CNBC-TV18's top stocks to watch out for on February 1

SUMMARY

Indian shares will track finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget announcement today. Among the stocks in news today, SBI, HUL, ITC and Power Grid reported their Q3FY20 earnings. Here is a list of stocks that will be in focus today

By CNBC-TV18Feb 1, 2020 8:24:03 AM IST (Updated)

State Bank of India posted its highest ever quarterly net profit of Rs 5,583 crores on the back of over Rs 11,000 crores of recovery from a single account, Essar Steel, in the December quarter. The Gross NPA ratio declined to 6.94 percent in the quarter compared to 7.19 percent in Q2, and the net NPA ratio came in at 2.65 percent versus 2.79 percent in Q2. SBI posted margins of 3.05 percent in Q3, the highest in 14 quarters.

Hindustan Unilever reported a 12 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,616 crore for Q3FY20. Net sales during the quarter stood at Rs 9,953 crore, up 3.87 percent from Rs 9,582 crore in the year-ago period. HUL also said that it would increase soaps prices by up to 6 percent in a phased manner to offset the rising cost of palm oil.

ITC reported a 29.03 percent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,047.87 crore for the Q3FY20. Net sales during the quarter rose 5.71 percent to Rs 13,220.30 crore. According to the company, the macro-economic environment continues to be adversely impacted as reflected in deceleration in GDP growth and persistent weakness in consumption demand and investments.

Tech Mahindra reported a 4.7 percent decline in December quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 1,146 crore on rising costs, which crimped margins. Despite 7.94 percent growth in revenue, the cost of services grew at a faster 12.50 percent to Rs 6,731 crore, leading to a decline in profits. It closed new deals of over $1.23 billion during the quarter. Tech Mahindra on Friday said it will acquire 70 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based Cerium Systems at an enterprise value of up to Rs 245 crore.

Vedanta reported a 49.1 percent rise in its consolidated profit at Rs 2,348 crore for the December 2019 quarter, on the back of lower expenses. In a statement, the company said "attributable PAT (was) at Rs 2,348 crore, up 49 per cent y-o-y (year-on-year)". However, the company had posted a decline in consolidated income at Rs 22,007 crore in the October-December period, over Rs 25,067 crore in the year-ago period.

Indiabulls Group will merge over dozen remaining assets of Indiabulls Real Estate with a new entity that will be led by Embassy Group and Blackstone in an all-stock deal. IBREL board approved a proposal to merge 12-13 projects, each being held by it as well as the Embassy Group, into a new entity yet to be named, IBREL sources told PTI. The value of the 12-13 properties being merged into the new entity is around Rs 12,000 crore, the sources added.

Aditya Birla Capital reported a 17 percent growth in consolidated net income to Rs 250 crore for the December quarter. Its consolidated revenue rose 13 percent to Rs 4,645 crore. Overall lending book stood at Rs 60,123 crore at the end of the quarter. The bottomline was boosted by a 41-basis point expansion in the net interest margin to 5.24 percent.

Power Grid have been accorded investment approval for "Transmission System for providing connectivity to RE projects at Bikaner (PG), Fatehgarh-11 & Bhadla-11", at an estimated cost of Rs. 562.86 crore.

State-owned ITI extended the issue period for its ongoing follow-on public offer (FPO) by four working days till February 5 following lukewarm response from investors. Prior to this, the company, on January 28, extended the issue period for its FPO by three days till January 31. Also, it had reduced the price band to Rs 71-77 per share for its FPO from Rs 72-77 apiece. The FPO, which opened on January 24, was initially scheduled to close on January 28.

Jammu & Kashmir Bank’ Q3FY20 standalone net profit fell by 52 percent to Rs 49.64 crore as the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K impacted business activities and cash flows. Total income on standalone basis was marginally up at Rs 2,196.02 crore. NPAs rose to 11.10 percent of the gross advances as on December 31, 2019 as against 9.94 percent by the same period of the previous fiscal.

Divis’s Lab said the company's Unit-II at Village Chippada, Bheemunipatnam District, Andhra Pradesh has had an inspection by the USFDA. The inspection has been concluded with no '483'observations.