Stocks to Watch: Indian Hotels, TCS, Dabur, Bosch, Ashok Leyland, Insurance

Insurance related stocks could see some action as the India Protection Quotient (IPQ) survey 4, stated that term insurance ownership has gone up from 36 per cent to 43 per cent in the last two years.

The key benchmark indices are likely to start trade on a negative note as the Russia-Ukraine crisis continue to weigh on the global markets. The monthly F&O expiry could add to the volatility today. As of 08:00 AM, the SGX Nifty futures quoted at 16,820, indicating a gap-down of nearly 250 points on the Nifty 50 index. Meanwhile, here are the top stocks in focus for trade on Thursday.

Indian Hotels: Tata Sons, the parent company of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), plans to dilute its stake by up to 8 per cent in the hotel major, as the hospitality giant is looking to raise around Rs 2,000 crore via qualified institutional placement (QIP) in the next two weeks. IHCL will use the proceeds to reduce its consolidated debt worth Rs 1,905 crore (as of December last year). READ MORE

Ashok Leyland: Hitachi Energy is all set to introduce an innovative flash-charging technology that will be able to recharge electric buses within 20 seconds, from several hours currently. A pilot project will be launched at IIT Madras, in association with Ashok Leyland within a month's time. READ MORE

Sanofi India: The company’s net profit declined 18.5 per cent to Rs 132.20 crore in Q3FY21 as against Rs 162.40 crore in Q3FY20. Total income was down 4.3 per cent at Rs 704.20 crore from Rs 736.50 crore.

TCS: The IT major has made changes to its leadership roles in North America. As part of the changes Suresh Muthuswami has been elevated to the role of chairman, North America, said sources in the know. This is one of the most significant leadership changes the company has announced for the region. READ MORE

Insurance: Indians are buying more term plans now as term insurance ownership has gone up to 43 per cent from 39 per cent last year, revealed the India Protection Quotient (IPQ) survey 4. This is despite life insurance ownership remaining unchanged at 78, signifying the fact that consumers are now diversifying their insurance holdings and building a holistic portfolio. The term insurance ownership has gone up from 36 per cent to 43 per cent in two years’ time. READ MORE

Voda Idea: The British telecom giant Vodafone is in discussions to sell around 5 per cent stake in Indus Towers to Bharti Airtel, according to industry sources. The stake is estimated to be valued at over Rs 3,300 crore, and the proceeds will be pumped into the Indian entity Vodafone Idea, PTI reported. READ MORE

Maruti: The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday launched the all new version of its premium hatchback Baleno - in a renewed push to maintain its leadership position in the premium hatchback segment. The new Baleno has a new K 12 engine and design tweaks, but the most dramatic addition is that of internet features, including a customisable advanced voice assist feature. READ MORE

Future Retail: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday directed Amazon and Future Group to approach National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for speedy disposal of the US ecommerce firm's case challenging Competition Commission of India’s (CCI's) order which cancelled its 2019 deal with Future Coupons. The SC has listed the case to be heard next on March 9. READ MORE

Dabur: The company has entered into an exclusive partnership with Indian Oil Corporation to provide direct access of the former’s range of products to around 140 million Indane LPG consumer households across India. The initiative will help Dabur leverage Indian Oil’s reach to Indian households, the latter’s personel will distribute booklets and fulfill delivery obligations too. READ MORE

Bosch: The company has acquired a minority 26 per cent stake in B2B eCommerce auto spares, garage equipment and accessories Autozilla Solutions.  The acquisition allows Bosch to participate in a digital B2B-marketplace for the independent aftermarket (IAM) in the domestic market, will help it in easing auto spares procurement, the company said in a statement. READ MORE

Gammon India: The company’s Q3 net loss expanded to Rs 182.36 crore in the quarter ended December 2021 when compared with a loss of Rs 161.82 crore in the quarter ended December 2020. Total income slumped 48.6 per cent YoY to Rs 13.74 crore.

TVS Motor Company: The Chennai-based two wheeler major has clocked 1 million units of exports for the first time ever in a fiscal year in FY21-22. The key exports include the TVS Apache series, TVS HLX series, TVS Raider, and TVS Neo series.

Federal-Mogul Goetze (India): Pegauss Holdings has made an open offer to acquire up to 25 per cent equity stake (1.39 crore shares) of Federal-Mogul at Rs 275 each. The total consideration for the open offer is Rs 382.80 crore. The stock last traded at Rs 251.25 on Wednesday.

NBFCs: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in the upper and middle layer, with ten or more fixed point service delivery units as of October 1, 2022, will have to mandatorily implement “Core Financial Services Solution (CFSS)” by September 30, 2025, a system akin to the Core Banking Solution used by banks. READ MORE

AGS Transact Technologies: The company informed BSE that Crisil Ratings has reaffirmed its rating – CRISIL A+/ Stable on the company’s long-term loan facilities up to Rs 900 crore.

Piramal Enterprises: The company’s board is scheduled to meet on February 28 to consider a proposal to issue NCDs up to Rs 100 crore, with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 400 crore.

Suzlon: The company’s board is scheduled to meet on February 27 to consider a proposal for raising funds via preferential issue of equity shares.

Aptech: The company’s board approved restoring and reclassifying the business operations of the Institutional Business (EBG) as “Continued Operations” which in February 2021 were approved by the board as “Discontinued Operations”.

Black Box: The company’s board is scheduled to meet on March 14 to consider a proposal for stock split.

Nandan Denim: The company has fixed March 21 as the record date for the proposed 2:1 bonus share issue.

Results Watch: Frontline Financial Services, KSB, Linde India and Vesuvius to announce December quarter results today.

Stocks in F&O ban: Indiabulls Housing Finance, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Voda Idea are the only three stocks in the F&O ban period on Thursday.