Dabur's performance in the July-September quarter of the current financial year (Q2FY25) was weak but in line with consensus. Consolidated revenue declined 5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) due to a temporary adjustment in General Trade (GT) inventory. Indian revenue declined 7.6 per cent, while international business grew 13 per cent Y-o-Y in constant currency (CC) terms.
The stock of the country's largest plastic pipe maker Supreme Industries has shed 22 per cent since its highs in October. The September quarter results were below expectations as the volatility in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin prices led to a major destocking across the trade channel.
The brokerage earnings estimate for the January-March 2024 quarter (Q4FY24) for Nifty 50 companies hints at a slowdown in corporate profit growth while revenue increase is likely to be in low single digits as in the previous two quarters. According to various brokerage estimates, the companies' combined net profits are expected to grow 3.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q4FY24, the slowest in the last five quarters. For comparison, the index companies' combined net profits were up 8.2 per cent Y-o-Y in Q3FY24 and 3.4 per cent Y-o-Y in Q4FY23.
Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds had, in 2024, taken bets on traditional businesses rather than tech-first domains like consumer tech, software as a service (SaaS) and software. According to data from Bain & Co, Pitchbook, Venture Intelligence, VCC Edge and AVCJ, prominent VC funds like PeakXV saw their share in this traditional space go up sharply from 14 per cent in 2023 to 23 per cent in 2024.
Fresh order wins for capital goods and industrial companies may have seen a major slump due to Lok Sabha polls in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY25). At the same time, revenue and profit growth trajectory is expected to have stayed the course, according to brokerage firms. Elara Capital, Motilal Oswal, and InCred Equities expect this sector universe to report a 12- 21 per cent growth in revenue, 21 -36 per cent growth in Ebitda and 24-38 per cent growth in profit on a year-on-year (Y-oY) basis.
The government on Monday scrapped 30-month old windfall profit tax on domestically-produced crude oil and on export of jet fuel (ATF), diesel and petrol following a decline in international oil prices. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary tabled a notification in Rajya Sabha scrapping the levy on crude oil produced by firms like state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and exports of fuels done by companies like Reliance Industries Ltd.
'The way the bank is doing in the past 4-5 quarters, no reason to see why we will not be able to achieve that.'
HDFC Life Insurance Company (HDFC Life) delivered a strong performance in the December quarter of the current financial year (Q3FY25), exceeding market expectations with robust earnings growth. The company reported a 13.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in net profit to Rs 414.9 crore in the quarter. The value of new business (VNB) rose 8.6 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 930 crore, compared to Rs 856 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are expected to witness pressure on volumes in the October-December quarter. However, price hikes will help push up revenues, said brokerages.For India's largest engineering firm, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), the analysts expect a 20 per cent growth in consolidated revenue, and an 8.1 per cent core business Ebitda margin, up 40 bps from a year ago.
Yes Bank on Saturday reported over two-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 452 crore for March quarter 2023-24, primarily due to benefits on the provision front. In the year-ago quarter, the bank logged a profit of Rs 202.43 crore. The private sector lender benefitted from write-back on income tax and interest on income tax returns, but the profits were limited by its inability to comply with the mandatory priority sector lending (PSL) requirements, its management said.
Competition in the fast-growing quick commerce sector is heating up as Swiggy Instamart faces a tough challenge in narrowing the gap with Blinkit, which currently dominates the market. In the second quarter (Q2) of 2024-25 (FY25), Instamart's gross order value (GOV) rose by 42.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) and 75.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), reaching Rs 3,382 crore.
A cocktail of heatwave and upcoming cricketing events is expected to usher in the peak season for the country's largest beer maker, United Breweries. The beer maker, which has gained share in some key markets, will be a major beneficiary as April to July is an important period contributing to 40-45 per cent of its annual beer volumes. Going ahead, the T20 Cricket World Cup in June and the ongoing IPL will have a positive impact on volumes and should be able to offset the negative impact of elections on sales, experts believe.
After several years of consolidation and price weakness, the cement industry may be moving towards a more stable phase. Pan-Indian, average cement prices have risen through the past three months consecutively.
The Nifty IT Index, the gauge for the performance of information technology (IT) stocks, was the worst performer on the stock exchanges on July 29, a day after Infosys posted lower-than-expected earnings growth for the June quarter and sharply cut its revenue growth guidance for 2023-24 (FY24). The IT index was down 4.1 per cent, its biggest one-day fall in three months. The decline was led by Infosys, with its shares plunging nearly 8 per cent, followed by HCLTech (-3.2 per cent), Wipro (-3.0 per cent), and TCS (-2.7 per cent).
Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Tuesday reported a 34 per cent jump in its standalone net profit to Rs 16,373 crore for the third quarter ended December 2023. The bank had earned a net profit of Rs 12,259 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever on Wednesday reported a 1.53 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,561 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024 due to factors such as deflation and softening of commodity prices. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,601 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing from HUL. Net sales of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) were almost flat to Rs 15,013 crore in the March quarter.
The country's largest software exporter on Thursday reported an 8.2 per cent growth in net profit for the December quarter at Rs 11,735 crore. The company said its revenue for the reporting quarter grew 4 per cent to Rs 60,583 crore driven by strong double-digit growth in emerging markets, led by India.
Among the Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel were the major gainers. On the other hand, Nestle, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were among the laggards.
The country's largest software company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday said its net profit increased 8.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 11,342 crore in the September 2023 quarter. The Tata Group flagship had reported a net profit of Rs 10,431 crore in the year-ago period.
The stock of footwear major Bata India has been the highest gainer among larger listed footwear companies since the start of the month on expectations of a recovery in the value segment, new launches and measures by the new government to boost consumption. The third largest footwear maker by market capitalisation has been trailing its peers over the past few quarters due to the slowdown in the mass segment market which accounts for a significant chunk of its revenues.
Following a strong performance in the 2022-23 January-March quarter, publicly listed paint industry giants displayed a mixed performance in the 2023-24 (FY24) April-June quarter. While Berger Paints India outperformed its peers and reported results in line with expectations, market leader Asian Paints and Kansai Nerolac Paints fell slightly short of expectations.
Electrical Consumer Durable (ECD) companies like Havells India have seen strong Q4FY24 sales and continuing seasonal demand across fans, air coolers, and room air conditioners (RAC) in addition to business-to-business sales of cables, switchgear, and professional lighting, among others. Havells India's Q4FY24 revenue rose 12 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 5,400 crore, in-line with consensus. Strong summer demand led to robust volume growth in fans and RAC and volume growth in cable and wires (C&W) due to infrastructure spending and real estate activity.
'Investors' decisions should reflect their financial goals, risk tolerance, and the amount of gold already present in their portfolio.'
Bharatiya Janata Party's Parvesh Verma emerged as a giant-slayer on Saturday with his victory against Aam Aadmi Party supremo and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a fierce contest from the New Delhi seat by a margin of 4,089 votes.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) share price plunged 6.66 per cent to Rs 1,203.50 per share on the NSE during Friday after analysts remained cautious on the company's Q3 performance and differed on its growth outlook. DRL's Q3 performance was viewed as subdued by some analysts when they adjusted it for one-time grants and incomes that the company received during the quarter.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel reported more than 2.5 times jump in its consolidated profit to Rs 4,160 crore in the April-June quarter of 2024-25 compared to the year-ago period driven by an improvement in average revenue per user and an exceptional gain of Rs 735 crore. The company had posted a profit of Rs 1,612.5 crore in the same period a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations of Bharti Airtel increased by 2.8 per cent to Rs 38,506.4 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 37,440 crore in the June quarter of the last year.
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
'Given that the market is now demanding disciplined growth, well-run companies should be able to demonstrate profitability with the cash on hand.'
From its lows this month, the stock of Sona BLW Precision Forgings is up 10 per cent on better-than-expected results. The stock rose by 4 per cent in the trading session on Tuesday after Japan's Nikkei Group said the Indian automotive component major has topped its rankings in terms of competitive advantage. The rankings are based on sales, profit margin, capital expenditure, research and development, and market capitalisation.
After registering a net profit of Rs 25.1 crore in Q3FY25 and consolidated revenues growing by 7 per cent on a like-for-like basis, Siddharth Mittal, chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director, Biocon, told Sohini Das/Business Standard in a virtual interaction that local manufacturing in the US is a trade off between cost and qualifying to do business there.
IT company Infosys on Thursday posted a 7.3 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 6,106 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year. The company had posted a net profit (attributable to shareholders) of Rs 6,586 crore during the same period a year ago, Infosys said in a regulatory filing. Consolidated revenue from operations of the company increased marginally by 1.3 per cent to Rs 38,821 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 38,318 crore in the year-ago period.
'It is imprudent on the part of Indian insurance companies to invest out of the shareholders' fund in a private limited company.'
Reliance Industries Ltd, India's most valuable company, is back on a growth path after six months of challenges as it posted better than expected earnings in the December quarter, brokerages said.
Although UltraTech Cement's results for the December quarter of the current financial year (Q3FY25) were not an improvement compared to Q3FY24, the company managed to surpass Street expectations. The company's profit attributable to the owners of the parent dropped 17.4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 1,469.5 crore in Q3FY25 as against Rs 1,777 crore in Q3FY24.
Co-location attracts institutional investors, which drives volumes for long-dated options, with higher realisations at lower costs.
After a massive selloff in the shares of food delivery giants Zomato and Swiggy, analysts believe the time may be right for investors to start adding these stocks to their portfolio carts. Their optimism, they say, stems from the sharp correction in stock prices and valuations, which seem to have "over-baked" concerns about the two companies.
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.
'I believe that the overall demand for commercial vehicles will improve, even though there is a slowdown in the GDP.'
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) is one of the largest beneficiaries of the defence indigenisation programme. The aerospace Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) has just received a new tender for 97 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A, and it is already servicing an earlier order for 83 LCA aircraft. The new order is worth around Rs 65,000 crore with a 65 per cent indigenisation component, whereas the earlier order (February 21) was worth Rs 45,700 crore with 55 per cent indigenisation.
Since the start of this financial year (FY24), the stock of Aurobindo Pharma has been one of the top pharma gainers, enhancing investor wealth by over 68 per cent, with a third of those gains coming in the last three months. The stock is riding on multiple triggers given its investments in the production-linked incentive or PLI scheme, biosimilars, injectables and vaccines, which should drive revenues and profits over the medium term. Better than expected performance after the June quarter results led to a revision of earnings estimates for FY24 and FY25.