Buzzing Stocks: HDFC Bank, Jio Financial Services, RVNL, Angel One, Zomato, others in news

Results on January 16: HDFC Bank, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, L&T Technology Services, Federal Bank, Gallantt Ispat, Goa Carbon, Hathway Cable & Datacom, Himadri Speciality Chemical, ICICI Securities, Jindal Saw, Lotus Chocolate, Bank of Maharashtra, C E Info Systems, Credo Brands Marketing, Network18 Media & Investments, Newgen Software Technologies, and TV18 Broadcast to be in focus ahead of declaring their December FY24 quarter earnings.

Angel One: The retail stock broking firm has recorded net profit at Rs 260.3 crore for the October–December FY24 period, growing 14.2 percent over a year-ago period, with revenue from operations increasing sharply by 41.5 percent YoY to Rs 1,059 crore. EBITDA for the quarter surged 22.7 percent to Rs 397.9 crore compared to the corresponding period last fiscal, but margin plunged 570 basis points to 37.6 percent in Q3 FY24, with other expenses rising more than two times to Rs 319.8 crore. The board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 12.7 per share for FY24.

Jio Financial Services: Jio Financial has recorded consolidated profit of Rs 293.82 crore for the quarter ended December FY24, against Rs 668.2 crore in the previous quarter. Total revenue from operations stood at Rs 413.6 crore against Rs 608 crore during the same period, as the company had nil dividend income in Q3 FY24 against Rs 216.85 crore in Q2 FY24. The interest income for the quarter came in at Rs 269 crore, up from Rs 186 crore in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the board of directors has appointed Rupali Adhikari Sawant as Group Head of Internal Audit of the company and Sudheer Reddy Govula as Group Chief Compliance Officer of the company, with effect from January 15.

Rail Vikas Nigam: RVNL emerges as the lowest bidder (L1) for supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of 11 KV line-associated works in Jabalpur city, Jabalpur (O&M), Katni, Mandla, Dindori, Seoni, Chhindwara, Narsinghpur, Balaghat, Shahdol, Anuppur, and Umariya circles of MPPKVVCL, Jabalpur company area. The contract has been awarded by M. P. Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company for a period of 24 months.

Zomato: Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund has sold 4.5 crore equity shares, which is equivalent to 0.51 percent of paid up equity, in the food delivery giant via open market transactions. These shares were sold at an average price of Rs 138.15 per share. As of December 2023, Motilal Oswal Flexi Cap Fund had held 15.94 crore shares or 1.83 percent stake in Zomato.

Patanjali Foods: During the quarter ended December FY24, the prices of edible oils in India remained stable against the downward pressure witnessed in the first half of the financial year. Muted price volatility, robust domestic demand, and limited divergence between futures and physical market prices allowed for better performance. In Q3 FY24, the company registered an uptick in value over Q2 with incremental growth, while the EBITDA margin aligned with the business projections. There was single-digit sequential as well as YoY growth in volumes during the quarter. Branded sales continue to contribute 75 percent of the total edible oil sales volume. In the December quarter, the revenue of the Food & FMCG segment, which accounted for 32 percent of total revenues, was stable, while the Biscuits portfolio grew by over 20 percent YoY.

Aster DM Healthcare: Affinity Holdings, and Alpha GCC Holdings are aiming to complete the transaction of the stake sale in the GCC (Gulf Co-Operation Council) business soon. Earlier, Dubai-based Aster DM Healthcare had approved the sale of its business in the GCC region to Alpha GCC Holdings for $1.01 billion. Of this, $903 million will be received at the closing of the deal, and the rest will depend on the fulfillment of certain conditions. The Board sought to consider the distribution of 70–80 percent of the upfront consideration of $903 million as a dividend to its shareholders, i.e., in the range of Rs 110 to Rs 120 per share.

Usha Martin: Usha Siam Steel Industries Public Company (USSIPCL), a subsidiary of the company in Thailand, has entered into an agreement to acquire 50 percent of the share capital of Tesac Usha Wirerope Company (TUWCL), a step-down joint venture of the company, from Kobelco Wire Company. The cost of the acquisition is Baht 74.45 million.

PNC Infratech: PNC Infratech and its subsidiary PNC Infra Holdings have executed definitive agreements with Highways Infrastructure Trust (HIT), an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT), to divest 12 road assets in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. The enterprise value of the transaction is Rs 9,005.7 crore, together with the earn-outs.

Route Mobile: The company said the board of directors has approved to provide the corporate guarantee in favour of lenders ICICI Bank and ICICI Bank (UK) Plc, for term loan facility proposed to be taken by company’s subsidiary Route Mobile (UK) of $31.50 million.

NLC India: Prasanna Kumar Acharya assumed the charge of Director (Finance) of the company with effect from January 15. The Central government had approved the appointment of Prasanna Kumar Acharya as Director (Finance) of the company for five years, in December last year.

BLS International Services: The company has entered into a definitive Share Purchase Agreement through its wholly owned subsidiary BLS International FZE, UAE, to acquire 100 percent stake in iData Danismanlik Ve Hizmet Dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi and its wholly owned subsidiaries for enterprise value of euro 50 million (Rs 450 crore) and additional milestones based payments. iData is a prominent player based in Turkey, specializes in visa and consular services.

Shakti Pumps (India): The company said the board of directors will be meeting on January 18 to consider the raising of funds through the issuance of securities by way of a preferential allotment or a private placement (including one or more qualified institution placements (QIP) or further public issue of equity shares).

Sarda Energy & Minerals: The company has received a contract for the installation of a 50 MW solar power plant in Chhattisgarh to meet the captive requirements of the production and mining facilities. The contract is worth Rs. 150 crore.

Jyoti CNC Automation: The company will list its equity shares on the BSE and NSE on January 16. The final issue price has been fixed at Rs 331 per share.

IBL Finance: The company is set to debut on the NSE Emerge on January 16. The issue price is Rs 51 per share. Its equity shares will be available for trading in trade-for-trade segment.

Hi-Tech Pipes: Promoter Ajay Kumar & Sons sold 24 lakh equity shares, or equivalent to 1.75 percent stake in the company at an average price of Rs 148.5 per share. However, Bandhan Core Equity Fund picked 14 lakh equity shares in the company at same price.