LIC, Eicher Motors, Bharat Forge, and ABB India Report Strong Earnings and Growth

Opening Bell:             

Gift Nifty is up by 286.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market                          

Asian markets saw significant gains on Friday, buoyed by a strong rally on Wall Street and diminishing recession fears. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.63%, while the Topix increased by 1.43%. In South Korea, the Kospi advanced by 1.43%, and the Kosdaq surged 2.67%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures also signaled a positive start to the trading day.

The U.S. stock market closed higher on Thursday, with both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 posting gains of over 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 683.04 points, or 1.76%, to finish at 39,446.49. The S&P 500 jumped 119.81 points, or 2.30%, ending at 5,319.31. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite soared 464.22 points, or 2.87%, to close at 16,660.02.

Stocks News:

👉 Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India reported a 9% increase in its consolidated net profit for Q1 FY25, reaching ₹10,544 crore. The total income rose to ₹2,10,910 crore, driven by a first-year premium increase to ₹7,470 crore and renewal premiums climbing to ₹56,429 crore. Net income from investments also grew, reaching ₹96,183 crore. LIC’s market share expanded to 64.02%, while assets under management (AUM) increased to ₹53,58,781 crore. Additionally, LIC’s office in Bangladesh has partially resumed operations despite ongoing challenges.

👉 Eicher Motors reported a 20% increase in consolidated net profit for Q1 FY25, reaching ₹1,101 crore. This growth was supported by favorable commodity prices, inventory benefits, and positive volume growth in the Royal Enfield (RE) segment. The company’s total revenue from operations rose by 10.2% to ₹4,393 crore, while EBITDA increased by 14.1% to ₹1,165.5 crore, with a margin of 26.5%. Royal Enfield sold 2,27,736 motorcycles in Q1 FY25, slightly up from the previous year. Additionally, VECV, a division of Eicher Motors, reported revenue of ₹5,070 crore and a profit after tax of ₹319 crore.

👉 Bharat Forge reported a net profit of ₹269.4 crore for Q1 FY25, falling short of expectations due to an exceptional loss of ₹146 crore. The company’s revenue for the quarter was ₹2,338 crore, representing a 10% year-over-year increase. EBITDA rose by 18.7% to ₹651.3 crore, with margins expanding by 200 basis points to 28%. Bharat Forge also secured new orders worth ₹980 crore across various sectors. The Defence business saw a significant revenue increase of 147% to ₹642 crore, with an executable order book of ₹5,400 crore.

👉 ABB India reported a 50.3% year-over-year increase in net profit, reaching ₹443.5 crore for Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations grew by 12.8% to ₹2,830.9 crore. EBITDA surged 55.6% to ₹542.5 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 19.2%. The company’s profit before tax stood at ₹594 crore for the quarter. ABB India also has a strong order backlog of ₹9,517 crore and announced an interim dividend of ₹10.66 per share.

👉 The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2626 crore on August 8, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 577 crore on the same day.

Domestic and International Events

• India’s foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high of $675 billion as of August 2, indicating a robust external sector performance, according to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The Reserves dipped by $3.47 billion to $667.39 billion for the week ending July 26, while the Indian Rupee remained range-bound.

• U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers are growing more confident that inflation is easing sufficiently to justify future interest rate cuts. However, they emphasized that the size and timing of these cuts will be guided by economic data rather than stock market fluctuations. This sentiment was echoed by three central bankers speaking on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

• Crude oil prices dipped on Friday, yet they remained on course for a weekly gain of over 3%. Brent crude futures decreased by 0.23% to $78.98 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 0.24% to $76.01 per barrel. Despite the slight declines, both Brent and WTI were poised for a strong weekly performance.

EMERGING	LATEST	% 1D
Hang Seng	16,892	0.1 %
Shanghai Composite	2,870	0.0 %

DEVELOPED	LATEST	% 1D
Dow Jones	39,446	1.8 %
DAX	17,680	0.4 %
FTSE 100	8,145	1.8 %
Nikkei	34,831	(0.7) %
Straits Times	3,262	0.4 %