The benchmark indices ended lower after a highly volatile session on January 27 after the US Federal Reserve indicated interest rate hikes beginning March. At close, the Sensex was down 581.21 points, or 1%, at 57,276.94, and the Nifty was down 167.80 points or 0.97% at 17,110.20.
Torrent Pharma | CMP: Rs 2,686.95 | The stock price tumbled 15 percent after the company reported a 16 percent drop in profit for the December quarter. Its consolidated net profit declined to Rs 249 crore for the third quarter on account of muted performance in the US market. The drug maker had posted a net profit of Rs 297 crore in the October-December period of 2020-21 fiscal. Global research and broking firm CLSA has downgraded the stock to outperform from ‘buy’ and has cut the target to Rs 3,350 from Rs 3,850 a share. It is of the view that the Q3 earnings were below estimates due to a sharp 5 ppts on-year margin decline. India sales growth of 15 percent YoY remained solid but the US and EU sales were below estimates, it said.
Maruti Suzuki | CMP: Rs 8,801 | The share gained over 2 percent after the country’s largest car maker reported a standalone net profit of Rs 1,011 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021 against Rs 1,941 crore a year ago. Research house Credit Suisse has kept an ‘outperform’ call on the stock on the back of healthy demand, strong new model cycle and margin normalisation. It raised the target price to Rs 10,389 from Rs 8,759 and also raised FY23-24 EPS estimates by 3-4%. Citi has maintained buy rating on the stock and raised the target price to Rs 10,000 from Rs 9,500 after strong Q3 with significant beats at EBITDA, EBIT & profit levels.
Axis Bank | CMP: Rs 776.90 | The scrip added over 3 percent on January 27 after reporting a healthy set of numbers for the December quarter. The bank reported a 224 percent year-on-year rise in its net profit at Rs 3,614 crore for the quarter ended December. Total deposits of the lender grew 20 percent on-year to Rs. 7.7 lakh crore with current account-savings account deposits rising by 22 percent on-year. The lender’s CASA ratio improved 189 basis points on-year to 44 percent.
Colgate Palmolive | CMP: Rs 1,391 | The stock ended in the red on January 27. The company’s net profit rose 1.6% to Rs 252.3 crore against Rs 248.3 crore (YoY). Revenue was up 3.9% at Rs 1,280 crore against Rs 1,232 crore (YoY). EBITDA gained 2.6% at Rs 380.4 crore against Rs 370.7 crore (YoY). Margin at 29.7% against 30.1% (YoY).
Canara Bank | CMP: Rs 240.55 | The stock rose over 8 percent after the bank’s net profit jumped over two-fold to Rs 1,502 crore on lower provisioning. Total income, however, fell marginally to Rs 21,312 crore during the October-December period of 2021-22 against Rs 21,365 crore in the same quarter of 2020-21, Canara Bank said in a regulatory filing. The bank’s gross non-performing assets rose to 7.80 percent of the gross advances as of December 31, 2021, from 7.46 percent at the end of December 2020.
