Why Mukesh Ambani’s ‘cautious actions’ could be a bad sign for the economy

Why is Ambani hitting the brakes on a seven-year, $100 billion investment spree across refining, petrochemicals, telecom and retail?

Does Mukesh Ambani see dark clouds gathering on the horizon? From his message to shareholders, it doesn’t look like India’s richest tycoon is worried. But his actions may reveal more than his words.

At Monday’s annual general meeting, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd was brimming with optimism. Not only did he endorse Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of bumping up annual GDP by 80% in five years to $5 trillion, he even forecast a $10 trillion Indian economy by 2030. It’s not only possible but “inevitable,” he said.

Something doesn’t add up. If the outlook is so rosy, why is Ambani hitting the brakes on a seven-year, $100 billion investment spree across refining, petrochemicals, telecom and retail? While a breather after such frenzied activity may be understandable, why does he want Reliance to be a zero-net-debt company in 18 months? What will it mean for the more than 100 banks and financial institutions around the world that provide India’s largest company and its subsidiaries with billions of dollars – and yen, and rupees – in financing and refinancing? Above all, what will Reliance’s deleveraging mean for India?

Saudi Aramco remains world’s most profitable company even as oil falls

Aramco plans to buy a stake in the refining and chemicals business of Reliance Industries Ltd as it seeks buyers for its crude and diversification downstream.

International News: Saudi Aramco showed Monday it’s still the world’s most profitable company — and paid out almost all its net income in dividends — despite the dwindling price of oil.

Profit slid 12% to $46.9 billion in the first six months of 2019, the state-owned energy giant said in its first-ever half-year earnings report. That easily outstripped corporate titans such as Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and other big oil producers, many of which suffered larger declines in profit as output and crude prices fell.

“We have some of the largest and most productive reservoirs on Earth,” Khalid Al-Dabbagh, senior vice president for finance, strategy and development, said in an interview. The company’s “unrivaled financial results” amid lower oil prices are “a testament to our resilience.”

Saudi Aramco paid out $46.4 billion in dividends in the first half. That included a $20 billion special payout to its owner — the Saudi government — which compares with a $6 billion payout last year. That’s of particular interest to potential investors ahead of an initial public offering planned for 2020 or 2021, though it may not be maintained, according to money manager T Rowe Price Group Inc….