Indian stock mkts top gainers in Asia

Tue, 31 Jan Closing

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After a positive start, the indices in Indian stock markets added to the gains with every passing hour today on the back of few enthusing set of results from India Inc. The indices closed near the intra-day high, with banking, commodity and auto stocks being the star performers. While the BSE-Sensex closed higher by around 330 points (up 2%), the NSE-Nifty closed higher by around 112 points (up 2.2%). The BSE Mid cap and the BSE Small cap also gained 2% and 1.5% respectively. Profit booking was seen in select capital goods, power and FMCG stocks.

As regards global markets, most Asian indices closed in the positive today with India leading the pack of gainers. The rupee was trading at Rs 49.40 to the dollar at the time of writing.

ICICI Bank declared the results for the third quarter and first nine months of financial year 2011-2012 (1HFY12). The bank has reported 17% YoY growth in net interest income and 20% YoY growth in net profits for the third quarter. While its capital adequacy ratio was healthy at 18.9% at the end of December 2011, net NPAs improved to 0.7% of advances in 9mFY12 (1.2% in 9mFY11). ICICI Bank's advances grew by 19% YoY in 1HFY12. This was backed by 20% YoY growth in the deposit base. The proportion of low cost deposits (CASA) increased from 42% in 1HFY12 to 44% in 9mFY12 despite higher interest rates offered on term deposits. The stock closed 6% higher today and featured amongst the top gainers.

FMCG major Dabur India too declared the results for the third quarter of financial year 2011-2012 (3QFY12). The company's consolidated revenues for 3QFY12 increased by 34.6% YoY backed by robust sales performance recorded by all divisions. Its consumer care business recorded a 35% jump in sales. For 9mFY12, sales grew by 31.8% on a YoY basis. However higher raw material costs continued to weigh down the company's profitability. The cost of goods sold to sales ratio jumped to 50.6% from 48% in the year-ago quarter. Even the share of advertisement expenses in sales increased by 1.1% to 13.5% during the quarter. Resultantly, operating (EBITDA) margin fell by 350 basis points YOY during 3QFY12. The EBIDTA margin contracted by 2.4% during 9mFY12. At the net level, profits grew by a modest 11.9% YoY on a 10% rise in operating income. A six-fold jump in other income earned during the quarter was partially offset by a 240% jump in interest expense. For 9mFY12, net profit was up by 12.5% YoY.