Stocks to watch: Infosys, Mindtree, Reliance, HDFC Life, Tata Steel

InfosysIndia’s second-largest IT services company, Infosys, reported a better-than-expected 11% rise in consolidated net profit on Thursday at ₹6,021 crore for the September quarter and announced a share buyback worth ₹9,300 crore. The Bengaluru-based company raised its revenue growth forecast for FY23 to 15-16%. Infosys’ Board of Directors also declared an interim dividend of ₹16.50 per share. The payment of an interim dividend will be approximately ₹6,940 crore.

Mindtree: IT company Mindtree on Thursday reported a 27.5% year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profit at ₹508.7 crores for the September quarter. Sequentially, net income was about 8% higher than the June quarter. Second quarter sales were approximately ₹3,400.4 crore, up 8.9% from the previous sequential quarter and 31.5% year-on-year. The total contract value or TCV in the first half of the fiscal year crossed $1 billion for the first time.

Trust Industries: Reliance Industries Ltd. is in advanced talks to acquire Germany’s Metro AG’s wholesale operations in India, according to people familiar with the matter, as the billionaire-led conglomerate Mukesh Ambani seeks to dominate India’s massive retail sector . Charoen Pokphand Group Co. is no longer actively in talks with Metro, leaving only Reliance of Ambani to continue the carrying business.

CGSB: A consortium led by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), and including other state-owned Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL), Bharat PetroResources Ltd (BPRL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL), is seeking to take a stake in a hydrocarbon production asset of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc), the largest oil company of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said two people with knowledge of the matter. The proposed transaction is facilitated by government-to-government talks between India and the United Arab Emirates.

HDFC lifetime: Insurance industry regulator Irdai has given final approval to HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd (HDFC Life) to merge Exide Life into the company. In January this year, HDFC Life acquired a 100% stake in Exide Life Insurance Company from its parent company Exide Industries for ₹6,687 crore to increase its presence in the South Indian market.

angel one: Angel One, a mid-cap brokerage firm with a market capitalization of ₹13,228.51 crore, the board declared a second interim dividend of Rs. 9 per share and set the record date therefor to determine the eligibility of shareholders. The company reported sequential earnings growth of 17.7% to ₹213.6 crore for the quarter ended September FY23.

MTNL: State-owned MTNL said on Thursday its shareholders had approved a proposal to raise up to ₹17,571 crores through government guaranteed debt bonds on a private placement basis. Shareholders of the loss-making public sector telecommunications company have also strengthened the board’s power to borrow up to ₹35,000 crore from banks and other financial institutions, according to the outcome of the reviewed report of MTNL’s annual general meeting held on October 10.

Tata Steel: Tata Steel Long Products, a subsidiary of Tata Steel, said on Thursday that the company had acquired equity shares in its subsidiary Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited, for an amount of ₹300 crores. The company acquired 4,68,75,000 capital shares of ₹10 each at a bounty of ₹54 per share. The company will now own 95.81% of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd.

Coal India: As part of its clean energy diversification program, Coal India Limited (CIL), on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL) for the development of a solar power plant of 1190 MW in the state, the Ministry of Coal said in a statement. The project would spur CIL’s pursuit of solar power generation as part of its clean coal energy diversification program.

Wealth of Anand Rathi: Non-bank wealth management solutions company Anand Rathi Wealth on Thursday reported a 41% increase in after-tax profit to ₹43 crore for three months ending September 2022. In comparison, the company had posted a PAT (Profit After Tax) of ₹30.4 crores in the same pre-financial quarter, Anand Rathi Wealth, part of the Mumbai-based financial services group Anand Rathi, said in a statement.