Dean Buntrock was happily selling life insurance in Boulder, Colo., in 1956 when the death of his father-in-law thrust him into a very different business: hauling garbage in Chicago.

Buntrock, who died April 17 at the age of 94, initially was inclined to sell the family trash business, known as Ace Scavenger Service, with its fleet of a dozen trucks, founded by Harm Huizenga, a Dutch immigrant, in 1893. After taking a closer look, Buntrock saw opportunity. He decided to keep the business and expand it by acquiring other mom-and-pop trash collectors. Soon he acquired a waste-handling business in Milwaukee.

The company’s assets under management crossed the Rs 5 lakh crore mark, reaching Rs 5.09 lakh crore at the end of March 2026, up from Rs 4.16 lakh crore a year earlier, reflecting a 22% increase. AUM grew by Rs 25,498 crore during the quarter.

Business momentum remained strong, supported by steady customer additions and loan growth. Bajaj Finance booked 12.89 million new loans in Q4, a 20% rise from 10.7 million in the year-ago period. Its customer base expanded 17% YoY to 119.33 million, including 3.93 million additions during the quarter.

Asset quality held steady, with gross non-performing assets at 1.01% and net NPA at 0.41% as of March-end. These compare with 0.96% and 0.44% respectively in the previous year. Provision coverage on stage 3 assets stood at 60%.

Loan losses and provisions declined to Rs 2,008 crore from Rs 2,167 crore a year earlier. The annualised credit cost improved to 1.65% from 2.17%, indicating better collections and portfolio performance.

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The company continued to maintain a strong capital position, with a capital adequacy ratio of 21.55%, including Tier-I capital at 20.67%, leaving sufficient room to support future growth.

What are analysts saying?

Jefferies has maintained its ‘Buy’ rating on Bajaj Finance with a target price of Rs 1,210, implying a potential upside of 30%. The brokerage has marginally tweaked its estimates following the results, factoring in slightly higher operating expenses due to investments in gold loan distribution.
Over FY26-29, it expects loan growth at a CAGR of 23%, with some moderation in NIMs and credit costs, translating into a profit CAGR of around 20%.
On management, Jefferies noted that clarity on succession is expected next year. At the board level, Rajiv Bajaj, brother of Sanjiv Bajaj, is set to retire upon completion of his term, though the brokerage does not see this as a concern. It added that Bajaj Finance continues to remain one of the strongest platforms in the sector and retains the stock among its top picks.

Morgan Stanley has maintained its overweight rating on Bajaj Finance, while raising the target price to Rs 1,120 from Rs 1,090 earlier, an upside of 20% from current levels. The brokerage highlighted that adjusted PBT grew 26% YoY and came in ahead of estimates. It also noted a sharp improvement in credit costs, supported by lower bad loan formation.

Management has guided for AUM growth of 22-24% for FY27, along with a net credit cost outlook of 145-160 basis points. On valuations, the stock is seen trading at 22x FY28E price-to-earnings and 4.3x price-to-book.

JM Financial has reiterated its Buy rating on Bajaj Finance with a target price of Rs 1,080, implying a potential upside of 16%.

The brokerage remains constructive on the company’s outlook, citing its strong franchise scale and sustained AUM growth of over 20%. It also highlighted sector-leading return ratios, with superior RoA and RoE supporting earnings visibility. JM Financial noted that a structurally lower credit cost guidance, along with a rising share of secured lending, further strengthens the company’s medium-term outlook.

In addition, continued gains from AI-led operating efficiencies and robust provisioning buffers are expected to enhance resilience and drive consistent compounding over time.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Thai households are currently facing a “financial summer,” a period characterized by the simultaneous convergence of multiple significant expenses including rising fuel costs, higher electricity bills, annual tax obligations, and education tuition. This economic strain is exacerbated by broader global crises, forcing families to adopt more disciplined financial management, pivot toward digital lending solutions, and alter their lifestyles to maintain liquidity.

Key Points

• Converging Expenses: The “financial summer” phenomenon, typically peaking between April and May, forces households to manage four major financial burdens at once: personal income taxes, increased electricity consumption due to extreme heat, seasonal festival spending, and tuition fee payments.
• Rising Costs: Personal income tax collections have increased by 29% over the past four years, while electricity bills often spike by 10-30% during the hot season as air conditioning usage rises.
• Prioritizing Education: Despite tight budgets, data indicates that parents prioritize educational expenses above all else, with a notable shift toward using revolving credit earlier in the year to cover school-related costs.
• Digital Financial Tools: Kiatnakin Phatra Bank (KKP) has introduced “purpose-based” digital lending via the KKP Better app, offering lower interest rates for essential expenses like education and healthcare to discourage consumers from resorting to high-interest informal loans.
• Individual Adaptations: Households are employing various strategies to cope, including strict budgeting, increased reliance on public transport, transitions to electric vehicles, and the use of separate savings accounts for specific family needs.

To mitigate these risks, financial institutions like Kiatnakin Phatra Bank (KKP) are leveraging digital platforms like the KKP Better app. This platform promotes purpose-based lending, offering lower interest rates for essential expenditures such as education and healthcare to prevent consumers from resorting to high-interest informal loans.

Thai households face a convergence of four major expense burdens

This phenomenon creates a “storm of expenses” that exacerbates financial strain amidst global economic uncertainty.

The factors contributing to this financial pressure include:

• Personal Income Tax: Salaried workers are generally required to set aside 5,000–10,000 baht for tax obligations. Data shows a significant increase in tax collection compared to previous years.
• Higher Electricity Bills: Increased temperatures during the hot season lead to higher usage of air conditioning. For every 1°C increase in temperature, air conditioners consume about 3% more electricity, resulting in household power bills rising by 10–30% during April and May compared to other months.
• Festival-Related Spending: Outlays linked to the Songkran festival contribute to financial pressure. Despite economic challenges, spending for Songkran 2025 rose to 106 billion baht, driven by higher costs for travel and celebrations.
• Education Expenditures: Tuition fees are described as the most significant financial burden for families, particularly those with children in private or international schools. Costs include not only annual tuition—ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of baht—but also hidden expenses such as admission fees and entrance exam tutoring. Consequently, parents have increasingly used revolving credit facilities earlier in the year (February to March) to manage these costs.

Beyond immediate expenses, many workers express concern regarding long-term income stability due to company-wide workforce reductions and the labor market disruptions caused by artificial intelligence.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States’ maximum economic pressure campaign on Iran has sent the regime into “crisis” during an appearance Wednesday on “Kudlow.”

The effort, known as Operation Economic Fury, is aimed at crippling Tehran’s financial lifelines by seizing Iranian assets, freezing bank accounts and pressuring foreign governments to cut ties with the nation.

“We are freezing bank accounts everywhere. More importantly, we are making people less willing to deal with the regime,” Bessent said.

“We can see that every day, it is more pressure on the regime. The retirement funds that they thought that they had outside of Iran, we are freezing. We’re holding those for the Iranian people. Same with all their villas in the south of France and all over the world, and we are going to track them down.”

NEXT MOVE ON IRAN: SEIZE KHARG ISLAND, SECURE URANIUM OR RISK GROUND WAR ESCALATION

A street money exchanger poses for a photo without showing his face as he counts Iranian banknotes at a commercial district in downtown Tehran, Iran, Dec. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File / Associated Press)

Bessent reported the Treasury Department has seized nearly $500 million in Iranian cryptocurrency assets, adding that the seizures are being carried out on behalf of the Iranian people.

The treasury secretary explained the United States’ aggressive economic campaign against Iran has been over a year in the making, but the United States is “sprinting” toward the finish line.

President Donald Trump ordered the Treasury Department to launch the campaign in March 2025, which Bessent said helped push Iran toward an economic standstill in December, when the nation’s largest bank collapsed.

THE IRAN CEASEFIRE WAS JUST EXTENDED. THE REAL TEST FOR WASHINGTON STARTS NOW

“That created massive inflation. Their currency is down about 60 or 70% versus the U.S. dollar, so they’re in the middle of a currency crisis,” he said.

Bessent said the Treasury Department recently received orders to intensify economic pressure on Iran, prompting the agency to send warnings to buyers of Iranian oil.

Tankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output pass (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“President Trump told me three weeks ago to up the pressure again,” he told FOX Business. “We have gone to the buyers of Iranian oil and told them that… we are willing to do secondary sanctions on your industries, on your banks who tolerate Iranian oil in their system.”

SHADOW FLEET UNDER FIRE: IRAN’S STRAIT SHUTDOWN COULD SQUEEZE RUSSIA’S WAR CHEST, CHINA’S OIL LIFELINE

Bessent argued that the combination of Operation Economic Fury and the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz will inflict permanent damage on Tehran’s economy.

“The port at Kharg Island is at a virtual standstill in terms of loadings,” he said. “We think that the Iranian storage will be full soon. They’ll have to start capping in their wells, which will lead to permanent problems.”

He warned that the pressure campaign could leave Iran unable to fund its military and proxies.

Scott Bessent says the Treasury Department has seized nearly $500 million worth of Iran’s crypto assets. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The regime won’t be able to pay their soldiers, and equally important, is they won’t be able to fund their proxies, whether it’s Hezbollah, Hamas, around the world. One of President Trump’s goals in this was to stop Iran’s ability to project terrorist power around the world.”

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Bessent said the Treasury’s economic pressure campaign will continue as U.S.-Iran negotiations stall.

“We are going to continue this — the economic pressure as well as the block on the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

Nearly 13,000 toddler towers across three brands were recalled after dozens of incidents and 21 injuries were reported due to the stools collapsing or tipping, according to federal regulators.

The three affected products — Toetol Tower Stools, Wiifo Children’s Tower Stools and Amzcmj DGD Children’s Tower Stools — total about 12,830 stools, according to notices from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall covers about 3,000 Toetol Tower Stools, 9,700 Wiifo Children’s Tower Stools and 130 Amzcmj DGD Children’s Tower Stools.

WALMART RECALLS ABOUT 50,000 ADJUSTABLE DUMBBELLS AFTER WEIGHT PLATES DISLODGE, CAUSING INJURIES

Nearly 13,000 toddler towers across three brands were recalled. (Consumer Product Safety Commission)

“The recalled tower stools can collapse or tip over while in use and a child’s torso can fit through the openings on the tower’s sides, posing a risk of serious injury and death due to tip over, fall and entrapment hazards,” the notices read.

For the Toetol Tower Stools, there have been 18 reports of the stools collapsing, resulting in 11 injuries, including contusions, cuts and scrapes.

The wooden kitchen tower step stools were sold in white, gray and dark wood colors and measure about 20 inches deep, 15 inches wide and 36 inches tall with model DETD0001 printed on a label on the side. They were sold online on Amazon from October 2024 through March 2026 for about $130.

The recall covers about 3,000 Toetol Tower Stools, 9,700 Wiifo Children’s Tower Stools and 130 Amzcmj DGD Children’s Tower Stools. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz / Reuters)

Wiifo Children’s Tower Stools had 22 incidents of stools collapsing, leading to six injuries, including contusions and scrapes.

These stools were sold in white, natural and light wood finishes, measuring about 18 inches deep, 18 inches wide and 34 inches tall with model LT005 printed on a label on the underside of the platform. The stools were sold on Amazon.com from June 2022 through March 2026 for about $60.

Amzcmj DGD Children’s Tower Stools had seven incidents of children falling from the stool or becoming entrapped, causing four injuries, such as contusions, splinters, and scrapes.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON ISSUES RECALL FOR NEARLY 17,000 MOTORCYCLES OVER BRAKE FAILURE ISSUE

The stools were all manufactured in China and sold online on Amazon. (REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo / Reuters Photos)

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These products were sold online on Amazon from February 2025 through March 2026 for between $85 and $100. The stools measure about 15 inches deep, 22 inches wide and 34 inches tall. They can be folded and converted into a table and a chair, and they also have a blackboard. The brand name is printed on the item’s order receipt.

All three stool products were manufactured in China.

Consumers who purchased any of these stools should stop using them and immediately contact the appropriate company for a full refund, the commission said.

US Central Command has prepared a plan for a wave of “short and powerful” strikes on Iran in a moved aimed to break the deadlock in negotiations with Tehran, news site Axios reported. The BBC has contacted US Central Command and the White House for comment.