Stocks on Focus: Wipro, L&T, Adani Green, Vi, Cochin Shipyard, ZEEL, Titan

Equity benchmark indices in India are expected to begin the week on a positive note, following the global trend. At 07:15 AM, Gift Nifty futures were quoted at around 22,652, indicating a likely gap-up of around 50 points on the Nifty 50 index. This morning in Asia, Japan's Nikkei surged 1.3 percent, while Kospi and Taiwan gained around 0.5 percent. These are the stocks to watch on Monday, April 08, 2024.

Wipro: On April 6, Wipro, an Indian multinational corporation, announced in a regulatory filing that Thierry Delaporte, its CEO and MD, had resigned from his position. Delaporte's term as CEO was supposed to end in July 2025, but he resigned prematurely. He will officially step down from his CEO duties on May 31, 2024. Srinivas Pallia, a veteran of the company with over three decades of service and former CEO of the company's America region, will take over as the new CEO and MD from April 7, 2024. The company stated that Pallia's tenure as CEO will last for five years.

Larsen and Toubro: L&T Defence, which is the defence equipment branch of Larsen and Toubro, plans to expand its business by producing non-military equipment and infrastructure. This strategy aims to optimize the use of its assets while the company anticipates securing larger defence contracts. To align with this new business approach, the division has been renamed L&T Precision Engineering and Systems, effective from April 1. According to AM Naik, Chairman Emeritus of L&T, in an exclusive interview with Mint, "We have developed all our technology in-house. We do not have any foreign technology partners." Currently, the company holds several overseas defence contracts and has recently secured maintenance contracts for two ships of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy at its Kattupalli shipyard.

Adani Green Energy: The Adani Group has recently announced an ambitious plan to invest about Rs 1.5 trillion by 2030 to create the world's largest renewable energy plant at the Khavda renewable energy park located in Gujarat. The plant, which is expected to have a capacity of 30 gigawatts, was unveiled by the head of the company, Vneet Jaain, during a media interaction on Saturday. This initiative is part of Adani Group's broader strategy to achieve an installed renewable energy capacity of 45 gigawatts in India by 2030. The plan includes the development of 26 gigawatts of solar energy and 4 gigawatts of wind energy. Currently, AGEL's renewable portfolio covers 12 states, with an operating capacity of 10.93 gigawatts, including 7.39 gigawatts of solar, 1.4 gigawatts of wind, and 2.14 gigawatts of hybrid energy. Mr. Jaain, the Managing Director of AGEL, also shared with the media that the company has already commissioned 2 gigawatts of solar capacity at the park, and an additional 4 gigawatts will be installed in the current financial year (FY25), mainly focusing on solar energy.

Vodafone Idea: The board of Vodafone Idea has approved the issuance of shares worth Rs 2,075 crore to Oriana Investments Pte. Ltd, an Aditya Birla group company, on a preferential basis. The shares will be issued at Rs 14.87 each, which is higher than the closing price of Rs 13.36 on the BSE on Friday. The board has also allowed an increase in the company's authorized share capital to Rs 1 trillion, with Rs 95,000 crore for share capital and Rs 5,000 crore for preference share capital. The present authorized share capital is Rs 75,000 crores, split into Rs 70,000 crore of share capital and Rs 5,000 crore of preference share capital. An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) will be held on 8 May to approve these board decisions, as per an exchange filing on Saturday.

JSW Energy: JSW Energy successfully concluded its Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP) worth Rs 5,000 crore, as per an exchange filing on April 5. The placement drew significant interest from prominent global long-only investors, domestic mutual funds, and insurance companies. This marks the company's first equity raise since its 2010 listing, which had a subscription rate exceeding 3.2 times. Some of the world's largest asset managers such as GQG, Blackrock, Nomura, Wellington, UBS, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) participated in the listing. The company highlighted that this is the most substantial primary equity raise in the Indian power sector over the past decade and ranks among the top three in the sector's history.

Indiabulls Real Estate: Indiabulls Real Estate has announced that its board has approved a fundraising of Rs 3,911 crore through the issuance of shares and warrants to investors. Blackstone Group and Embassy Group are among the investors who will contribute to the fundraise. Blackstone Group will invest Rs 1,235 crore while Embassy Group will inject Rs 1,160 crore. After the conversion of warrants, Embassy Group and Blackstone Group will hold stakes of 18.7 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively. The aim of this initiative is to recapitalize the company's balance sheet and position it for organic and inorganic growth.

Info Edge: On April 7, Info Edge released its Q4 business update for FY24, reporting a 5.48 percent YoY increase in standalone billings for Q4 FY24, which amounted to Rs 2,495.9 crore. This was a rise from Rs 2,366.3 crore in the same period the previous year. The company noted that the data for the quarter and year ending March 31, 2024, is preliminary and subject to review and approval. Standalone billings for the quarter ending March 31, 2024, saw a surge of over 10 percent, reaching Rs 826.9 crore compared to Rs 748.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The recruitment solution segment reported standalone billing of Rs 1,883.2 crore for the year ending March 31, 2024, representing a 1.81 percent YoY growth compared to the previous year. Additionally, the recruitment solution segment recorded a 7.1 percent QoQ growth.

Titan: According to a preliminary update released on April 5th, the company reported a 17 percent year-on-year increase in revenue for the fourth quarter of FY24. During this quarter, the company expanded its retail presence by adding 86 new stores across the country, bringing the total number of outlets to 3,035. The growth was mainly driven by the jewellery segment, which saw a 19 percent YoY surge in domestic operations. Titan also experienced a 7 percent YoY growth in the watches and wearables segment.

Adani Wilmar: According to a preliminary update released on April 5, the company has reported a double-digit expansion in its edible oil and food business sectors, driven by an increase in retail involvement and a focus on under-indexed markets in the quarter ending March 31. However, Adani Wilmar observed a downturn in the export of animal feed, which resulted in a reduction of the overall volume growth to four percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of FY24. Within a span of two years, the revenue of its food and FMCG segment nearly doubled to Rs 4,700 crore.

Zee Entertainment and Enterprises: On April 5th, ZEEL made an announcement that its Managing Director and CEO, Punit Goenka, has proposed a lean and efficient management structure to the board. This proposal is in line with his strategic plan aimed at achieving the company's targeted objectives. According to a regulatory filing, Goenka has initiated the process of reducing the workforce by 15 percent as part of his overall strategic approach. This move is intended to create a streamlined team that is highly focused on achieving future goals. Zee has stated that the specifics of the new operating structure will be disclosed after obtaining the necessary approvals and guidance from the Board.

Cochin Shipyard: Cochin Shipyard recently announced that it has signed the Master Shipyard Repair Agreement (MSRA) with the United States Navy. The company successfully qualified for the MSRA after undergoing a comprehensive evaluation and capability assessment by the US Navy's Military Sealift Command, as stated in a regulatory filing. In addition, the company secured a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics worth Rs 1,173.42 crore last week. Earlier, on January 31, the shipyard received an order from a European client for the design and construction of a hybrid service operation vessel (SOV), which is expected to be delivered in 2026. The vessel is estimated to cost around Rs 500 crore.

United Breweries: On April 5th, the company announced that the Maharashtra State Goods & Service Tax (GST) Department had imposed a tax demand of Rs 263.72 crore on them. According to a regulatory disclosure, the GST department issued an order imposing an additional tax of Rs 119.8 crores, an interest of Rs 115 crore, and a penalty of Rs 28.8 crores, amounting to a total of Rs 263.7 crore for the fiscal year 2020. The order is based on a 60 percent central sales tax (CST) applied to debit notes that UBL issued to the state's beverage companies to cover the state excise duties it paid on behalf of the State Beverage Corporations during the fiscal year 2020. The liquor manufacturer believes that they have a strong case to present before the appropriate appellate authority and anticipates no financial impact on the company, except for a minimal statutory pre-deposit required at the time of appeal admission.