iWorld
English Football League Cup goes OTT-exclusive with Veqta
MUMBAI: Digital is now attempting to spread its wings wider than television. For the first time in India, a football tournament will be broadcast only digitally, skipping the TV altogether. India’s only OTT service dedicated to sports, Veqta, will broadcast live games from the English Football League (EFL) this season.
The EFL cup, also known as the Carabao Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men’s domestic English football. All EFL matches including quarterfinals, semi finals and finals will be available live and exclusively on the Veqta.in website and the Veqta Sports Android application.
Veqta co-founder and director Varun Mathur said, “We are thrilled to be streaming the matches Live for the English Football League (Carabao Cup) in India. India has one of the largest fan bases in the world for top English football clubs, with the top six clubs having more than 50 million fans in the country. Veqta is excited to bring to the fans of top English Football teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham, all the action from all the rounds of the Carabao Cup (EFL) in 2017-18. We are committed to bringing the best of world football to fans in India through the platform.”
The eight matches will be spread across two days Wednesday and Thursday, 25 and 26 October 2017 at 12.15 am onwards (IST). Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur along with 11 other teams will battle it out for qualification to the Quarter Finals.
Some of the key games will be –
Swansea vs Manchester United
United are the current champions of the EFL Cup and will be looking to bounce back after their embarrassing defeat at Huddersfield Town over the weekend, which was its first league defeat this season.
Swansea (15th in the PL table with 8 points in nine games) faces United (tied at 2nd in PL with 20 points in nine games) in its second encounter this season. The last one was dominated by United as it beat Swansea 4-0 at the Liberty stadium.
Swansea has proved to be a tough opponent for United with its last 8 encounters giving the Swans 3 wins and a draw.
Arsenal vs Norwich City
After a boisterous 5-2 thumping of Everton on Sunday, Arsenal looks to be back in form after what was a disappointing start to the league season.
With chances of winning the Premier League looking bleak for the London giants, the Carabao Cup could be a key trophy for Wenger this season to justify his position at the helm of Arsenal.
Last 8 games between Arsenal and Norwich – 5 wins for Arsenal, 2 draws, 1 win for Norwich.
Chelsea vs Everton
Ronald Koeman (Everton’s manager) looks to save his job after the team’s 2-5 defeat at home at the hands of Arsenal on Sunday which saw them drop down to the relegation zone of the PL table.
The last 3 games between the two have been all Chelsea victories with Chelsea scoring 10 goals and Everton scoring 0.
Just like Wenger, Koeman will also be looking at the EFL and the FA Cups for any silverware this season.
Gaming
Bluestone FY26 revenue rises to Rs 2,436 crore, turns profitable
Q4 profit at Rs 31 crore, full-year profit at Rs 13 crore vs loss last year.
MUMBAI: From sparkle to numbers, Bluestone seems to be polishing more than just jewellery this year. Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Limited reported a sharp turnaround in FY26, with revenue from operations rising to Rs 2,436 crore (Rs 24,364 million), up from Rs 1,770 crore (Rs 17,700 million) in FY25. The company posted a full-year profit of Rs 13 crore (Rs 131.79 million), a significant recovery from a loss of Rs 222 crore (Rs 2,218 million) a year ago.
Total income for the year stood at Rs 2,486 crore (Rs 24,860 million), compared to Rs 1,830 crore (Rs 18,300 million) in the previous year, reflecting both topline growth and improved operational momentum.
The March quarter, however, told a more nuanced story. Revenue from operations came in at Rs 681 crore (Rs 6,814 million), down from Rs 748 crore (Rs 7,486 million) in the year-ago period, though higher than Rs 461 crore (Rs 4,613 million) in the preceding December quarter. Net profit for Q4 stood at Rs 31 crore (Rs 311.81 million), compared to Rs 68 crore (Rs 688 million) a year earlier, but a clear reversal from a loss of Rs 51 crore (Rs 512 million) in Q3.
Margins were shaped by higher input costs, with raw material consumption rising to Rs 2,204 crore (Rs 22,043 million) for the full year, alongside employee benefit expenses of Rs 282 crore (Rs 2,824 million) and finance costs of Rs 210 crore (Rs 2,104 million). Other expenses came in at Rs 371 crore (Rs 3,715 million), slightly lower than Rs 393 crore (Rs 3,938 million) in FY25.
On the balance sheet front, total assets expanded to Rs 4,961 crore (Rs 49,610 million) as of March 31, 2026, from Rs 3,532 crore (Rs 35,322 million) a year earlier, driven largely by a surge in inventories to Rs 2,672 crore (Rs 26,718 million). Equity also strengthened to Rs 1,803 crore (Rs 18,030 million), nearly doubling from Rs 911 crore (Rs 9,107 million).
Cash flows reflected the cost of growth. Net cash used in operating activities stood at Rs 199 crore (Rs 1,990 million), while investing activities saw an outflow of Rs 239 crore (Rs 2,392 million). Financing activities, however, generated Rs 497 crore (Rs 4,971 million), helping the company end the year with cash and cash equivalents of Rs 108 crore (Rs 1,075 million), up from Rs 49 crore (Rs 487 million).
Earnings per share for FY26 came in at Rs 1.10, a sharp improvement from a negative Rs 79.74 in FY25, underlining the shift from losses to profitability.
With revenue scaling up, costs still glittering on the higher side, and profitability finally back in the black, BlueStone’s FY26 performance suggests a business mid-transition less about shine alone, and more about sustaining it.
