Market may open higher on positive Asian stocks

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Capital Market
Last Updated : May 06 2013 | 9:05 AM IST

The market is likely to kickstart trading for the week on positive note on higher Asian stocks. Trading of CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 33 points at the opening bell. Asian stocks rose on Monday as investors gave the thumbs up to an upbeat US labor force report that sent Wall Street to an all-time closing high last week.

ACC's consolidated net profit jumped 189.2% to Rs 438.29 crore on 2.9% decline in net sales to Rs 2911.11 crore in Q1 March 2013 over Q1 March 2012. The company announced Q1 results after market hours on Friday, 3 May 2013.

ACC's consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) declined 24.09% to Rs 491.57 crore in Q1 March 2013 over Q1 March 2012.

Despite lower EBITDA, net profit jumped by 189.2% year-on-year in Q1 March 2013 due to recognition of additional depreciation charge of Rs 335.38 crore in Q1 March 2012 and write back of tax provision of Rs 140.83 crore in Q1 March 2013.

ACC said that the demand for cement in the first quarter of the year is usually expected to be robust. However, this year the industry did not witness the normal seasonal pattern on account of an overall slowdown in infrastructure and general construction segments, the company said. The slackening of demand also saw subdued realizations, ACC said in a statement.

ACC said that the company's on-going improvement programme aimed at achieving cost leadership and delivering enhanced customer value has contributed particularly in the areas of manufacturing, sales, logistics and procurement processes. This helped the company to contain much of the inflationary pressures on the costs of its major inputs and transportation, ACC said in a statement.

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Grasim Industries' consolidated net profit rose 1% to Rs 818 crore on 5% increase in net revenue to Rs 7672 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. Profit before interest, depreciation and taxes (PBIDT) fell 5% to Rs 1786 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. Despite record volumes, profitability of the viscose staple fibre (VSF) business was adversely affected by decline in realization, Grasim said. The company said profits of the cement business were adversely affected due to lower volumes and higher logistics costs. Cement and VSF are the two key businesses of Grasim. The company's exposure to the cement business is through its subsidiary UltraTech Cement.

Consolidated net profit rose 2% to Rs 2704 crore on 11% increase in net revenue to Rs 25245 crore in the year ended March 2013 (FY13) over the year ended March 2012 (FY12).

PBIDT rose 4% to Rs 6543 crore in FY13 over FY12 led by improved volumes in its viscose staple fibre (VSF) business and cost optimization. The board of Grasim has recommended a dividend of Rs 22.50 per share, same as last year.

Grasim said that given the prevailing global economic conditions, coupled with the surplus capacity in China, the VSF industry is expected to remain under pressure in the short term. With regard to the outlook on the cement business, Grasim said that cement demand in India is expected to grow by an average 8% in the long term with housing, infrastructure and allied spending being the key value drivers. The capacity utilization of the cement industry is likely to improve to 80% in FY 2016 as the pace of capacity addition will slow down, Grasim said. Cost pressures are easing off with the decline in global commodity prices, particularly energy, the company said.

Capacity expansions in VSF and capacities under implementation/unutilized in cement will provide additional volumes, driving growth and further consolidation of the company's leadership, Grasim said. The company will utilise these capacities at the earliest in the present difficult situation, Grasim said. The company will continue to focus on cost reduction measures, improving asset productivity to maintain its position as the lowest costs producer and expanding specialty products portfolio for sustained shareholder value creation, Grasim said.

Jaiprakash Associates' net profit fell 56.48% to Rs 123.50 crore on 3.95% decline in total income to Rs 3932.07 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The result was announced on Saturday, 4 May 2013.

On a consolidated basis, net profit fell 27.04% to Rs 461.79 crore on 26.51% rise in total income to Rs 19128.67 crore in the year ended March 2013 over the year ended March 2012.

The board of Jaiprakash Associates recommended a final dividend of Rs 0.50 per equity share for the year ended March 2013.

Titan Industries' net profit rose 28.2% to Rs 184.97 crore on 14.54% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 2613.24 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The company announced the results after market hours on Friday, 3 May 2013.

Titan Industries' net profit rose 20.8% to Rs 725.18 crore on 14.41% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 10112.67 crore in the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013) over the year ended 31 March 2012 (FY 2012).

On consolidated basis, Titan Industries' net profit rose 20.6% to Rs 725.38 crore on 14.4% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 10123.29 crore in FY 2013 over FY 2012.

Titan Industries' board of directors at a meeting held on Friday, 3 May 2013, recommended a dividend of Rs 2.10 per share for FY 2013.

Titan Industries said its good financial performance in FY 2013, which was the silver jubilee year for the company, was despite a challenging economic environment.

Titan Industries said it had pursued growth during 2012-13 in all its business. The company invested in many strategic initiatives taking into account long term and sustainable growth. All these backed by the talent and commitment of employees and business associates have helped Titan Industries register this encouraging growth in a difficult year, Titan Industries said in a statement.

The strength of company's brands contributed to sales growth across all retail formats of watches, jewellery and eyewear, Titan Industries said in a statement.

The Watches business of the company recorded an income of Rs 1675.87 crore in FY 2013, a year-on-year growth of 9.6%. This was achieved through excellent planning and execution of key initiatives, Titan said. The income from Jewellery segment rose 14.8% at Rs 8107.99 crore in FY 2013 over FY 2012. The income from other segments comprising of Precision Engineering, a B2B Business, the Eyewear business and accessories surged 25.9% to Rs.414.03 crore in FY 2013, Titan Industries said in a statement.

Titan Industries said that FY 2013 witnessed aggressive expansion of its retail network with a net addition of 126 stores by Watches, Jewellery and Eyewear businesses. As on 31 March 2013, the company had 953 stores, with over 1.27 million sq.ft of retail space delivering a retail turnover in excess of Rs 9980 crore, Titan Industries said in a statement.

Commenting on the company's performance, Mr. Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director, Titan Industries said, "The year 2012-13 was a challenging year given the economic environment that was subdued and other adverse factors like the high price of gold that impacted our jewellery business. It has however been a fruitful year for Titan Industries with healthy growth and the fourth quarter in particular, was very encouraging with 28% growth in profit. Given the high expectations of all our stakeholders and aspirations of our employees, we move confidently into the new financial year with aggressive plans".

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statement after a monetary policy review that its assessment of the growth-inflation dynamic provides little space for further monetary easing pulled the market lower in choppy trade on Friday, 3 May 2013. The S&P BSE Sensex lost 160.13 points or 0.81% to 19,575.64, its lowest closing level since 30 April 2013.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 953.95 crore on Friday, 3 May 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

The focus of the market is on Q4 results. HDFC and Lupin unveil Q4 results on 8 May 2013. Ranbaxy announces Q1 March 2013 results on the same day. Asian Paints and Punjab National Bank unveil Q4 results on 9 May 2013. NTPC announces Q4 results on 10 May 2013. Bank of Baroda unveils Q4 results on 13 May 2013. Dr Reddy's Laboratories announces Q4 results on 14 May 2013. Bajaj Auto announces Q4 results on 16 May 2013. BPCL announces Q4 results on 29 May 2013. M&M and Tata Power unveil Q4 results on 30 May 2013.

The RBI on Friday, 3 May 2013, cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 7.25% and kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks unchanged at 4% after a monetary policy review. RBI said that the balance of risks stemming from its assessment of the growth-inflation dynamic provides little space for further monetary easing. The central bank said that with upside risks to inflation still significant in the near term in view of sectoral demand supply imbalances, ongoing correction in administered prices and pressures stemming from MSP increases, monetary policy cannot afford to lower its guard against the possibility of resurgence of inflation pressures. The RBI said that recent monetary policy action, by itself, cannot revive growth. It needs to be supplemented by efforts towards easing the supply bottlenecks, improving governance and stepping up public investment, alongside continuing commitment to fiscal consolidation.

The RBI said WPI inflation is expected to be range-bound around 5.5% during 2013-14, with some edging down in the first half on account of past policy actions, although there could be some increase in the second half, largely reflecting base effects. By March 2013, WPI inflation at 6% turned out to be lower than the RBI's indicative projection of 6.8%, mainly due to a sharp deceleration in non-food manufactured products inflation in the second half of the year. The RBI said it will endeavour to condition the evolution of inflation to a level of 5% by March 2014, using all instruments at its command.

During 2013-14, economic activity is expected to show only a modest improvement over last year, with a pick-up likely only in the second half of the year. Accordingly, the baseline GDP growth for 2013-14 is projected at 5.7%, RBI said.

The RBI said a high current account deficit (CAD) poses the biggest risk "by far" to the Indian economy. A large CAD, appreciably above the sustainable level year after year, will put pressure on servicing of external liabilities, RBI said.

India's factories lost momentum in April as output grew at its weakest pace in over four years, but a jump in export orders augured well for the coming months, a survey showed on Thursday, 2 May 2013. The HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), fell for the second straight month in April, dipping to 51 from 52 in March. The reading for April was the lowest since November 2011.

The finance ministry in October 2012 announced a five-year plan to cut fiscal deficit. The government hopes to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3% by March 2017.

Asian stocks rose on Monday as investors gave the thumbs up to an upbeat US labor force report that sent Wall Street to an all-time closing high last week. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore rose by 0.35% to 1.06%. Japanese financial markets are shut on Monday for a public holiday and will reopen on Tuesday.

US stocks on Friday, 3 May 2013 rose to record heights, with the Dow industrials soaring above 15,000 and the S&P 500 index above 1,600, as Wall Street celebrated the April jobs report.

US nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 last month and the jobless rate fell to a four-year low of 7.5%, the Labor Department said.

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First Published: May 06 2013 | 8:22 AM IST

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