Business News at 05:30 pm on 9th November 2023

Let’s begin, Bajaj Consumer Care on Thursday recorded Q2 profit for the financial year 2023-24 at Rs 37.28 crore, up 17.8 per cent in comparison to Rs 31.66 crore during the same quarter last year. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 234.85 crore, up 1 per cent as against Rs 232.45 crore during the second quarter of FY23. While the total income recorded by Bajaj Consumer Care was at Rs 246.25 crore, the company incurred total expenditure of Rs 200.86 crore during the quarter ended September 2023. Bajaj Almonds Drops Hair Oil range recorded value growth of ~2 per cent in H1FY24 with 4 per cent volume growth and the company said that the large packs performed better than sachet and mid packets.

On the other hand, Global Health Limited released its second quarter earnings for the financial year 2023-24 with profit at Rs 125.16 crore, up 46.1 per cent in comparison to Rs 85.68 crore during the same period last year. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 843.94 crore, up 24.3 per cent as against Rs 679.06 crore during the quarter ended September 2023. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 213 crore, up 36 per cent on-year. Global Health posted total income during Q2 at Rs 864.69 crore, up 24.5 per cent from Rs 694.57 crore during the same period last year. However, total expenditure incurred by the company during the quarter ended September 2023 was at Rs 694.09 crore.

Now let’s talk market, JB Chemicals &Pharmaceuticals’ shares soared over 5% to hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,536.25 a day after the company posted a 36% surge in profit after tax at Rs 151 crore in the second quarter of FY25 compared to Rs 111 crore in Q2FY23. The company’s revenue in the quarter under review stood at Rs 882 crore, as against Rs 809 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals said in a statement. JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals have been on a winning streak, treating investors with impressive returns over the last one year. The share price has gained 8.29% in the last five days, 3.55% in the last one month, 47.50% in the last six months and a whopping 55.18% year to date.

On to some exciting news. The government issued directives to online travel aggregators to expedite the processing of pending refunds for air ticket bookings made during the lockdown period imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown, which commenced on March 25, 2020, several scheduled commercial flight services were suspended for a certain duration, a multitude of passengers had their travel plans disrupted. Failure to comply could lead to legal action, including the filing of a contempt petition before the Supreme Court against non-compliant platforms.

Meanwhile, Automotive sales in October 2023 has seen several SUVs making it to the top 10 list, clearly showing a transition amongst buyers who want more in a vehicle. The introduction of facelift models has helped carmakers sell more SUVs, while hatchback sales are also on the rise. As usual, Maruti Suzuki leads sales with six models in the top 10 list. The Maruti Suzuki Wagon R and the Swift take the first two places, having sold 22,080 units and 20,598 units respectively in October 2023, posting a YoY growth of 23 percent and 20 percent. The Tata Nexon takes third place with 16,887 units sold during October 2023, registering a growth of 23 percent.

Next up, Good news for rail travellers! Southern Railway has planned to operate Special trains on several routes in view of the upcoming festival – Diwali. This move from Southern Railway is taken in order to clear an extra rush of passengers during the festive season. It may be noted that the ticket bookings for the special trains have commenced and the facility is available in both online and offline mode. For Online mode, the ticket can be booked through the official portal of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and its mobile application. For offline mode, the passengers need to visit the PRS counter at the stations.

Lastly, the benchmark equity indices ended Thurday’s trading session in reds territory. The NSE Nifty 50 dropped 48.20 points or 0.25% to settle at 19,395.30, while the BSE Sensex slums143.41 points to 64,832.20. The broader indices ended largely in reds with the down fall led by smallcap 100 and Nifty Next 50. Bank Nifty index gained 24.95 points or 0.06% to 43,683.60. FMCG and Oils&Gas stocks led the drop among the other sectoral indices dropped 1% each, while Realty, Auto and Health care stocks remained in green. Mahindra and Mahindra, Apollo Hospitals, Coal India, Power Grid and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers on the NSE Nifty 50, while the laggers were Adani Enterprises, Hindustan Uniliver, Adani Ports, TATA Consumer Products and ONGC.