Stocks to Watch: Adani Group, L&T, TechM, Reliance Ind, REC, BPCL

Adani Group: The Adani Group plans to hire one of the “big six” global accounting firms to evaluate its corporate governance and audit practices following allegations of fraud by US short-seller Hindenburg, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The independent audit will be commissioned after the completion of the group’s flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd’s ₹20,000 crore follow-on public offering and based on that, the legal options will be decided, the people said, requesting anonymity.

L&T: Larsen and Toubro Ltd’s consolidated net profit was up 24% from a year ago to ₹2,553 crore in the third quarter of 2022-23. Even after adjusting for one-offs, recurring net profit stood at ₹2,456 crore, growing 20% compared to a net profit of ₹2,055 crore a year ago. One-offs included an exceptional gain of ₹97 crore following the divestment of the mutual fund business which was however offset by one-time charges due to the remeasurement of the wholesale loan assets of the financial services segment.

Tech Mahindra: Tech Mahindra became the second large-cap IT services firm in India to report a fall in net profit in the December quarter. Its profit fell 5.3% y-o-y to ₹1,296.6 crore from ₹1,368.5 crore a year ago. Profit grew 0.9% sequentially. The third quarter has been a seasonally weak period for the IT services sector. However, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Infosys, reported double-digit growth in profit. TCS and Infosys reported 11% and 13.4% growth in profit-after-tax, while midcap IT firms such as Cyient and Coforge, also saw profits rising in the high teens.

Reliance Industries: Sephora and Reliance Retail Ltd have abandoned talks to form a retail partnership for the Indian market with the French multi-brand beauty products chain deciding to continue with its existing alliance with Arvind Fashions Ltd, said two people familiar with the matter. Mint first reported last September that Reliance Retail was in advanced talks to acquire the master franchise rights for Sephora, owned by luxury goods retailer LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, for the Indian market. This would have given Reliance, India’s biggest retailer, a bigger foothold in the fast-growing domestic market for premium beauty products.

KEC International: Infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction company KEC International on Monday said it has bagged new orders worth ₹1,131 crore across its various businesses. The RPG group company’s transmission and distribution (T&D) business has secured orders for projects in India, Africa and the Americas, it said in a statement. This includes a 220 kV & 132 kV GIS & AIS substation, transmission line and underground cabling in India; a 330 kV electrical transformer station project in Africa; supply of towers in the United States of America and large tower supply order in Mexico, secured by our subsidiary, SAE Towers.

REC: Leading infrastructure finance company REC Limited (formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited) is a Maharatna PSU. The company has declared its Q3 earnings today along with an interim dividend for the financial year 2022-23. REC said today in a stock exchange filing that its Board of Directors has approved the declaration of 2nd interim dividend @ ₹3.25 per equity share of ₹10/- each for the financial year 2022-23 as approved in its meeting held on January 30, 2023. Further, the record date for the said interim dividend is Thursday, February 9, 2023.

BPCL: Government-owned oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Monday reported a consolidated net profit of ₹1747.01 crore for the December quarter of the financial year 2022-23, down 36.67% from ₹2,758.89 crore a year ago. On a standalone basis, the company’s net profit fell 31% year-on-year to ₹1959.58 crore during the third quarter. The revenue from operations for the nine months period April-December 2022 was Rs. 4,00,053.74 crore Vs Rs. 3,09,040.48 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year, it added.

Vodafone Idea: The company had informed earlier the stock exchanges through a regulatory filing that its Board will meet on January 31, 2023, for approving the preferential issue of optionally convertible debentures (OCDs) to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited. The telecom operator, in the filing, said that the meeting on January 31 is to “seek approval of the shareholders” for the preferential issue. On November 21, shareholders of Vodafone Idea reportedly approved issuing OCDs worth ₹1,600 crore to ATC Telecom Infrastructure on a preferential basis to settle dues.

Welspun India: Textile maker Welspun India Ltd. on Monday announced a brand licencing agreement with The Walt Disney Company for Europe, the Middle East, and the Africa region. The licence will give Welspun the rights to design, develop, manufacture and distribute a complete range of home textiles products leveraging Disney’s vast franchises and characters across Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucas brands. Welspun India Ltd is part of the $2.3 billion Welspun Group. It manufactures home textiles such as towels and bedsheets among other products.

IIFL Finance: IIFL Finance on Monday reported a 37 per cent growth in net profit at ₹423 crore in the three months to December on higher advances. Total income rose 30 per cent on-year to ₹1,339.4 crore in the third qurter of the current fiscal, the company said in a statement. Growth in core products of gold loans and home loans stood at 25 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, the city-based company said. The microfinance book grew 55 per cent while loan against property and digital loans rose 14 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.