Pre Market Analysis: Dalal Street may open lower; HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, Hero MotoCorp in news today

HDFC Bank: The bank reported an 18% jump in standalone net profit in the Q3FY22 at Rs 10342.2 crore in Q3FY22 compared with Rs 8758.29 crore in the year-ago period. The rise was attributed to higher loan growth and lower provisioning for bad loans. Net interest income stood at Rs 18,443.48 crore in Q3FY22, up 13% from the year-ago period. Net NPAs stood at 0.37% in the reported quarter.

HCL Technologies: The IT firm posted a 13.6% decline in net profit at Rs 3,442 crore in the December quarter of FY22 as against a net profit of Rs 3,982 crore in the year-ago period. However, the company said it had seen all round “stellar performance” across verticals and geographies. Its revenue grew 15.7% to Rs 22,331 crore in the quarter compared with Rs 19,302 crore in the same period last year.

Hero Motocorp: The company has announced an investment of up to Rs 420 crore in Ather Energy. Hero already has a 34.8% stake in Ather. Hero said it is addressing the emerging mobility opportunity through organic and inorganic initiatives.

Oil India Ltd: The state-owned company has exited from a US shale oil venture, selling its 20% stake to its venture partner for $25 million. It is the second exit of an Indian firm from the US shale business in two months. The stake was sold to Verdad Resources LLC, which is the operator of the asset. The move by the company follows Reliance Industries Ltd’s exit from US shale, which has not been attractive in generating returns.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC): The oil refining company said that it will invest over Rs 7,000 crore in setting up gas distribution networks in the cities for which it has secured a licence in the latest bidding round. IOC secured 33% of the demand potential that was available in the bidding.

Vedanta Group: The group said that it is exploring investment opportunities in the mineral sector of Saudi Arabia. It is already in discussions with stakeholders in Saudi Arabia, which is aiming to become a mineral hub in the Middle East, Vedanta said in a statement.

Metro Brands: The footwear retailer has posted a 54.63% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 100.85 crore in Q3FY22 as against a net profit of Rs 65.22 crore during the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal. Its total revenue from operations was up 59.02% at Rs 483.77 crore during the quarter as against Rs 304.21 crore in the year-ago period.

Britannia Industries: The biscuit maker announced the appointment of Amit Doshi as its Chief Marketing Officer. Doshi’s appointment would be effective from January 17 and he would take over from Vinay Subramanyam, who had left the company in December last year.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI): The carmaker on Saturday said that it has increased prices of its models by up to 4.3% with immediate effect to offset the impact of the rise in input costs. The company has enhanced prices across its models in the range of 0.1% to 4.3% owing to increase in various input costs.

State Bank of India: The lender has increased interest rates on fixed deposit (FD) by up to 10 basis points. Interest rate on fixed deposits for tenure 1 year to less than 2 years has been increased to 5.1% from 5.0%. For senior citizens the rate is increased from 5.50% to 5.60%, as per data available with the SBI website. This interest rate is applicable on FDs below Rs 2 crore. The new rate is effective from January 15, 2022.

RBL Bank: The private sector lender will rope in executive search firm EgonZehnder and Pradip Shah, Chairman, National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd to select the lender’s new full-time managing director and chief executive.

Sequent Scientific: The company said that it has appointed Rajaram Narayanan as MD and CEO for five years, with effect from April 11, 2022. Narayanan replaces Manish Gupta who has put in his papers.