Stocks to Watch Today: RIL, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, Ambuja Cements, and Others

The recovery in late trade helped the market extend its uptrend for the fifth consecutive session on October 20 despite weakness in global counterparts, supported by FMCG, information technology, metal, and oil & gas stocks. The BSE Sensex climbed 96 points to 59,203, while the Nifty50 rose 52 points to 17,564.

Results on October 21, and October 22

Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Life Insurance Company, JSW Steel, SBI Life Insurance Company, Ambuja Cements, Hindustan Zinc, Amber Enterprises India, CSB Bank, DLF, Finolex Industries, IDBI Bank, IRB Infrastructure Developers, and United Spirits will be in focus ahead of quarterly earnings on October 21.

ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank, Yes Bank, D-Link (India), Dodla Dairy, Indraprastha Gas, Jaiprakash Power Ventures, MCX India, RMC Switchgears, and Sacheta Metals will be in focus ahead of quarterly earnings on October 22.

Stocks in News

Axis Bank: The private sector lender has clocked a massive 70% year-on-year growth in standalone profit at Rs 5,330 crore for the quarter ended September FY23, driven by sharp dip in provisions. Healthy growth in net interest income and pre-provision operating profit also boosted profitability. Net interest income grew by 31% year-on-year to Rs 10,360 crore in Q2FY23.

Tata Consumer Products: The Tata Group company has recorded a 36% year-on-year growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 389 crore led by exceptional income related to sale of land. Revenue from operations grew by 11% YoY to Rs 3,363 crore (and in constant currency terms, the growth was 10%), mainly driven by underlying growth of 9% in India business, 6% in international business and 30% in non-branded business. Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter at Rs 438 crore grew 4% YoY.

Asian Paints: The company has approved the setting up of manufacturing facility for vinyl acetate ethylene emulsion (VAE) and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) in India. An amount of approximately Rs 2,100 crore will be invested by the company over a period of 3 years, including the cost of land to be acquired. The installed capacity of the said manufacturing facility would be 1 lakh tons per annum for VAM and 1.5 lakh tons per annum for VAE. VAM is a key input for manufacturing VAE.

Bajaj Finance: The non-banking finance company’s profit grew by 88% year-on-year to Rs 2,781 crore for the quarter ended September FY23. It was the highest ever consolidated quarterly profit. Net interest income rose by 31% to Rs 7,001 crore during the same period with new loans booked up by 7% to 67.6 lakh YoY. Assets under management (AUM) grew by 31% YoY to Rs 2.18 lakh crore as of September FY23. Loan losses and provisions saw a significant declined to Rs 734 crore in Q2FY23 against Rs 1,300 crore in Q2FY22.

Coforge: The company’s consolidated profit grew by 28.3% QoQ to Rs 220.6 crore for the quarter ended September FY23. Revenue grew by 7.1% to Rs 1,959.4 crore compared to previous quarter. Revenue growth in dollar terms increased 3.4% to $246.9 million and constant currency revenue growth at 6.2% QoQ. The company has maintained FY23 constant currency revenue growth guidance of at least 20%.

Dynamatic Technologies: US-based aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman has signed a letter of intent with Dynamatic Technologies to support their workshare for India Navy F/A-18 program. Hindustan Aeronautics also signed MoU with Dynamatic to work together for manufacturing and supply of front fuselage assembly along with jig and tooling complying to quality requirements.

ICICI Securities: The company’s consolidated profit fell 14.5% year-on-year to Rs 300.41 crore during the quarter ended September FY23 due to muted topline and weak operating performance. Revenue from operations increased by 0.2% to Rs 858.46 crore supported by interest income but dented by lower brokerage income.

L&T Finance Holdings: The company reported profit from continuing operations at Rs 360.31 crore for the quarter ended September FY23, up 109% over year-ago period despite moderate growth in revenue. Revenue grew by 6% to Rs 3,138 crore compared to same period last year. It recorded highest-ever quarterly retail disbursements at Rs 10,238 crore, up 84% YoY, while retail book stood at Rs 52,040 crore, up 27% YoY, which company said in line with Lakshya 2026 strategic plan.

Nazara Technologies: The diversified gaming and sports media platform delivered a profit of Rs 16.9 crore for quarter ended September FY23, up 10.5% YoY. Revenue increased by 104% to Rs 263.8 crore and EBITDA rose by 9.2% to Rs 21.3 crore compared to year-ago period. The company appointed Sudhir Kamath as its new chief operating officer, while Manish Agarwal resigned as CEO effective December 1, 2022 to pursue an entrepreneurial journey.

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