Stocks Radar: DHFL, Bajaj Auto, Zee Entertainment, RCom, Titan

Indian equity benchmarks opened lower after rallying for two consecutive trading sessions.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index fell as much as 0.54 percent to 36,273.67 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index fell as much as 0.59 percent to 10,829.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 1,175 stocks declined and 477 shares advanced on the National Stock Exchange.

Ten out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE fell, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 1.6 percent decline. On the flip side, the NSE Media Index was the only sectoral gainer, up 0.01 percent.

Here Are The Stocks Moving The Market This Morning

Reliance Group Stocks Decline, RCom Falls Over 50%

Shares of Reliance Group companies declined, led by Reliance Communications, which fell over 50 percent intraday.

Reliance Communications said it will propose a similar debt resolution plan to the National Company Law Tribunal that it had been pursuing outside the court. (more details here)

Bajaj Auto January Sales Rise 15%, Shares Rebound

Shares of Bajaj Auto extended gains for the third day. The stock rose as much as 1.3 percent to Rs 2,635.

The two- and-three-wheeler maker sold 4.07 lakh units last month, an increase of 15 percent from January 2018, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key Sales Highlights (YoY)

• Domestic motorcycle sales rose 25 percent to 2.03 lakh units.
• Overall exports rose 16 percent to 1.75 lakh units.
• Motorcycle exports rose 17 percent to 1.47 lakh units.
• Motorcycle sales rose 21 percent to 3.5 lakh units.
• Commercial vehicle sales fell 12 percent to 56,690 units.
• Domestic sales rose 14 percent to 2.31 lakh units.

DHFL Extends Decline After Ratings Downgrade

Shares of the housing finance company fell for the sixth day, its longest losing streak since March 2018. The stock fell nearly 13 percent intraday to Rs 96.80.

Care Ratings downgraded Rs 1.2 lakh crore worth of bonds, loans and deposits issued by Dewan Housing Finance, citing a sharp reduction in its share price and significant rise in bond spreads.

Kapil Wadhawan, chairman and managing director at DHFL spoke to BloombergQuint. Here are the key highlights from the interaction:

• Allegations by Cobrapost were unfounded.
• Shareholders and bondholders need to focus on facts given by company.
• Absolute due diligence has been done by DHFL before giving loans.
• Voluntary action by rating agency comes in as a surprise to us.
• Rating agency cannot take actions based on share price and yield movement.
• Looking to push out an audit report on allegations within three weeks.

Xelpmoc Design Makes A Lacklustre Debut

Xelpmoc Design & Tech Ltd. listed at a discount of 13.64 percent to Rs 57 apiece on the National Stock Exchange, compared with its issue price of Rs 66. The information technology company fell as much as 16.4 percent thereafter.

Essel Group Stocks Decline

Shares of Essel Group companies declined in early trade. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. fell 7 percent to Rs 329.10. The stock was the worst performer on Nifty.

The Essel Group reached a formal agreement with lenders, that gives the Subhash Chandra-led group till September-end to bring in a strategic investor and deleverage. (click here to read the full story)

Titan Surges To Record High

Shares of the jewellery maker rose as much as 5.5 percent to to hit an all-time high of Rs 1,046.

The company's profit for the December-ended quarter beat estimates due to higher jewellery sales. (More details here)

Besides, is said that its interim Managing Director Bhaskar Bhat will retire on Sept. 30. and the company’s current Chief Executive Office of the its jewellery division CK Venkataraman will take over the post of the MD.

Key Earnings Highlights (Q3, YoY)

• Net sales up 34 percent at Rs 5,672 crore.
• Ebitda up 30.8 percent at Rs 585 crore.
• Ebitda margin at 10.3 percent versus 10.5 percent.
• Profit up 35 percent at Rs 416 crore.

Here’s what analysts had to say about Titan after its quarterly results announcement.

CLSA

• Maintained ‘Outperform’; hiked price target to Rs 1,100 from Rs 1,035.
• Strong December quarter driving earnings upgrade.
• Watches saw good revenue growth, but faced margin headwinds.
• January started on a slightly soft tone for jewellery, but management hopeful of pick-up in March.

Macquarie

• Maintained ‘Outperform’ with a price target of Rs 1,186.
• December quarter results significantly ahead of estimates on higher jewellery sales.
• Jewellery margin boosted by higher gross margin & lower A&P spends.
• Market share gain remains key thesis; Top pick in consumer space.

Edelweiss

• Maintained ‘Buy’; hiked price target to Rs 1,185 from Rs 990.
• Titan’s master strategies have translated into stellar results.
• Retain conviction that Titan is a strong play on discretionary spends.
• Titan to extend its growth run on market share gains, rising share of jewellery, new launches and retail expansion.