indian stock market

The bank has been able to maintain steady asset quality in spite of its exposure to truck financing. August 3, 2013: Recent measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to curb liquidity and arrest the steep fall in the rupee have sent most banking stocks hurtling down. Among those that have borne the brunt is IndusInd Bank, which has corrected 16 per cent in the last one month. The concern has been due to the bank’s higher dependence on costlier wholesale short-term deposits. This could increase its cost of funds in the near term and impact its net interest margin (NIM). While NIM may see some pressure in the short term, the long term prospects of the bank still seem strong. Its earnings have grown at an annual average of 45 per cent over the past three years. The bank has improved its return on assets significantly from 1.1 per cent in 2009-10 to 1.8 per cent bringing it on par with most leading private sector banks. A growing and well diversified loan book, improvi...

Invest in companies where the management ensures the highest return on the invested money I strongly believe that the single most important number, at least for me, when considering investment in stocks, is return on equity or RoE (this is the number that Moneylife relies on the most, though we look at other parameters too.—Editor). It is essentially profit after tax (PAT) expressed as a percentage of the total net worth (or shareholders’ funds, as the Americans refer to it). In simple words, it tells me how efficiently the company uses shareholders’ money and how much it earns with that money. All other things—market share, brand value, corporate governance, competencies, etc—are secondary. If a company is good, its numbers should ultimately get reflected in superior earnings. No one wants to invest in a company that makes the right noises, but does not earn enough ‘bang on the buck’, as they say. One of the first things I look for is that RoE, in the Indian context, should not be ...

The strong demand from the auto replacement side and the pick-up in industrial battery sales are positives for the company. September 22, 2012: A robust replacement market for automotive batteries and improved industrial battery sales have put Amara Raja Batteries (ARBL) in a sweet spot. Investors with a perspective of at least one year can buy the stock. The company derives about 60 per cent of its revenues from the auto segment, where it counts Ford, Maruti, Hyundai, Honda, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, and Tafe among its clients. The industrial division, in which the company primarily makes telecom and UPS batteries, brings in the rest of the revenues. At the current market price of Rs 401, the stock trades at a price to earnings ratio of about 12.5 times its estimated earnings for 2012-13. This is at a justifiable discount to the bigger peer Exide Industries, which trades at 20 times estimated FY13 earnings. While the stock has moved up by about 82 per cent since o...

NEW DELHI: With an aim to encourage an investment culture in the country, market regulator Sebi today announced no-frills or basic trading accounts for retail individual investors with no charges applicable for holdings up to Rs 50,000. The investors can hold securities worth up to Rs two lakh in these no-frills accounts, to be called Basic Services Demat Account (BSDA), but the charges would be capped at a maximum of Rs 100 a year for funds exceeding Rs 50,000. There will be no Annual Maintenance Charges if the value of holding in these accounts is up to Rs 50,000, Sebi said in a circular. The move follows a facility of no-frills savings account already in place at various banks as per directions of the banking sector regulator RBI ( Reserve Bank of India ). Investors can hold stocks, mutual funds and other securities in these accounts and Sebi has asked the depositories to facilitate opening of such accounts with effect from October 1, 2012. Sebi said that investors would ...

Investment tips: How to pick potential stocks 18 Dec, 2011, 0546 hrs IST , Kavita Sriram , ET Bureau After the correction, the markets have almost reached the bottom. Perhaps, this may be the ideal time to add some new stocks to your basket. Here are some popular stock-picking strategies: Bottom up investing Here, the investor filters stocks of companies that have inherently strong fundamentals . Companies are evaluated for strength and efficiency of the management team as well. The ability of the management team in strategic decision-making and building value is a significant contributor to a company's growth. In a bottom up investing approach, it must be noted that the investor picks a company's stocks based on its performance and fundamentals and not on performance of the sector. Historical performance of the company and its growth prospects also help assess it. This approach is usually considered a narrow strategy where the broader economic climate and ind...

Investment Focus - Cipla: Buy Srividhya Sivakumar   November 26, 2011: Investors looking for long-term additions to their portfolio can use the ongoing market correction to accumulate the stock of Cipla. Improving financial performance, better utilisation of its newly set up manufacturing facility at Indore SEZ, besides promising growth prospects make the stock an attractive investment bet. At the current market price of Rs 316, the stock trades at about 20 times its likely FY13 per share earnings. This seems justified considering the company's strong generic pipeline, entry into bio-similars and the likely commercialisation of its CFC-free inhalers in the next couple of years. A manageable debt on its books is also a positive. In the quarter ended September 2011, Cipla reported a 10 per cent increase in sales to Rs 1,732 crore and 17 per cent increase in profits to Rs 309 crore. While its domestic business grew by about 12 per cent (48 per cent of total sales), exports...

November 12, 2011: A varied product mix, backward integration, strong export standing and low valuations make the stock of Alok Industries a good bet in the textile space for investors with a 2-3 year perspective. At Rs 20, the stock trades at four times trailing four-quarter earnings, at a steep discount to closest comparable Bombay Rayon Fashions. Ranged presence: Over the past two years, Alok has gradually brought polyester yarn into its product offering to diversify out of its cotton concentration. In international markets, man-made textiles have a stronger presence than natural fibres such as cotton. In the first six months of this financial year, polyester accounted for as much as 36 per cent of revenues. It also deepened product lines; for instance, it introduced terry towels in the home textiles segment. Alok's product range includes apparel fabric, garments, home textiles, and polyester and cotton yarn. Alok derives about a third of sales from exports. While the biggest...