Monitoring Stocks: HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Prestige Group, RBL Bank, Dabur

Asian markets experienced significant pressure on Friday due to comments from US Federal Reserve officials, which raised concerns that the central bank might delay rate cuts. The Nikkei fell by 2.5 percent, Kospi by 1.3 percent, ASX200 by 0.9 percent, and Hang Seng by 0.6 percent. In India, investors will be keeping an eye on the Reserve Bank of India's interest rate decision. At 7:50 AM, Gift Nifty was 74 points down at 22,538 levels. The sentiment will also be impacted by foreign flows and oil prices, with Brent crude reaching $91 per barrel.

HDFC Bank: The bank reported a significant increase of 55.4 percent in gross advances on a YoY basis, reaching Rs 25.08 lakh crore as of March 31, 2024. This is a significant rise from the Rs 16.14 lakh crore reported as of March 31, 2023. The bank's advances grew by 1.6 percent sequentially, from Rs 24.69 lakh crore in December 2023. Furthermore, the bank has witnessed substantial growth in its domestic retail loans, with a YoY increase of approximately 108.9 percent and a QoQ increase of around 3.7 percent. In Q4FY24, HDFC Bank's deposits totaled approximately Rs 23.80 lakh crore, marking a YoY increase of 26.4 percent and a QoQ increase of 7.5 percent. The bank's CASA deposits in the fourth quarter of FY24 rose by 8.7 percent to Rs 9.09 lakh crore, up from Rs 8.36 lakh crore as of March 2023. The sequential growth in CASA deposits was 8.8 percent.

Hero MotoCorp: The Income Tax Department has served a tax demand notice to the company, which was announced on Thursday. The notice is for a total of Rs 605 crore, including interest, for six assessment years (FY14 to FY18 & FY20). According to an exchange filing by Hero MotoCorp, the company received assessment orders/demand notices dated March 30, 2024, for the above-mentioned six assessment years on April 3. These orders/notices pertain to a tax demand of Rs 308.65 crore and an interest of Rs 296.22 crore. The demand is due to certain disallowances for the assessment years 2013-14 to 2017-18 and 2019-20, as stated by Hero MotoCorp.

Prestige Group: A real estate developer has recently acquired a 21-acre land in Whitefield, a prime tech hub in Bengaluru, for the sum of Rs 450 crore. The company plans to utilize the land for a residential project that will cover about 4 million sq. ft and will accommodate 1,800 apartments. This is the second major land deal for the Bengaluru-based developer this year, as earlier in March, they had bought a 62.5-acre plot in Indirapuram Extension, Ghaziabad, for Rs 468 crore. Irfan Razack, the Chairman and Managing Director of Prestige Group, expects this large-scale project to result in a Gross Development Value (GDV) of Rs 4,500 crore.

RBL Bank: On Thursday, the private sector bank reported a significant increase in its total deposits, with a growth of 22 percent YoY and 12 percent QoQ. The bank's gross advances also saw a robust growth, rising by 19 percent YoY and 5 percent QoQ. However, the CASA (current account savings account) ratio fluctuated and stood at 35.2 percent, as compared to 37.4 percent YoY and 33.8 percent QoQ. The retail advances grew by 29 percent YoY, whereas the wholesale advances grew by 7 percent, and commercial banking witnessed a 17 percent increase. The retail to wholesale advances ratio remained stable at approximately 58:42.

Royal Orchid Hotels: During the HICSA hospitality event, Chander K. Baljee, who is the chairman and managing director of Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd, announced that his company has signed a contract to build a new 300-room five-star hotel at Terminal 2 of Mumbai Airport. The hotel, which is within walking distance of the terminal, is expected to open by the end of 2024. In the past year, Royal Orchid Hotels, which also owns the Regenta Inn brand, has added three new properties in Gurugram, Pune, and Goa to its portfolio through revenue-sharing agreements. The company also has plans to launch a new full-service hotel brand, but Baljee did not provide any further details about this new category.

IndusInd Bank: On Thursday, the bank reported an 18 percent increase in advances in the March quarter, amounting to Rs 3,42,857 crore. This represents a significant rise from the Rs 2,89,924 crore reported in the previous financial year's fourth quarter. The bank's deposits also increased by 14 percent in the reviewed quarter, reaching Rs 3,84,789 crore, compared to Rs 3,36,438 crore in the same period last year. However, the bank's low-cost deposits, which include current account and savings account deposits (CASA), decreased to 37.9 percent compared to 40.1 percent of the total liabilities during the quarter.

Dabur India: The manufacturer of packaged consumer goods has released a quarterly update, indicating that it is expected to have achieved a mid-single digit increase in its consolidated revenues for the quarter ending March. During this period, the company noticed a slow demand trend, but a surge in rural growth driven by staple price reductions has helped to reduce the disparity between rural and urban areas. The company anticipates a rise in consumption in the upcoming months, given the optimistic forecast for the rabi crop harvest and a normal monsoon. Dabur, the company in question, stated in an exchange filing that it projects a mid-single-digit growth in consolidated revenue during Q4 FY24. However, the company has not yet disclosed its annual and quarterly earnings.

Bajaj Finance: The company's customer base experienced a significant increase, reaching 83.64 million as of March 31, 2024, up from 69.14 million the previous year. This means that there was a surge of 3.23 million customers during Q4 FY24. In spite of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposing restrictions on some loan products, Bajaj Finance was able to secure 7.87 million new loans during Q4 FY24, representing a 4 percent growth compared to the same period last year. However, due to the regulatory constraints mentioned, the number of new loans was reduced by 0.80 million.

Nestle India: The National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in New Delhi has rejected the Central government's case against Nestle India regarding alleged unfair trade practices in the sale of Maggi Noodles. In 2015, the government filed a complaint against the company, accusing it of engaging in unfair trade practices by producing and marketing harmful and faulty goods to consumers in the form of Maggi noodles. The government had demanded compensation of Rs 284.55 crore and punitive damages amounting to Rs 355.41 crore.

Larsen & Toubro: On Thursday, April 4, Qatar's General Tax Authority revealed that a company was penalized with a fine of 26,549,309 QAR (equivalent to Rs  60.84 crore) due to inconsistencies in the company's declared income compared to the authority's assessment. The penalty was imposed on Wednesday, April 3, for the fiscal year from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019. The company disagrees with the penalty and plans to challenge it, as they believe it is unjustified and arbitrary, according to a regulatory filing.