Stock to Watch
Here are the top stocks that could be in focus in trade:
ITC: The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) giant's standalone net profit rose 10.3% to Rs 4,927 crore, compared to Rs 4,466 crore in the year's corresponding period. Revenue from operations also ticked 2.6% higher to Rs 16,550 crore. The cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate's EBITDA came in at Rs 6,041.5 crore, reporting a 3% growth. This is the first quarterly earnings result after the board approved the demerger of ITC Hotels in August.
Tata Motors: Tata Motors Ltd. announced its plan to acquire a 26.79% stake in Freight Tiger, a digital platform that is engaged in offering logistics solutions for cargo movement. Freight Tiger, a startup backed by Lightspeed Ventures, Shriram Transport Finance, and Moonstone Capital Partners, claims that its logistics solutions can reduce average logistics costs by 12%, lead to a 32% increase in average productivity, and increase the client’s margins by 2-3%.
Hindustan Unilever: Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL) saw a 4% year-on-year rise in its standalone net profit for the fiscal's second quarter ended September (Q2 FY24) to Rs 2,717 crore. The company had reported a profit of Rs 2,616 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the net profit was up 10%. The total revenue from operations increased by 3.6% to Rs 15,276 crore from Rs 14,751 crore YoY.
Zomato: Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank’s fund, SVF Growth (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., will sell at least a 1.1% stake in food-delivery and restaurant-discovery firm Zomato Ltd for around Rs 1,020 crore on 20 as the Japanese fund plans a full exit from the food delivery business. SoftBank’s stake sale decision in Zomato follows the latter’s dramatic rise in market price over the past year.
NTPC: State-owned power giant NTPC informed the exchanges about the board meeting, which is going to be held on 28 Oct 2023, to consider financial statements for the period ended September 2023 and also about interim dividends, if any. NTPC Ltd is India's largest integrated power utility, contributing 25% of the power requirements of the country. State-run power giant NTPC reported an 83 percent rise in coal production in the April–September period of this financial year compared to a year ago.
Tech Mahindra: IT firm Tech Mahindra is planning to consider a proposal for its interim dividend for the financial year FY23-24 on October 25, the company said in its stock filing. The board of directors will meet to announce the financial results for the September quarter. Earlier, the company had declared a final dividend of Rs 32.0000 per share on April 27.
Jindal Stainless: Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) reported a 120% year-on-year jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 764 crore for the quarter ended September. The Abhyuday Jindal-led firm posted a 12% increase in its consolidated revenue at Rs 9,797 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, it said in an exchange filing.
Havells India: Home appliances maker Havells India reported a 33% rise in second-quarter profit, as cables remained in demand due to sustained infrastructure spending and the dry weather-boosted air-conditioner sales. The company's profit for the September quarter rose to 2.49 billion rupees ($29.92 million) from 1.87 billion rupees a year earlier but missed analysts' average estimate of 2.87 billion rupees, as per LSEG data.
South India Bank: South Indian Bank posted a 23.3% increase in net profit to Rs 275 crore. In comparison, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 223 crore during the corresponding period last year and Rs 202 crore in Q1 FY24. NII increased by 14% YoY to Rs 830 crore, compared to Rs 726 crore in Q2 FY23, while the net interest margin improved to 3.33% in Q2 FY24 from 2.98% in Q2 FY23.
Yatharth Hospital: The income tax department raided several premises of Yatharth Hospital group in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi on charges of tax evasion. The tax department has seized some documents and is questioning some of the key managerial persons of the group. According to the report, Yatharth Hospital Group's offices and premises in Noida, Greater Noida, Jhansi and Delhi have been covered since morning.
