Stocks to Watch: Adani Ent, SBI, ITC, Infosy, Vodafone Idea, Adani Power

Here are the top 10 stocks that could be in focus in today's trade:

Adani Enterprises: Adani Enterprises Ltd has shelved a plan to raise as much as Rs 10 billion ($121.65 million) via its first-ever public sale of bonds following a market rout, as per people familiar with the matter. The flagship firm of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s empire had planned the public note issuance for January, working with Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd., AK Capital, JM Financial, and Trust Capital, Bloomberg reported in December. But activity has now stopped, as per the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

SBI: State bank of India on Friday reported a 68% year-on-year (y-o-y) rise in net profit in the third quarter owing to lower provisions and higher interest income. The country’s largest bank reported its highest-ever quarterly net profit of Rs 14,205 crore, beating market estimates, from Rs 8,431 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Net interest income (NII), which is the difference between interest earned and spent, rose 24% to Rs 38,068 crore as on 31 December 2022 from Rs 30,687 crore a year ago. Net interest margins improved to 3.5% at the December end from 3.32% in the previous quarter.

Vodafone Idea: The Union government on Friday directed Vodafone Idea Ltd to issue equity shares against interest on deferred adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and spectrum dues totalling Rs 16,133 crore that India’s No.3 telco owes it. The culmination of the equity conversion plan comes more than a year after the government made the earlier decision, and serves as a breather for Vodafone Idea with a debt burden of Rs 2.2 trillion as of September 2022. The loss-making telco has been struggling to raise Rs 20,000 crore in funds via debt and equity since 2021.

Adani Power: Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the government agency responsible for the development of Bangladesh's power segment, has asked for a revision of the power purchase agreement (PPA) it signed with Adani Power Ltd for importing electricity from its thermal power plant in Jharkhand, India. The prime reason for the revision is reportedly because of a disagreement over the price of coal to be used as fuel for the project. As per anonymous sources close to the deal, BPDB has already sent a letter to Adani Group. requesting the opening of Letter of credit (LCs) in India to import the coal. The 1,600 MW plant in Jharkhand is expected to be fueled by imported coal.

ITC: ITC Ltd on Friday reported a 21% rise in net profit to Rs 5,031.01 crore for the December 2022 quarter. This is against a net profit of Rs 4156.2 crore for the year-ago period. The revenue from operations rose by 2.3 per cent to Rs 16225.1 crore from Rs 15862 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. ITC has declared an interim dividend of Rs 6 per share of Rs 1 each, for which 15 February 2023 has been set as the record date. The payment of the interim dividend would be between 3 March 2023, and 5 March 2023.

Infosys: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. saw its revenue slip sequentially in the October-December period and forecast business to fall further in the January-March period, assisting Infosys Ltd race past the Nasdaq-listed technology firm to become the second-largest homegrown IT services firm. Cognizant expects revenue in the first quarter to be between $4.71 billion and $4.76 billion. Infosys, which posted $4.66 billion in revenue in the October-December period, expects to grow between 16% and 16.5% in constant currency terms in the year ended March 2023.

Marico: FMCG major Marico on Friday reported a 5 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 333 crore during the third quarter ended December 2022. This is against a net profit of Rs 317 in the year-ago period. The revenue from operations rose by 2.6 per cent to Rs 2,470 as against Rs 2,407 in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The EBITDA for the quarter under review came in at Rs 456 crore as against Rs 431 crore in the year-ago period. The underlying domestic volume growth in Q3 was 4 per cent. The domestic revenues were at Rs 1,851 Crore, up 2% YoY, said Marico in its filing.

InterGlobe Aviation: InterGlobe Aviation, which runs IndiGo airline, posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue of Rs 15,410.2 crore in the December quarter, up 63% from the year earlier and 20% sequentially. Indigo said robust demand on account of the peak travel season was the reason behind topline growth. Net profit for India’s largest airline rose to Rs 1,422.6 crore, compared to a net loss of Rs 1,583.3 crore in the September quarter. The cost-per-available-seat- km or the unit cost rose 18% from the year ago to Rs 4.77 but fell 7.3% sequentially in a relief to the airline. The reduction in fuel price and lower losses because of foreign exchange during the quarter helped the sequential decrease of costs, the firm said.

Paytm: India’s second biggest fintech firm Paytm reported its first-ever adjusted Ebitda profitability in the quarter ended December 2022, three-quarters ahead of its guidance. Paytm, operated by One97 Communications, reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) without accounting for employee-stock option costs, of Rs 31 crore over a revenue of operations of Rs 2,062 crore in the third quarter of the financial year 2023. Amidst potential competitors and the macroeconomic environment, the company’s stock over the last few months has been under pressure, taking a hit of about 35% in the last six months.

Indus Towers: Telecom giant Bharti Airtel has raised its direct stake in Indus Towers held by its wholly-owned subsidiary Nettle Infrastructure. In another development, Airtel has also declared the launch of its cutting-edge 5G services in Itanagar. Airtel increased its stake by acquiring another 23.01% in Indus Tower taking its total shareholding to 47.95%. As per the PTI report, Bharti Airtel has acquired the 23.01% stake in Indus Towers from Nettle to directly own 47.95% of the mobile tower company. Earlier, Airtel held 24.94% of Indus Tower through its mentioned subsidiary.