India Follows World Markets Decline

Mayank Mehta, Chandrasekhar Atreya and Darlington Musarurwa
28 Apr, 2010
New York City

World market declines overshadowed positive earnings dragging market indexes and rupee lower. Bharti Airtel Ltd fourth quarter profit declined 8% on severe price competition. Canara Bank quarterly net profit gained declined 30%. LIC Housing Finance Limited quarterly net rose 36%.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – World market declines overshadowed positive earnings dragging market indexes and rupee lower. Bharti Airtel Ltd fourth quarter profit declined 8% on severe price competition. Canara Bank quarterly net profit gained declined 30%. LIC Housing Finance Limited quarterly net rose 36%.[/R]

Sensex declined to a one-week low after Greece and Portugal debts downgrades prompted worldwide selloff. Rupee weakened and the governing alliance survived a test in Parliament.

Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s largest mobile-phone operator, reported fourth-quarter profit fell 8% due to severe price competition in the world’s second-largest wireless market. The company recently agreed to pay $9 billion for Zain’s assets in Africa.

Bids for 3G auction reached 8,660 crore rupees said the government yesterday.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd and NTPC on Tuesday entered into a joint venture agreement to set up nuclear power projects to reduce the carbon footprint in India. The agreement was signed by S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of NPCIL and R.S. Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC in New Delhi.

Reliance Industry Ltd made it fourth oil discovery on a land block in the Cambay basin, the company reported to the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has hedged its euro contracts for the April to September period said the company’s CFO Ajay Seth in a phone interview today as reported by Bloomberg.

The Sensex index in India decreased 310.54 or 1.76% to 17,380.08 and CNX Nifty index fell 93.72 or 1.77% to 5,214.60. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 4 rose and 26 fell.

On BSE trading, 742 stocks advanced, 2,092 declined and 70 were unchanged. Metal and realty stocks led the fall.

Rupee edged lower 5 paisa to Rs 44.44 against one dollar.

Gainers & Losers

Bank of Baroda rose 0.8% to Rs 682.00 after the bank said fourth quarter net interest income rose 18.6% to Rs 1,745 crore from Rs 1,471 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 20.4% to Rs 906 crore compared to net profit of Rs 752.7 crore a year ago.

Balrampur Chini Mills Limited fell 1.5% to Rs 82.25. The sugar company said second quarter sales rose 32% to Rs 469.5 crore from Rs 355.1 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 58% to Rs 27.5 crore compared to net profit of Rs 66.2 crore a year ago.

Bharti Airtel Limited fell 1.2% to Rs 294.50 after the telecom operator said fourth quarter sales rose 2.3% to Rs 10,055.7 crore from Rs 9,824.5 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 8% to Rs 2,055.1 crore or Rs 5.42 per share compared to net profit of Rs 2,239.3 crore or Rs 5.90 per share a year ago.

Canara Bank dropped 2.3% to Rs 408.80 after the bank said fourth quarter net interest income rose 22.4% to Rs 1,597.6 crore from Rs 1,305.3 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 30% to Rs 503.1 crore compared to net profit of Rs 718.8 crore a year ago.

Exide Industries Limited rose 0.8% to Rs 123.70 after the manufacturer of storage batteries said fourth quarter sales rose 29% to Rs 1,028 crore from Rs 798 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 97% to Rs 134.5 crore compared to net profit of Rs 68.2 crore a year ago.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited rose 0.7% to Rs 1,898.65 after the pharmaceuticals company said first quarter sales rose 18% to Rs 541 crore from Rs 457 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 12.5% to Rs 161 crore or Rs 19.0 per share compared to net profit of Rs 143 crore or Rs 14.8 per share a year ago.

Ispat Industries Limited fell 1.4% to Rs 20.15. The manufacturer of iron and steel products said fourth quarter sales rose 125% to Rs 2,349 crore from Rs 1,043 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter was Rs 22.4 crore compared to net loss of Rs 38.4 crore a year ago.

LIC Housing Finance Limited fell 0.9% to Rs 901.15 after the provider of housing finance said fourth quarter sales rose 22% to Rs 919.3 crore from Rs 754.4 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 36% to Rs 213 crore compared to net profit of Rs 157 crore a year ago.

Petronet LNG Ltd fell 1.1% to Rs 80.85 after the company engaged in the import and re-gasification of liquefied natural gas said fourth quarter sales fell 10% to Rs 2,380 crore from Rs 2,655 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 52% to Rs 97.3 crore compared to net profit of Rs 204 crore a year ago.

PTC India Limited fell 0.4% to Rs 113.55 after the power trading solutions provider said fourth quarter sales rose 5.5% to Rs 1,243 crore from Rs 1,178 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 10.3% to Rs 13.9 crore compared to net profit of Rs 15.5 crore a year ago.

Raymond Limited fell 4.2% to Rs 237.05 after the multi-product conglomerate said fourth quarter sales fell 7% to Rs 329.3 crore from Rs 355.4 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter was Rs 6.7 crore compared to net loss of Rs 239 crore a year ago.

Sterlite Industries (India) Limited decreased 1.3% to Rs 817.35 after the company lost its sheen on ADR slides.

Sintex Industries Limited fell 0.6% to Rs 328.20 after the company said its board will consider a 2-for-1 stock split on April 30.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd rose 0.7% to Rs 1,608.90 after investors lapped up the shares after a correction of 11.24% on the counter in five trading sessions.

UTV Software Communications Limited fell 0.8% to Rs 445.00 after the company in its motion pictures division concluded syndication deals with few of the top satellite broadcasters and the top two music companies for a total consideration of Rs 70.75 crore.

Zydus Wellness Limited fell 1.0% to Rs 393.75. The provider of consumer products said fourth quarter sales rose 43% to Rs 63.4 crore from Rs 44.5 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 1548% to Rs 17.4 crore compared to net profit of Rs 7.0 crore a year ago.