TCS reported a relatively strong performance for Q3FY2 despite the macro challenges. While the net profits grew by 11% yoy to Rs10,846 crore for the quarter, the revenues were up 19.1% at Rs58,229 crore. The third quarter is traditionally weak, but this was a lot better. Revenues were up 13.5% in constant currency terms. North American markets were still vibrant while UK an Europe were relatively more challenging. It has maintained quarterly TCV of $8 billion and announced Rs67 special cash dividend in Q3.
There was moderation in growth of life insurance business in December after strong growth seen in November. New business premium (NBP), which had grown 30% in the previous month, grew by just about 10% in the current month. LIC saw tapering of its growth in the month. Overall LIC premia rose 3.7% while NBP for LIC grew by 10% yoy. Private insurers grew 15% on NBP. Among the larger private insurance players, HDFC Life’s NBP dropped 7.42%, ICICI Pru Life premia grew 5.37% while SBI life saw 30% growth.
Paytm witnessed 330% yoy increase in loan disbursals in December 2022. For the month of December 2022, Paytm had disbursed 3.7 million loans worth Rs3,665 crore with the number of loans growing by 117%. For the December quarter, the loan value rose 357% yoy to Rs9,958 crore. Even monthly transacting users (MTU) were up 32% at 85 million in December 2022. Total Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) grew 38% to Rs3.46 trillion for Q3FY23. Paytm has cash in the books to the tune of Rs918 crore as of Dec-22.
Zerodha Broking net profit for FY22 nearly doubled Rs2,094 crore in FY22 from Rs1,122 crore in FY21. Its operating revenues were up 82% on a yoy basis at Rs4,963 crore for FY22. Zerodha is fully bootstrapped and has not raised any funding from investors. Unlike its competitors like Groww and Upstox, Zerodha does not spend big money on advertising. It has more than 1.3 crore accounts with over 35 lakh accounts opened in the last one year. However, the company has admitted that the rate has been slowing for now.
International oil prices rose 3% on Monday as tourists and business travellers flocked to China with its borders opening up after 3 years. It had shut its borders in March 2020. Brent was trading higher at $80.94/bbl while WTI traded 3.25% higher at 76.17/bbl. This surge in travel is likely to boost demand for transportation fuels. However, Russia would continue to set the pace for oil prices in the coming months. There are also hopes of a less aggressive approach by the US Federal Reserve in terms of interest rates.
JSW Steel, India’s second largest steel producer, recorded combined crude steel production of 6.24 million tonnes in Q3FY23. That is 17% higher on a yoy basis. Even sequentially, JSW Steel saw 10% growth. The volumes from India operations at 6.06 million tonnes dominated Q3. It improved its capacity utilization in the quarter to 91%, leading to better absorption of costs. However, realizations are expected to have been 12% lower on a yoy basis due to price cuts during the quarter as well as the impact of contract resets.
Social media platform, Meta, appointed Vikas Purohit as Director of Global Business Group in India. He will be responsible for strategy and delivery. Purohit will head Meta’s work with India’s largest businesses and agency ecosystem. In his new role, Purohit will drive revenue growth across key channels in India. Purohit has over 20 years of experience in senior business and marketing positions and comes from Tata CLIQ. Earlier he also worked with Amazon, Reliance Brands, Aditya Birla Group as well as Tommy Hilfiger.
PTC India was locked in 5% upper circuit at Rs87.45 after reports that Gautam Adani was vying for a stake in the power trader. The potential deal also boosted the price of Adani Enterprises that has been driving most of the acquisitions for the group. Adani has been looking at developing its power trading business and PTC with its existing franchise perfectly fits in. PTC undertakes long-term trading of power generated from large power projects, and short-term trading arising as a result of supply and demand mismatches.
