Sensex crashes over 300 pts, Nifty below 7250; IT plunges

The Sensex is down 323.88 points or 1.32 percent at 24232.21 and the Nifty is down 98.35 points or 1.34 percent at 7231.30. About 1329 shares have advanced, 1583 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged. Infosys, Wipro, BHEL, ONGC and Cipla are top losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Hindalco, M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs, TCS and Sun Pharma.

Wonderla Holidays expects margins to be stable from hereon, says Arun K Chittilapilly, MD of the company. The company reported margins of around 41 percent and a net profit of around 60 percent at Rs 7.2 crore year-on-year. In the near-term, the company hopes to continue with its growth momentum due to reduction in cost from mature projects. The amusement park operator does not foresee any margin pressure for another couple of years, says Chittilapilly. Chittilapilly also says that the annual ticket price hike of around 10 percent for the amusement parks is unlikely to impact the business of the company given the base fare of the tickets is low. "If our ticket prices were Rs 1,000-1,500 then 10 percent hike would have made it a lot more expensive. However, as it stands now, we feel our ticket prices are pretty reasonable. So a 10 percent hike will not affect footfalls and that is at least what we have seen," he adds. Currently, the company has a debt of around Rs 15 crore.

Ever since Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister of India on Monday, market has been consolidating, indicating caution ahead of a couple of big events lined-up in the next few weeks. The Reserve Bank of India policy on June 3 and the Union Budget are the key events to watchout. Sanjay Sachdev, chairman, Zyfin Capital believes market has not fizzled out as the Sensex has moved from 21000 to 24000, gaining almost 15 percent. However, he says foreign investors haven’t participated fully and are still waiting for a very big opportunity like resolving of the Vodafone tax issue, which may restore some confidence among them.

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Parliament session to be held from June 4 to June 12

The Narendra Modi Cabinet met for the second time in 48 hours on Thursday and decided on Parliament session dates. The Parliament session will take place from June 4 to June 12.

Sources say former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath is likely to be the protem Speaker and will give oath to the new members of the Lok Sabha.

The Modi government is also expected to outline the government's top ten priorities on Thursday. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to address the nation on his policies. Modi has asked his ministers to be careful in terms of appointing people in their staff especially to ensure that no relatives are appointed. Sources say that Modi is keen to give out a message that he doesn't believe in dynasty or promoting relatives.

Modi has also directed his ministers to be careful while addressing the media. They have been asked to stick only to issues which are related to their respective ministries.

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HPCL jumps 4%: Will subsidy burden become nil in FY15?

Shares of HPCL jumped over 4 percent intraday on Thursday as rise in refining profitability and marketing profit improved March quarter earnings. It reported net profit of Rs 4609 crore as against loss of Rs 1734 crore sequentially. During the period, its margins jumped 9.2 percent from negative 1.9 percent in last quarter. Brokerages are upbeat about the company. Deutsche Bank has a buy rating on the stock with a target of Rs 470 per share. It feels that there will be nil oil subsidy burden on HPCL from FY15 onward and hence refining segment performance will improve. In FY14, HPCL had to bare oil subsidies of Rs 480 crore. Its refinery volumes improved 13 percent Q-o-Q to 4.3 MMT (flat Y-o-Y) with inventory gain of Rs 450 crore and forex gain at Rs 500 crore.

Bank of America Merill Lynch retains buy on it with a target of Rs 455 per share. It says that FY14 witnessed decline in loss of refining subsidiary and there was a rise in EPS despite 108 percent Y-o-Y jump in net subsidy bearing of Rs 480 crore. Its gross refining margin (GRM) was strongest in fourth quarter at USD 4.7/bbl. However, Barclays is underweight on the stock with a price target of Rs 250. “Consolidated EPS was 38 percent lower, likely hurt by losses in Bhatinda and Biofuels. HPCL’s investments and organic capex have yielded little over the last decade even as it looks to expand further – it announced USD 3 billion in additional refining expansions- weighing on returns further,” it said in a note.

At 11:40 hrs, the stock was quoting at Rs 416.80, up Rs 8.30, or 2.03 percent on the BSE.

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Five-fold rise in Q4 profit lift Essar Oil shares 19%.

Investors continued to buy shares of  Essar Oil on Wednesday after the India's second largest private refiner reported five-fold growth in net profit at Rs 1,008 crore in the quarter ended January-March, driven by higher forex gain, better operational performance and lower finance cost. The stock rallied as much as 19 percent intraday to touch a 52-week high of Rs 92.15.

Total income grew nearly 7 percent to Rs 25,274 crore in March quarter from Rs 23,650 crore in the quarter gone by. Gross refining margin improved to USD 10.12 a barrel as against USD 9.06 a barrel year-on-year. "Operationally we continue to do well with the refinery further optimising on its crude diet and product slate, which has resulted in the company delivering healthy GRMs," says LK Gupta, managing director and CEO. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 32 percent to Rs 2,053 crore from Rs 1,556 crore year-on-year. Essar Oil reported a foreign exchange gain of Rs 314 crore during January-March quarter. During the same period, finance cost declined significantly to Rs 694 crore from Rs 920 crore. At 12:50 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 88, up 13.40 percent amid high volumes on the BSE. Posted by Sunil Shankar Matkar 

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Gati surges; Macquarie buys stake from open market

hares in Gati Ltd , logistics solutions company, surge after Macquarie Bank buys stocks in the company on Tuesday in a transaction estimated at about Rs 99.5 million (USD 1.7 million). Macquarie Bank purchased more than 1 million shares of the company at an average price of Rs 97.02 per share in a block deal on Tuesday, NSE data shows.

Gati was trading up 7.2 percent as of 11:11 a.m.

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Sun Pharma's Karkhadi unit gets warning letter from USFDA

The US health regulator has warned  Sun Pharma it may withhold approval of new drug applications and extend an import ban at its Karkhadi unit in Gujarat if violations of manufacturing norms at the facility are not corrected. The US Food and Drug Administration said there were reasons to suggest a general lack of reliability and accuracy of data, including missing fundamental raw data, unacceptable data handling practice and inadequate investigation into 'the pervasive practice of deleting (raw) files'. "Until all corrections have been completed and FDA has confirmed corrections of the violations and deviations and your firm's compliance with CGMP (current good manufacturing practice), FDA may withhold approval of any new applications or supplements listing your firm as a drug product or an API manufacturer," USFDA said. In addition, failure to correct the violations and deviations may result in FDA continuing to refuse admission of articles manufactured at Karkhadi into the US, it said.

The warning letter was shot off after the USFDA conducted a review of Sun Pharma's initial response to the issues raised during inspection of the facility in November last year. "...it lacks sufficient corrective actions. We also acknowledge receipt of your firm's additional correspondence dated January 28, 2014, and March 11, 2014," the USFDA said. In March this year, the health regulator had banned the import of drugs from the Karkhadi facility for violation of manufacturing norms. USFDA said its investigators observed specific deviations during the inspection of the API manufacturing facility, including "failure to ensure that laboratory records included complete data derived from all tests necessary to ensure compliance with established specifications and standards."

The health regulator pointed out "failure to assign and identify raw materials with a distinctive code, batch, or receipt number, and to identify the disposition of materials" at the Kharkhadi facility. Mumbai-based Sun Pharma's Karkhadi facility manufactures antibiotics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The company, which is acquiring Ranbaxy Laboratories, has 10 manufacturing sites in India. Sun Pharma shares closed at Rs 587.30 on the BSE, up 0.63 per cent.

Sun Pharma stock price On May 20, 2014, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries closed at Rs 587.30, up Rs 3.70, or 0.63 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 653.10 and the 52-week low was Rs 458.00. The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 0.95 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 618.21. The latest book value of the company is Rs 41.64 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 14.10.

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How much juice is left in India's market rally?

The historic mandate won by India's pro-business Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has amped up investors' enthusiasm for Indian equities, with several banks raising their targets for the benchmark Sensex index. The market, which has rallied 15 percent so far this year, still has double-digit gains ahead, according to the revised targets. Nomura on Friday upped its year-end Sensex target to 27,200 from 24,700 – representing almost 12 percent upside from current levels. The index last traded at 24,363. 

"The historic mandate received by the BJP-led NDA [National Democratic Alliance] translates to a stable government at the center. The timing of this majority government could not have been more opportune as India has moved past key macro hurdles it has faced in the last three years," said Nomura strategists led by Prabhat Awasthi. "A Modi-led government's key comparative advantage lies in its superior managerial and execution ability, which will help considerably in reversing a debilitating policy paralysis and improving coordination between government departments, in addition jumpstarting the weak investment cycle," he said. The BJP captured 282 of 543 parliamentary seats in the world's biggest elections that concluded Friday, well above the 272 needed for a majority. It is the first time since 1984 that a single party has won an absolute majority. The NDA garnered a total of 336 seats in the lower house of parliament.

Short-term catalysts for the market include the formation of a new cabinet over the coming weeks, the presentation of the final budget for 2014-2015 by July and potential policy announcements and "feel good" initiatives by the new government, said Nomura. Nomura is not alone in its bullish outlook for the market. Citi too raised its year-end target for the Sensex to 26,300 – or an 8 percent rise from current levels. "The market run has more legs. The Modi-led NDA has won decisively, and India's equity markets could well have struck gold," Aditya Narain, equity strategist at Citi wrote in report on Friday. "The new prime minister's record, its economy/jobs focused campaign all suggest an aggressive growth and economic gains ahead. Do however remember the economy's still bottoming: and earnings will likely remain stable. This market should generate steady, surer and a long run ahead… but the (market's) big sprint's probably done," he added. 

The best way to play the market is to overweight banks, IT, energy and cement – which represents "a mix of growth, revival, reform and valuations," Narain said. Mark Matthews, head of research Asia, Bank Julius Baer expects domestic investors will be a key driving force for the market's gains going forward. "What I find compelling is that so few retail investors own the Indian market – they only have about USD 300 billion in equity out of a total market cap of USD 1.2 trillion. The Indian household generates about USD 400 billion in savings every year," Matthews explained. "I think the momentum for the market here will come more from the domestic side than the foreign side…If the majority of [Indian] people are voting for BJP than I think they've got to like the market, it's just intuitive," he said.

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Dhanuka Commercial Ltd IPO

Incorporated in 1994, Dhanuka Commercial Ltd is a Non Deposit taking Non-systemically Important Non Banking Finance Company (NBFC-ND-NSI) engaged primarily in the business of advancing loans and investing/trading in securities.

The company wants to expand its portfolio of products and services by introducing products such as Loans against Property, IPO Funding, Financial and Management Consultancy in addition with the existing products of Unsecured ICDs and Loans and Personal Loans. They plan to continue to sell their products and services to existing corporate client base and further target other High Net Worth Individuals and Firms with impeccable credit track record to whom the company may advance funds both secured/ unsecured based on the risk profile and as envisaged in the loan policy of the company.

Company Promoters:

The Promoters of the Company the are:

1. Mr. Sanjeev Mittal
2. Mr. Mahesh Kumar Dhanuka
3. Mr. Gopal Krishan Bansal

Objects of the Issue:

The Object of the Issue is to raise funds for:

1. To augment our capital base and provide for our fund requirements for increasing our operational scale with respect to their NBFC activities; and
2. To meet Issue related Expenses.

Issue Detail:

  »»  Issue Open: May 22, 2014 - May 28, 2014
  »»  Issue Type: Fixed Price Issue IPO
  »»  Issue Size: 4,440,000 Equity Shares of Rs. 10
  »»  Issue Size: Rs. 4.44 Crore
  »»  Face Value: Rs. 10 Per Equity Share
  »»  Issue Price: Rs. 10 Per Equity Share
  »»  Market Lot: 10000 Shares
  »»  Minimum Order Quantity: 10000 Shares
  »»  Listing At: BSE SME

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Experts want urgent policy actions on infra from new govt

Industry experts Friday called upon the new BJP-led NDA government to focus on attracting investments in key sectors, especially the infra space, to revive growth and investor confidence. KPMG India Deputy Chief Executive Dinesh Kanabar said irrespective of who becomes the next Finance Minister, the one thing that is clear is the country needs to get back to the path of rapid development if it has to emerge as an economic powerhouse and be spoken of in the same breath as China.

"The key to the revival of economic growth is the renewed investment, particularly in the infrastructure space. The FDI took a back seat thanks to the flip-flop on economic policies, clogging up of the approval process for large projects and confrontational tax policies. The first task of the new Government would be to deal with these three issues. "We cannot have ambivalent policies in retail, an ambiguous stand on Mauritius tax treaty, a Ministry which sits on large projects for environment clearance and imposition of retrospective taxation," Kanabar said. Leading boutique investment banker Singhi Advisors, which focuses on stressed asset sales, said the BJP-led Government should revive PPPs in the roads sector. "The Modi Government must take a firm decision on many areas where investment climate has chocked up. We expect the new Government to initiate reforms in sectors like roads and power and attract investments in this (infra) space. "As the financial viability of most infrastructure projects is under threat, and capital becomes too costly, there is a huge demand for cheap foreign capital or in-bound M&As, to meet the mismatch between the cost of capital and return on capital. That would lead to many domestic companies being compelled to take FDI route or sell out once the projects reach certain maturity," Mahesh Singhi, Managing Director of Singhi Advisors, told PTI. He said he expects the new Government to encourage larger flow of FDI and liberalise policies, including certain relaxations in NHAI policy towards M&As.

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Sensex rides Modi wave to scale 25,000, trims gain at close

Benchmark indices ended at new closing highs Friday, but shed much of the intra-day gains despite the BJP-led NDA coalition winning by a much bigger margin than expected. The Sensex closed at 24121.74, up 216.14 points over its previous close after hitting a record high of 25375.63 intra-day high minutes after trading began. The Nifty settled at 7203, up 79.85 points after making a new peak of 7563.50 intra-day. Realty, capital goods, banks, power and oil & gas shares were the best performers, while investors dumped shares of defensive sectors like IT, FMCG and pharma anticipating a shift in money into cyclical stocks. Sectoral indices for IT, FMCG and pharma all closed in the red, underscoring the sudden change in investor preference. In a reminder of the problems still facing the corporate sector, the Supreme Court ordered an interim ban on 26 mines in Odisha operating on second deemed renewals.   Sesa Sterlite (+11 percent), PNB (+7 percent), BPCL (+7 percent), BHEL and DLF (6 percent each) were the star performers of the day. 

Tata Steel topped the list of losers, falling 4 percent as the company sources a big chunk of its iron ore requirements from Odisha. Other big losers in the Nifty included, ITC, Dr Reddy’s, Infosys and HCL Tech, shedding around 3 percent each. IT stocks were hit the hardest as it felt that increased foreign capital flows in the coming days, as a result of NDA victory, would strengthen the rupee and hut the sector’s profitability. Profit booking in the second half of the session caught many investors unawares as they were hopeful of the market retaining gains and even hitting the upper end of the circuit filter. Brokers said they expect equities to be volatile near term, but trending higher. 

Ace investor Ramesh Damani said he expected the bull run to continue on the back of increased retail investor participation in the coming days. “I think we are now perhaps crossing the first stage of a bull market and moving to a more mature second phase of the bull market,” he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18. Most experts shared Damani’s views, saying a stable government at the Centre was likely to change global investor perception about India. “This is a very important endorsement of economic reform; an electorate in India going out and asking for a better growth environment, voting for a administration that has the reputation at the state level for getting things done,” said JP Morgan’s Adrian Mowat, adding, “foreign investors are certainly going to welcome this.” But there were voices of caution as well. “It is important to be realistic about the pace of political and economic change, at least in the nearer term,” said brokerage house HSBC in its note to clients. “The new government will not be able to change things overnight and the recovery in GDP growth will likely prove protracted, possibly even move sideways in the near term until we have measurable progress on reforms and investment projects,” the note added. Among stocks of Gujarat-based companies, key gainers included Adani Enterpriises, Pipavav Defence, Guj State Petro, Gujarat Pipavav, and GNFC, up between 3-6 percent.

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SPS Finquest Ltd IPO (SPS Finquest IPO) Detail

Incorporated in 1996, SPS Finquest Ltd is a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC-ND) engaged primarily in the business of advancing loans and investing/trading in securities. Company provides loans against securities and also in financing investments and trading in securities and thus is in high risk low income field.

SPS Finquest Ltd is a part of SPS group and proposes to provide loan products like IPO financing and loan against gold and commodities etc. Company provides its shareholders with the opportunity to participate in a diverse portfolio of investments and gain access to a defined investment process and the investment experience of the management team. Company is the NBFC Arm promoted by the Shah Family in order to carry out their financing and investment activities and in order to bring in the benefits of synergies from their brokerage and other businesses.

Company Promoters:

The promoters of the company are:

1. Mr. Pramod P. Shah
2. Mr. Sandeep P.Shah

Objects of the Issue:

The Objects of the Issue are:

1. To augment their capital base and to repay existing high interest cost debt.
2. To meet the issue related expenses.

Issue Detail:

  »»  Issue Open: May 21, 2014 - May 23, 2014
  »»  Issue Type: Fixed Price Issue IPO
  »»  Issue Size: 3,344,000 Equity Shares of Rs. 10
  »»  Issue Size: Rs. 25.08 Crore
  »»  Face Value: Rs. 10 Per Equity Share
  »»  Issue Price: Rs. 75 Per Equity Share
  »»  Market Lot: 1600 Shares
  »»  Minimum Order Quantity: 1600 Shares
  »»  Listing At: BSE SME

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Jhunjhunwala buys 17.10 lakh shares of Orient Cement

Ace investor Rakesh Radheyshyam Jhunjhunwala today picked up 17.1 lakh shares of  Orient Cement for about Rs 9 crore through an open market transaction. According to the bulk deal data, Jhunjhunwala bought 17,10,000 shares of Orient Cement at an average price of Rs 53.1 apiece, valuing the transaction at Rs 9.08 crore. Orient Cement was an initiative of CK Birla Group. The firm later de-merged and became an independent public limited company. The firm began cement production in 1982 and presently its total capacity stands at 5 MTPA (metric tons per annum). As part of its growth plan to reach 15 MTPA by year 2020, mOrient Cement is geared up for its latest Greenfield project with a proposed capacity of 3 MTPA at Chittapur, in Gulbarga district, Karnataka. Shares of Orient Cement today surged 7.88 percent to end at Rs 56.80 apiece.

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What will happen if market does hit circuit tomorrow?

The markets are preparing for a volatile session on Friday and why not? The memories of the triple circuits that were breached five years ago on verdict day 2009 are still fresh on everyone's minds. But stock exchanges and the regulator have been busy shoring up their defences over the last five years. On the 18th of May 2009, history was made not because the UPA was elected into power for a second term, but because that's the day the stock markets hit their upper circuits not once, not twice, but three times. The triggering of the circuit filters on the BSE and NSE forced trading to come to a grinding halt, and the exchanges downed shutters for the rest of the day. But exchanges and the markets regulator are confident history will not repeat itself on Friday. As far as the circuit situation is concerned. And they have good reason to be. Five years ago, the index level for circuit filters was decided at the beginning of the quarter, but today, circuit filters are decided on a daily basis, based on the previous day's closing level for the index. Five years ago, the markets did not have a pre-open auction period of 15 minutes, but today, every time the markets restart, traders go through a 15-minute pre-open auction that requires them to trade based on the delivery of shares. Experts say this pre-open auction will act as a balancer, in case the markets halt after a 10 percent move, and are hence forced to restart.

Here's how that works: If an index moves 10 percent before 1 pm, trading will halt for 45 minutes after which there will be a 15-minute pre-open session followed by regular trading.  If it moves 10 percent after 1 pm, but before 2:30 pm, the markets will shut for 15 minutes and open after another 15-minute pre-open auction. If the 10 percent move happens after 2:30 pm, trading will not halt. Now, if the market moves 15 percent before 1 pm, then trading resumes after a 1 hour 45 minute break, followed by a 15-minute pre-open. If the 15 percent move comes between 1 and 2:30 pm, trading is suspended for 45 minutes, followed by a 15-minute pre-open auction. But should the 15 percent move take place after 2:30pm, the markets will down shutters for the rest of the day. In the event of a 20 percent circuit being triggered, trading will be halted for the remainder of the day. Stock exchanges have already incorporated dynamic circuits for the stocks that form part of the index and derivative segment. If any stock crosses the 9.9 percent mark in either direction, it would need at least 10 trades from multiple unique client codes to push the stock beyond 10 percent. This would be applicable at intervals of every 5 percent, in either direction meaning when the stock crosses a 14.9 percent threshold and then goes on to cross the 19.9 percent threshold. With these safeguards in place, exchanges and the regulator are confident the investing public will have a more stable market environment to participate in on counting day, without fear that the big boys will spoil the party.

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NTPC March quarter net drops 29%

State-run  NTPC today reported 29.4 percent fall in its net profit at Rs 3,093.54 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014. The country's largest thermal power producer had posted a net profit of Rs 4,381.61 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, NTPC said in a statement. Total income of the company rose to Rs 78,921.66 crore from Rs 72,098.09 crore in the same period last year. Shares of NTPC rose 2.95 percent to close at Rs 129.25 apiece on the BSE

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Election results: Sebi, market entities up vigil on stocks

To ring fence the capital market from possible manipulations against the backdrop of election results tomorrow, Sebi as well as bourses and other market entities have prepared an elaborate vigil mechanism. While market authorities have been already monitoring stock movements very closely since last few days, which saw markets surging to record highs on the back of exit poll and other predictions, they are now mainly focussing on tackling any possible shocks tomorrow and on Monday. The counting of votes for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will begin tomorrow at 8 am, while clear trends are likely to emerge by afternoon and final results may keep coming out till late evening. The markets would open as per their normal time at 9 am and close at 3.30 pm, leaving scope for impact of the results on Monday as well after weekly trading holidays on Saturday and Sunday. A special team at Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is keeping a close tab on the stock market movements, while another team would also be monitoring the election results as they get announced to understand whether price movements are linked to outcomes in various constituencies, sources said.

According to sources, the stock movement of companies related to Gujarat and many others are being closely watched as they have witnessed huge rallies in recent weeks. Besides Indian market movements, the trends in overseas markets and factors affecting foreign institutional investors are also being monitored almost on a 24/7 basis. Besides, stock exchanges have put in place various circuit filters to stave off excessive volatility in stocks as well as derivatives segments. Brokerages and other market entities are also advising investors to ensure that there are no sudden spurts or falls in the market, while investors are being discouraged from excessive margin exposure. The aim is to ring fence the interest of investors and ensure smooth functioning of the market tomorrow by preventing manipulative activities, sources said. The preparations are being done while keeping in mind the experience of previous times during the day of Lok Sabha poll results.  Apart from tomorrow, market authorities would be keeping a special watch on May 19 (Monday) also to ensure there are no disruptions of any kind. Brokerages have sent out advisories to their clients, while trading exposure based on margins -- the multiples of the cash position that investors are allowed to trade in -- is also being curtailed for intra-day trades. Leading bourses BSE and NSE relaxed the dynamic price bands for stocks that trade in the derivatives segment with effect from May 13. Stock exchanges have a mechanism of dynamic price bands, commonly known as dummy filters or operating range, which prevents acceptance of orders for execution that are placed beyond the price limits set by the bourses. "In the event of a market trend in either direction, the dynamic price bands may be relaxed during the day in coordination with the other exchange," according to similarly worded circulars from the BSE and the NSE. The BJP-led NDA is projected to form the government at the Centre with exit polls tonight giving between 249 and 290 seats to the Narendra Modi-led grouping, which is close to the half-way mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The preparations by market authorities have also taken into account their experience during the result day of last Lok Sabha elections. On May 18, 2009 -- the day when results of last Lok Sabha polls were announced -- markets gained so much that trading had to be halted. That date is still known as 'Magic Monday' in stock market as the benchmark index Sensex posted its biggest ever gain of over 2,100 points in just one-minute trade after investors were enthused by a decisive verdict in the then concluded general elections. The experience was another extreme on May 17, 2004, soon after the announcement of 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the markets witnessed the worst-ever bloodbath on concerns of uncertainty over the economic reforms as the then NDA government was voted out of power.

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Contingency plan ready for volatility on result day: Rajan

The Reserve Bank today said it has put in place contingency plans to infuse liquidity into the system to deal with any possible volatility in markets tomorrow in view of the election results. "We assured the board that we are in discussions with the Finance Ministry and Sebi and we have placed prudential contingency plans to infuse liquidity if needed. We hope that everything will go normally tomorrow when the election results are announced," RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said. He was speaking to reporters after a meeting of central board of the RBI. The BSE benchmark Sensex has rallied over 1500 points in the last five trading sessions while the Rupee closed at nearly 10-month high of 59.29 against the US dollar today. Both the stock and forex markets are expected to remain volatile in view of the announcement of results for the general elections.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram earlier this week asked the regulators to maintain a strict vigil on the volatility in stock markets on the day of poll results. While market authorities have been already monitoring stock movements very closely since last few days, which saw markets surging to record highs on the back of exit poll and other predictions, they are now mainly focusing on tackling any possible shocks tomorrow and on Monday. The counting of votes for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will begin tomorrow at 8 am, while clear trends are likely to emerge by afternoon and final results may keep coming out till late evening. Exit polls show BJP-led NDA is set to form the government after votes are counted tomorrow. The markets would open as per their normal time at 9 am and close at 3.30 pm, leaving scope for impact of the results on Monday as well after weekly trading holidays on Saturday and Sunday.

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PNB Q4 net dips 29% at Rs 806 crore

State-run  Punjab National Bank (PNB) today reported a 28.69 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 806.35 crore for the quarter ended March 31, mainly on account of higher provisioning for bad loans. The bank had a net profit of Rs 1,130.80 crore in the January-March quarter of 2012-13. Total income of the bank increased to Rs 12,498.23 crore during the fourth quarter of 2013-14, from Rs 11,552.84 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal. Provisioning for bad loans rose 45 per cent to Rs 2,139 crore during the quarter, as against Rs 1,478 crore in the same period a year ago. 

The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 5.25 percent for the quarter under review, up from 4.27 percent in the year-ago period. The net NPAs stood at 2.85 per cent at the end of the quarter. Interest income rose to Rs 11,101 crore in the January-March quarter as compared with Rs 10,378 crore in the corresponding period last year. For the full 2013-14 fiscal, 

PNB's net profit dropped 29.6 per cent to Rs 3,342.57 crore, as against Rs 4,747.67 crore in the previous year. Total Income rose to Rs 47,799.96 crore in FY 2013-14, from Rs 46,109.25 crore in the previous financial year. Interest income for the full fiscal stood at Rs 43,223 crore, up from Rs 41,885 crore in 2012-13. Shares of PNB were trading at Rs 837.45 apiece, up 0.38 per cent on the BSE.

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FM asks regulators to be alert, curb excessive volatility

Concerned over the sudden spurt in stock markets ahead of poll results, Finance Minister P Chidambaram Tuesday asked regulators, including Sebi and RBI, to remain alert and take necessary actions to curb excessive volatility.

Sebi Chairman U K Sinha on his part sought to calm the markets saying regulations are in place to curb any excessive volatility and the regulator in keeping a very close watch on stock movements. Emerging from the meeting of the FSDC, where the volatility in stock markets figured during discussions, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said the central bank is prepared to deal with any kind of eventuality that may occur over next few days. Over last three trading sessions, the BSE benchmark Sensex has rallied over 1,500 points and the NSE's Nifty nearly 450 points. The markets are expected to remain volatile in view of the results of the general elections which will be announced on May 16. At the meeting Chidambaram, according to a Finance Ministry statement, urged all the regulators to be watchful of developments in the market and large volatility in key parameters.

Chidambaram also called upon the regulators and the Ministry officials "to be in a state of readiness and take necessary action if the situation so warrants". Sinha said the market regulator is watching the situation very carefully and all the systems are in place. "There is no need for anybody to worry. If we find that anybody is doing anything wrong, is in violation of any of Sebi's regulation, we will take prompt action," Sinha said. RBI Chief Rajan too said: "The regulators have examined the financial system over last few weeks. We have conducted a variety of tests. We are in many ways prepared for any kind of volatility that might emerge over the next few days". The 10th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) today took stock of the Indian economy and deliberated on domestic and growth scenario, fiscal, monetary and external sector, foreign capital flows.

It also discussed on inflation, developments in financial markets as also the outlook and challenges facing the economy. The Council also discussed the detailed assessment of external sector vulnerabilities of the economy while recognising the improvement made in controlling CAD, exchange rate volatility. Besides Sebi and RBI, the FSDC meeting was attended by IRDA Chairman T S Vijayan, FMC Chairman Ramesh Abhishek, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram and Financial Services Secretary G S Sandhu among others. The FSDC was also apprised of the progress made by the FSDC sub-committee and its technical groups in areas like bank capital requirements, non-legislative recommendations of FSLRC, strengthening and deepening of interest rate futures market and lending by insurance companies, among other things.

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'India cheapest major economy; Australia most expensive'

Notwithstanding high inflation rate, India is the cheapest major economy in the world, according to a survey of global prices of products that are comparable across countries. According to a report by German banking giant Deutsche Bank, a weaker Indian rupee has allowed India to remain the cheapest major economy in the world despite persistently suffering the highest inflation rate. "The fact that India still runs a large current account deficit illustrates that being competitive is more than just being cheap," the report titled The Random Walk, Mapping the World's Prices 2014 added. Australia is overall the most expensive major economy, while the United States is the cheapest developed country. Brazil remains very expensive for a developing country, the survey said adding that China remains very cheap in some categories like car rentals, while for a number of branded goods, it is more expensive than the US. In many categories China is steadily converging on US prices. "For a number of branded goods like Levi's jeans, Adidas shoes and iPhones, we found it to be more expensive than the United States," the Deutsche Bank report said. Singapore remains, by far, the most expensive place to buy a car and HK for renting office space. Zurich was also found to be exceptionally expensive in many categories so much so that a haircut in Zurich can cost about fifteen times that in an Indian city.

Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai to be the cheapest places for a weekend holiday while Sydney is the most expensive. It is much cheaper to spend a weekend in Tokyo than in Sao Paulo or Moscow. Indian cities are the cheapest places for a movie-and-burger date, while Cape Town, Johannesburg, Manila and Mexico City are also affordable. London is the most expensive city for a date. In terms of hiring and deployment of an MBA, Johannesburg is the cheapest place while we recognise the problem of comparing quality across countries and business schools, the US, UK and France are very expensive places to hire and deploy an MBA from a top school. Interestingly, it is almost as expensive to deploy a graduate from a top school in Mumbai as it is in Singapore. The survey is an overview of prices and price indices of a wide array of goods and services from around the world. The data was culled both by directly surveying prices posted on the Internet and from secondary sources that have collated such data. "In order to ensure that prices are comparable across countries, we have tried to use products that are standard across countries or have close substitutes," the report said.

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RBI allows bank branches abroad to sell structured products

Easing norms for functioning of overseas branches of Indian banks, the Reserve Bank has permitted them to offer structured financial and derivative products, a move that would help in improving their income. However, these products like Exchange Traded Funds and bond derivatives are not permitted in the domestic market. As per earlier rules, banks were not permitted to offer structured financial products through their branches or subsidiaries outside India that are not specifically permitted in the domestic market.

"On a review, it has been decided that if foreign branches/subsidiaries of Indian banks propose to offer structured financial and derivative products that are not specifically permitted by the RBI in the domestic market, they may do so only at the established financial centers outside India," RBI said in a notification today. The established foreign branches or subsidiaries could be in New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Dubai etc. RBI also added that the foreign branches or subsidiaries of any such bank should ensure that their entities dealing with such products should have adequate knowledge, understanding and risk management capability for handling such products. However, for other centres, RBI said banks may offer only those products that are specifically permitted in India. The central bank has also directed banks to offer such products in foreign branches in compliance with the host country regulations. "Banks should continue to adhere to more stringent among the host and home regulations in respect of these products. In particular, banks should ensure that the suitability and appropriateness policy is strictly adhered to," it added.

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Morgan Stanley sees economy crossing $5 tln by 2025

With improvement in macroeconomic indicators and steady implementation of policy reforms, the economy is likely to cross the USD 5-trillion mark by 2025, a Morgan Stanley report said. "In our base case, we expect a steady pace of implementation of policy reforms, which will lay the foundations for the country's real GDP growth to move higher to an average of 6.75 percent over the next 10 years," the research report said. "If our projections were to come to fruition, the economy would pass the USD 5 trillion mark, a feat that has been achieved by only the US and China thus far and would make India the fifth largest economy (from 10th currently) in the world," it added. Saying that the worst is over, the report noted the effects of policy measures over the past 12 months are beginning to show in improving macro stability indicators.

"There is growing evidence that the market believes in a new growth cycle - the most pertinent signal being the widening gap between bond and equity yields," the report said. It also pointed out that the medium-term growth trend of the domestic economy would be supported by the inter-play of the structurally positive factors of demographics, reforms and globalisation. It also said in the coming 12 months, growth recovery will remain slow, but will pick up from FY16 onwards. Emphasising on variables like economic reforms, the report said the improvement in the external environment along with a pickup in the pace of structural reforms would be the key factors for growth revival.

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DB Corp Q4 profit increases 37% to Rs 76 crore

Media firm DB Corp  on Monday reported a 37.41 percent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 75.92 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 55.25 crore in the same period of previous fiscal, DB Corp said in a filing to the BSE. Total consolidated income from operations stood at Rs 454.16 crore in January-March quarter, compared to Rs 398.10 crore during the same period of previous fiscal. For the financial year 2013-14, DB Corp's consolidated net profit increased to Rs 306.64 crore. It was Rs 218.13 crore in 2012-13. DB Corp's total consolidated income increased to Rs 1,859.75 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 1,592.31 crore in 2012-13.

"We have delivered a robust operating performance this year amidst a challenging marketing network. Our focus on sustaining and extending leadership in the core market, consistent focus on operational efficiencies as well as strong performance across non-print segments have enabled us to report significant growth," DB Corp Managing Director Sudhir Agarwal said. On future outlook, he said that DB Corp would continue to capitalise on the consumption potential of 'un-metro' markets. DB Corp publishes eight newspapers in Hindi, Gujarati, English and Marathi languages, including Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar and Saurashtra Samachar.  It has also presence in the FM Radio segment through 'My FM' in 17 cities of seven states.

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Diesel price hiked by Rs 1.09 a litre after polling ends

After a brief hiatus, diesel prices were Monday hiked by Rs 1.09 a litre, excluding state levies. The monthly increases in diesel rates, which had been put on hold just before India began voting to elect a new government, were back no sooner than polling ended today.

The hikes, effective from midnight tonight, are excluding state sales tax or VAT and actual increase will be higher and will vary from city to city, the oil companies announced.

Diesel price in Delhi will be hiked by Rs 1.22 a litre after including taxes, to Rs 56.71 per litre, while it will cost Rs 65.21 a litre in Mumbai as against Rs 63.86 at present. State-owned oil companies, which had last hiked diesel price on March 1, will lose Rs 5.71 a litre even after today's hike. The Cabinet had in January last year decided that diesel prices should be raised by 40-50 paise a litre every month until losses on the fuel are wiped out. However, oil firms skipped the hikes due on April 1 and May 1 as UPA did not want to take unpopular decision during election season. The deferred hikes have now been implemented. Before today's increase, diesel prices had risen by a cumulative Rs 8.33 a litre in 14 instalments since January 2013. There will be no change in petrol rates even though the oil firms were losing about 50 paise a litre due to depreciation in value of rupee against the US dollar.

Oil PSUs IOC ,  BPCL and  HPCL had on April 1 skipped raising diesel rates as per the January 2013 decision of the Cabinet of small monthly raises, on the plea that revenue losses on the fuel have dropped below Rs 6 a litre. They again did not raise rates on May 1 even though the losses had climbed to Rs 6.80 per litre. The oil ministry had at the time of shelving the April hike stated that an expert committee headed by Kirit Parikh recommended that government provide a fixed subsidy of Rs 6 per litre on diesel and so there was no need to raise rates if the revenue losses were below this threshold. While the government is yet to accept the Parikh panel recommendations, the Oil Ministry, wary of the political fallout due to the unpopular move to raise prices, approached the poll watchdog towards March-end seeking its nod to keep monthly raises in abeyance. The Election Commission did not respond to the Ministry's request for over a month, a development that was cited to yet again for not raising fuel rates on May 1 even though losses had surpassed the Rs 6 a litre threshold.

The Election Commission has now told the Ministry that since the revenue loss on the fuel is currently Rs 6.80 per litre, it is for the Oil Ministry to take a decision on raising rates. "As a sequel to the under-recovery on diesel having fallen below Rs 6 per litre, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had referred the matter to Election Commission of India on March 31, 2014. Accordingly, PSU oil marketing companies did not increase prices of diesel on April 1, 2014 and May 1, 2014. "As the proposed change has not been accepted by the Election Commission, the oil marketing companies are required to effect both the price increases together," said Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer. IOC said even after today's increase, oil firms will have an under-recovery (revenue loss) of Rs 5.71 a litre on diesel. Diesel rates had risen regularly barring just one time. Oil companies skipped raising diesel prices in April 2013, when assembly elections were held in Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily's home state Karnataka. However, they made up by hiking diesel prices by 90 paise in the following month.

IOC stock price On May 12, 2014, Indian Oil Corporation closed at Rs 302.25, up Rs 16.00, or 5.59 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 320.45 and the 52-week low was Rs 186.20. The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 50.01 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 6.04. The latest book value of the company is Rs 251.75 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.20.

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Record closing high: Nifty ends at 7014, Sensex up 557 pts

Big bulls were raging on Dalal Street as bullish investors bet big on the Lok Sabha election outcome favouring NDA-led government. On heels of exit poll, it was another record breaking day with the Sensex ending above 23,500. The Sensex was up 556.77 points or 2.42 percent at 23551.  Nifty posted biggest two-day gains since August 2011 and ended at 7014.25, up 155.45 points or 2.27 percent.

Dealers say that foreign investors are pumping heavy funds in India. Analysts feel it looks like some panic buying in anticipation of decisive mandate and Nifty may hit 7400 levels in current momentum. Both the Nifty and Sensex gained over 5.3 percent in last two trading sessions. Bank Nifty gained over 300 points to end at life high of 14,091. HDFC Bank was top contributor to Bank Nifty, contributing over 170 points. ITC and HDFC Bank wre top contributors to Nifty, contributing over 40 points. PSU, oil & gas stocks lead market rally, gain over 3 percent each.

Big bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala says this will be the mother of all bull markets . He expects NDA to get a majority. “We are in the initial stages of what is going to be the mother of all bull markets that India has seen. And the ground for the bull market has been raised by a lot of things, primarily by India as a country. It is going to evolve and grow. Five years of no movement in the index and a large amount of foreign money coming in to the market,” he said. However, according to Samir Arora of Helios Capital, this is just the start of a much bigger run , albeit if the elections results come in on expected lines. He says emerging market investors have been caught on the back foot and are now frantically making their way to India.

On the flipside, he says, if the NDA does not manage to get a majority and a third front, backed by the Congress, which is his worst-case scenario for the market, all hell is likely to break loose. He sees a 15-20 percent drop in the market in such a case. Meanwhile, the world's largest democratic exercise will conclude this evening. The big highlight today is the battle for Varanasi, where the BJP's Prime Ministerial Candidate Narendra Modi is locked in a fight With Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal and Congress candidate Ajay Rai.

Stock action The rally was led by blue blooded heavyweights today. Banking stocks were clear favourites among investors. ITC, Reliance, ICICI Bank, Infosys and HDFC Bank were major contributors to the Sensex. Among the gainers were Coal India, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors. Infra, oil & gas, metals and auto stocks were on buyers' radar. However some IT stocks were under a bit of selling pressure as rupee rose to 9-month high, above 60 per USD. The big stocks that dragged even on a record-breaking day were pharma stocks. The index ended losing 1 percent from previous close. Sun Pharma, Cipla and Hindalco were major losers in the Sensex. Among the midcaps, Torrent Power, IRB Infra, IL&FS Transport and Gujarat Pipapav.

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Alibaba rival JD.com to be valued up to $24.6 bln in IPO

JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce company behind Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, said it expected to price its initial public offering of American depositary shares at USD 16-USD 18 each, valuing the company at up to USD 24.6 billion. The company said the sale of 93.7 million ADS was expected to raise about USD 1.69 billion at the top end of the price range.  JD.com is offering 69 million ADS in the offering, while the rest is being offered by selling stockholders. Earlier this week, Alibaba gave investors a closer look at the scale and growth of the Chinese e-commerce juggernaut in an IPO prospectus , the first step in what could be the largest technology debut in history.

JD.com and other web-based retailers operate in the sizeable shadow of Alibaba, which controls nearly 80 percent of China's internet shopping market. JD.com, earlier known as 360Buy, has raised USD 2.23 billion in the past six years from investors including the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co. The company counts hedge fund Tiger Global Management and DST Global funds among others among its top stakeholders. JD.com, like a number of other Chinese companies listing in the United States, relies on a little-tested legal structure called "variable interest entity" that gives an investor economic interest but no ownership. The company plans to list its ADSs on the Nasdaq under the symbol "JD". Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith and UBS Securities are lead underwriters to the offering.

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I decide monetary policy, govt free to fire me: RBI's Rajan

Asserting independence of the central bank, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan today said it is he who determines the monetary policy and the government can fire him if they want. "I determine the monetary policy. I say what it is. The government can fire me, but the government doesn't set the monetary policy. So, in that sense, am I independent! Well, I am happy to talk to the government. I am happy to listen to the government but ultimately the interest rate that is set is set by me," he said at St. Gallen Symposium in Switzerland. Rajan was replying to a question on how much independence and real power he enjoyed as RBI Governor during a programme that was broadcast on Bloomberg TV. The central bank, he said, works with the Finance Ministry and he has regular conversations with the Finance Minister.

"We (RBI) control the monetary policy. In India, what happens is when we want to do something big, we go, tell the government this is what we want to do and the government is usually supportive.... We talk to each other," he said. Replying to questions on growth, Rajan exuded the confidence that India would revert to 7-8 percent growth rate with right kind of policies. However, he added, achieving higher growth would be difficult. India had registered over 9 percent growth for a few years before the global financial meltdown of 2008 pulled it down. The economic growth rate slipped to decade's low of 4.5 percent in 2012-13. It inched up to 4.9 percent in 2013-14. In the current fiscal the growth rate is expected to inch up to 5.5 percent. As regards inflation, Rajan said there was a need to bring it down. Once inflation comes down, he said, it would be possible for the RBI to deal with other problems facing the economy, especially growth.

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What if Modi falls short? Some mkt players brace for shock

Indian markets are so confident the opposition party led by Narendra Modi will win the country's elections that brokers fear anything short of a decisive victory could spark the worst sell-off in years. Shares hit a record high on Friday as opinion polls pointed to a sweeping win for the Bharatiya Janata Party, seen as more business friendly than the rival Congress party. But caution about the vote results may prove warranted. Most investors were caught off guard in the past two general elections - in 2004 and 2009 - as opinion polls got it badly wrong. Now some precautionary moves are being made. Customers say at least four brokerages have raised margin requirements due to concern there could be intense volatility after election results are unveiled on Busine May 16. 

 The stock market regulator has asked exchanges to test their trading systems, according to an agency official, especially new mechanisms put in place last year to deal with market volatility. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) did not reply to a written request for comment. A surprise could knock both shares and the rupee. The gains stem from the assumption the BJP and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win a majority, or near it, making Modi India's prime minister. From Sept. 13 - the day the BJP nominated Modi as its prime ministerial candidate - through Friday, the National Stock Exchange, India's biggest bourse, surged 17 percent, compared with only a 4 percent gain for the MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan.

 On Friday, the NSE index rose as much as 3.2 percent, hitting a record high of 6,871.35. Should BJP do poorly in the vote and Modi not become prime minister, some analysts predict shares could plunge 8 to 10 percent in one day, and up to 20 percent in the aftermath. That would roughly match what happened in 2004, when investors were shocked that the BJP didn't win the election. The NSE index fell 12.2 percent in one day, and 19 percent over two. Ritu Jain, managing director of investment bank Eos Capital Advisors in Mumbai, said the recent rally in Indian shares "has been largely in anticipation of NDA coming to power with a majority or near to majority." "In the event of NDA not coming to power, markets can correct by about 15 percent or a little more." HEAVY FOREIGN BUYING The BJP has long been seen by markets as being more investor-friendly than the Congress party, spurring hopes Modi will revive an economy growing at its slowest pace in a decade. 

The hopes have sent sectors such as infrastructure and banks sharply higher. Foreign investors have also bought in heavily, and now own a record 22 percent of companies listed on the NSE, according to Morgan Stanley data, after buying a net $20.1 billion last year and about $4.3 billion so far in 2014. However, that high a level is raising concerns of possible destabilising foreign outflows that dent both the currency and shares. A scenario of stock market volatility and huge volumes would mark the first major test for trading-system improvements made by Indian exchanges after a slew of "fat finger" incidents hurt confidence.

 In a bid to prevent cases like a 2012 misplaced order that caused the NSE to plunge more than 15 percent, stock market regulator SEBI in September revised rules for circuit breakers. These allow for a more measured and more flexible response to sudden market movements. An official of SEBI told Reuters last week that it asked exchanges to conduct stress tests to simulate a surge in trading volumes and volatility, including circuit breakers. "We need to ensure that the pay-in and pay-out obligations are met in such an event, and that the exchanges can handle a sudden surge in volumes," said the official, who declined to be identified.

 A spokeswoman for NSE declined to comment. A spokesman for BSE, the oldest exchange, said "I am not aware about any special communication from SEBI. I will check on that. But all systems are checked before market hours." HIGHER MARGIN REQUIREMENTS An official at MCX-SX, India's smallest stock exchange, said all three stock exchanges in India have been asked by SEBI to check their trading systems, and had met regularly with regulators over the previous two months. "(Trading) systems have been checked and geared up accordingly," the offical told Reuters, declining to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to media about it. The MCX-SX did not reply to a written request for comment. Ahead of the election results, Kotak Securities has increased margin requirements for retail investors by 10 percentage points to 30 percent of outstanding exposure to markets, while limiting funding for those trading with borrowed money, according to several customers who say they were informed of the change. Kotak Securities declined to comment, as did Kisan Ratilal (KR) Choksey and Geojit BNP Paribas, two other brokerages with customers who said stiffer margin requirements have been imposed. A fourth brokerage, Sharekhan, confirmed having raised margin requirements. For some investors, caution about leverage could prove necessary. "The valuations suggest expectations are running high, so even a slight disappointment after the final outcome could prove disastrous," said Walter Rossini, who manages the 130 million euros Gestielle Obiettivo India Fund in Milan.

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Wonderla debuts at Rs 165/share; rises 36% over issue price

Bangalore-based  Wonderla Holidays  debuted at the bourses on Wednesday at Rs 164.75 per share. It touched day’s high of Rs 170 in early trade, up 36 percent over its issue price of Rs 125. The amusement park company entered the primary market offering 1.45 crore equity shares, including 21,75,000 equity shares bought by anchor investors, in a price band of Rs 115-125 each. 

The company raised about Rs 27 crore from the anchor investors. Proceeds from the issue will be used to set up an amusement park in Hyderabad, the company's third after Bangalore and Kochi, and for general corporate purposes. Wonderla is promoted by Arun Kochouseph Chittilappilly and Kochouseph Chittilappilly, who founded V-Guard Industries. The promoters hold a 95.48 percent stake in the company and the remaining 4.52 per cent is with employees of the firm and group companies. 

Wonderla commissioned its first amusement park in Kochi in 2000 and the second in Bangalore in 2005. At 10:13 hrs, the stock was at Rs 156.50 on the BSE.

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Ranbaxy March quarter net loss at Rs 73.6cr

Drug major  Ranbaxy Laboratories today posted consolidated net loss of Rs 73.6 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014 It had posted net profit of Rs 125.75 crore during the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal, 2012-13. Ranbaxy's net sales during Q4, 2013-14 grew marginally by 1.03 per cent to Rs 2,436.1 crore, as against Rs 2,411.1 crore in the year-ago period. During the quarter, the company recorded inventory and other costs write-off and goodwill impairment write-off of Rs 15.9 crore and Rs 43.8 crore respectively. 

Ranbaxy Laboratories CEO and Managing Director Arun Sawhney said: "Despite multiple challenges, Ranbaxy met its sales guidance and continued to build on its strengths. At the same time we continued to work closely with regulatory agencies to address their concerns." Ranbaxy scrip closed at Rs 464.50, down 1.06 per cent, on the BSE. On April 7, Sun Pharmaceutical announced it will fully acquire the troubled Ranbaxy Laboratories in an all-stock transaction with a total equity value of USD 3.2 billion.

Under the agreement, Ranbaxy shareholders will receive 0.8 share of Sun Pharma for each share of Ranbaxy. The combination of  Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy will create the fifth-largest specialty generics company in the world and the largest pharmaceutical company in India. Imports of Ranbaxy products from all its four plants in India have been banned by American regulator USFDA for violations of manufacturing norms. In 2013, the company agreed to pay USD 500 million fine after pleading guilty to felony charges over anufacturing and distribution of adulterated drugs in the US.

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Sensex soars 650 pts, Nifty at new-high on poll euphoria

Dalal Street seem to be on steroids, ahead of exit polls. Bulls have already uncorked the champagne as the market hit new all-time highs in trade today on election results cracker. The Nifty, Sensex, Bank Nifty ended on Friday record closing highs. Nifty ended above 6800 for first time ever at, Nifty was up 198.95 points or 2.99 percent at 6858.80. Nifty hit intra-day record high of 6871.35. Sensex hit intra-day record high of 23,048, and shut up 650.19 points or 2.91 percent at 22994.23. 

Bank Nifty hit intra-day record high of 13,814.25. Barring Pharma, all indices ended trade in the green. About 1593 shares have advanced, 1144 shares declined, and 142 shares are unchanged. Amidst the sudden surge, the India volatility index has also hit a 31-month high. The bulls are now betting big on a stable government led by the NDA with Narendra Modi as the new PM of India. Punita Kumar Sinha, Managing Partner, Pacific Paradigm Advisors feels the market is factoring in an NDA victory but the amount of seats may not be fully factored in.  Ambreesh Baliga of Edelweiss was expecting the market rally to start early next week till May 15-16. 

Hence he suggests people to utilise this last leg possibly to book out to a certain extent because May 16 is going to be an uncertain event. "We don’t know as to which way it could go. So it is better to have a bit of liquidity in the portfolio," he says. Gautam Chhaochharia of UBS Securities sees the Nifty hitting 7,800 if poll result meets market’s expectations. On the flip side, in a hung parliament scenario, he cautions of 5,800-6,100 downside. “In an uncertain scenario, market could come off sharply,” he tells CNBC-TV18 in an interview. He believes that 6,900 level is the fair value for the Nifty. Stock action In a surprisingly action-packed day, banks were clear favourites of buyers. The Bank Nifty surged over 5 percent, a record high for the index which last hit its highest level in January 2008. 

ICICI Bank reached highest level since January 2008. HDFC twins, SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank gained 4-5 percent. Reliance Industries ended at 41-month closing high. It got a relief from High Court in the Kejriwal gas battle. Tata Power, Hindalco and BHEL were other major gainers in the Sensex. However, pharma stocks sulked in a rallying market. Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma and TCS were losers in the Sensex. Ranbaxy's net sales during Q4, 2013-14 grew marginally by 1.03 per cent to Rs 2,436.1 crore, as against Rs 2,411.1 crore in the year-ago period. During the quarter, the company recorded inventory and other costs write-off and goodwill impairment write-off of Rs 15.9 crore and Rs 43.8 crore respectively. Meanwhile, Wonderla IPO debuted on the bourses today. 

The Bangalore-based amusement park company debuted at the bourses at Rs 164.75 per share. It touched day’s high of Rs 170 in early trade, up 36 percent over its issue price of Rs 125.

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Wonderla Holidays IPO Listing Date

Wonderla Holidays Ltd IPO shares will list on Friday, May 09, 2014. The issue was open on Apr 21, 2014 and closed for subscription on Apr 23, 2014. The equity shares of the issue are proposed to be listed on the BSE and NSE.

Wonderla Holidays IPO Listing Date

Listing Date: Friday, May 09, 2014
BSE Scrip Code: 538268
NSE Symbol: WONDERLA
Listing In: 'T' Group of Securities
ISIN: INE066O01014
Issue Price: Rs. 125.00 Per Equity Share
Face Value: Rs. 10.00 Per Equity Share

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Pfizer India Q4 revenue stands flat QoQ at Rs 251.69cr

Pfizer   announced its fourth quarter earnings with revenue for the period standing at Rs 251.69 crore, compared to Rs 252.19 crore year-on-year. 

For full year FY14, revenues stood at Rs 1004.27 crore, compared to Rs 947.98 crore in FY13. Profit before tax and exceptional items grew by 21 percent to Rs 339.58 crore, from 279.65 crore last year. 

Net profit stood at Rs 56 crore versus Rs 58 crore, year-on-year. The company had paid an interim dividend of Rs 360 per equity share during the year and has not declared any fresh dividend.

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Forex reserves up $500 million to $310 billion

Foreign exchange reserves shot up by USD 499.8 million to USD 309.913 billion in the week to April 25 on an increase in the currency assets. Last week, after rising for seven consecutive weeks, the total reserves had marginally declined by USD 31.6 million to USD 309.413 billion. 

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major part of the overall reserves, surged USD 493.2 million to USD 282.029 billion for the period under review, RBI said today. FCAs, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in its reserves.

 The gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 21.566 billion, as per the RBI data. The special drawing rights increased USD 4.6 million to USD 4.477 billion, and the country's reserve position with the IMF rose USD 2 million to USD 1.839 billion, the data showed.

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Vikram Akula no more promoter of SKS Microfinance

SKS Microfinance  today said it will cease to treat a few entities, including Vikram Akula and Sequoia Capital India Growth Investments, as its promoters. Mauritius Unitus Corporation and Mutual Benefit Trusts are the other entities that have been removed from the promoters list.

" ... taking cognisance of their (entities) requests and instructions, the company shall cease to treat them as its promoters with immediate effect," SKS Microfinance, the only listed microfinance company, said in a filing to the BSE. The micro-lender said that Mauritius Unitus Corporation and Sequoia Capital India Growth Investments have entirely divested their shareholding in the company and do not currently hold any equity shares.

Akula was previously the executive chairman of the board of directors of the company. He resigned as a director of the company on November 23, 2011 and currently holds only 10 equity shares, the filing said, adding that he does not have any special rights in the company through formal or informal arrangements.

"Akula has informed the company through an e-mail dated April 24 2014, that he is not a promoter of the company," the filing said. The company's Mutual Benefit Trusts include SKS Mutual Benefit Trust Medak, Sangareddy, Jogipet, Narayankhed and Sadasivapet.

"The Mutual Benefit Trusts do not have any special rights in the company through formal or informal arrangements, except such rights that are available to every public shareholder of the company," the company said. Shares of the company closed at Rs 233.25, down 2.41 percent on the BSE.

SKS Microfin stock price 

On April 17, 2014, SKS Microfinance closed at Rs 259.55, up Rs 9.05, or 3.61 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 266.95 and the 52-week low was Rs 95.60. The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 6.45 per share as per the quarter ended March 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 40.24. The latest book value of the company is Rs 42.53 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 6.10.

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Ashok Leyland sales decline 21% in April

Hinduja Group flagship company  Ashok Leyland today reported a 21 percent decline in its total sales at 5,897 units in April. The company had sold 7,487 units during the same month of previous year, Ashok Leyland said in filing to the BSE.
                    
 Ashok Leyland shares Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicle in April went down by 14 percent to 4,523 units from 5,251 units sold during the same month of previous year. Sales of light commercial vehicles in April, 2014 declined by 39 percent to 1,374 units from 2,236 units sold in the same month of previous year. Shares of Ashok Leyland closed at Rs 22.45 apiece, up 0.90 percent from their previous close on the BSE.


Ashok Leyland stock price 

On May 02, 2014, Ashok Leyland closed at Rs 22.45, up Rs 0.20, or 0.90 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 25.20 and the 52-week low was Rs 11.82. The latest book value of the company is Rs 16.74 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was 1.34.

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Indian Bank revises interest rates

Public sector lender Indian Bank  has revised the term deposit interest rates on foreign currency non-resident (banking) with immediate effect. The Chennai-based bank, in a statement said the interest rates for FCNR(B) deposits, in USD terms, has been fixed at 2.55 percent for deposits of one year and above but less than two years, compared to the existing 2.56 percent. 
                      Interest rates have been revised to 2.56 percent for deposits of two years and above but less than three years, compared to the existing 2.59 percent, it said. For deposits of three years and above but less than four years, the interest rates have been decreased to 4.02 percent from the existing 4.05 percent, it said. Interest rates have been revised to 4.45 percent for deposits of four years and above but less five years from the existing 4.48 percent. 
                    
                         For deposits of up to five years, the interest rates have been revised to 4.81 percent from the existing 4.85 percent, the statement added.

Indian Bank stock price 
On May 02, 2014, Indian Bank closed at Rs 127.10, down Rs 1.75, or 1.36 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 174.75 and the 52-week low was Rs 60.50. The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 25.38 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 5.01. The latest book value of the company is Rs 249.71 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.51.

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