Dr Lal PathLabs has received market regulator Sebi’s approval to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).

Leading diagnostic chain Dr Lal PathLabs has received market regulator Sebi’s approval to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).

The company filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi on September 14 for the IPO, wherein the promoters and other existing shareholders will collectively sell 1.16 crore shares of the company amounting to 14.1 per cent stake.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has cleared the proposed initial share sale and gave its final observations on the IPO on November 3.

The total amount of funds to be raised through the public offer would depend on the offer price to be decided later.

Those participating in the share sale include main promoter Arvind Lal, as also other investors such as Wagner Ltd, Westbridge Crossover Fund and Sanjeevini Investment Holdings Ltd.

As per the DRHP filed with Sebi, the IPO would be made through an offer for sale and the proceeds would be remitted to the respective promoters and other investors and therefore the company will not receive any proceeds from the offer.

Kotak Mahindra Capital and Citigroup Global Markets India are the book running lead managers for the IPO.

The company said it is well-positioned to leverage upon one of the fastest-growing segments of the Indian healthcare industry.

Its total revenue rose to Rs 640 crore in the fiscal ended March 31, 2015, from Rs 544 crore in the previous year, while profit after tax rose to nearly Rs 88 crore from Rs 74 crore during the same period.

Since the beginning of 2015, as many as 39 companies filed draft documents with Sebi to float IPOs. In the same period, the market watchdog gave approval to 30 firms to launch their initial share sale plans, some of which were pending from previous year.

So far this year, 18 companies have launched their IPOs and have collectively raised about nearly Rs 11,000 crore, making it the best period in four years in terms of fund raising through initial share-sale programmes.

In comparison, six IPOs had hit the market in the entire 2014 and together garnered just Rs 1,261 crore, while three firms had launched their public issues in 2013 to mobilise Rs 1,284 crore.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened in red on Tuesday tracking weak global cues. Sensex opened 27.31 points down at 26,094.09. (Express photo by Heena Khandelwal)

2.17 pm: Cox & Kings owned Meininger Hotels has signed an agreement for the Meininger Hotel in Spain, which will be located on Gran Via in the south-west part of the city. The 186 room and 682 bed hotel is scheduled to open by the end of 2018. The proposed hotel is ideally located in an important area of Barcelona at a main avenue of the city and connected to the city centre as well as the airport by good access to public transportation. The share price of the company was 2.06 per cent at Rs 253. Sensex was down 188 points at 25,933.

1.43 pm: GVK Power & Infrastructure’s consolidated net loss narrowed to Rs 123.5 crore during the quarter ended September 30, on higher income from operations particularly power and airports segments. The company posted net loss of Rs 235.57 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2014. Shares of GVK Power was up 4.22 per cent at Rs 7.90. The scrip opened at Rs 7.61 and had touched a high and low of Rs 8.19 and Rs 7.52, respectively, in trade so far. Sensex was down 254 points at 25,867.

1.32 pm: Meanwhile, National Buildings Construction Corporation has informed BSE that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has conveyed its intent to entrust the work for development of JPN Trauma Centre Campus at AIIMS to NBCC. The share price of NBCC was up 0.34 per cent in the afternoon trade. Sensex was down 266 points at 25,855.

1.28 pm: The Indian government is planning to sell a 5 per cent stake in state-run Container Corp, a notice seeking interest from investment banks to manage the sale worth about $200 million at current market price showed. The government, which owns 61.8 per cent of Container Corp, will sell the stake through a stock market auction. The share price of Container Corporation was up 1.46 per cent at Rs 1,421. 

1.18 pm: Tata Steel has joined hands with a leading UAE-based petrochemical company, aimed at broadening its market base for energy sector products in the Middle East. Recognising the need to have local representation in Abu Dhabi, Tata Steel has announced collaboration with International Development Company (IDC) which will support it in obtaining national oil company approvals, that are required in the region.

The share price of Tata Steel was trading 1.96 per cent down at Rs 217.80. Sensex was down 230 points at 25,981.

1.11 pm: Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) was down over 5 per cent after the firm reported a net loss of Rs 320.50 crore for the July-September quarter.

12.40 pm: Sensex was down 250 points at 25,870. In the 30-share index, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Axis Bank were up 1.99 per cent, 1.33 per cent and 1.12 per cent, respectively.

11.59 am: Shares of Gammon Infrastructure gained as much as 10 per cent in the morning trade on Tuesday after the company informed BSE that its wholly owned subsidiary – Pravara Renewable Energy (PREL), has completely synchronized its 30MW bagasse based cogeneration power project at Pravaranagar, Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra on November 06, 2015 and started the commercial production of electricity and export of power to state grid.

11.39 am: Brokers said sentiments remained bearish on sustained foreign fund outflows and a weak trend at other Asian markets, tracking overnight losses at the US markets as poor Chinese data and a fall in crude oil prices weighed on the market. Nifty 50 index was down 51.45 points at 7,863.

11.32 am: NHPC shares jumped over 3 per cent on Tuesday after the company on Monday posted a 72.62 per cent jump in its net profit in the September quarter, even as the company announced it is in talks with private firms to buy stake in hydro-power projects in Arunachal Pradesh. Sensex was down 150 points at 25,970.

10.53 am: Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) was down around 4 per cent on Tuesday. ONGC on Friday reported a 11 per cent drop in September quarter net profit as slumping global crude prices hurt its revenues. Net profit in the July-September quarter at Rs 4,842.02 crore was 11 per cent lower than Rs 5,444.89 crore clocked in the same period of last fiscal.

10.41 am: Meanwhile, Havells India reported 0.93 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 120.72 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as compared to Rs 119.61 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, the company’s total income has decreased by 1.24 per cent to Rs 1,359.41 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 1,376.54 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The share price of the company was down 0.12 per cent at Rs 258.

10.10 am: InterGlobe Aviation, which runs no-frills carrier IndiGo, made a strong debut on the bourses on Tuesday at an opening price of Rs 856 on BSE and Rs 855.80 on NSE. The shares surged over 15 per cent against the issue price of Rs 765 in the early trade. Sensex was down 148 points at 25,972.

9.55 am: Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down
0.85 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.75 per cent in early trade today. Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.81 per cent.

9.41 am: The rupee rose by 5 paise at 66.39 against the US dollar in early trade today on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters.

9.34 am: Leading diagnostic chain Dr Lal PathLabs has received market regulator Sebi’s approval to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO). The company filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi on September 14 for the IPO, herein the promoters and other existing shareholders will collectively sell 1.16 crore shares of the company amounting to 14.1 per cent stake. Sensex was down 128.40 points at 25,993.

9.23 am: Sensex was down 143 points at 25,978. Nifty was down 40.35 points at 7,874. InterGlobe Aviation, which runs no-frills carrier IndiGo, will list its shares on the stock exchanges on Tuesday. The equity shares would be listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as well as BSE. The company has raised Rs 3,008.5 crore at issue price of Rs 765 per share from its recently concluded, over-subscribed initial public offering (IPO).

9.15 am: The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened in red on Tuesday tracking weak global cues. Sensex opened 27.31 points down at 26,094.09. Nifty opened 37.60 points down at 7,877.60.

Asian shares slipped to one-month lows on Tuesday as the spectre of higher borrowing costs in the United States and slower global economic growth prompted investors to trim their exposure to riskier assets.

Back home, the BSE Sensex staged a spectacular recovery from over 600-point deficit logged in early trade on Monday, but settled 144 points lower at 26,121.40 on BJP-led NDA’s defeat in Bihar assembly polls.

Vinod Nair, head, fundamental research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said, “The market has been volatile with a negative bias as the Bihar election results influenced the sentiments of investors on Monday. This impact may be short lived as the market recovered from its low of 7,771 to close at 7,915. Going forward, the market is likely to focus on policy reforms and global events like US FED policy & Chinese data.”

Indian rupee extending it weakness for the third straight day on Monday depreciated substantially against dollar on strong demand for American currency from banks and importers, amid sharp surge in dollar globally on data showing a stronger-than-expected rise in US non-farm payrolls in October. Besides, sell-off in the equity market also hit the rupee sentiment. The Indian rupee slumped to over 1-month low. This is the lowest level of the rupee since September 16 when it had hit 66.51. Finally, the rupee ended at 66.44, 68 paise weaker from its previous close of 65.76 on Friday.

Stock markets will remain closed on Wednesday and Thursday for Diwali Laxmi pujan and Diwali Balipratipada, except for a one-hour Muhurat trading on Wednesday evening. Both the stock exchanges, Bombay stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), will conduct a special Muhurat Trading session on account of Diwali on November 11. Trading would be conducted between 5.45 pm and 6.45 pm on the day.

(With inputs from agencies)

Market observers said the BJP’s defeat in Bihar raises risks of opposition intransigence in legislative policymaking and shifts focus on the reform policy response of the government. (Photo: PTI)

Indian equities plummeted on Monday as investors feared the BJP’s crushing loss in the Bihar state election might stymie the reform process, but recovered later in the day. The rupee also lost ground, slipping to 66.4475 against the dollar, a fall of 1% over Friday’s closing, while the yield on the 10-year benchmark shot up to 7.749% levels in intra-day trade.

Market observers said the BJP’s defeat in Bihar raises risks of opposition intransigence in legislative policymaking and shifts focus on the reform policy response of the government. Citigroup Capital Markets described the BJP’s loss in Bihar as a “political pothole” that will bring some temporary discomfort for the markets. “The BJP loses big. This will likely hurt the market by 2-4% in the near term given a break in BJP’s momentum and dominance. (Though) we stay positive on the economic cycle, and the market,” Aditya Narain, MD and India strategist, Citi, wrote in a note.
Currency expert Jamal Mecklai believes exporters and importers stayed away and that the currency slid primarily on position-taking by market participants.

Sanjeev Prasad, senior ED and co-head (strategy), Kotak Institutional Equities, said the result of the Bihar election is not expected to have an immediate impact on the economic reforms agenda, and that the market will likely focus more on the weak Q2FY16 results and weaker underlying trends. “The Indian market is trading at reasonable valuations but will require the support of economic reforms, recovery and earnings,” Prasad said.

Prasad  added that second quarter net profit of 44 Nifty companies have declined 5.1% y-o-y, while Ebitda is down 2.9% y-o-y.

“The underlying trends of volumes, order booking and NPLs indicate that economic recovery remains elusive. Valuations appear reasonable but will become pricier as we expect further earnings cuts for our FY16 and FY17 estimates,” Prasad said.

Odds that the US Federal Reserve will increase borrowing costs at its December meeting rose to 68% on Friday compared with 56% Thursday and also weighed on Indian and most Asian equities. The US economy added 271,000 jobs in October, exceeding the 185,000 jobs that economists had forecast, raising expectations of a rise in US interest rates in December for the first time since December 2008.

Benchmark indices declined for the fourth straight session on Monday and have seen losses in 10 out of the previous 11 sessions. After losing more than 600 points, the Sensex ended down 143.84 points or 0.55% at 26121.40. The Nifty settled at 7915, down 39.10 or 0.5%. The broader market outperformed frontline stocks to end higher led by gains in consumer staples, consumer durables, and automobile companies.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold $130 million of equities in the cash segment on Monday. Overseas funds have pulled out $180 million in the last 11 sessions. So far this year, FPIs have bought $4.4 billion, Bloomberg data showed.

Seven out of 11 sectoral indices ended in the red led by healthcare, realty and capital goods. Sun Pharma (-5.82%) and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (-3.44%) dragged the BSE Healthcare index down nearly 1.5%.

The BSE Realty index fell 2.2%, while BSE Capital Goods Index declined 0.62%. Larsen & Toubro, the country’s largest engineering company, dropped to its lowest level since May 2014. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, the top two private lenders by assets, slid 1.5%.

Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) reported an Ebitda at Rs 220 crore (est Rs 250 crore; -31% YoY, flat on adj. basis)  that was below estimate led by lower-than-expected volumes and tariff. Reported PAT lower than estimates at R110 crore (est Rs 130 crore ; -36% YoY, -4% QoQ) due to higher interest and lower other income.

We model (a) transmission tariff at R1,125/1,200/mscm in FY16/FY17 v/s actual 1,113/mscm in FY15 and (b) volumes at 25.5/27.5mmscmd in FY16/FY17 v/s actual 23mmscmd in FY15.Medium term risk is some volumes (~5mmscmd) going away once RIL starts its petcoke gasification project. While, PNGRB tariff revision is an upside risk to our estimates and 10% tariff increase could increase our FY17 EPS by 8%.

2QFY16 transmission volumes were below expectations at 24.3mmscmd (est. 26.5mmscmd; flat YoY, +1% QoQ) despite incremental volumes from power sector (increase could be towards end of the quarter).  Implied transmission tariff was below estimate at Rs 1,068/mscm (est Rs 1,130 and v/s Rs 1,126/mscm in 1QFY16) and could be due to 50% lower tariffs for incremental volumes for power sector under government’s scheme.

GSPL is the 2nd largest gas transmission company in India with 2,239Kms of high pressure gas pipeline network and 31mmscmd of firm GTAs for gas transmission to various industries and CGD networks in the state of Gujarat. GSPL’s parent, GSPC owns 37.7% stake in GSPL.