

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

Feb 11 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIOFINANCE APP INTRODUCES PLATFORM FOR FIXED DEPOSITS OFFERED BY DIVERSE SET OF BANKS AND NBFCS

Source text: ID:nnAZN4SFZD8

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

Jan 15 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES Q3 CONSOL PROFIT 2.69 BILLION RUPEES

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES Q3 CONSOL TOTAL REV FROM OPS 9.01 BLN RUPEES

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

Dec 31 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO LEASING SERVICES SUBSCRIBES TO 46 MILLION OCPS OF RELIANCE INTERNATIONAL LEASING IFSC

• INVESTMENT OF 460 MILLION RUPEES TO FUND RILIPL OPERATIONS

Source text: ID:nBSE1DxkLb

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reutersbriefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL - JIO LEASING SUBSCRIBES TO 45 MILLION OCPS OF RELIANCE INTERNATIONAL LEASING IFSC WITH TOTAL INVESTMENT 1.67 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE3zn1Bc

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO PAYMENTS BANK WINS CONTRACT FOR MLFF TOLL SYSTEM

Source text: ID:nBSE7YZBP1

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Komal@thomsonreuters.com;))

MUMBAI, Oct 7 (Reuters) - India's Jio Credit plans to raise 5 billion rupees ($56.4 million) by selling bonds maturing in two years, bankers said on Tuesday.

The company will pay an annual coupon of 7.05% and has invited bids from bankers and investors on Thursday, they said.

Jio Credit, formerly know known as Jio Finance, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio Financial Services.

Jio Credit did not immediately reply to a Reuters email for comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on October 7:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 88.7220 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

((Dharamraj.dhutia@tr.com))

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Sept 2 - By Ira Dugal, Editor Financial News, with global Reuters staff

Billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani detailed long-term growth plans last week for his Reliance Industries RELI.NS that included a listing of its telecom business, a new AI venture, and expansion of the retail and new-energy businesses. Yet, why were Reliance's shareholders disappointed? That's our focus this week.

And India's world-beating GDP growth is leaving equity investors out in the cold. Scroll down for more on that.

THIS WEEK IN ASIA

Afghanistan earthquake kills 800, injures 2,800, Taliban asks world for help

European factories return to growth, Asia activity shrinks

China seeks more Russian gas via old link as new pipeline stalled

Chips-for-rare-earths is US-China circuit breaker

Japan Post Bank to launch digital yen in 2026

NEW PRIORITIES

Ambani used Reliance's annual shareholder meeting to communicate three priorities: new businesses, listings, and its alignment with India’s interests amid the U.S. tariff standoff.

Ambani's signal that it is business as usual for Reliance Industries came amid U.S. pressure on India citing its purchases of oil from Russia. As the operator of the world's largest oil refining complex and India's largest importer of Russian crude, the punitive U.S. tariffs on the country's goods exports hit home for Ambani and Reliance.

The chairman of India's most valuable corporate entity, with a market capitalisation of about $204 billion, committed to taking the group's telecom business, Reliance Jio, public by mid-2026, after deciding to defer the telco's listing this year.

Jio, Ambani said, now has 500 million customers as it enters its 10th year of operations, making it the country's largest telco.

A listing would bode well for the sector's pricing outlook and may even drive a re-rating in telecom stocks in the run-up to the IPO, said Jefferies in a note following Reliance's shareholders' meeting.

The brokerage said that for a 10% return on investment, Jio would need to target a market cap of $118 billion by March 2026. This, according to the brokerage's analysis, would need a 20% hike in pricing to get to an EBITDA of $10 billion for the financial year 2026-27.

Any increase in pricing from Jio could prompt other telcos to follow suit, boosting the sector's profitability.

Ambani also announced plans to launch a new subsidiary - Reliance Intelligence. It will partner with Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google to bring cloud services to India and with Meta Platforms META.O to build out AI offerings for businesses and the government.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a guest appearance at the shareholders' meeting for good measure.

Reliance further detailed expanded goals for its new-energy and fast-moving-consumer-goods businesses.

The company will build the world's largest solar project in Gujarat state while bolstering its green hydrogen capacity. In its consumer business, Reliance will enter apparel and electronics.

Read here for details on the announcements.

Ambani, estimated to have about $100 billion in wealth according to Forbes, has found his business dragged into the middle of the U.S.-India trade tensions, as President Donald Trump doubled the levies on Indian exports citing the country's purchases of Russian oil.

Reliance has a crude oil import deal of 500,000 barrels per day with Russian oil major Rosneft ROSN.MM, the largest oil deal between India and Russia.

Expectedly, Ambani's carefully crafted speech made no mention of Russian oil purchases or the U.S. tariffs on Indian goods. But he did echo Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a more self-reliant India.

Read here for more on Ambani's comments.

The Ambani family, though, has postponed a cultural event planned for September 12 in New York, citing "unforseen circumstances".

CONGLOMERATE DISCOUNT WORRIES

Reliance Industries' growth plans disappointed shareholders for one main reason.

Ambani said Reliance would look to IPO the Jio business, unlike the demerger and subsequent listing route it chose with Jio Financial Services JIOF.NS in 2023. This, analysts said, would offer strategic investors in Jio a strong exit but retail investors only modest advantages.

"Structurally, an IPO keeps Jio as a subsidiary under the Reliance Industries fold; investors may apply a holding company discount to the embedded stake," said brokerage Antique Broking.

A holding company or conglomerate discount is when a parent entity is valued below the combined value of its subsidiaries.

"A demerger distributing Jio shares directly to Reliance Industries investors would have been cleaner for value unlocking," Antique Broking said in a note on Saturday.

The demerger of Jio Financial Services had offered all Reliance shareholders one share each in the newly created entity, which is now valued at nearly 2 trillion rupees ($22.5 billion).

Shares of Reliance Industries fell on Friday after Ambani's speech. They have underperformed the NSE Nifty 50 index .NSEI, declining 10% over the past 12 months compared to the benchmark which has dropped 3%.

The average rating across 33 analysts tracking Reliance Industries on LSEG is a "buy", with a median price target of 1,650 rupees, 22% higher than the current price.

Will Reliance's plans translate into shareholder gains? Write to me at ira.dugal@thomsonreuters.com.

MARKET MATTERS

India's economy grew at a much faster than expected 7.8% in the April-June quarter in real terms, defying expectations of a slowdown even before U.S. trade tariffs took effect.

But low inflation in the economy has meant that nominal growth dropped to 8.8% from 10.8% in the previous quarter.

Read here for more on the GDP data and what economists said about it.

The lower nominal growth has meant that corporate profit growth has remained subdued and valuations seem stretched, leaving foreign investors cautious about investing in India. Read that analysis here.

THIS WEEK'S MUST-READ

India and China discussed expanding trade and investment ties on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to China in seven years to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to improve relations but stopped short of announcing specific measures.

Read this for the outcome of the meeting.

China urged leaders at the regional summit to leverage their "mega-scale market" and boost cooperation in the fields of energy, infrastructure and artificial intelligence.

Read here for more on the summit.

Soon after the meeting, Trump called the India-U.S. trade relation "one sided" in a post on his Truth Social platform. India has offered to cut tariffs to "nothing", Trump said, adding that it is "getting late".

India has so far not responded to the post.

($1 = 88.195 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ira Dugal; Additional reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

((Ira.Dugal@thomsonreuters.com; +91-9833024892;))

July 30 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES - BOARD APPROVES ISSUANCE OF UP TO 500 MILLION WARRANTS

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES - WARRANTS PRICED AT 316.50 RUPEES EACH

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES - TOTAL VALUE OF ISSUANCE UP TO 158.25 BILLION RUPEES

• JIO FINANCIAL - PROPOSED ALLOTTEES FOR WARRANTS ARE SIKKA PORTS TERMINALS, JAMNAGAR UTILITIES AND POWER

Source text: ID:nBSE3PzqG2

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((reuters.briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

July 17 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES Q1 CONSOL PROFIT 3.25 BILLION RUPEES

• JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES Q1 CONSOL TOTAL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 6.12 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE6Tk9zh

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

July 16 (Reuters) - Jio Blackrock got approval from India's markets regulator to launch four passive funds, the website for Securities and Exchange Board of India showed on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))

June 27 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• JIO FINANCIAL - GRANT OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION TO JIO BLACKROCK BROKING PRIVATE LIMITED TO ACT AS A STOCK BROKER / CLEARING MEMBER

Source text: ID:nBSE1VKbBw

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

June 18 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• BUYS 79,080,000 EQUITY SHARES OF JPBL FOR 1.05 BILLION RUPEES

• ACQUIRED 79.1 MLN SHARES OF JIO PAYMENTS BANK FROM STATE BANK OF INDIA

Source text: ID:nBSE8RnQVS

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

-- Source link: https://tinyurl.com/n2tpafzu

-- Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy

((Bengaluru newsroom, globalnewsmonitoring@thomsonreuters.com))

May 27 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• JIOBLACKROCK ASSET MANAGEMENT RECEIVES SEBI APPROVAL FOR MUTUAL FUNDS BUSINESS -STATEMENT

• SID SWAMINATHAN NAMED AS MD, CEO OF NEW ASSET MANAGEMENT CO OF JIOBLACKROCK ASSET MANAGEMENT-STATEMENT

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

April 17 (Reuters) - Jio Financial Services Ltd JIOF.NS:

• Q4 CONSOL PROFIT 3.16 BILLION RUPEES

• Q4 CONSOL TOTAL REV FROM OPS 4.93 BLN RUPEES

• DIVIDEND OF 0.5 RUPEE PER SHARE

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: JIOF.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))