Stocks to Watch: Bharti Airtel, Hero Moto, Adani Green, Ambuja Cement, NDTV

Equity benchmark indices are looking to open higher on Wednesday with the Street awaiting the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy outcome. At 7:30 am, the SGX Nifty futures were quoting around 70 points higher near 17,800 level.

The RBI is widely expected to raise rates by a modest 25 basis points following a gradual decline in the CPI imprint for November and December to below 6 per cent. Some experts believe the bank may halt the rate hike cycle after today’s increase.

Globally, US equity benchmark indices closed up to 2 per cent higher overnight after Fed chief Powell said that inflation has begun to ease, but it still is a long way to go. He also cautioned that interest rates could continue to rise if the economic data doesn’t cooperate.

Asian indices were mixed in early trade as Kospi and Strait times rose up to 1 per cent while Nikkei and Hang Seng declined up to 0.7 per cent.

Here are some stocks to watch out in trade today:

Q3 earnings watch: Shree Cement, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar, Cummins India, Escorts Kubota, Dreamfolks Services, Endurance Technologies, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Honeywell Automation India, IRCON International, ITD Cementation India, Minda Corporation, Samvardhana Motherson International, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Oberoi Realty, Piramal Enterprises, Speciality Restaurants, Symphony, Tracxn Technologies, Trent, and Windlas Biotech, among others will release their quarterly earnings today.

Rate sensitives: Stocks of rate-sensitive pockets such as banks, NBFCs, real estate or realty companies and automobiles may see some action following the RBI’s rate hike outcome.

Bharti Airtel: The company reported a 91.5 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,588 crore for the October-December quarter of 2022-23. Total revenue rose nearly 20 per cent year-on-year to Rs 35,804 crore in the December quarter (Q3FY23) “backed by strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio. READ

Hero Moto: Hero MotoCorp reported a 2.41 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 721.24 crore in the third quarter of 2022-23 amid weak demand, especially in the rural areas. Its total income jumped 2.05 per cent in Q3 (year-on-year) to Rs 8,300.3 crore. The company said the cost-cutting (savings) programme and multiple launches lined up during the next few quarters should help improve profitability. READ

Ambuja Cements: Ambuja Cements recorded a 46 per cent rise in its standalone profit to Rs 368.99 crore in the quarter ending December 31, 2022 (Q3FY23) as compared to Rs 252.81 crore in Q3FY22. The volume rose seven per cent during the same period. The revenue from operations of the company rose 10 per cent to Rs 4,128.5 crore from Rs 3,739.9 crore a year ago.

Adani Green: Adani Green Energy’s consolidated net profit more than doubled to Rs 103 crore in the December quarter, mainly on the back of higher revenues. The consolidated net profit of the company was Rs 49 crore in the year-ago period. Total income in the third quarter of the current fiscal rose to Rs 2,258 crore from Rs 1,471 crore in the same period a year ago.

ONGC: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is in talks with global oil majors to infuse state-of-the-art technologies in its aggressive exploration push in deepwaters of India. ONGC held discussions with the American oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, the Norwegian energy multinational Equinor, the American oil services conglomerate Baker Hughes, and the French research organization Institut Francais du Petrole on various issues like Technology, and deepwaters.

Banks: Indian banks’ exposure to Adani Group companies is not that large to significantly risk their credit profile, said global rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s on Tuesday. A statement by Moody’s though warned that risks for banks can increase if the Adani Group becomes more reliant on loans. READ

Vodafone Idea: Vodafone Idea, on Tuesday, issued 16,130 million equity shares to the central government, giving it a 33.4 per cent stake in the company. With this government also becomes the largest shareholder of the telecom company. The operational and management control of the company will remain with existing promoters.

NDTV: The company on Tuesday said that its profit had more than halved in the third quarter on weak advertising demand. The broadcaster’s consolidated net profit decreased to Rs 12.9 crore in the third quarter from Rs 27.6 crore a year before. Revenue fell 9.4 per cent YoY to Rs 105.4 crore for the quarter.

Deepak Nitrite: The company’s net profit slipped 13.8 per cent to Rs 209.1 crore as against Rs 242.5 cr a year ago. Revenue rose 15.6 per cent YoY to Rs 1,991.1 crore. Operating margin came lower at 15.8 per cent as compared to 20.4 per cent the previous year.

Rail Vikas Nigam: The company (RVNL) has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) for the North Western Railway project worth Rs 69.48 crore. The letter of award is awaited.

PC Jeweller: A consortium of four banks– IDBI Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of India and Karur Vysya Bank–has issued their loan recall notices to the company. The legal proceedings between the State Bank of India (lead bank) and the company are continuing, and the next date of hearing has been fixed as February 28, 2023.

Sobha: The company reported a 48 per cent year-on-year decline in its consolidated profit to Rs 31.8 crore for the December quarter, impacted by weak operating performance. Though revenue rose 40 per cent YoY to Rs 868.2 crore for the quarter, with the highest ever quarterly sales volume of 1.48 million square feet.

BSE: The stock exchange reported a 15.7 per cent year-on-year decline in profit to Rs 51.64 crore for the December quarter. Revenue for the quarter grew 5.77 per cent to Rs 204 crore compared to a year-ago period. Operating margin slipped 1,079 bps YoY to 19.13 per cent for the quarter. The board has approved the divestment of a 2.5 per cent stake in Central Depository Services (India) via an offer for sale (OFS).

Thermax: The company reported a 59 per cent year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 126.2 crore for the quarter ended December FY23 driven by firm performance in all three business segments (energy, environment and chemical). Revenue climbed 27 per cent YoY to Rs 2,049 crore for the quarter, while margins expanded by 86 bps compared to a year-ago.