Sensex Drops; HDFC Bank Net Surges

Chandrasekhar Atreya
20 Jul, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai declined on mixed earnings. HDFC Bank first quarter net surges. Sesa Goa gains on strong first quarter result. Steel Authority plans to develop a deep water port on the east coast. Cropscience surges on the talks of property sale.

[R]5:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in Mumbai declined on mixed earnings. HDFC Bank first quarter net surges. Sesa Goa gains on strong first quarter result. Steel Authority plans to develop a deep water port on the east coast. Cropscience surges on the talks of property sale.[/R]

Indian stocks fluctuated throughout the day and dropped in the last period of trading after rising to the highest level in nearly 30 months on earnings growth and fifth straight month of export growth. The fall was led by drop I the price of lenders like HDFC and ICICI Banks.

The Sensex index in India decreased 50.28 or 0.28% to 17,878.14 and CNX Nifty index rose or 0.13% to 5,393.60. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 15 rose and 15 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,443 stocks advanced, 1,405 declined and 104 were unchanged. Metal & realty stocks gained. Reliance Industries pared gains.

Rupee edged lower 4 paisa to Rs 47.15 against one dollar.

HDFC Bank reported a better-than-expected 34% increase in net profit of Rs 812 crore for the first quarter ended June 30 when compared with Rs 606 crore reported in the first quarter of the previous fiscal due to lower provisioning for bad loans.

Net interest income increased 29% to Rs 2,401 crore from Rs 1,855 crore.

Monetary tightening in India and Brazil may add to the debt crisis in Europe and result in curbing demand for China’s exports, according to a Chinese official.

Steel Authority of India Ltd, India’s second-largest steel producer, has plans to develop a deep water port on the eastern coast, according to an advertisement in the Economic Times newspaper today.

The company is seeking consultants to identify the location of the port with bids to be submitted till July 31.

L&T General Insurance Company Ltd on Monday announced that the insurance arm of the $9.8 billion Larsen & Toubro would commence its operations soon. The company received the license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority for commencing the operations.

“Given the size and the opportunity, L&T considers financial services as an important business in its portfolio,” said Y.M. Deosthalee, whole time Director & CFO, L&T in Mumbai on Monday.

Maytas Infrastructure, a sister concern of the scam hit Satyam Computer Services, is likely to enter into a master restructure agreement with a consortium of 14 banks soon. It will help the trouble-torn company to bring down debt to about Rs 800 crore with a set up interest rate option.

The company’s extraordinary general meeting held in Hyderabad on Monday cleared a proposal to allot 1.54 crore preferential shares to SBJ Projects, part of the Saudi Bin Ladin Group and also secured the consent of shareholders to induct it as co-promoters. It was also decided to rework the company’s capital and debt structure.

Chennai-based Everonn Skill Development Ltd said on Tuesday it will allot option on 4 million convertible bonds on a preferential basis to SKIL Infrastructure, which owns Pipavav Shipyard.

“SKIL had a vision for education but we couldn’t find a platform good enough to work on this subject. SKIL will be able to contribute with its vision in education and expertise in hard infrastructure,” Chairman Nikhil Gandhi told Reuters.

Gainers & Losers

Automotive Axles Limited gained 7.2% to Rs 502.50 after the company reported third quarter net profit rose 442.9% to Rs 14.55 crore.

Bayer CropScience Limited gained 8.6% to Rs 876.00 after the maker of agrochemicals said it plans to sell about 100 acres of land.

Container Corporation of India Limited dropped 0.5% to Rs 1,410.00 after the company reported first quarter net profit fell 3.7% to Rs 193.51 crore.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited rose 0.8% to Rs 138.95 According to investment banking sources the Gujarat-based group is close to acquiring IPL 2009 winner Deccan Chargers for $280 million to $300 million.

The Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited declined 2.3% to Rs 283.50 after turning ex-dividend for a final dividend of Rs 8 a share for the year ended March 2010.

Hawkins Cooker Limited fell 3.1% to Rs 1,155.00 after the stock turned ex-dividend today, July 20 for a dividend of Rs 40 per share for the year ended March 2010.

HDFC Bank Limited decreased 0.1% to Rs 2,047.00 after the company''s American depository receipt, or ADR rose 2.2% to $147.39 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, July 19.

Lincoln Pharmaceutical Ltd increased 5.6% to Rs 36.80 after the company said it is setting up a manufacturing plant near Ahmedabad, Gujrat at an approximate cost of Rs 50 crore that meets U.S. regulatory requirements.

MindTree Limited declined 5.2% to Rs 538.80 after the company reported first quarter net profit fell 70.9% to Rs 15.81 crore.

NIIT Technologies Limited rose 1.3% to Rs 185.50 after the company reported first quarter net profit rose 131.6% to Rs 40.80 crore.

Rane (Madras) Limited rose 3.0% to Rs 133.00 after the company reported first quarter net profit surged 157.5% to Rs 4.61 crore.

Resurgere Mines & Minerals India Limited fell 3.1% to Rs 127.10 after the company said its board will meet on July 27 to consider issue of bonus shares and stock-split.

Sesa Goa Limited added 1.8% to Rs 354.85 after the global metals and mining company reported first quarter net profit rose 152.01% to Rs 1025.51 crore.

Shiva Cement Limited advanced 5.8% to Rs 9.92 after the company today announced that the dispatch of cement and clinker during the quarter April-June 2010 increased 17.1% compared a same period a year ago. However, sales in June surged 47.8% from a year ago.

Triveni Engineering & Industries Limited fell 3.5% to Rs 99.25 after the company reported third quarter net loss of Rs 14.23 crore compared to net profit of Rs 39.8 crore a year ago.

Vishal Retail Limited increased 4.0% to Rs 53.55 after the Chennai-based Shriram Group is likely to take over the front-end retail company of Vishal Retail after private equity investor Texas Pacific Group takes charge of its wholesale division.