Bull run continues: Sensex, Nifty settle at fresh record highs

It was another day of milestones on Dalal Street as the BSE Sensex rallied 358.54 points to end at a fresh lifetime high of 50,614.29.

The aggregate m-cap of all BSE listed firms also ended at over Rs 200 lakh crore-mark.

The NSE Nifty surged 105.70 pts to close at fresh record of 14,895.65 as it recovered after opening in red on the back of robust Q3 results, continued buying by FIIs and on hopes of RBI maintaining status-quo in February monetary policy that is scheduled for tomorrow.

ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring around 6%, followed by SBI, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, M&M, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, NTPC and Bajaj Finserv.

On the other hand, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra and Titan were among the laggards.

“Domestic equities defied weak cues of Asian markets and extended gains for the fourth consecutive day as growing optimism about prospects of Indian economy post the announcement of bold Budget continued to attract investors,” said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty Bank index rose 1.69% to 35,344.80. The index has climbed 16.71% in six consecutive sessions. It hit a record high of 35,413.15 today.

Punjab National Bank (up 5.08%), Federal Bank (up 4.60%), IDFC First Bank (up 3.78%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 3.23%), Axis Bank (up 1.34%), Bandhan Bank (up 1.21%), ICICI Bank (up 0.64%) and RBL Bank (up 0.23%) advanced.

HDFC Bank (down 0.05%) and Indusind Bank (down 1.58%) declined.

State Bank of India (SBI) jumped 5.73%. SBI’s net profit fell 6.93% to Rs 5,196.22 crore on 1.06% decrease in total income to Rs 75,980.65 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

The ratio of gross NPAs (GNPA) to gross advances stood at 4.77% as on 31 December 2020 as against 5.28% as on 30 September 2020 and 6.94% as on 31 December 2019. The ratio of net NPAs (NNPA) to net advances stood at 1.23% as on 31 December 2020 as against 1.59% as on 30 September 2020 and 2.65% as on 31 December 2019. On proforma basis, GNPA stood at 5.44% and NNPA stood at 1.81%.

Net Interest Income (NII) for Q3 FY21 rose 2.27% sequentially and 3.75% Y-o-Y (year-on-year). Domestic NIM for the quarter was at 3.34%, has remained stable sequentially. Credit Growth stood at 6.73% YoY, mainly driven by Retail (Personal) Advances (15.47% YoY), SME (5.62% YoY) and Corporate Advances (2.23% YoY). Home loan, which constitutes 23% of Bank’s domestic advances, has grown by 9.99% YoY.

Earnings Impact:

Bharti Airtel fell 1.39%. On a consolidated basis, the telecom operator reported a net profit of Rs 853.60 crore in Q3 FY21 as against net loss of Rs 1035.30 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter increased by 20.8% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 26517.80 crore. EBITDA witnessed an increase of 38.2% YoY to Rs 12,178 crore in Q3’21. This led to an improvement in EBITDA margin from 41.3% in Q3 FY20 to 45.9% in Q3 FY21. The telecom firm recorded a pre-tax profit of Rs 5656.80 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against a pre-tax loss of Rs 1502.80 crore in Q3 December 2019.

Consolidated mobile data traffic at 8,191 PBs in the quarter with a healthy YoY growth of 52.9%. India revenues for Q3 FY21 was at Rs 19,007 crore, up by 25.1% YoY. Mobile revenues grew by 32.4% YoY on account of the improved realizations as well as strong customer addition. ARPU for the quarter improved by 22.96% Rs 166 compared with Rs 135 in Q3 FY20, on acquiring quality customers as well as secular upgrading of customers to data.

Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Healthcare spurted 8.24% after standalone net profit jumped 84.4% to Rs 250.62 crore on 18.5% rise in net sales to Rs 1,018.44 crore in Q2 December 2020 over Q2 December 2019. Net sales received a major boost owing to its superior strategy, robust product portfolio, strong retail execution and market recovery the company witnessed during the quarter. Profit after tax registered robust growth annually on account of strong sales growth, productivity savings and a one-time help in the quarter. In management’s estimate, the profit for the quarter, excluding the one-time help, was up 34%. Both the feminine care and healthcare business delivered strong double-digit growth in the quarter and grew ahead of category.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) rose 1.89%. The PSU company’s net profit surged 215.13% Rs 2,354.64 crore in Q3 FY21 as against net profit of Rs 747.20 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter declined by 3% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 68,359.43 crore. HPCL posted a pre-tax profit of Rs 3,157.87 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 1,150.84 crore in Q3 December 2019. Other Income for the period April-December 2020 period includes Rs 869.88 crore (April-December 2019: Rs 101.38 crore) towards gain on account of foreign currency transactions and translations. Average Gross Refining Margin (GRM) during the nine months ended 31 December 2020 was $2.35 per barrel (BBL) as against $1.85 per BBL during the corresponding period of previous year.

Apollo Tyres jumped 7.28% after the tyre-maker reported a 155% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 443.81 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 173.86 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales for the quarter ended December 2020 stood at Rs 4,965.30 crore, up 14.2% over Rs 4,347.16 crore in quarter ended December 2019. Apollo Tyres said topline performance was driven by strong demand recovery across segments in India.

Godrej Properties fell 3.40% after the company’s consolidated net profit tumbled 69.2% to Rs 14.35 crore on a 55.5% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 170.49 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Profit before tax in Q3 December 2020 stood at Rs 31.39 crore, down by 64.4% from Rs 88.13 crore in Q3 December 2019. The company incurred a current tax expense of Rs 6.61 crore during the quarter.

Hindustan Copper hit an upper circuit of 10% at Rs 69.15 after the PSU company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 108.19 crore in Q3 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 95.61 crore reported in Q3 FY20. Consolidated net sales in Q3 FY21 zoomed 477% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 538.42 crore. The copper miner reported a consolidated profit before tax of Rs 129.08 crore in Q3 FY21 compared with pre-tax loss of Rs 121.20 crore in Q3 FY20. Current tax expense in Q3 FY21 stood at Rs 32.93 crore in Q3 FY21.

IPCA Laboratories declined 1.83%. The company reported 35% jump in net profit to Rs 267.56 crore on a 16% rise in net total income to Rs 1425.21 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. EBITDA improved by 30% to Rs 377.32 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 290.03 crore in Q3 December 2019. The company recorded a forex gain of Rs 4.99 crore during the quarter as against gain of Rs 1.76 crore in the same period last year.

Astral Poly Technik surged 6.13%. The company’s consolidated net profit jumped 82.5% to Rs 123.90 crore on 35.1% increase in net sales to Rs 897.50 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) soared 89.2% to Rs 165.20 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 87.30 crore in Q3 December 2019. Consolidated EBITDA grew 64.36% to Rs 196.90 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Rs 119.80 crore in Q3 December 2019. Consolidated EBITDA margin improved to 21.94% in Q3 FY21 as against 18.04% in Q3 FY20. Consolidated profit margin was at 13.81% in Q3 FY21 as compared to 10.22% in Q3 FY20.

Prince Pipes and Fittings surged 19.36% after the company’s net profit surged 175% to Rs 66.79 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 24.28 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter increased by 38.7% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 549.01 crore. Sales volume increased by 18% at 36,711 MT in Q3 FY21 compared to 31,122 MT in Q3 FY20. EBITDA was at Rs 103 crore in the third quarter as compared to Rs 53 crore, registering a YoY growth of 93%. EBITDA margins was at 18.8% as on 31 December 2020 as against 13.5% as on 31 December 2019.

(With inputs from Capital Market – Live News)