Kansai Nerolac Paints has seen its market capitalisation (mcap) erode by over 5 per cent since May 3 after posting a subpar performance in the fourth quarter of 2023-24. Weighed down by stiff competition, the company has shed Rs 1,172 crore over the past two weeks in mcap. India's largest paint maker in terms of mcap, expects double-digit growth in the industrial segment and aims to maintain margins, but its performance in decorative paints could suffer amid competition.
'Multiplexes will thrive by Q4 if 100% capacity is restored and a third Covid wave doesn't happen.'
Stronger rupee likely to take a toll; Infosys results on April 13 to be keenly watched
India's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector witnessed growth in rural consumption in volume terms outpace urban consumption for the first time in five quarters, in the January-March period. According to a report from consumer intelligence firm NIQ, rural consumption grew at a rate of 7.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q1CY24, overtaking that in urban areas which stood at 5.7 per cent.
SBI Q3FY24 result review: A higher-than-factored weakness in the October-to-December quarter (Q3) results of State Bank of India (SBI), for financial year 2023-24 (FY24), has prompted brokerages to cut earnings estimates for the ongoing financial year. They, however, have maintained 'Buy' ratings on the stock, revising target price upwards in some cases, owing to the stock's recent underperformance relative to its peers.
Mahanagar Gas (MGL) has just hiked prices for compressed natural gas (CNG) and domestic piped natural gas (PNG) in the Mumbai Metro Area. The distributor raised prices by Rs 1.50 per kilogramme (kg) for CNG, bringing the price up to Rs 75 per kg, including taxes. Domestic PNG prices were hiked from Rs 1 per standard cubic meter (SCM) to Rs 48 per SCM, inclusive of taxes.
The revenue growth of early birds or companies that have declared their Q4FY24 (March quarter) numbers is the highest in the last four quarters. The 178 companies (excluding their listed subsidiaries) that declared their results have reported a sales growth rate of 13.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), taking aggregate revenue to Rs 9.1 trillion. Including other income, growth is at 16 per cent, the highest in the last four quarters.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is likely to join the list of Big Tech companies going for large-scale layoffs. With this, almost the entire universe of FAANG - acronym for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google - has now come under the layoff turbulence hitting tens of thousands of tech jobs around the world. Reports surfaced on Tuesday about the Mountain View (California)-headquartered tech giant planning to fire around 10,000 employees.
Over the past three trading sessions, the stock of Cummins India has gained about nine per cent on strong January-March quarter (Q4) results and good near-term prospects. Its Q4 performance was led by a healthy 29 per cent revenue growth over the year ago quarter. This was largely on the back of a 33 per cent jump in domestic revenues while exports witnessed a growth of 17 per cent.
Notwithstanding robust volume growth and a strong performance from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Tata Motors, the country's second-largest automobile (auto) manufacturer by market capitalisation, disappointed the Street with its January-March quarter (Q4) results for 2023-24 (FY24). While consolidated revenues saw a 13 per cent increase, lower-than-expected realisations in the Indian operations weighed down overall performance.
'No one manufactures intelligence at the moment.' 'This is a concept that your IT industry understands.' 'What you need is infrastructure. Everything else can then be taken care of.'
Profit from its retail business jumped 77 per cent to Rs 1,923 crore and that from telecom rose by 78.3 per cent to Rs 2,665 crore.
ICICI Bank share price hits record high, ICICI Bank m-cap tops $100 billion: Shares of ICICI Bank have been on a steady uptrend, rising 30 per cent over the past one year; not far behind Axis Bank stock that surged over 34 per cent during the period. The BSE Sensex, meanwhile, is up 25 per cent, and the BSE BANKEX 22 per cent in the last one year, ACE Equity data shows. On Wednesday, June 26, ICICI Bank shares hit a fresh record high for the third consecutive day, rising 2 per cent on the BSE in the intraday trade.
'Investors can consider staying invested in long duration products as there is a possibility of rate cuts in the near term.' Positive macros - lower inflation, high forex reserves and favourable demand-supply dynamics for government bonds - make a strong case for rate cuts from December, says Devang Shah, head of fixed income, Axis Mutual Fund. In an interview with Abhishek Kumar in Mumbai, Shah says this view may not hold true if commodity prices go up sharply.
Actively managed mutual fund (MF) schemes had been at the receiving end over the past few years for their inability to beat their benchmarks. However, the slump in shares of Adani Group companies - two of which are part of the benchmark National Stock Exchange Nifty50 index - have helped them improve their performance vis--vis exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or index funds.
Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) reported 6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) consolidated net revenue growth in Q4FY24 to Rs 3,385 crore and this was impacted adversely by currency movement. The constant currency (CC) growth would have been 30 per cent Y-o-Y in Q4FY24. India business clocked 12 per cent Y-o-Y revenue growth (5 per cent of it organic) with volume growth of 15 per cent Y-o-Y (7 per cent organic).
'Winning a deal is one aspect, making sure that we are able to execute it profitably is also important' says Rajesh Nambiar.
Auto parts maker Sona BLW Precision Forgings (Sona) reported strong revenue in the fourth quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q4FY24) as demand for electric vehicles expands. The company reported a 19 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in sales to beat street estimates. Sales were powered by a 34 per cent growth in the battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment and a good show in the differential gear segment.
'API prices are dragging down margins and impacting our competitive ability.'
GAIL India's second quarter (Q2FY25) performance met expectations.
Automobile, apparel and electronics are among sectors that see a sales boost during the festival season, a time when investors expect gains in related stocks. This year could be different: Analysts have factored in all positives and do not expect such stocks to deliver lucrative returns. "Indian households spend across sectors like automobiles, consumer durables, and consumer staples during the festival season.
Private banks' net profit grew 26.3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 48,982 crore in the first quarter ended June 2024 (Q1FY25) owing to healthy growth in credit and other income. The gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) increased with the end of dispensation granted during the pandemic, according to the data compiled by BS Research Bureau for listed 18 private banks.
Bengaluru-based United Breweries (UBL), makers of Kingfisher beer, is eying strong growth in the premium beer segment, driven by changing consumer preferences towards premiumisation. "Across categories, premiumisation is taking place as people are looking for better choices and beer is no different. "People are upgrading to better beer and newer brands. We have a good offering of premium brands - Kingfisher's premium variants are Ultra and Ultra Max," Vikram Bahl, chief marketing officer (CMO), UBL, said in an interview.
Partha Pratim Sengupta, who will be taking charge as the MD & CEO of Bandhan Bank in early November, has his task cut out. The Kolkata-based lender, which converted itself from a microfinance institution to a universal bank, is in its 10th year of operation. The bank was able to cut down the share of the micro loan book over these years.
LIC Housing Finance (LICHF) delivered a healthy FY24 with improvements in net interest margin (NIM) and credit costs and an improved return on assets of 1.7 per cent compared to an average of 1.3 per cent between FY14-FY23. Loan growth was low due to technology upgrades to the platform in H1FY24, though momentum improved in H2FY24. In Q4FY24, the net interest income (NII) came in at Rs 2,250 crore.
The retail industry witnessed robust top-line growth for the greater part of the previous financial year, but demand has started to show signs of fatigue seen in the January-March quarter (fourth quarter, or Q4) of 2022-23 (FY23), especially in the apparel and innerwear segments. Jewellery, however, has managed to hold on to demand in the quarter. "In the discretionary space, demand moderation in urban markets is expected to impact the quick-service restaurant and apparel categories the most, while paint, luggage, and jewellery should see resilient growth," Systematic Institutional Equities observed in its preview of the sector.
State-owned Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency's (Ireda's) chairman and managing director Pradip Kumar Das has announced that the company has requested the government to allow it to carry out a follow-on public offer (FPO) as it will need further equity infusion to maintain the pace of growth. The FPO would aim to raise between Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore. Ireda, which provides funding assistance and other services to renewable energy and energy efficiency/conservation projects and is 75 per cent owned by the government of India, has requested the Union Finance Ministry to be included under Section 54EC of the Income Tax Act, which will help reduce borrowing costs.
Infosys, HCL might fare marginally better than TCS.
NMDC, the country's largest iron-ore miner, posted a consolidated revenue in the January-March quarter of FY24. This was in line with estimates at Rs 6,500 crore, which was up 11 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), and a 20 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) rise on the back of realisations. Iron-ore production was 13.3 million tonnes (down 6 per cent and up 8 per cent Q-o-Q), while the sales stood at 12.5 MT (up 1 per cent Y-o-Y and up 10 per cent Q-o-Q).
The recent sell-off in IT stocks such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has resulted in a sharp decline in the IT sector weighting in the Nifty50 index. The sector's weighting in the index has slipped to a five-year low of 12.2 per cent, down from the 17.7 per cent at the end of March 2022. The top IT companies - TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Tech Mahindra - accounted for 13.6 per cent of the index at the end of March this year.
Except for Westlife Foodworld (Westlife), a weak 2022-23 (FY23) January-March (fourth quarter, or Q4) quarter performance and a muted near-term outlook led to a downward revision of earnings estimates for quick-service restaurant (QSR) players. Brokerages have slashed estimates by as much as 10 per cent for 2023-24 (FY24) and 2024-25 (FY25). The downward revisions have weighed on the performance of listed players, who have underperformed the market with low single-digit returns over the past month.
Concerns have been raised over Marico's exposure to Bangladesh in the wake of turmoil in that country. However, the management reiterated expectations of growing domestic business at double digits and maintaining international growth. Marico scaled up its food business by 4 times between FY20-24 and aims to double it again in the next three financial years.
Analyst are cautious about the performance of IT services sector from January to March quarter (Q4) of FY24 and the first half (H1) of FY25. While the Bloomberg consensus on revenue implies the market is expecting 2-3 per cent growth on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis for the IT majors through FY25, the H1FY25 is likely to see even flatter returns, and Q4FY24 is likely to be poor. There is likely to be some recovery in the second half (H2FY25) but even so, there's a chance that the market will be overall disappointed.
The stock of United Spirits, the country's largest liquor company by market capitalisation (mcap), has gained 11 per cent over the past week on double-digit growth guidance, rising premiumisation trend, operationally in-line performance in the March (Q4FY24) quarter and a rally in consumer stocks. The revenue growth of the company came in at 7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) mirroring the growth of the prestige and above (P&A) segment. This segment comprising premium brands accounts for 88 per cent of the revenues.
Domestic institutional investors pumped Rs 2.3 trillion into equities during H1 CY24. Of this, mutual funds contributed 80%.
The BSE Realty index-a gauge of real estate stocks-rose 4.2 per cent on Monday, extending its two-day advance to 7.8 per cent. The latest gains came on the back of robust sales posted by realty developers in the March quarter of financial year 2022-23 (Q4FY23). On Thursday, the rate-sensitive index had gained 2.9 per cent following the Reserve Bank of India's decision to pause interest rate hikes in its latest monetary policy review.
The country's largest lender SBI on Friday reported an 80 per cent surge in standalone net profit at Rs 6.450.75 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021, aided by decline in bad loans. State Bank of India (SBI) had registered a profit of Rs 3,580.81 crore during January-March period of 2019-20, the lender said in a regulatory filing. Total income of the bank during the March quarter of the last financial year rose to Rs 81,326.96 crore, from Rs 76,027.51 crore in the same period of 2019-20.
The government in the Budget 2021-22 has made an allocation of Rs 20,000 crore for the capital infusion in the state-owned banks. The capital position of banks would be reviewed in the next quarter, and depending on the requirement, the infusion will be made to meet the regulatory needs. In the current fiscal so far, all 12 public sector banks have posted a profit, which is being ploughed back to bolster the balance sheet of the banks, sources said.
The Nifty IT index, data shows, has outperformed the markets in each of the last four election years post the result. announcement.
Marico's January-March quarter (Q4) results were slightly better than consensus. Revenue was up by 1.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 2,280 crore. Ebitda grew by 12.5 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 440 crore. Adjusted PAT was up 10.3 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 320 crore.
