SWIGGY

Repeats story published during Asian hours; no changes to text

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, June 19 (Reuters) - Omnicom Media's India chief was frustrated. It was October 5, 2023 and a rival was trying to poach the U.S. firm's client by offering lower prices, just weeks after global advertising agencies and broadcasters struck secret pacts on ad rates in the South Asian country.

The attempt to woo the client violated the agencies' agreement, Omnicom Media's India CEO Kartik Sharma wrote in a WhatsApp group comprising a who's who of advertising, according to excerpts of the discussion documented by antitrust investigators and verified by Reuters.

"This kind of practice is not in the spirit of what we are collectively trying to achieve," Sharma wrote, without identifying the parties.

Shashi Sinha, then India CEO of New York-based IPG Mediabrands, suggested an industry group should "admonish the agency".

The exchanges form part of a confidential dossier compiled by India's antitrust watchdog that chronicles how global advertising companies, including leading U.S. and European firms, coordinated to rig prices in the world's most populous nation.

Reuters reviewed evidence from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigation, including a 10-page document with messages and records of meetings between top advertising executives, and two industry agreements under scrutiny for antitrust violations; and interviewed two people familiar with the probe.

The key details, which haven't been previously reported, centre on WhatsApp interactions involving 11 industry executives. They include the top India or South Asia executives of WPP's WPP.L GroupM; U.S.-based Omnicom Media OMC.N and Interpublic's IPG.N IPG Mediabrands; France's Publicis PUBP.PA and Havas Media HAVAS.AS; Japan's Dentsu 4324.T and India's Madison World.

Over WhatsApp and in meetings, the executives coordinated responses to clients, which "resulted in alignment of competing advertising agencies," CCI officials said in the August 9 dossier, determining on an initial basis that the conduct contravened competition law.

The firms agreed to cooperate on pricing, including not to undercut each other; colluded with broadcasters to deny business to agencies that didn't comply; and discussed financial terms involving at least four Indian clients over conference calls, according to the investigation documents.

The documents don't indicate whether the agencies' foreign headquarters were aware of the executives' actions.

A spokesperson for WPP Media, which until May was known as GroupM, told Reuters it was aware of the investigation but declined to comment further.

A Dentsu India spokesperson confirmed Reuters reporting that it had disclosed industry practices to the CCI in February 2024 under the regulator's leniency program, which enables lesser penalties for firms that share evidence of malpractice. The spokesperson didn't address specific evidence raised in the dossier but said the firm had implemented stricter audits and controls.

The other agencies and their executives didn't respond to Reuters questions about the antitrust probe and information in the dossier. The regulator also didn't respond to queries.

Reuters has reported that in March, as part of the continuing investigation, the regulator raided the Indian offices of many advertising firms and an industry group that represents broadcasters, including the Reliance-Disney venture and Sony 6758.T.

CCI investigations typically take several months. The regulator can't press criminal charges, but can impose financial penalties on the media agencies of up to three times their profit or 10% of an Indian entity's global turnover, whichever is higher, for each year of wrongdoing.

SECRET PACTS

WPP Media, the world's largest media buying agency, last year - when it was still known as GroupM - won new India business worth $447 million, followed by Omnicom's $183 million, according to research firm COMvergence.

But India's near-$30 billion media and entertainment sector is grappling with weak consumer sentiment. Ad spending will rise 7% to $19 billion in 2025, the slowest growth in three years, according to GroupM estimates.

The CCI is investigating the role of two industry bodies, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF), in orchestrating the suspected cartel.

The former group is led by WPP Media India head Prasanth Kumar, while the broadcasting body's president is Kevin Vaz, a top Reliance-Disney venture executive. Neither industry group responded to requests for comment.

The dossier shows the AAAI circulated guidelines to ad agencies in August 2023: They must charge clients whose annual spending exceeds $29 million a minimum 3% commission for digital ads and 2.5% for traditional media. Lower-spending clients would pay higher minimum commissions of up to 8%.

A month later, the industry associations entered a joint pact, agreeing no agency would "unilaterally offer any discount" on rates while pitching for business.

The pact, reviewed by Reuters, declared its aim was to eliminate "lower pricing as a reason to award a pitch".

The advertising firms began coordinating their activities at least as early as August 2023, according to the CCI documents.

Ad executives who met on December 1 that year hailed their collaboration as a "great success" and resolved to continue, according to meeting minutes cited in the CCI's evidence.

'ALL ALIGNED'

In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission this month sought information from advertising agencies as part of a probe into whether they coordinated boycotts of certain sites. The Justice Department in 2016 probed agencies it suspected of rigging bids to favour in-house units, but eventually closed the case without bringing charges.

Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev used CCI's leniency program to blow the whistle on an industry cartel in India in 2017.

In the case of the ad industry, Dentsu India told Reuters it filed its leniency application with the CCI not as a reaction to external pressure but out of a decision to "support reform from within".

Two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters the evidence Dentsu submitted included a transcript of the WhatsApp group. The group, formed in August 2023 and reviewed in part by Reuters, was named "AAAI media agencies" and contained scores of chat messages.

Participants included Kumar of WPP's media company, Sharma of Omnicom Media, IPG Mediabrands' Sinha, Havas Media India CEO Mohit Joshi, Dentsu South Asia CEO Harsha Razdan and then-media business CEO Anita Kotwani, Publicis South Asia chief Anupriya Acharya and Madison boss Sam Balsara, the investigators' evidence shows.

Members of the group discussed advertising pitches and coordinated on interactions with clients such as food delivery giant Swiggy SWIG.NS, drug maker Cipla CIPL.NS, SoftBank-backed e-commerce firm Meesho, and Kshema Insurance.

In Swiggy's case, the AAAI arranged a Zoom call with media agency heads to discuss the company's advertising pitch. Later, GroupM's Kumar, as AAAI president, suggested an email response to Swiggy explaining the industry's agreed position on rebates.

"Ok all aligned thanks," he wrote after a consensus emerged.

Kshema told Reuters the insurer was unaware of the matter. The other clients didn't respond to questions.

During another discussion on client rebates, an unspecified Dentsu executive told rivals over WhatsApp that "the lowest we go to is retain 30% and 70% we pass back to the client," according to the CCI dossier.

CCI officials noted in the document that advertisers and the broadcasters' group had sought to penalise enterprises that didn't comply with the pricing pacts.

In an email to Walt Disney DIS.N in August 2023, Kumar wrote that broadcasters should refrain from granting business to a firm that had breached the pacts, ITW Consulting, though he said it had later agreed not to approach clients directly.

ITW didn't respond to Reuters questions.

Tensions heated up again over WhatsApp three months later.

Sharma, of Omnicom Media, learned that ITW had done another "direct deal with a client of ours" for advertising on streaming platform Hotstar, which was run by Disney.

This irked Sharma, as Hotstar had the rights for the cricket World Cup held in India at the time.

"This nuisance has to stop," he wrote in the group.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; additional reporting by Jody Godoy in New York and Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; editing by David Crawshaw.)

((Email: [email protected]; X: @adityakalra;))

** Amazon's AMZN.O "Now" will need to scale up more to become a "meaningful player" in the Indian quick-commerce sector, according to Jefferies

** Brokerage says Amazon's venture is in its "early days" and although it does go fairly well beyond grocery and offers high discounts, it trails incumbents

** Quick-commerce has become mainstream, with some places seeing as many as six different platforms - Jefferies

** Keeping an eye on emerging rivals would be important for Zomato-parent Eternal ETEA.NS and Swiggy SWIG.NS too, Jefferies adds

** On Monday, ETEA up 0.8% to 251 rupees, SWIG gains 1.9% to 361 rupees

** Eternal's "Blinkit" and Swiggy's "Instamart" compete with IPO-bound Zepto, Walmart WMT.N-backed Flipkart's "Minutes" and Tata-owned BigBasket

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

** Swiggy SWIG.NS and Eternal's ETEA.NS Zomato will likely see minimal market share impact from Rapido's foray into food delivery business, Bernstein analyst Rahul Malhotra says

** Adds Zomato and Swiggy enjoying strong customer base in duopoly, with 54% and 46% market share, respectively

** Says most new entrants haven't been able to scale up due to lack of selection, poor customer experience, complexity of operations

** Believes Rapido will have difficulty operating at lower take rates as delivery costs, rates negotiations with restaurants will be challenging in a fragmented market

** HSBC says strong customer experience, execution of orders challenge to replicate for new entrants

** SWIG falls 1.6%, ETEA adds 0.6%

** YTD, SWIG, ETEA shed 34%, ~8%, respectively

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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By Sai Ishwarbharath B and Praveen Paramasivam

BENGALURU, June 10 (Reuters) - India's BigBasket plans to roll out 10-minute food delivery services nationwide by the end of fiscal 2026 as competition intensifies in the $7.1 billion quick-commerce space, its executive told Reuters on Tuesday.

The Tata-backed grocery giant will take on established players such as Swiggy's SWIG.NS Snacc, Blinkit's ETEA.NS Bistro and Zepto Cafe KIRK.NS, which already deliver coffee and ready-to-eat snacks in less than 15 minutes.

BigBasket is targeting customers of the existing food delivery firms such as Zomato and Swiggy while also unlocking a new pool of customers, co-founder Vipul Parekh told Reuters.

It plans to use dark stores to fuel the service, Parekh added, extending its foothold in India's booming quick-commerce market, which Blume Venture's Indus Valley report calls the "fastest-growing industry segment ever."

Dark stores are small warehouses in densely populated neighbourhood buildings, where delivery partners, typically two-wheeler riders, pick up groceries or food for delivery.

BigBasket, which brought online grocery delivery service to India in 2011, aims to increase its dark store count from about 700 currently to 1,000-1,200 by the end of 2025.

Following a pilot run that began a month ago in the southern city of Bengaluru, the food delivery service will now be expanded to 40 dark stores by July-end, Parekh said.

Currently, about 5%-10% of BigBasket's customers who are offered the service are clubbing quick-food items with their normal online orders, but this is expected to grow further, he added.

The menu will comprise items from coffee chain Starbucks and Indian Hotels' IHTL.NS food arm Qmin, both part of the Tata group in India. No external restaurants will be partnered with, the firm said.

Meanwhile, Parekh dismissed media reports of BigBasket seeking external investors for fundraising and reiterated the company's plan to go public within the next 18-24 months.

"One of the advantages we have is, being a part of Tata Group, you have enough internal capital available."

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B and Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

(([email protected];))

Adds details throughout

By Praveen Paramasivam and Haripriya Suresh

June 9 (Reuters) - Rapido is entering the food delivery segment with a new platform that charges restaurants a fixed fee per order, according to a proposal to restaurants seen by Reuters on Monday, as the Indian ride-hailing platform looks to compete with Swiggy SWIG.NS and Eternal's ETEA.NS Zomato.

Swiggy and Zomato charge commission fees ranging from 16% to 30% on restaurant partners. Restaurants argue this forces them to inflate menu prices on these platforms, resulting in higher prices for consumers compared to in-store dining.

Rapido, Eternal and Swiggy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In its proposal, Rapido has asked partners to keep its pricing the same on the platform and in-store, with restaurants paying a fixed delivery fee of 25 rupees ($0.2919) and taxes for orders worth more than 100 rupees.

Customers would not need to pay platform or packaging fees, but will be charged a small delivery fee for orders below 100 rupees. The proposal did not specify what the fee would be or whether customers would be charged for orders above 100 rupees.

The firm will charge a flat subscription fee from restaurants at a later time, the proposal added.

Rapido, in which Swiggy is an investor, was valued at $1.1 billion in its last funding round in 2024, according to data from Tracxn.

Shares of Eternal and Swiggy closed 1.9% and 2.6% lower on Monday, respectively.

In a post-earnings call with analysts earnings last month, when asked about reports of Rapido's subscription-based model, Eternal CFO Akshant Goyal said he was not clear "how that model can make sense in the long run for all our stakeholders and us".

($1 = 85.6420 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai and Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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** Shares of Swiggy SWIG.NS gain 6.8% to 355.85 rupees

** Stock on track to log best day in about three months

** About 1.1 million shares traded in five block deals priced between 342.85 rupees and 354.5 rupees apiece - as per data compiled by LSEG

** Block deals at 2.9% to 6.4% premium on last closing price of 333.2 rupees

** Overall 27.2 million shares changed hands, 1.6x the 30 day avg

** Stock down 34% YTD

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +918447554364;))

** Shares of food delivery co's Swiggy SWIG.NS fall 4.7% to 305.35 rupees apiece; rival Eternal ETEA.NS down 2.5%

** SWIG loses as much as 7.27% to hit lowest since listing in November 2024

** Trading volume at 54.28 million shares, nearly 6x the 30-day average

** A six-month lock-in period for pre-IPO shareholders and non-promoters expired on Monday, releasing ~1.9 billion shares (83% of total shareholding) for trading on the day

** "SWIG's pre-IPO shareholders are already sitting on significant unrealized gains, at least some investors will be eager to liquidate their holding even though the stock is trading below its IPO price of 390 rupees," says JM Financial

** Avg rating is "buy"; median TP 415 rupees - data compiled by LSEG; ETEA also rated "buy" on avg

** SWIG down 41% YTD, ETEA down 14%

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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

By Ujjaini Dutta

BENGALURU, May 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Swiggy SWIG.NS is feeling the heat in the kitchen. The $9 billion Indian food delivery company backed by Dutch investor Prosus PRX.AS is sinking deeper into the red and its stock is trading 20% below the price of its November initial public offering. Co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety's assurance that its investments in quick commerce have peaked will not provide much comfort.

Swiggy on Friday reported revenue of 45.3 billion rupees($530.5 million) in the March quarter, up 44% from a year earlier, but its net loss roughly doubled to nearly 11 billion rupees. In its core, mature business of connecting restaurants to hungry consumers, Swiggy retains a formidable duopoly with rival Eternal ETEA.NS, previously known as Zomato. Where things are less palatable is in its fast-growing, money-losing quick commerce unit.

Instamart, which delivers consumers everything from onions to toilet paper, typically within 10 to 15 minutes, generates 15% of Swiggy's top line. It boasts over 1,000 small distribution hubs, or dark stores, and added more of these in the recent quarter than during the past eight quarters combined. Yet Majety's pledge to progressively unwind losses from here on risks leaving Swiggy on the back foot against the competition.

For a start, Eternal's Blinkit, India's quick commerce market leader, boasts 1,300 dark stores. Even if Swiggy's choice to rely on some larger hubs that process more orders than dark stores proves effective, Blinkit is backed by a profitable company whose bottom line is forecast to grow exponentially over the next three years.

By contrast, Swiggy won't turn a profit for two years, analysts' estimates compiled by Visible Alpha show. Zepto, the number two player in quick commerce, shows no signs of hitting the brake on investments either.

That's a serious problem because companies that deliver groceries to Indians including Flipkart and BigBasket are also trying to break into quick commerce. These rivals are backed by deep-pocketed giants Walmart WMT.N and the Tata conglomerate. Swiggy's annual net loss exceeds the cash and cash equivalents on its consolidated balance sheet as of March.

Shares of the Mumbai-listed company were flat on Monday morning following the results despite the expiration on the same day of a lock-up period in which insiders and pre-IPO investors were prohibited from selling. Shareholders clearly do not have the appetite to stomach huge losses, but despite calling peak investment Swiggy is not in an appetising position.

Follow @ujjainidutta_

CONTEXT NEWS

Indian food delivery firm Swiggy on May 9 reported a net loss of 10.81 billion rupees ($126.6 million) for the quarter ending March 31, almost doubling from a year earlier. Revenue grew to 45.3 billion rupees, up 44%.

In its shareholders' letter released on the same day, Swiggy said the quarter represented the peak of investments in quick-commerce. The company added it expects to progressively unwind losses, and the pace will be determined based on average order values, take-rates, and "the nature and quantum of competitive intensity".

(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on DUTTA/[email protected]))

May 9 (Reuters) - India's Swiggy SWIG.NS reported a wider quarterly loss on Friday, as the online platform spent heavily to beef up its quick commerce delivery business to compete with rival Eternal's ETEA.NS Blinkit and startup Zepto.

The food and grocery delivery company reported consolidated loss of 10.81 billion rupees ($126.64 million) for the fourth quarter ended March 31, compared to 5.55 billion rupees loss, a year earlier.

($1 = 85.3590 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai and Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)

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May 6 (Reuters) - Swiggy Ltd SWIG.NS:

• KOUZINA ACQUIRES EXCLUSIVE LICENSE TO SCALE SWIGGY'S FOOD BRANDS

• TO TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF BRANDS TO KOUZINA

Source text: ID:nBSE61Xrs8

Further company coverage: SWIG.NS

(([email protected];;))

April 15 (Reuters) - Nureca Ltd NURE.NS:

• PRODUCTS UNDER BRANDS DR TRUST AND DR PHYSIO WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE ON SWIGGY INSTAMART

Further company coverage: NURE.NSSWIG.NS

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By Praveen Paramasivam

April 4 (Reuters) - India's commerce minister said his country's startups needed to emulate China by focusing on high-end tech and not quick grocery deliveries or fancy ice cream - harsh criticism that had entrepreneurs quickly pointing out the government's shortcomings.

Piyush Goyal told a startup event in New Delhi late on Thursday that too many were offering food delivery so that "the rich can get their meals without moving out of their house" and were "turning unemployed youth into cheap labour."

"Are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls? (Making) fancy ice cream and cookies ... is that the destiny of India?" he said, showing a slide titled "India vs. China. The Startup Reality Check".

He didn't name companies but his speech was seen as an apparent attack on quick commerce businesses like Zomato ZOMT.NS, Swiggy and Zepto that deliver food and groceries in as little as 10 minutes.

"What do the Chinese startups do? Work on developing electric mobility, battery technology ... look at what the other side is doing - robotics, automation, machine learning, preparing themselves for 3D manufacturing," Goyal said.

His comments prompted hundreds of posts on social media from startup founders and venture capitalists, taking the government to the task for failing to create high-quality infrastructure and jobs and not doing enough to support entrepreneurs.

"The government (needs) to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams," Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha retorted on X.

Swiggy and Zomato did not respond to requests for comment.

"Minister @PiyushGoyal should not belittle our startups but ask himself what has he done as our Minister to help deep tech start ups grow in India?," Mohandas Pai, chairman at venture fund Aarin Capital, wrote on X.

Indian startups raised $11.3 billion in venture capital funding in 2024, up 43% from last year.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Edwina Gibbs)

(([email protected]; +91 867-525-3569;))

Swiggy Ltd SWIG.NS:

• SWIGGY LTD - RECEIVES TAX ASSESSMENT ORDER ADDING 1.58 BILLION RUPEES

• SWIGGY LTD - TO APPEAL AGAINST TAX ASSESSMENT ORDER

• SWIGGY LTD - TAX ORDER HAS NO MAJOR ADVERSE IMPACT ON FINANCIALS

Source text: ID:nBSE8dBnNl

Further company coverage: SWIG.NS

Corrects to say e-grocery, not e-retail, in headline and paragraph 1

March 27 (Reuters) - India's quick commerce sector accounted for over two-thirds of all e-grocery orders last year, with its total market share growing about five times to $6-7 billion from 2022, a report by consultancy firm Bain and e-commerce giant Flipkart showed.

The industry, which is dominated by the likes of Zomato-owned ZOMT.NS Blinkit, also accounted for a tenth of overall e-retail dollars spent in 2024, according to the report released on Wednesday.

These platforms deliver groceries to electronics within minutes, and its market share is expected to grow over 40% annually till 2030, driven by expansion across new categories, geographies and consumer segments, according to the report.

"The dramatic rise of quick commerce (i.e., delivery in less than 30 minutes) has been one of the most defining hallmarks of India's e-retail market over the last two years," according to the report, which stated that the sector had over 20 million annual online shoppers and employed over 400,000 people.

However, these platforms could face some immediate challenges in expanding profitability, as they may struggle to grow into markets beyond large cities and also face stiff competition from larger e-commerce players including Flipkart.

To sustain profitable growth, "companies must adapt their business models for markets beyond major metros, manage rising competition, and optimize supply chains", it said.

The report comes at a time when players such as Flipkart Minutes, Myntra's M-now, BigBasket's BB Now, and Amazon's Tez have forayed into the sector with their respective quick commerce platforms.

However, some industry experts expect this boom to be short lived.

Last month, a Blume Ventures' report said that the sector may struggle to maintain its current pace of growth.

TVS Capital Funds Chairman Gopal Srinivasan told Reuters in an interview that the quick-commerce frenzy is a "passing fad" and unsustainable in the long run.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

(([email protected];))

** Eternal (earlier Zomato) ZOMT.NS falls 2.6%; Swiggy SWIG.NS down 1.5% after BofA rating cuts on the food delivery and quick commerce (QC) platforms

** BofA cuts ZOMT to "neutral" from "buy" and double-downgrades SWIG to "underperform" from "buy"

** BofA sees bigger QC losses in next 12-15 months due to higher discounts as competition rises; also expects pace of margin expansion to slow

** Says India's QC story narrative has quickly moved from "higher growth, improving unit economics" to "rising losses, highly competitive"

** ZOMT, SWIG shares down 26.5% and 38% in 2025 so far; benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI up 0.15%

** ZOMT to be included in Nifty 50 effective market close on March 27

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 9769003463;))

March 17 (Reuters) - Swiggy Ltd SWIG.NS:

• SWIGGY LTD - INSTAMART EXPANDS TO 100 CITIES ACROSS INDIA

• SWIGGY LTD - INSTAMART INTRODUCES QUICK COMMERCE TO 32 NEW CITIES IN 2025

Source text: ID:nBSE3V78dg

Further company coverage: SWIG.NS

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By Praveen Paramasivam

CHENNAI, March 14 (Reuters) - India's southern state of Tamil Nadu will offer a subsidy of 20,000 rupees ($230) to select gig workers to buy e-scooters, a minister said on Friday, as more young people sign up with online platforms to deliver food and groceries.

Gig workers, or those outside traditional employer-employee relationships, are set to play a key role in the world's fifth-biggest economy, spurred partly by high unemployment after COVID-19 pandemic curbs fuelled growth in the sector.

Tamil Nadu is also introducing an insurance scheme for nearly 150,000 gig workers to compensate for accidental deaths and disability, its finance minister, Thangam Thenarasu, said while unveiling the budget.

"A new scheme will be launched .... to provide a subsidy of 20,000 rupees each to 2,000 internet-based service workers to buy a new e-scooter," the minister said, adding that workers registered with a state welfare body would be eligible.

Further details of the scheme will be revealed later, Labour Secretary Veera Raghava Rao told Reuters.

The prices of electric scooter maker Ola's products start at 79,999 rupees, while those of rival Ather sell from 99,999 rupees.

The state will also set up lounges for the use of such workers in large cities, such as Chennai, its capital - where summer temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees F) - and Coimbatore, a textile hub.

The head of the Tamil Nadu Food and Allied Products Delivery Workers Union, K.C. Gopikumar, welcomed the subsidy and welfare efforts but urged the government to extend them to more workers as well as give them better conditions, such as paid leave.

Swiggy and Zomato, two of India's biggest delivery providers, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

($1=86.9080 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

(([email protected]; +91 867-525-3569;))

** Jefferies initiates Swiggy SWIG.NS with "hold" rating, PT of 400 rupees

** Food and grocery delivery platform's market share of 45% in food delivery to grow in high-teens in medium term with margin expansion, says Jefferies

** Says quick commerce offers "tremendous growth opportunity" although faces high competition and thus SWIG's profitability will remain under pressure

** Jefferies expects SWIG to remain in losses over FY25-27, competition from new entrants Flipkart and Amazon AMZN.O to result in loss trend persisting

** Stock down 0.8% at 350.20 rupees, set for fourth straight losing session

** Avg rating on SWIG, rival Zomato ZOMT.NS at "buy" - data compiled by LSEG

** SWIG down 35% so far this year vs ZOMT's 26% decline

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

** India's Zomato ZOMT.NS and Swiggy SWIG.NS drop 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively

** Indian consumer products distributors have filed an antitrust case gainst fast-delivery firms ZOMT, SWIG and Zepto, calling for an investigation into alleged deep discounting practices, Reuters reports

** ZOMT set for third straight session of decline, while SWIG set to snap three-session gaining streak

** Avg rating on ZOMT and SWIG at "buy" - data compiled by LSEG

** ZOMT down 19.5% YTD vs SWIG's 33% decline

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, March 6 (Reuters) - Indian consumer products distributors have filed an antitrust case against big fast-delivery businesses of Zomato, Swiggy and Zepto, calling for an investigation into alleged deep discounting practices, legal papers show.

India's e-commerce sector has faced intense scrutiny over how products are priced online. An antitrust investigation last year found Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart favour select sellers and resorted to "predatory pricing", which hurts smaller retailers. The companies have denied the allegations.

Quick commerce, in which companies deliver consumer products within 10 minutes from neighbourhood warehouses, is popular with customers but has upset smaller retailers as shoppers use apps to order everything from milk to pulses. Bernstein estimates India's quick commerce sector will reach $35 billion in 2030, from $200 million in 2021.

The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), in a case filing with the Competition Commission of India, has asked for an investigation into many business practices of Zomato's ZOMT.NS Blinkit, Swiggy's SWIG.NS instamart, and Zepto, including how discounts are doled out.

"An alarming trend of predatory pricing and deep discounting practices by Q-commerce platforms resulted in unfair pricing models," said the group's filing, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters.

Zomato and Swiggy did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Zepto declined comment. The CCI did not respond.

The filing could increase headaches for Zomato and Swiggy. A separate CCI investigation last year found their food delivery businesses breached competition laws. The case is ongoing.

Zepto is preparing for an IPO after raising funds at a valuation of $5 billion last year.

The watchdog will review the case filing and can order its investigation unit to look at the matter closely. This can take several months and may require companies to explain their businesses. It can dismiss the case if it finds no merit in it.

AICPDF has 400,000 distributors as members, who supply products of brands such as Nestle NEST.NS, Unilever ULVR.L and Tata to 13 million retail shops across India.

A recent Datum Intelligence survey of 3,000 Indian quick commerce shoppers showed 36% had reduced shopping at supermarkets and 46% cut back purchases from small independent stores.

In its filing, AICPDF said local brick-and-mortar stores "cannot match" the quick commerce giants' discounts. It compared online and offline pricing of 25 products, including of Nestle and Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS.

A variant of a Nescafe coffee jar which a small independent Indian retailer receives from companies for about 622 rupees ($7.14) is offered for 514 rupees on Zepto, 577 rupees on Swiggy Instamart and 625 rupees on Blinkit, according to the filing.

Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is mimicking the strategy to offer fast deliveries, as are Amazon and Flipkart in limited areas.

Datum estimates Blinkit has a 40% market share in India's quick commerce market, with 1,007 small warehouses, while Zepto has more than 900 stores and a 29% market share. Swiggy's Instamart service holds a 26% share.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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By Praveen Paramasivam and Juveria Tabassum

Feb 28 (Reuters) - India's BigBasket is planning to go public in the next 18 to 24 months, its CEO said, as the Tata Group-backed grocery giant seeks to tap surging demand for quick online deliveries of everything from fruits to Apple iPhones.

The company is on track to double its business year-on-year by March 2026 and expand to about 70 Indian cities from 35 currently over the next year, CEO Hari Menon told Reuters on the sidelines of a retail summit in Mumbai. He stopped short of detailing any investment plans.

BigBasket's plans for its listing in India come as the domestic quick commerce industry sees high double-digit sales growth, with rivals such as Swiggy's Instamart and Zomato's Blinkit racing to make the most of red-hot demand for 10-minute deliveries in urban metros.

Zomato ZOMT.NS and recently listed Swiggy SWIG.NS are also increasing their investments to ramp up offerings, open more warehouses and win market share, as the quick commerce industry defies a broader economic slowdown in the country.

"Assortment is the play, in my view," said Menon, whose firm is also expanding its range of products to include electronics, pharmaceuticals and fashion categories.

Quick commerce makes up about 80% of BigBasket's revenue, he said.

The grocery delivery firm, in which Tata Sons [RIC:RIC:TATAS.UL] has a majority stake, is also set to roll out quick food deliveries, Menon said without laying out a timeline, a move that will pit the company against other 10-minute food services such as Zomato's "Bistro", Swiggy's "Bolt" and Zepto's "Zepto Cafe".

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam and Juveria Tabassum in Mumbai, Writing by Ananta Agarwal; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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Feb 25 (Reuters) - India's booming quick-commerce sector may struggle to maintain its current pace of growth as expansion beyond major cities remains limited and competition from larger e-commerce players intensifies, according to a report by Blume Ventures.

These companies deliver groceries to electronics within minutes and their market share has grown to $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2025 from just $300 million in 2022, the venture capital firm's Indus Valley 2025 report said.

India's "fastest growing industry segment ever", dominated by the likes of Zomato ZOMT.NS-owned Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy SWIG.NS Instamart, logged a 24-fold increase in gross order value (GOV) in the same period, it said.

However, the segment will soon see its monthly transacting user (MTU) growth tapering, much like the country's ride-share, food delivery and e-commerce sectors before, the report warned.

Moreover, the quick-commerce firms face stiff competition from large e-commerce platforms such as Walmart's WMT.N Flipkart, Amazon AMZN.O and Reliance RELI.NS, who are preparing to launch their own quick-commerce operations.

"… while it is not guaranteed they will be able to counter quick-commerce players, the increased competition will have some impact on the industry profit pool," the report said.

Additionally, the expanding sector will likely start to affect the local grocery ecosystem and attract regulatory measures to check its growth, the report said.

Earlier this month, TVS Capital Funds Chairman Gopal Srinivasan in an interview to Reuters said that India's quick-commerce frenzy is a "passing fad" and unsustainable in the long run.

Blume Ventures was one of the earliest backers of crisis-laden quick-commerce firm Dunzo, which is reportedly on the brink of shutdown after a spate of layoffs, founder exits and unpaid vendor dues.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

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Feb 21 (Reuters) - Swiggy Ltd SWIG.NS:

• TO INVEST UP TO 10 BILLION RUPEES IN SCOOTSY

• INVESTMENT FOR WORKING CAPITAL, OTHER CAPEX AS PART OF BUSINESS EXPANSION

Source text: ID:nNSE2NS6Y9

Further company coverage: SWIG.NS

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Feb 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India’s dealmakers are celebrating their arrival on the global map. Last year, Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS not only topped LSEG's league table for initial public offerings in Asia by volume, edging out CITIC 0267.HK and JPMorgan JPM.N, but it also broke into the ranks of the top 10 underwriters of common stock deals globally by proceeds. Both are firsts for an Indian investment bank. But the strong showing by the $45 billion firm and its compatriots may prove hard to sustain.

A record $71 billion in equity fundraising powered the South Asian country's climb past China and Hong Kong to the spot of the world’s second-largest destination for share placements behind the U.S. last year, per Dealogic data. New-economy companies including Swiggy SWIG.NS and Ola Electric Mobility OLAE.NS going public were a lynchpin for strong fees. Meanwhile, punchy valuations prompted global businesses like Whirlpool WHR.N to cash out stakes in their local units and Hyundai Motor 005380.KS to take its Indian business public.

It spelt a bonanza for banks like Kotak and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, both of which trade at 3 times forward book value, the top of their peer group. Their rise up the league tables buys them credibility beyond those rich valuations.

The mood is upbeat. At a Mumbai conference of investment banks in January, a singer belted out chest-thumping patriotic numbers in the presence of Madhabi Puri Buch, chief of Securities and Exchange Board of India, the capital markets regulator. Sundararaman Ramamurthy, the CEO of BSE BSEL.NS, one of the country’s two main stock exchanges, described the IPO boom as a moment of India’s “re-emergence” on the world stage.

The pipeline remains strong. Kotak has won a mandate, alongside Morgan Stanley MS.N, for what could be India's largest ever IPO, an up to $4.6 billion listing of Reliance Industries' RELI.NS telecommunications business, IFR reported in January, citing unnamed people. HDFC Bank’s HDBK.NS shadow lending unit has filed for a $1.44 billion float. Businesses ranging from the local unit of South Korean consumer appliances giant LG Electronics 066570.KS to Tiger Global-backed stockbroker Groww are preparing for billion-dollar listings too, per IFR. Kotak expects primary fundraising in India to rise 59% from last year’s level to $35 billion in 2025.

But the broader environment is less cheery. Foreign portfolio investors are dumping Indian shares and companies are reporting dismal earnings, pulling indexes off last year’s dizzying highs. The outlook for GDP growth is sombre. Beijing's push for higher-valued startups could rejuvenate dealmaking in China this year, and Hong Kong listings are rebounding from a 20-year low. The two centres notched up a total $132 billion in equity transactions in 2023 before markets slumped.

Kotak and its peers may find their dealmaking crown was easier to earn than to hold.

Follow @ShritamaBose on X

CONTEXT NEWS

Kotak Mahindra Bank was the 10th largest bookrunner globally for common stock deals by proceeds in 2024, with a 1.5% share of the market, according to LSEG data. It also topped the league table for Asian initial public offerings, including Chinese A-shares, facilitating listings that raised $2 billion during the year.

(Editing by Antony Currie and Aditya Srivastav)

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By Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh

MUMBAI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - India's quick-commerce frenzy, which has boosted the fortunes of delivery firms such as Zomato ZOMT.NS and SoftBank-backed Swiggy SWIG.NS, is not sustainable in the long run, a top Indian private equity fund's chief said.

"These are passing fads and fantasies," TVS Capital Funds Chairman Gopal Srinivasan, who manages assets worth about 50 billion rupees ($575 million), said in an interview.

"The question is whether this micro trend, which (is) running completely on PE or VC funding only without the multi-decadal (economic viability) aspect, will sustain or not."

India's quick-commerce industry, which promises deliveries within 10 minutes, was estimated to cross $6 billion in annual sales in 2024 from $100 million in 2020, according to Datum Intelligence.

Following in the footsteps of Swiggy's Instamart and Zomato's Blinkit, global retail giants Walmart WMT.N-backed Flipkart and Amazon AMZN.O as well as Reliance Industries RELI.NS have started delivering goods from groceries to electronics instantly in the South Asian country.

Marquee funds such as Prosus PRX.AS, Tencent Holdings 0700.HK, Nexus Venture Partners and Info Edge INED.NS are among the top shareholders in Zomato, Swiggy and peer Zepto, which own the biggest chunk of the quick commerce space.

Those parking money in the sector are buying "over-valued" assets and hoping to sell them at a higher price, following the "greater fool theory" investment strategy, TVS Capital's Srinivasan said.

TVS Capital has backed around 30 businesses since 2007 and its portfolio is dominated by financial services firms such as Vivriti Capital and Five Star Business Finance.

Its investments include Walmart-backed fintech firm PhonePe and insurance tech firm Digit Insurance DODG.NS. TVS Capital had invested in beauty e-commerce firm Nykaa, which it exited in 2018.

"We looked at Swiggy, Zomato. We didn't know enough, so we walked away," Srinivasan said.

"Nykaa was clearly a deeper trend, because the way we looked at it is women coming into the workforce in massive quantities... and fundamentally, the fact that they will have to appear as professional as they can," he said.

($1 = 86.8570 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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By Anton Bridge

TOKYO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Group 9984.T is set to make a quarterly net profit of 234 billion yen ($1.54 billion) on Wednesday as shares in its telecommunications holdings edge up and the post-listing performance of Swiggy SWIG.NS is seen boosting the value of its portfolio of unlisted technology startups.

Analysts are divided, however, on whether the spate of artificial intelligence-related investments SoftBank has announced in recent weeks will help or hurt the Japanese technology investment conglomerate's bottom line.

The profit of 234 billion yen is based on the average of four analyst estimates compiled by LSEG, and compares with a gain of 950 billion yen in the same period last year.

SoftBank is expected to bank further investment gains on U.S. telecommunications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE T-Mobile US TMUS.O, whose shares hit an all time high in late November and rose 7% over the quarter.

Also in November, Indian delivery firm Swiggy jumped 17% on its market debut and had risen almost 20% by the end of December.

This may signal a recovery in IPO markets, particularly in India, and so trigger a bump in the valuations of SoftBank's several-hundred strong portfolio of unlisted tech firms, analysts say.

More uncertain is the future impact of the major artificial intelligence investments announced over the past two months.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's pledge in December to invest $100 billion in AI projects in the U.S. over four years could entail selling or monetising portfolio assets or taking on excessive debt, Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a note.

Alongside, last week Son announced a new joint venture with ChatGPT maker OpenAI to offer AI services in Japan for corporate customers and roll out OpenAI products across SoftBank's portfolio companies.

While some analysts say this may bring efficiency gains at portfolio companies, others say the $3 billion annual usage fee paid to OpenAI could diminish near-term earnings.

($1 = 152.2600 yen)

(Reporting by Anton Bridge
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

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Adds details paragraph 2 onwards

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Indian food and grocery delivery platform Zomato ZOMT.NS said on Thursday it will rename the company to "Eternal" and unveiled a new logo, a move that comes more than two years after it began using the new name internally.

Eternal would comprise its four major businesses - food delivery vertical Zomato, quick-commerce unit Blinkit, live events business District and kitchen supplies unit Hyperpure, the company said.

"We thought of publicly renaming the company when something beyond Zomato became a significant driver of our future," Founder Deepinder Goyal said in a letter to shareholders.

"Today, with Blinkit, I feel we are here," Goyal said.

The move marks a shift for the company, from when investors were skeptical about Zomato's acquisition of Blinkit in mid-2022, to quick commerce-led growth drawing increasing investor interest.

Blinkit as well as early bird Swiggy's SWIG.NS Instamart have driven a shift in the way Indians shop, and forced retailers such as Reliance Industries' RELI.NS JioMart as well as Amazon AMZN.O and Walmart's WMT.N Indian business to launch their own quick-commerce services.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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Feb 5 (Reuters) - India's Swiggy SWIG.NS reported a wider quarterly loss on Wednesday, as the online platform poured money into its grocery delivery business to compete with rivals Zomato ZOMT.NS and Zepto.

The company reported a consolidated loss of 7.99 billion rupees ($91.40 million) for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to a loss of 5.74 billion rupees a year earlier.

($1 = 87.4170 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Varun H K)

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

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Feb 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India is retreating from a long-term goal to improve its finances. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration on Saturday proposed cuts to levies on personal income to shore up consumption which is growing at its slowest pace in four years. But the move drastically shrinks the taxpayer base and can go only so far in meeting its target.

New Delhi is giving up nearly $12 billion of revenue, or about 3% of its receipts for the year ending in March 2025 by raising the exemption threshold for taxpayers by 83% to 1.28 million rupees ($14,800) per year and reducing rates for people earning up to nearly twice that amount.

That offers relief to a swathe of the middle class whose wages are stagnating; it will halve the share of working-age Indians paying income tax to 1%, per Breakingviews calculations based on data from the government and the International Labour Organization. No wonder shares of carmaker Maruti Suzuki MRTI.NS and food delivery firms Zomato ZOMT.NS and Swiggy SWIG.NS jumped 6% or more during the weekend special trading session.

But it takes India a step back on its journey to widening its tax base. The country’s income-tax to GDP ratio climbed to 6.6%, a 24-year high in the year ended March 2024 on the back of improved collection efficiencies. The U.S. ratio is in double digits, per World Bank data.

India could boost the spending power of a wider group of people and ease inflation if it slashes levies on fuel or cooking gas, but getting the country's 28 provinces to agree to lower revenue from fuel makes that a taller task.

For now, the government is relying on the Reserve Bank of India. Policymakers are pencilling in a higher dividend from the central bank to make up part of its revenue shortfall. They will also expect the RBI to deliver a rate cut to push discretionary spending, although the global trade war unleashed by Washington will make trimming borrowing costs harder.

The core issue of weak incomes is harder to solve. Real average monthly earnings of salaried and self-employed workers in the year ended March 2024 fell below the levels they were at six years ago, with the female self-employed cohort seeing the steepest drop of 32%, per the government's economic survey.

Modi's tax cuts will leave more money in people's pockets, but it's a short-term fix.

CONTEXT NEWS

India will propose cutting personal income tax rates to boost the spending power of the middle-class, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Feb. 1, as she announced the government's annual budget for the financial year to March 2026.

People earning up to 1.28 million rupees ($14,800) a year will not have to pay any taxes, raising the exemption threshold from $8,074. The top tax rate of 30% will apply to annual income above 2.4 million rupees against the current level of 1.5 million rupees. The measures would forego around $11.8 billion in tax revenue, Sitharaman said.

(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)

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Updates

** Swiggy SWIG.NS drops as much as 5.1% to 389.05 rupees, below mid-Nov IPO price of 390 rupees

** Food and grocery delivery platform's stock set for third straight day of losses

** SWIG sheds ~35% from its record high touched in mid-December

** Rival Zomato ZOMT.NS down ~31% in same period

** Analysts have flagged fierce competition for both SWIG and ZOMT in the quick commerce space from startup Zepto as well as deep-pocketed rivals such as Walmart-backed WMT.N Flipkart and Tata Group's BigBasket

** Analysts avg rating on SWIG and ZOMT is "buy"; median PT at 550 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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