Key Stocks to Monitor Today: Airtel, Ashok Leyland, LIC, Britannia, JFS

On February 6 at 8:15 AM, GIFT Nifty futures traded 9.05 points or 0.04 percent higher at 21,812.5, suggesting a muted start for domestic equities today. 

Bharti Airtel: Bharti Airtel, a telecom company, has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,442 crore in the quarter ending December 2022, which is nearly 55 percent higher than the same period last year. The increase in profit was due to the addition of new subscribers and an increase in average revenue per user. The company's revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 37,900 crore, a 5.9 percent increase from the previous year. However, the African business experienced a 92 percent fall in net profit, with finance costs more than doubling to $352 million. The average revenue per user (ARPU) was Rs 208 per month, which is a key metric of profitability and bettered market expectations. The ARPU was up by 7.7 percent year-on-year and also higher than the Rs 203 reported in the previous quarter, which ended in September 2022.

Ashok Leyland: The commercial vehicle manufacturer, Ashok Leyland, has reported a significant YoY rise in its standalone net profit to Rs 580 crore for the quarter ending December 2023, which is a 60.5 percent  increase from its net profit of Rs 361.34 crore in the same period last year. The company's net standalone revenue also increased by 2.7 percent YoY to Rs 9,273 crore from Rs 9,029.7 crore in the previous year. During the quarter under review, the Hinduja group firm's EBITDA stood at Rs 1,114 crore, marking an increase from Rs 797 crore (8.8%) in the December quarter. In addition, Ashok Leyland has secured orders for more than 3,800 buses from State Transport Undertakings in the December quarter.

Life Insurance Corporation of India: According to an exchange filing by the company on Monday, it will announce its third quarter financial results on February 8, and may also declare an interim dividend for FY24. The Board of Directors of the Corporation is scheduled to meet on February 08, 2024, to consider and approve the Unaudited Financial Results (Standalone and Consolidated) for the quarter and nine-month period ended on December 31, 2023. In this meeting, the Board of Directors will also consider a proposal for the declaration of an Interim Dividend for the Financial Year 2023-24. On Monday, LIC shares reached their 52-week high of Rs 1,027.95 per share on BSE. The company's stock closed 5.90 percent higher at Rs 1000.35 per share today. Over the past six months, LIC's share value has increased by 51.90 percent.

Adani Total Gas & INOX India: Adani Total Gas has entered into a mutual support agreement with INOX India under which both will get a “preferred partner" status for the delivery of LNG and LCNG equipment and services to identify and explore possible collaboration opportunities with an aim to strengthen the LNG ecosystem in the country. As preferred partners, ATGL will get certain project-level benefits, which include preferential treatment to ATGL and access to advanced scheduling, and consideration for collaborative opportunities for establishing LNG/LCNG stations, LNG satellite stations, transitioning to LNG as a transport fuel, LNG logistics, as well as developing small-scale liquid hydrogen solutions for the industry.

JSW Infrastructure: The private port operator has earmarked about Rs 6,000 crore for acquiring strategic assets, with an aim to bolster its presence in an industry dominated by the Adani Group. The firm is exploring a stake acquisition in a government-owned port slated for privatization, a senior executive of the company said. Arun Maheshwari, joint managing director and chief executive of JSW Infra, said the company has one of the strongest balance sheets in the ports sector and the headroom is good enough to expand aggressively, as long as the opportunity is value accretive. JSW Group is evaluating all privatization prospects offered by the government, including the ambitious trans-shipment port project at Galathea Bay in the Great Nicobar Island.

Britannia Industries: The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) major is expected to announce its Q3FY24 results on Tuesday, February 6. Analysts predict a 2-percent YoY increase in the company's consolidated net profit, with an estimated amount of Rs 566 crore compared to the previous year's Rs 556.8 crore. However, due to various factors such as high competition, anniversarisation of price hikes, some price cuts, and low single-digit volume growth, the Q3FY24 growth is expected to be muted. As a result, revenue growth is likely to be restricted to 3 percent YoY, amounting to Rs 4,303 crore for the quarter.

Jio Financial Services: The NBFC clarified on Monday night that it hasn't been in any negotiations to acquire Paytm's wallet business. The financial services provider led by Mukesh Ambani issued a statement to the exchanges to clear up news reports that suggested it is in talks to acquire Paytm wallet. On January 31, the Reserve Bank of India barred Paytm Payments Bank from undertaking any banking activities after February 29, citing non-compliance with KYC guidelines and other issues.

Tata Consultancy Services: On February 5th, TCS, an IT services company, announced that it has been chosen as a strategic partner by Europ Assistance, a leading global assistance and travel insurance company. The partnership is multi-year and aims to transform Europ Assistance's global IT operating model for better resilience, scalability, and user experience. TCS will be using its ignio AIOps offering to enhance the operational resilience and business agility of Europ Assistance.

Ideaforge Technology: The manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems has made a net profit of Rs 14.8 crore during the October-December period of FY24, compared to a loss of Rs 7.8 crore in the same period last year. This improvement was due to strong revenue and operating numbers. Revenue from operations increased significantly to Rs 90.9 crore for the quarter, up from Rs 7.8 crore during the corresponding period last fiscal year.

Tata Chemicals: The Tata Group company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 158 crore for the quarter ended December 2023, which is a 60 percent drop compared to the same period last year. This decline was due to a decrease in revenue as well as disappointing operating numbers. The cost of power & fuel and input costs were lower YoY. The revenue from operations fell by 10 percent YoY to Rs 3,730 crore for the quarter.