L&T's Disappointing Q3 Results, LIC's Mega IPO, and Buzzing Stocks Today

Mon, 31 Jan Pre-Open

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Indian share markets ended a week of extreme volatility on a flat note on Friday, following the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting.

At the closing bell on Friday, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 77 points (down 0.1%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 8 points (down 0.1%).

NTPC and UPL were among the top gainers.

Maruti Suzuki and Tech Mahindra, on the other hand, were among the top losers.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended down by 1% and 1.1%, respectively.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the banking sector, auto sector and finance sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.

Healthcare and IT stocks, on the other hand, witnessed buying interest.

Shares of GMDC and ONGC hit their respective 52-week highs.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX were trading down by 0.3% at Rs 47,780 per 10 grams at the time of closing stock market hours on Friday.

Speaking of the precious yellow metal, India's #1 trader Vijay Bhambwani shares why he is bullish on gold and silver ever since he has started recording videos for Equitymaster's YouTube channel, in his latest video for Fast Profits Daily.

Tune in to the video below to find out more:

Top Stocks in Focus Today

Among the buzzing stocks today will be Bharti Airtel.

The board of Bharti Airtel has approved issuance of 71 m equity shares to Google on preferential basis, the telecom major announced on 28 January.

India's second largest telecom operator will partner search engine giant Google on a long-term, multi-year agreement to accelerate the growth of country's digital ecosystem.

As part of this partnership, Google intends to invest up to US$1 bn, as part of its Google for India Digitization Fund, which includes equity investment as well as a corpus for potential commercial agreements, to be identified and agreed on mutually agreeable terms over the course of the next five years.

This includes investment of US$700 m to acquire 1.28% ownership in Airtel and up to US$300 m toward potential multi-year commercial agreements, Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing. This deal will be subject to necessary regulatory approvals, it added.

As a part of its first commercial agreement, Airtel and Google will work together to build on Airtel's extensive offerings that covers a range of Android-enabled devices to consumers via innovative affordability programs.

Together, the companies will continue to explore further opportunities to bring down the barriers of owning a smartphone across a range of price points, in partnership with various device manufacturers.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel said,

• Airtel and Google share the vision to grow India's digital dividend through innovative products. With our future ready network, digital platforms, last mile distribution and payments ecosystem, we look forward to working closely with Google to increase the depth and breadth of India's digital ecosystem.

Kotak Mahindra Bank share price will also be in focus today.

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Friday reported a 14.9% year on year (YoY) rise in standalone net profit at Rs 21.3 bn compared with Rs 18.5 bn in the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, consolidated PAT for the bank was up 31% YoY at Rs 34 bn from Rs 26 bn in the year-ago quarter.

Net interest income (NII) for the quarter rose 11.8% YoY to Rs 43.3 bn from Rs 38.7 bn in the same quarter last year. Net interest margin (NIM) for the December quarter came in at 4.6%.

The private lender said it saw 21 lakh net customer additions during the quarter under review against 8 lakhs in the year-ago quarter. Customers as at 31 December 2022 stood at 30.7 m, the bank said in a BSE filing.

Gross non-performing assets (NPA) fell to Rs 69.8 bn from Rs 71.3 bn in the year-ago quarter and Rs 76.6 bn in the September quarter.

Kotak Bank said Covid-related provisions stood at Rs 10 bn as of 31 December 2022. The bank has standard restructured fund-based outstanding of Rs 13.6 bn or 0.5% of advances as at 31 December 2021.

Credit cost on advances for the quarter stood at 35 bps annualised, excluding reversal of Covid provision.

Total provisions (including specific, standard, Covid-19 related etc.) held as on 31 December stood at Rs 72.7 bn.

Capital adequacy ratio, including unaudited profits, came in at 23.3% in the recently concluded quarter and Tier I ratio was 22.4%.

LIC IPO Filing in Next Few Days, Government wants Approval in 3 Weeks

The Indian government has asked regulators for a swift review of Life Insurance Corporation's (LIC) draft prospectus, two government sources with knowledge of the matter said - as it pulls out all the stops to have the country's biggest IPO completed by the end of March.

The market regulator has been urged to complete its vetting process in less than three weeks instead of the 75 days it usually requires, they said.

'We have 10 bankers for the deal. They are available 24/7 for any questions the regulator might have,' said one of the government officials, adding that a 'clean' draft prospectus would be submitted.

Having pledged numerous times to list LIC by the end of the financial year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration is keen to avoid any loss of face and gain further momentum for its privatisation programme aimed at replenishing government coffers.

The official also said the finance ministry's divestment department was solely focused on the IPO for the giant state-backed insurer from which it hopes to gain as much as US$12 bn, and had put aside other privatisation plans this fiscal year.

The draft prospectus is likely to be submitted to the watchdog in the next few days, said the sources.

For its part, LIC, which has nearly US$500 bn in assets and commands more than 65% of India's market for life insurance policies, is also sparing no effort to ensure the IPO succeeds.

L&T's Net Profit Decline 17% in December Quarter

Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 20.5 bn for the December quarter, down 16.7% against a profit of Rs 24.7 bn in the same quarter last year.

The revenue from operations came in at Rs 395.6 bn, up 11.1% against Rs 356 bn in the same quarter last year. This compares with the analyst estimate of Rs 397.3 bn.

The company bagged orders worth Rs 503.6 bn during the quarter, registering a decline of 31% for the same period in the previous year. The decline is coming on a much larger base due to high-speed rail corridor awarded last year.

The company said international orders were at Rs 205.2 bn during the quarter, comprising 41% of the total order inflows, with receipt of large value international orders in Hydrocarbon Offshore. The consolidated order book of the group was at record levels of Rs 3.4 tn, with international orders having a share of 24%.

The company said,

• In the backdrop of the current economic environment, the company continues its planned path of winning targeted orders, focus on profitable execution of its large order book, leverage the strong growth momentum in its IT & TS portfolio and along with many other value-enhancing measures, is committed to creating sustainable long term returns to its stakeholders.

L&T maintains a 'cautiously optimistic' view of higher capex spends in the near term as it believes 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative is gathering full momentum.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space. Stay tuned.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

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