SGX Nifty hints at a flat to positive start for Indian benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries among stocks to watch ahead of RIL Q3 results.
Indian benchmark indices are likely to open on a muted note, hinted SGX Nifty on Friday. Ahead of the session, Nifty futures were trading marginally higher at 18,133 level on the Singapore Exchange. In the previous session, BSE Sensex fell 187 pts to 60,858, while NSE Nifty 50 fell 58 pts to 18,108. “Though the market tone has turned positive, the participation is limited to a handful of index majors across sectors. Besides, the lack of traction on the broader front further restricts traders’ options. Traders have no option but to align their positions accordingly and focus on index majors, which are seeing consistent buying interest,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Technical Research, Religare Broking.
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Stocks in focus on 20 January, Friday
Reliance: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is expected to post a mixed set of financial numbers on Friday for the quarter ended December 2022, with net profit likely falling, but EBITDA rising. The Nifty index’s biggest heavyweight’s profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter is likely to fall 5-18% on-year due to volatility in oil demand owing to geopolitical disruptions. Low petrochemical margins and windfall tax will weigh on margins further, according to analysts. On the flip side, the company’s EBITDA is expected to rise in double digits, largely driven by strong ONG, retail and telecom divisions.
Sun Pharma: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, the world’s fourth-largest specialty generic pharmaceutical company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based Concert Pharmaceuticals for an equity consideration of $576 million. The deal will enable the Indian company to advance its treatment of Alopecia Areata, a dermatological disease, which results in hair loss. Sun Pharma will acquire all outstanding shares of Concert through a tender offer for an upfront payment of $8 per share in cash.
Hindustan Unilever (HUL): The FMCG major reported a 12% on-year increase in net profit for the quarter ended December at Rs 2,505 crore on the back of improved sales. The earnings were marginally ahead of Bloomberg’s estimats of Rs 2,488.30 crore. Revenues from operations rose 16% on-year to Rs 14,986 crore as the company’s volumes improved 5% during the quarter. The company also took a price hike of around 11% on its products during the period.
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Asian Paints: The country’s largest paint manufacturer posted a 6.4% rise in consolidated net profit of Rs 1,097.06 crore for the quarter ended 31 December, as demand rose after the extended monsoon. It had posted a net profit of Rs 1,031.29 crore a year ago. Consolidated revenue from operations rose to Rs 8,636.74 crore against Rs 8,527.24 crore a year ago. The domestic decorative business registered a flat volume and value sales delivery for the quarter, on a very high price increase base in the previous year.
JSW Energy: Marking its foray into energy storage solutions, JSW Energy has won letter of awards (LoA) from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for standalone battery energy storage systems totalling 500 MW. The LoAs, awarded to JSWEL’s wholly-owned step down subsidiary of JSW Renew Energy Five, is for two projects each of 250 MW. The 500 MW of storage systems would have a total output of 1,000 MW, the company said in a regulatory update.
PVR: The multiplex chain operator has reported a consolidated profit of Rs 16.1 crore for the quarter ended December FY23, against a loss of Rs 10.2 crore in the same period last year. Consolidated revenue for the quarter at Rs 941 crore increased by 53%, with the movie exhibition business growing 37% and others (including movie production & distribution) by 23.5% on-year. EBITDA in Q3FY23 grew by 75% to Rs 288.8 crore and the margin expanded by nearly 4 percentage points to 30.7% on-year for the quarter.
Hindustan Zinc: The company has reported a 20.2% on-year decline in consolidated profit at Rs 2,156 crore for quarter ended December FY23, impacted by lower revenue, operating income and higher power & fuel cost. Revenue fell 1.6% on-year to Rs 7,866 crore for the quarter. EBITDA fell 15.2% to Rs 3,707 crore and margin dropped 760 bps to 47.1% compared to year-ago period. The company will pay an interim dividend of Rs 13 per share for FY23 and will buy international zinc assets from Vedanta by subscribing to the shares of THL Zinc for $2,981 million.
L&T Technology Services: The engineering services company has reported a 7.5% sequential growth in profit at Rs 303.6 crore for December FY23 quarter, with revenue rising 2.7% to Rs 2,048.6 crore and revenue in dollar terms increasing 0.4% to $248 million for the quarter. At the operating level, EBIT climbed 6.3% sequentially to Rs 382.9 crore and margin expanded 60 bps to 18.7% for the quarter. Also the company received a multi-year contract from Airbus for providing advanced engineering capabilities and digital manufacturing services.
Tata Consultancy Services: Canadian business jet manufacturer, Bombardier selected TCS as its strategic IT partner, to accelerate its digital transformation & drive innovation.
