Indian share markets open in the green

Tue, 29 Apr 09:30 am

   Previous Close   

   Pre-Open   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

   Closing   

The major Asian stock markets have opened the day on a mixed note with stock markets in Japan (down 1.0%) and Singapore(down 0.4%) leading the losses. However, the stock markets in Taiwan (up 0.5%) and Hong Kong (up 0.5%) have opened on a positive note. The Indian share markets have also opened the day on a firm note. The sectoral indices have opened mixed with stocks in the FMCG and capital goods sector leading the losses. However, the stocks in realty and power space elicited interest. The Sensex today is up by around 18 points (0.1%), while the NSE-Nifty is up by about 8 points (0.1%). The midcap and smallcap stocks have opened in the green with BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices up by around 0.5% each. The rupee is currently trading at Rs 60.56 to the US dollar.

FMCG stocks have opened the day on a mixed note withHindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and Kokuyo Camlin Ltd leading the losses. However, Jyothy Consumer Products Ltd and Paper Products Ltd were leading the gains. HUL has announced its fourth quarter financial results of 2013-2014 (4QFY14). The company has reported 10% year on year (YoY) growth in the topline for the quarter on the back of 9% growth in each of the Home & Personal Care (HPC) and Food businesses. The operating margin for the quarter has improved slightly aided by lower input costs and ad-spends as a proportion to sales. The net profit margin for the quarter (excluding the impact of extraordinary income) was down marginally as 42% jump in other income was offset by higher tax outgo. For full year (FY14), revenues have grown by 8.6% aided by 8.5% rise in HPC segment and 11.6% increase in Food segment. During the year, the controlled raw material costs resulted in a 0.5% expansion in the operating margin. In FY14, the net profit margin without exceptional income was up by 0.6%. The company has declared a final dividend of Rs 7.5 per share of face value of Re 1 each. For the full year FY14, the total dividend works out to be Rs 13 per share.

Telecom stocks have opened mainly in the green with Idea Cellular Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) leading the gains. Idea Cellular has reported results for the quarter and year ending March 2014. The company has reported a growth of 16% YoY in the consolidated revenues. On a sequential basis , the revenue was up 6.5% QoQ. The growth was mainly driven by exponential data growth and an increase in voice minutes and subscriber base. The net profit during the quarter rose 91.4% YoY (up 26% QoQ). As per the management, the volume growth helped data revenue reach 10.1% of overall service revenue in the quarter, up by 3.5% from a year earlier. The voice minutes for the quarter rose 8.6% QoQ to 157.1 billion minutes. The company's market share (by revenues) increased to 16.1%, up by 1.2% from last year. The average revenue per user (Arpu) during the quarter increased to Rs.173 from Rs.169 in the preceding quarter. However, the average realization per MB (ARMB) slipped sharply. The mobile data volume for the quarter grew 31% QoQ. The company added 5.1 million new 3G users in FY14, taking its base to 10.2 million.