ETHOSLTD

ZURICH, March 27 (Reuters) - Proxy advisory firm Ethos on Thursday urged UBS UBSG.S shareholders to reject the bank's remuneration, share buyback program and sustainability report at its upcoming annual general meeting.

Ethos said UBS's executive pay was too high compared to European peers.

"Such high payments and the very high leverage for variable remuneration can encourage excessive risk-taking," said Ethos CEO Vincent Kaufmann, adding this was not in the interests of long-term shareholders.

UBS shareholders on April 10 are set to decide on variable executive pay for the 2024 financial year, fixed executive pay for the 2026 financial year and compensation for the board for the period between the 2025 and 2026 annual general meetings.

Shareholders can put in an advisory vote on UBS's 2024 compensation report.

Ethos recommended shareholders reject all these items, along with UBS's new 2025 share buyback program and the bank's 2024 sustainability report.

The proxy advisory firm said the bank should strengthen its capital base and criticised it for watering down targets on climate change and diversity.

(Reporting by Ariane Luthi
Editing by Dave Graham)

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Nov 8 (Reuters) - Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS:

• SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 212.5 MILLION RUPEES

• SEPT-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 2.97 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE6mdDTF

Further company coverage: ETHO.NS

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Aug 30 (Reuters) - KDDL Ltd KDDL.NS :

• UNIT'S STAKE IN ETHOS HAS REDUCED TO 50.45% FROM FROM 52.90%

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE5tfbDX

Further company coverage: ETHO.NS

(Reporting by VijayDattaram Malkar)

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** Shares of Ethos ETHO.NS jump as much as 9.2% to a record high of 3,428.05 rupees, last up 8.3%

** The watch retailer's June-qtr consol net profit surged ~26% y/y, rev from ops grew ~19%

** Trading volumes at 2.1x the 30-day avg

** Stock up ~6% this week

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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Aug 14 (Reuters) - Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS:

• ETHOS LTD JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 228 MILLION RUPEES

• ETHOS LTD JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 2.73 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE4TTV1L

Further company coverage: ETHO.NS

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** Shares of Ethos ETHO.NS rose as much as 3.4% to 2,348 rupees; ends 1.9% higher

** Indian watch retailer reports 58% rise in March-quarter consol net profit at 210.3 million rupees ($2.5 million)

** ETHO rose for second straight session; had risen ~24% in March-qtr, logging fourth straight quarterly gain

** Stock up ~11% YTD, had more than doubled in 2023

($1 = 83.5101 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru)

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April 2 (Reuters) - Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS:

• ETHOS LTD - GETS ORDER FOR ASSESSMENT YEAR 2019- 20 WITH TAX DEMAND OF 43 MILLION RUPEES

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By Bharath Rajeswaran

MUMBAI, March 26 (Reuters) - The yawning divide between the super-rich and middle-class in India's booming economy is set to persist, if the "underperformance" of consumer stocks in the raging stock market is anything to go by.

Stock prices of consumer firms selling soap, hair oil and refrigerators are seeing double-digit gains but are still lagging benchmark Indian stock indexes as low income growth and volatile inflation hurt demand for everyday goods. Meanwhile, luxury goods are flying off the shelves.

The macro trends bear that out. Asia's third-largest economy is set for a 7.6% expansion in the financial year ending this month, but private consumption, which contributes 60% of economic growth, is expected to grow at just 3% - the slowest in two decades, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic years.

The wealth gap has widened. The wealth concentrated in the richest 1% of the world's most populous nation is at its highest in six decades, research group World Inequality Lab said.

"There is a drastic shift in household income from lower to higher middle class and from higher to upper class that is the driving engine for the growth in the premium segment," said Vineet Arora, managing director at Singapore-based NAV Capital, which manages 8 billion rupees ($95.95 million) in its Global Opportunities Fund.

The premium segment, comprising companies that sell cars, high-end electronics, expensive watches and jewellery, is seeing brisk business and soaring share prices. Tata group-owned Titan Company TITN.NS has seen its share price rise 44.3% over the past 12 months while luxury watch retailer Ethos ETHO.NS has gained 162%.

In contrast, the gauge of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms, the Nifty FMCG .NIFTYFMCG, has risen 18% over the past year, compared with the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI which is up 30% and near record highs.

Four of five fund managers that Reuters spoke to said they expect this relative underperformance to persist for another two or three quarters, till economic growth broadens.

"While the premium segment offers some growth potential, a broader sector revival relies on improved rural demand and government initiatives," Arora said.

Consumption in segments that cater to groups where income growth is weak has been tepid, said Sonam Udasi, senior fund manager at Tata Asset Management, which is underweight FMCG stocks in its India Consumer Fund.

Out of 90 FMCG categories tracked by market research firm Kantar, half either saw a drop or no change in consumption in 2023, it said in a report earlier this month.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) HLL.NS, the Indian arm of UK's Unilever ULVR.L, posted just a 0.6% increase in October-December quarterly profit while sales slipped as competition in the consumer goods space heated up and demand in rural regions remained low.

The stock has been among the worst performers in the benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI and the worst performer in consumer index .NIFTYFMCG, down 8.4% over the past 12 months.

COST OF LIVING

Manjunath, 35, works at a dry cleaning shop in Marathahalli, Bengaluru, and has to support a family of five on his monthly income of 30,000 Indian rupees ($360).

Rising prices for staples such as vegetables and the popular 'surti kolam' rice, means he had to cut other spending.

"I had planned to buy a refrigerator before the summer. But I have not been able to save enough for that," he said.

But for consumers in a slightly higher income bracket, such as Ganesh Kumar, who works at a leading technology firm in Chennai and earns 120,000 rupees per month, big ticket purchases such as jewellery or family holidays have become affordable.

"After COVID and work-from-home, a lot of expenses have come down for people like us. Now I spend on comfort," he said.

In an index of consumer durables .NIFCODU, 10 of the 15 stocks, including refrigerator maker Voltas VOLT.NS and popular washing machine manufacturer WhirlpoolWHIR.NS, have underperformed benchmark indices in the current financial year.

Foreign investors have sold a net 31.35 billion rupees worth FMCG stocks in the last 12 months and 79.45 billion rupees of consumer durable stocks. They have, however, poured in 1.81 trillion rupees into Indian stocks over this period.

"The story of premiumisation is unfolding in the consumption space," said Nirali Bhansali, equity fund manager at SAMCO Mutual Fund, which is underweight both consumer staples and durables, and positive on stocks such as Ethos and Titan but worried they are too richly valued.

The FMCG index is trading at a decade-high 51 times 12-month forward earnings and the consumer durables index at 69 times. Fast rising stocks such as Titan and Ethos are above that, at 93 and 82 times, respectively.

The shift to premium brands is still in its infancy in India and will pick up further in the next decade as incomes increase, said Abhijit Bhave, managing director and CEO of Equirus Wealth, a wealth management firm with assets worth over $900 million under management.

"Evolving consumer preferences, changes in lifestyle patterns, and the increasing willingness of certain consumer segments to spend more on premium products despite economic uncertainties are leading to this transition."

EBITDA margins of consumer companies catering to mass demand are at 19%-32%, aided by moderating commodity prices and cost optimisation measures to offset the impact of tepid sales, while the margin growth of companies in premium segments like Titan and Ethos hover around 10%-20%, due to volatility in gold prices.

However, volume growth of companies in the premium segment is at 10%-16%, compared to sub-5% growth of companies in the mass segment, according to Aishvarya Dadheech, chief investment officer at Fident Asset Management.

($1 = 83.3512 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Kim Coghill)

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An alert on private, not-for-profit organization Ethos reporting a data security event was incorrectly tagged to India-based Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS, an unrelated entity, and is being withdrawn.

For the correct alerts on Ethos, click nFWN3G022K

STORY_NUMBER:nTUA7MYNJL

STORY_DATE:22/03/2024

STORY_TIME:[08:42:05 PM GMT]

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Jan 18 (Reuters) - Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS:

• APPOINTS PRANAV SHANKAR SABOO AS MD AND CEO

• APPROVAL FOR PROVIDING CORPORATE GUARANTEE FAVOURING HDFC BANK TOWARDS AVAILMENT OF CREDIT FACILITIES UPTO 50 MILLION RUPEES BY JV CO

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE9Vx2sC

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** Shares of India's Ethos ETHO.NS up as much as 11.23% at 2,144 rupees to hit record high

** Luxury watch retailer's Q2 consol net profit rises over 37% to 185.9 mln rupees ($2.24 mln), while rev from ops jumos over 32%

** Stock on track for fifth straight gaining session, if trends hold

** More than 337,000 shares traded by 2:07 p.m. IST, nearly 10x the 30-day avg

** Stock last up 4.8% taking YTD gains to about 98%

($1 = 83.1375 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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Oct 31 (Reuters) - Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS:

• APPROVED PRELIMINARY PLACEMENT DOCUMENT DATED OCT 31, 2023 IN CONNECTION WITH ISSUE

• APPROVED FLOOR PRICE FOR ISSUE

• FLOOR PRICE 1,627.49 RUPEES PER EQUITY SHARE

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Sept 5 (Reuters) - Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS:

• APPROVED FUND RAISING

• APPROVED FUND RAISING WORTH UPTO 2.5 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE9wjBkQ

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** Shares of Ethos ETHO.NS surge as much as 17.34% to a record high of 1,700 rupees

** Uptick after the luxury and premium watch retailer reports 39.7% year-on-year rise in net profit to 181.57 mln rupees in June quarter

** Revenue from operations up ~32% Y/Y to 2.30 bln rupees

** EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation), as calculated by Reuters, rises to 339.21 mln rupees from 270.22 mln rupees Y/Y

** Stock most active in nearly three months with a trading volume of 377,245 shares as of 1:05 p.m. IST, seven times the 30-day avg - Refinitiv data

** ETHO up 55.73% in 2023 so far compared to 8.15% rise in Nifty 50 index .NSEI

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS fall as much as 14.06%, steepest intraday pct decline ever, to 1,207.60 rupees

** Company, which deals in trading luxury watches and accessories, reports a contraction in core profit margins in March quarter to 12.25% from 13.29% in the corresponding quarter a year earlier

** Net profit rises 69% YoY to 132.84 mln rupees, but falls 36% sequentially

** Revenue also clocks 31% Y/Y growth and 9.6% Q/Q decline to 2.08 bln rupees

** Trading volume is 708,932 shares as of 1:58 p.m. IST, eight times the 30-day avg - Refinitiv data

($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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May 12 (Reuters) - Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS:

• MARCH-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 132.8 MILLION RUPEES VERSUS 78.4 MILLION RUPEES

• MARCH-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 2.08 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 1.59 BILLION RUPEES

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April 20 (Reuters) - Ethos Ltd ETHO.NS:

• ETHOS LIMITED TO LAUNCH SWISS WATCH BRAND LAURENT FERRIER IN INDIA

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE7rrcv6

Further company coverage: ETHO.NS

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