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Benchmark indices slipped during a volatile week due to fears of aggressive monetary tightening in the US, and Covid-related lockdowns in China that dampened hopes of a global economic recovery. The Sensex settled marginally above the 57,000 level. For the week, the Sensex closed 0.24% lower at 57060.87. The Nifty fell 0.4% to 17102.55.
The broader market underperformed the benchmark indices during the week. The Nifty Midcap 100 lost 1.44% and Nifty Smallcap 100 plunged 2.66%.
Top losers among Nifty sector indices were Media [-6.2%], IT [-2.5%], Media [-1.8%], PSU Bank [-1%], Energy [-1%]. Top gainer was FMCG [1.1%] and Auto [0.5%].
FIIs sold for Rs 11446.4 crore in the cash segment during the week, while DIIs bought Rs 9702.9 crore.
Company News
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL): The energy conglomerate and Abu Dhabi Chemicals Derivatives Company RSC (TA’ZIZ) have signed the Shareholder Agreement for TA’ZIZ EDC and PVC project. The joint venture will construct and operate a chlor-alkali, ethylene dichloride (EDC) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production facility, with a total investment of over $2 billion.
Meanwhile, the energy-to-telecom conglomerate becomes the first Indian company to hit Rs 19-trillion market cap. The shares hit a new high of Rs 2,827.10, up 2 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade. According to the BSE data, RIL market cap stood at Rs 19.02 trillion in early trade.
Bajaj Finance: The non-banking finance company registered an 80% year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 2,420 crore in Q4FY22 led by strong NII and decline in provisions. Net interest income during the quarter grew 30% to Rs 6,068 crore with assets under management (AUM) rising 29% to Rs 1,97,452 crore as of March 2022. Loan losses and provisions for Q4 FY22 at Rs 702 crore declined sharply compared to Rs 1,231 crore in the year-ago period.
Bajaj Finserv: The company’s consolidated net profit rose 37.5% YoY at Rs 1,346.08 crore from Rs 979.06 crore in the same period last fiscal. Revenue rose 22.6% to Rs 18,861.87 crore in Q4FY22, from Rs 15,386.88 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. The company’s board has recommended a dividend of Rs 4 per share.
Vedanta: The mining company’s consolidated net profit for the March quarter (Q4) dropped 10 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 5,799 crore. However, its revenue from operations (net sales) jumped 41 per cent YoY to Rs 39,342 crore for the same period, helped by higher sales volumes and improved commodity prices. Its copper division witnessed a loss of Rs 330 crore in Q4FY22 that weighed on its overall profitability. The company announced first interim dividend of Rs 31.5 per share for the financial year 2022-23.
Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL): The FMCG major reported 5.34 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,307 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022. It had logged a net profit of Rs 2,190 crore in January-March period a year ago. Revenue from sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 13,468 crore, up 10.21 per cent, as against Rs 12,220 crore in the year-ago period. The final dividend declared by the company was Rs 19 per share for FY22.
Axis Bank: The private sector lender registered a 54 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in standalone profit at Rs 4,118 crore, largely driven by significant fall in provisions and improved asset quality performance in Q4FY22. Net interest income grew by 16.7 percent YoY to Rs 8,819 crore with credit growth of 15 percent and deposits growth of 19 percent YoY for March 2022 quarter.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI): The automaker’s profit after tax (PAT) grew 57.7 per cent YoY to Rs 1,838.90 crore in Q4FY22 from Rs 1,166.10 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 11.31% to Rs 26,740 crore in the said quarter from Rs 24,023 crore in the year-ago period. Sales volume for the quarter fell 0.7 per cent YoY to 488,830 units against 492,235 units in the same quarter last year. The EBIT margin stood at 7 per cent compared with 5.4 per cent in the year-ago quarter. The carmaker announced a dividend of Rs 60 per share, totalling Rs 1,813 crore.
Bajaj Auto: The company said its consolidated net profit declined by 2 per cent to Rs 1,526.16 crore in the fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2022, on account of lower sales in both domestic and export markets. Total revenue from operations declined to Rs 7,975 crore during the fourth quarter as compared with Rs 8,596 crore in the same period of FY21.
The company’s total two-wheeler and commercial vehicle sales declined by 17 per cent to 9,76,651 units in the fourth quarter as compared with 11,69,664 units in the same period of 2020-21 fiscal. In the domestic market, the total sales declined by 27 per cent to 3,89,155 units as against 5,34,119 units in the same period of FY21.
Ultratech Cement: The company said that on a consolidated basis, its normalised net profit declined 18.52% to Rs 1,478 on 9.31% increase in net sales to Rs 15,557 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021. Profit before interest, depreciation and tax fell 15.62% to Rs 3,165 crore in Q4 March 2022 as against Rs 3,751 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 38 per equity share.
Adani Group and Ambuja Cements: Adani Group is in advanced talks to buy Holcim’s cement business in India, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Adani could sign a deal to buy a controlling stake in Ambuja Cements from Switzerland’s Holcim, Bloomberg News said. Holcim owns 63.1% stake in Ambuja.
Adani Enterprises: The company incorporates new unit AMG Media Networks. AMG Media Networks will be in the business of publishing, advertising, broadcasting, distributing of content over different types of media networks, according to its stock exchange filing. AMG Media Networks will commence its business operations in due course, according to the statement.
Wipro: The IT services company will acquire US-based Rizing Intermediate Holdings Inc, a global SAP consulting firm, for $540 million. The acquisition will help Wipro expand its leadership in oil and gas, utilities, manufacturing, and consumer industries. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the quarter ending June 2022.
In other news, the IT company on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,087 crore for the quarter ended March 2022, up 4% from Rs 2,972 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations, rose 28% to Rs 20,860 crore for the quarter under review. In dollar terms, the IT major’s revenue stood at $2.72 billion.
AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB): The lender reported a net profit of Rs 346 crore in Q4FY22 as against a net profit of Rs 169 crore in Q4FY21. Net interest income (NII) during the quarter increased by 43% YoY to Rs 937 crore. Net interest margin (NIM) was at 6.3% in Q4 FY22 as against 5.7% in Q4 FY21. The board recommended bonus issue in 1:1 ratio and dividend of Re 1 apiece on pre-bonus share capital.
IndiaMart: The company’s consolidated net profit fell 18.2% QoQ to Rs 57.4 crore in Q4FY22 from Rs 70.2 crore in the year-ago period. The e-commerce’s consolidated revenue rose 7% QoQ at Rs 201.4 crore in the reported quarter from 188.1 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. EBIT fell 28.4% QoQ to Rs 54.3 crore in Q4FY22 from Rs 75.8 crore in the year-ago period. Shares of the company opened gap-down but recovered to close at 0.48% higher on Friday.
Zomato: The company fell below its lower end of IPO price band (Rs 72 per equity share) in nine months since debut. Shares closed 2.84% lower at Rs 71.75 apiece on Friday.
Veranda Learning Solutions: The learning solutions provider has acquired T.I.M.E. (Advanced Educational Activities Pvt Ltd), the leading test-prep institute with a pan-India presence operating through 188 centres. The company acquired T. I. M. E. for Rs 287 crore.
Economy News
India’s combined index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) stood at 157.3 in March 2022, up 4.3% compared to the corresponding month a year ago. Steel, cement and natural gas sector led the pack with increase in production. Meanwhile, coal production (weight: 10.33 per cent) declined by 0.1% and crude oil production (weight: 8.98 per cent) declined by 3.4% in March 2022 over March, 2021.
From April 2021 to March 2022, the cumulative growth of the index was 10.4% compared to the previous fiscal, driven by steel, cement, and natural gas.
Global Markets
Major Wall Street indices closed lower weighed by lower-than-expected results and outlook from e-commerce giant Amazon along with geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns. For the week, the S&P 500 tanked 3.28%, the Dow fell 2.46%, and the Nasdaq lost 3.93%.
The US Commerce Department’s advance estimate showing that the US economy contracted at annualized rate of 1.4% in the first quarter, below consensus expectations of a about 1.0% expansion.
Japanese markets fell over the week, with the Nikkei 225 index down 0.95% and the broader Topix ending 0.29% lower. Japan’s central bank maintained its dovish stance at its April monetary policy meeting and kept benchmark interest rates unchanged at near-zero levels.
Chinese markets ended on a mixed note amid reports that the country’s Politburo vowed to boost economic stimulus and support the country’s economy along with calling for the development of the technology sector. The broad, capitalization-weighted Shanghai Composite index fell 1.29%, and the blue-chip CSI 300 index inched up 0.07%. Hang Seng index rose 2.2% for the week.