Reuters has documented at least 12 cases of prescient messages about major Indian companies being posted in private WhatsApp groups.
Below are examples of the numbers being circulated with an explanation of local market abbreviations and terms.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) did not respond to requests for comment. WhatsApp responded to a request for comment by pointing to its terms of services, which state users can use the platform only for "legal, authorized, and acceptable purposes".
DR REDDY'S:
POSTED MESSAGE (July, 24, 2017)
"Fwd HOS: Dr reddy to report loss of more than 50cr vs exp of 280 to 300cr pat. No one offs"
(Forwarded Heard on the Street: Dr. Reddy's to report a loss of over 500 million rupees ($7.7 million) vs expectations of an after tax profit of 2.8 to 3 billion rupees. No one off items.)
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COMPARISON WITH OFFICIAL RESULTS:
On a consolidated basis under Indian accounting standards, Dr. Reddy's posted a loss of 587 million rupees. The message had forecast a loss of more than 500 million rupees.
HDFC BANK:
POSTED MESSAGE (July, 21, 2017)
"Hearing Hdfc Bank PAT @ 3900 crs & 1.25 GNPA vs 1.04"
(Profit after tax will be 39 billion rupees and gross non-performing asset ratio will be at 1.25 percent vs 1.04 percent.)
"Consensus estimate is 3950 crs. Our estimate is 3973 crs so 3900 is not a good number. Numbers on Monday."
(Consensus estimate 39.5 billion rupees, our estimate 39.73 billion rupees.)
COMPARISON WITH OFFICIAL RESULTS:
HDFC Bank posted a profit after tax of 38.94 billion rupees. Its GNPA was 1.24 percent. The message had predicted a profit of 39 billion and a GNPA of 1.25 percent.
AXIS BANK:
POSTED MESSAGE (July, 25, 2017)
"Gnpa 5.03; Nnpa 2.30; Nim 3.63; Slippages 8000 cr - only 35 percent from wishlist; Write off 2300 cr; Casa 48.33; This HOS is going around for Axis"
(Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) 5.03 percent; net non-performing assets (NNPA) 2.30 percent; net interest margins 3.63 percent; slippages will be mostly from outside the watch-list; Write offs of 23 billion rupees; Current and savings account (CASA) deposits at 48.33 percent)
COMPARISON WITH OFFICIAL RESULTS:
GNPA: 5.03 vs 5.03; NNPA: 2.30 vs 2.30; NIM: 3.63 vs 3.63; Slippages: 35.19 billion rupees vs 80 billion rupees (majority were from outside watch-list); Writeoff: 24.6 billion rupees vs 23 billion rupees; CASA: 49 percent vs 48.33 percent.
TATA STEEL:
POSTED MESSAGE (May 16, 2017)
"Hearing Tata steel Revenue - 33,900. (net excise), Ebitda 7000, EBIT 5400, PBT 257, PAT -700. Exceptional item -4000."
(Revenue 339 billion rupees; Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) 70 billion rupees; earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) 54 billion rupees; profit before tax (PBT) is 2.57 billion; profit after tax (PAT) loss of 7 billion; one-time items 40 billion rupees)
COMPARISON WITH OFFICIAL RESULTS:
Gross sales 348 billion vs 339 billion; EBITDA 69.82 billion vs 70 billion; EBIT 53.93 billion vs 54 billion; Exceptional items 40.69 billion vs 40 billion; PBT 2.59 billion vs 2.57 billion; PAT loss of 7.17 billion vs loss of 7 billion.
MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS
POSTED MESSAGE (May, 19, 2017)
"Mahindra holidays will declare a bonus today"
COMPARISON WITH OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
1 for 2 bonus share issue announced after hours.