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Indian markets ended higher, helped by strong buying by FIIs as investors’ optimism rebounded. For the week, the Sensex soared 2.44% to 61,112.44. The Nifty 50 index zoomed 2.50% to 18,065. The BSE Midcap index jumped 2.61% to 25,492.43. The BSE Smallcap index surged 2.42% to close at 28,917.07.
In cash segment, FIIs were net buyers for Rs 5,395.1 crore and DIIs were net buyers for Rs 1,874.3 crore during the week.
Top gainers among Nifty sectoral indices were PSU Bank [2.45%], Media [1.81%], IT [1.29%], Energy [1.24%], and Healthcare [1.09%]. Top loser was Nifty Consumer Durables [-0.31%].
Indian rupee rose 1 paise to 81.8250 against the US dollar on Friday [April 28, 2023].
India’s forex reserves rose by $1.657 billion to $586.412 billion as of April 14, according to the RBI data released on Friday. This was the second consecutive week of increase. Foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $2.204 billion to $516.635 billion.
Company News
Maruti Suzuki: The automaker said that its standalone net profit surged 42.67% YoY to Rs 2,623.6 crore. Its net sales rose 20.8% YoY to Rs 30,821.8 crore in Q4FY23. The operating profit for the reported quarter stood at Rs 2,611.1 crore, a rise of 46.7% YoY, on account of higher sales volume, improved realization from the market, and favourable forex movement. The company sold a total of 5,14,927 vehicles during the quarter, higher by 5.3% compared to the same period previous year.
For the full year, the company’s net profit zoomed 113.72% to Rs 8,049.2 crore on 34.25% rise in net sales to Rs 1,12,500.8 crore in FY23 over FY22. The company sold a total of 1,966,164 vehicles during the fiscal 2023, up 19% from 1,652,653 vehicles in FY22. The board has approved a dividend of Rs 90 per share for the financial year 2022-23.
Bajaj Finance: The NBFC has recorded a 30% year-on-year growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,158 crore for the quarter ended March FY23 despite 22.4% increase in loan losses and provisions in the same period. Net interest income for the quarter grew by 28% to Rs 7,771 crore compared to the year-ago period, with the number of new loans booked during Q4FY23 increasing by 20% to 7.56 million YoY. Its net NPA ratio stood at 0.34% in the reported quarter as against 0.41% in the third quarter of FY23. The company declared a dividend of Rs 30 per share for the financial year ended March 31, 2023.
Axis Bank: The private sector lender swung to a loss of Rs 5,728.4 crore for March FY23 quarter, against a profit of Rs 4,117.8 crore in same period last year. The loss was attributed to the buying cost of Citi Bank’s India consumer business during the quarter. Profit excluding the impact of exceptional items was been Rs 6,625.29 crore for the quarter, a 61% growth YoY. Net interest income grew 33.14% YoY to Rs 11,742.2 crore in Q4FY23. Net NPA stood at 0.39% in the quarter under review as against 0.47% in the preceding quarter.
Hindustan Unilever (HUL): The FMCG major reported 9.67% YoY rise in standalone net profit to Rs 2,552 crore on 10.98% YoY increase in revenue to Rs 14,638 crore in Q4FY23. EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 3,471 crore, up 7% YoY. EBITDA margin reduced to 23.7%, down 90 bps YoY in Q4FY23. Meanwhile, the company’s board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 22 per equity share for the financial year ended 31 March 2023. For the fiscal 2023, HUL’s net profit jumped nearly 13% YoY to Rs 9,962 crore on 15.53% YoY rise in turnover to Rs 58,154 crore.
Wipro: The IT major recorded a 0.7% sequential growth in consolidated profit at Rs 3,074.5 crore for quarter ended March FY23, while consolidated revenue declined 0.2% QoQ to Rs 23,190.3 crore for the quarter. EBIT fell 0.89% YoY to Rs 4,219.3 crore in the reported quarter. IT services business revenue increased 0.7% sequentially to $2,823 million, with constant currency revenue growth declining 0.6%. The company announced a share buyback, where it will buy 29.97 crore shares from existing shareholders at Rs 445 apiece, spending Rs 12,000 crore in total.
Nestle India: The food processing company reported a net profit of Rs 736 crore for the quarter ended March 2023, a rise of 24.7% over the year-ago period. Revenue from operations jumped 21.3% year-on-year to Rs 4,830 crore. EBITDA rose 18% to Rs 1,098 crore in the quarter under review. EBITDA margin stood at 22.7% compared with 23.4% in the year-ago period. The company’s board has declared an interim dividend for 2023 of Rs 27 per equity share amounting to Rs 260 crore. The dividend will be paid starting from 8th May 2023 along with the final dividend for 2022 of Rs 75 per share.
State Bank of India: The bank has raised $750 million through senior unsecured fixed rate notes, with a maturity of five years and coupon of 4.875%.
HDFC Life Insurance Company: The life insurance company has reported a 0.3% year-on-year growth in standalone profit at Rs 358.66 crore for the March FY23 quarter. Net premium income for the quarter at Rs 19,426.6 crore increased by 36% over a year-ago period, and net commission jumped 79% to Rs 1,111.4 crore during the same period. For full year, VNB rose 37% YoY to Rs 3,674 crore in FY23.
The life insurer announced a final dividend of Rs 1.90 per share for the fiscal 2023. The company also appointed Niraj Shah as chief financial officer for a term of three years, and Bhaskar Ghosh as independent director for five years. The two appointments came into effect from April 26, 2023.
IndusInd Bank: The private sector lender’s net profit for the quarter rose to Rs 2,043.36 crore, up 46% from Rs 1,400.52 crore in the year-ago period. Net interest income for the bank rose 17% year-on-year to Rs 4,669.46 crore. Total advances rose 21% year-on-year to Rs 2.9 lakh crore and the bank’s total deposits rose to Rs 3.36 lakh crore, up 15% year-on-year. Gross NPA ratio for the quarter fell 8 bps QoQ to 1.98% and net NPA ratio fell 3 bps quarter-on-quarter to 0.59%.
Shriram Finance: Shares of the company fell 5.2% on Friday after the company reported its quarterly results. The company reported 20.5% YoY rise in standalone net profit to Rs 1,308.31 crore and its total income rose 52.7% YoY to Rs 7,769.15 crore in Q4FY23 over Q4 FY22. Net interest income soared 69.19% to Rs 4,445.9 crore in Q4FY23 as against Rs 2,627.8 crore recorded in Q4FY22. Total assets under management (AUM) for the quarter ended March 2023 stood at Rs 1,85,682.86 crore as compared to Rs 1,27,040.86 crore as on 31 March 2022 and Rs 1,77,498 crore as on 31 December 2022. The firm’s return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) stood at 2.47% and 12.21%, respectively in the quarter ended 31March 2023.
IndiaMART InterMESH: The e-commerce player said its net profit fell 2.8% YoY to Rs 55.8 crore in Q4FY23 as against Rs 57.4 crore in Q4FY22. Revenue rose 33.5% to Rs 268.8 crore in Q4FY23 from Rs 201.4 crore in Q4FY22. EBITDA was up 15.6% YoY to Rs 66.1 crore in Q4FY23. The company shares closed 2.18% higher.
Coforge: The IT services company said its consolidated revenue from operations increased to Rs 2,170 crore in Q4FY23 from Rs 1,742.9 crore in the year-ago period. The net profit fell to Rs 116.7 crore in Q4FY23 from Rs 224.8 crore in Q4FY22. In Q4FY23, the company’s order intake was $301 million. Total order book executable over the next 12 months at $869 million. The firm has upgrade its financial year 2024 annual growth guidance of 13%-16% in constant currency terms, expects a gross margin increase of about 50 bps and adjusted EBITDA margin to be at similar levels as FY23. Meanwhile, the board has recommended an interim dividend of Rs 19 per share and the record date for this payout will be 9 May 2023.
KPIT Technologies: The IT firm said that its consolidated net profit rose 11.06% YoY to Rs 111.60 crore in Q4FY23. Revenue from operations increased 10.93% YoY to Rs 1,017.37 crore in Q4FY23. EBITDA stood at Rs 194.26 crore in Q4FY23, a growth of 60.02% YoY. EBITDA margin improved to 19.1% in Q4FY23 as against 18.5% in Q3FY23 and 18.6% posted in Q4 FY22.
HDFC AMC: The company reported a 9.5% YoY jump in net profit at Rs 376.20 crore in Q4FY23 and a 9.79% YoY increase in total income at Rs 637.81 crore in Q4FY23. Its operating profit for the quarter ended March 2023 was Rs 394.8 crore as compared to Rs 378 crore in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the board has recommended a dividend of Rs 48 per equity share for FY23, subject to shareholders’ approval.
For the full year, HDFC AMC recorded 2.21% rise in net profit to Rs 1,423.92 crore on a 2.03% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,482.57 crore in FY23 over FY22. The operating profit for FY23 was Rs 1,554.8 crore as compared to Rs 1,537.5 crore posted in the last fiscal.
Persistent Systems: The company recorded a 5.7% QoQ increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 251.51 crore and a rise of 3.9% QoQ in revenue to Rs 2,254.47 crore in Q4FY23 over Q3 FY23. As compared with Q4FY22, the company’s net profit and revenue are higher by 25.1% and 37.6%, respectively. EBITDA for the fourth quarter was Rs 416.31 crore, up 48.1% YoY. The board of directors of the company has recommended a final dividend of Rs 12 per share and special dividend of Rs 10 per share on achieving $1 billion in annual revenue.
LTIMindtree: The IT company said its consolidated profit grew 11.3% QoQ to Rs 1,113.7 crore while revenue increased 0.8% to Rs 8,691 crore compared to the previous quarter. EBIT rose 16.7% QoQ to Rs 1,560.10 crore in Q4FY23. Revenue in dollar terms increased by 1% QoQ to $1,057.5 million and the same in constant currency grew 0.7%. The board recommended final dividend of Rs 40 per share for FY23.
Tech Mahindra: The IT services provider posted a 13.8% sequential decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,117.7 crore on weak operating performance and lower topline growth. Revenue dropped 0.11% QoQ to Rs 13,718.2 crore during the quarter. EBIT fell 19.93% YoY to Rs 1,317.8 crore in Q4FY23. Revenue growth in constant currency terms came in at 0.3%, while deal wins were at $582 million in Q4FY23. The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 32 per share for the fiscal 2023.
Bajaj Auto: The two-and-three-wheeler company has recorded a 2.5% year-on-year decline in standalone profit at Rs 1,433 crore for the quarter ended March FY23 despite a healthy topline and operating performance. Revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 8,905 crore, a growth of 11.66% over a year-ago period. Sales volumes declined 12.5% year-on-year. The company’s board approved a dividend of Rs 140 per share for the fiscal 2023. The board of the two-wheeler manufacturer approved the reappointment of Rakesh Sharma as whole-time director of the company for another five years, effective from January 1, 2024.
Tata Consumer Products: The FMCG company said its consolidated net profit during the quarter ended March 2023 grew by 21% YoY to Rs 289.6 crore. Consolidated revenue from operations increased by 14% YoY to Rs 3,618.7 crore. The company said the revenue increase was mainly driven by underlying growth of 15% in India business, 6% in international business and 9% in non-branded business. Ebitda was up 15% YoY to Rs 511.67 crore in the quarter under review. The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 8.45 per equity share for FY23.
AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB): The small finance bank has recorded a 23% year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 424.63 crore for quarter ended March FY23, with provisions and contingencies falling 56% YoY. Net interest income grew by 29.5 percent YoY to Rs 1,213 crore for the quarter. Asset quality improved for Q4FY23 with gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances falling 15 bps QoQ to 1.66% and net NPA falling 9 bps QoQ to 0.42 percent. The bank’s board recommended a dividend of Rs 1 per share, subject to shareholders’ approval.
Global Markets
The US markets closed higher, boosted by gains in tech-related stocks after technology companies reported strong quarterly results. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 0.87%, the Dow Jones added 0.86%, and the Nasdaq gained 1.28%.
On the economic front, durable goods orders rose 3.2% month-on-month in March 2023. Orders excluding aircraft and defense fell 0.4%. Retail inventories rose 0.4% for the month, which was was more than consensus estimates. Further, the Commerce Department’s advance estimate of annualized growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter came in at 1.1%. This was less than a 2.6% rise in October-December 2022 quarter.
Renewed trouble in the US regional banking industry intensified fears of a slowdown and a probable recession. California’s First Republic Bank released its quarterly earnings, which showed that the bank had lost more than $100 billion in deposit outflows in January-March quarter.
Japanese markets ended higher after the country’s central bank continued its ultra-loose monetary policy stance. The Nikkei 225 index rose 1.02% and the broader Topix index was up 1.10%.
The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bonds declined to 0.41% for the week ended April 28, 2023, from 0.46% in the preceding week due to the dovish stance by Bank of Japan. The yen weakened to about JPY 135 against the US dollar, from around JPY 134 the prior week. The core consumer price index rose 3.5% year on year, ahead of expectations and well above the BoJ’s inflation target.
Chinese stocks ended mixed after Beijing reiterated its supportive policy stance and allayed worries about an uneven economic recovery. The Shanghai Stock Exchange index rose 0.67%, the CSI 300 slipped 0.09%, and the Hang Seng dropped 0.9%. The country’s statistical agency said that the profits at China’s industrial companies fell 21.4% YoY during January-March quarter. Manufacturers were unable to raise prices, which further weighed on profits.