Stocks to watch: Tata Steel, Airtel, Ambuja Cements, Hindustan Zinc, Pricol

Tata SteelTata Steel Ltd’s consolidated net profit plunged 84% in the March quarter from a year earlier, pulled down by weak global steel prices and weak performance of its European unit. Profit declined in the three months ended March 31 1,566.24 crore from 9,835.12 crores a year ago. However, the performance 2,502 crore in the December quarter. Consolidated revenue from operations fell 9.1% from a year ago 62,962 crore though it grew by 10.3% sequentially.

Bharti AirtelTelecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has entered into an agreement with Axiata Group to merge its Sri Lanka operations with Dialog Axiata. Dialog Axiata Plc, Axiata Group Berhad and Bharti Airtel have entered into a binding term sheet to combine the operations of Bharti Airtel Lanka, a wholly owned subsidiary of Airtel, with Dialog, a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad , Airtel said in a regulatory filing. Airtel will receive a stake in telecom operator Dialog under the proposed transaction which will represent a fair value of Airtel Lanka.

Minda Corporation / PricolAuto parts maker Minda Corporation on Tuesday sought approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to buy 24.5 per cent stake in rival Pricol Ltd. Minda bought 15.7 per cent stake in Pricol in February. 400 crore in a surprise move that triggered a tussle with the target company’s promoter group led by Managing Director Vikram Mohan. The deal could lead to further consolidation in the instrument cluster market, where Pricol has a 40-50% stake, compared with Minda’s 15%.

Vedanta/Hindustan ZincHindustan Zinc Ltd’s proposal to buy some zinc assets from Vedanta Group for $2.98 billion in cash has lapsed after the Indian miner failed to get shareholders’ approval within a stipulated deadline, two government sources said. The deal was announced in mid-January, after which Hindustan Zinc had three months to convene an extraordinary general meeting to seek approval from its minority shareholders, as per Indian regulations for listed companies. The issue is over as three months have passed,” said the first government official.

Ambuja CementsAmbuja Cements, the newly acquired cement arm of the Adani Group, on Tuesday announced only 1.6% growth in net profit. 502.4 cr for the March quarter as compared to Rs. 494.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY2022. Dividend for all Ambuja Cements shareholders of Rs. 2.50 per equity share has been announced for the quarter as per the exchange filing. The profit of the company has been impacted by a one-time loss of Rs. 80.71 crore on account of a special incentive scheme offered by the firm to certain key employees after the change in ownership control.

UCO Bank: Public sector lender, UCO Bank reported strong growth in earnings on a year-on-year basis for the fourth quarter of FY23. but the bank’s pat came 581.24 crores in Q4FY23, registering a growth of 86.19% 312.18 crore in the same period a year ago. Net Interest Income (NII) grew by 19.34% 1,972.11 crore in the quarter as against 1,652.38 crore in Q4 of FY22. Sequentially, earnings were a mixed bag. UCO Bank sees 10.98% decline in PAT during Q4FY23, as against profit 652.97 crore in the December 2022 quarter.

Godrej Consumer Products: Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) on Tuesday said it plans to raise 5,000 crore from the market through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The FMCG arm of Godrej Group, which is having its board meeting on May 10 to approve its financial results for the March quarter, will also consider the proposal for fundraising, the company said in an update about the board meeting. GCPL, owner of popular brands such as Good Knight and HIT, said the amount would be raised in one or more tranches.

Punjab And Sind Bank: Punjab & Sind Bank shows mixed performance in Q4 FY23. The lender reports double digit growth in net profit at 32.03% YoY and 22.43% QoQ 456.99 crore in Q4FY23. In contrast, the bank’s net interest income (NII) declined by 1.97% YoY and a sharp 15.05% QoQ. 683.78 crore in the quarter. The increase in net profit was accompanied by a decrease in provisioning losses. In Q4FY23, the bank’s provisioning and contingency loss fell sharply 57.12 crore as against 131.56 crore in Q4FY22 and 207.46 cr in Q3FY23.

MOILState-owned MOIL Limited has achieved the best ever April production performance since inception with production of 1.31 lakh tonnes in April 2023, a significant growth of 26% over April 2022. The steel ministry said sales for the month stood at 97,838 tonnes, the best for any April month and up 72% compared to April 2022. MOIL has attributed this success to focused exploration and achieving core drilling of 7,530 meters in April 2023, which is 3.6 times that of April 2022.

Vikas Ecotech: Vikas Ecotech, NSE: Vikas has informed the stock exchanges through a regulatory filing that it has paid back 522.20 million in debt. The total amount of bank debt of the company has been reduced 791.30 million and overall bank loan 908.70 million till date. Vikas Ecotech is a leading provider of high-end specialty chemicals. The company aims to further cut debt as it aims to be 100 per cent debt-free by the end of financial year 2023-24.