Q2 Results 2024: Hindustan Zinc, Jio Financial Services, Tata Consumer Products, others releasing Q2 report today

The company said that its consolidated loan book grew by 18 per cent YoY, reaching its highest since the first quarter of the fiscal ended March 31, 2020

Sudipta Roy, Managing Director & CEO, LTF, said, “Our company has been able to demonstrate sustainable growth and profits through proactive portfolio management and persistent collection strategies. The second quarter of the current financial year has been challenging on account of multiple sectoral headwinds and a volatile macro environment. Looking ahead, we expect that the sectoral challenges may persist for the next two quarters and apropos to the same, we may dynamically recalibrate our business objectives in the coming quarters, prioritizing positive credit outcome over assets under management growth.”

“We remain optimistic about our go-forward strategy and despite ongoing sectoral challenges, we remain focused on our overall transformation agenda and granular execution towards the same continues unabated,” he added.

L&T Finance Ltd on Friday posted its fiscal second quarter profit at Rs 695.58 crore, up 16.9 per cent in comparison to Rs 595.11 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY24. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 4,019.34 crore, up 25.1 per cent as against Rs 3,213.84 crore during the second quarter of previous financial year. NII for the quarter in review stood at Rs 2,051 crore. L&T Finance maintained Net Interest Margins (NIMs) + Fees stable at 10.86 per cent.

Arun Agarwal, Chief Financial Officer, Mastek, said, “We are pleased to deliver strong financial performance with revenue of Rs 867 crore, a growth of 13.3% on Y-o-Y basis. We reported operating EBITDA margin of 16.5%, reflecting improvement of 125 bps QoQ after incorporating partial wage hikes in the quarter. Despite ongoing geopolitical developments, our deal pipeline continues to remain strong, with an order backlog of Rs 2,195 crore, a growth of 17.9% on Y-o-Y basis. We are confident in our ability to sustain healthy topline growth and profitability in the coming quarters.”

The company’s 12 months order backlog was Rs 2,194.7 crore ($261.9 mn) as on 30th September, 2024 as compared to Rs 1,861.8 crore ($224.2 mn) in Q2FY24, reflecting growth of 17.9 per cent in rupee terms and 10.9 per cent in constant currency terms on YoY basis.

As on 30th September, 2024, Mastek had a total of 5,505 employees, of which 3,821 employees were based offshore in India while the rest were at various onsite locations. Employee count at the end of 30th June, 2024 stood at 5,546. Last twelve months attrition came in at 20.1 per cent in Q2FY25.

Umang Nahata, Chief Executive Officer, Mastek, said, “We are pleased to report another strong quarter with revenue growth of 6.7% Q-o-Q. I am delighted to report QoQ growth of 18% in North Americas led by strong performance across sectors. Our UK & Europe business continues to deliver steady growth backed by momentum in the Healthcare portfolio. We continue to focus on our strategic priorities while taking a sharp AI-first approach across all operations, enhancing our delivery capabilities, and developing innovative AI-driven solutions. I remain committed to Mastek’s continued growth driven by our strategic growth pillars.”

Mastek Ltd on Friday reported a profit of Rs 128.65 crore for the second quarter of FY25, posting a growth of 104.8 per cent in comparison to Rs 62.82 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY24. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 867.39 crore, up 13.3 per cent as against Rs 765.54 crore during the same period of previous financial year. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 143.1 crore, up 16.3 per cent YoY.

The company board also declared an interim dividend of Rs 5.50 per equity share i.e. at the rate of 55.0 per cent of face value of Rs 10 each, for the financial year ended March 31, 2025. “The interim dividend will be paid to the equity shareholders of the company, whose names appear in the register of members of the company or in the records of depositories as beneficial owners of the shares as on the record date i.e. Monday, October 28, 2024. The Interim Dividend will be paid to the equity shareholders of the Company on or before Saturday, November 16, 2024,” it said in a regulatory filing.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd on Friday released its second quarter earnings for FY25 with profit at Rs 693.95 crore, up 20.2 per cent in comparison to Rs 577.27 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY24.

GDPI of the company stood at Rs 6721.00 crore in Q2FY25 as against Rs 6086.00 crore in Q2FY2024, posting a growth of 10.4 per cent. This growth was higher than industry growth of 2.0 per cent, it said. Excluding crop and mass health, GDPI growth of the company came in at 9.4 per cent, which was higher than the industry growth of 6.9 per cent in Q2FY25.

The company’s combined ratio—a measure of profitability—stood at 104.5 per cent in Q2FY25 as against 103.9 per cent in Q2FY24. Excluding the impact of CAT losses of Rs 94 crore in Q2, the combined ratio was 102.6 per cent.

Jio Financial Services Ltd on Friday reported a profit growth of 3.1 per cent for the fiscal second quarter at Rs 689.07 crore in comparison to Rs 668.18 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY24. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 693.50 crore, up 14.1 per cent as against Rs 608.04 crore during the same period of previous financial year. The company’s net worth as on September 30, 2024 stood at Rs 1,37,144 crore.

Sunil D’Souza, Managing Director & CEO of Tata Consumer Products, said, “We delivered a topline growth of 13% in Q2 FY25, with an EBITDA growth of 11%. During the quarter, we recorded continued growth & market share gain in the India salt business, strong growth in Tata Sampann & Tata Soulful. Our India tea business was impacted by subdued category trends. With the integration completed for both Capital Foods and Organic India, we are starting to see strong synergy benefits and both businesses witnessed strong quarter-on-quarter growth. Tata Starbucks reached the milestone of being the largest café operator by store count, with 457 stores across 70 cities. We delivered strong performance in the International Business along with significant margin expansion led by strong revenue growth in the UK and earlier structural interventions.”

“In India, we continued to strengthen our Sales & Distribution infrastructure with the rollout of a new Distributor Management system, centralized planning & dispatch capability and an auto replenishment system. Modern trade and e-commerce continue to be strong contributors to our growth. In addition, we are incubating new channels (Food Services/HoReCa and Pharmacies) to fuel growth,” he added.

For the quarter, Tata Consumer Products recorded 3 per cent revenue growth in its India beverages segment (-4 per cent excluding Organic India) impacted by subdued demand environment. The foods segment recorded revenue growth of 28 per cent (+9 per cent excluding Capital Foods).

Meanwhile, the international business posted revenue growth of 7% (+5 per cent constant currency). The profitability in the international business, it said, improved significantly led by strong topline in the UK business and structural interventions made earlier.

Tata Consumer Products Ltd on Friday reported its fiscal second quarter profit at Rs 359.34 crore, almost similar to Rs 359.18 crore recorded during the second quarter of FY24, however, it surpassed estimates. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 4214.45 crore, up 12.9 per cent in comparison to Rs 3733.78 crore recorded during the corresponding quarter of previous financial year. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 626.3 crore.

According to a CNBC TV18 poll, Tata Consumer Products was expected to post Q2 profit of Rs 337.3 crore and revenue was estimated at Rs 4320 crore.

Hindustan Zinc announced the cessation of Harsha Kedia as the Company Secretary and Compliance Officer with effect from the close of business hours on Monday, October 28, 2024. In a regulatory filing, Hindustan Zinc said, “The Company is in the process of appointing a suitable candidate as Company Secretary & Compliance Officer of the Company, in the interim, the Board authorized Ms. Roopal Gupta, qualified Company Secretary, to make necessary disclosures /intimations /general correspondence on behalf of the Company as required under SEBI Listing Regulations.”

Hindustan Zinc Ltd on Friday reported its fiscal second quarter earnings with profit at Rs 2,327 crore, up 34.6 per cent in comparison to Rs 1,729 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY24. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 8,004 crore, up 20.9 per cent as against Rs 6,619 crore during the same period of previous financial year. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 4,123 crore.

Elara Securities said, “LTIMindtree’s Q2 performance was strong led by robust deal wins. The pipeline continues to be strong (>USD 5bn), which with steady TCV provides visibility for future growth. Q3 will have furlough impact on revenues, while wage hikes should drag margins. In the medium term, LTIM may benefit from deal momentum and vendor consolidation opportunities. The company continues to aspire for 17-18% EBIT margin (a major building block is returning to double-digit revenue growth, which is possible as and when the macro turns favorable in our view).”

Aether Industries Ltd on Friday reported fiscal second quarter profit at Rs 34.80 crore, posting a decline of 5.1 per cent in comparison to Rs 36.68 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY24. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 198.80 crore, up 21.1 per cent as against Rs 164.17 crore during the same period of previous financial year. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 53.4 crore, up 16.6 per cent YoY.

Arun Agarwal, VP-Fundamental Research, Kotak Securities, said, “CEAT’s revenue growth of 8 per cent in Q2FY25 was supported by replacement, export and two-wheeler OEM segment. Gross margin and EBITDA margin declined yoy and qoq due to rise in raw material cost basket. While most of the companies in tyre segment have taken price increases, however further price hike is important to offset raw material cost headwind and for the companies to return to their earlier gross /EBITDA margin levels.”

Centrum Broking said, “Havells India’s sales grew 17% YoY to Rs 45.3bn, broadly in-line with our estimate, led by improvement in consumer demand. Key segments driving growth were cables (+23% YoY), ECD (+17% YoY) and Lloyd (+19% YoY). Gross margin rose 50bps YoY to 33.8%. Ad-spend jumped 54% YoY to Rs1.3bn (at 2.9% of sales, up 70bps YoY) due to festive season starting early in Q2. Aided by higher other income, PAT grew 9% YoY to Rs2.7bn, but was below our/consensus estimate of Rs3.4bn/Rs3.3bn due to operating margin miss.

As per management, consumer spending is showing signs of improvement due to the ongoing festive season coupled with rural pickup. Margin will likely normalize in upcoming quarters as HAVL has taken most of the price hikes across categories (except C&W). We cut our FY25E/26E EPS by 14%/11% to factor margin miss. We roll over our valuation to Sept’26 with unchanged target price of Rs1,875 based on 50x H1FY27E EPS.”

Anand Rathi Research Team, in a report, said, “Steady balance sheet growth and high non-interest income growth led to healthy 18 per cent y/y PAT growth for Axis Bank. Its focus on granularisation and an agile management would drive ~15 per cent operating profit growth over FY24-26. On the sharp drop in the stock since Aug’24, we upgrade our recommendation to a BUY. At our TP, the stock would trade at 1.8x P/BV on the FY26e book (unchanged), with subsidiaries valued at Rs 57 a share.”

While Axis Bank reported a slight decline in NIM on expected lines, Anand Rathi expects stable NIM of 4 per cent and healthy fee income growth over FY25/26.

Kumar Subbiah, CFO, CEAT Limited, said, “Our standalone revenue of Rs 3,298 crores during the quarter was the highest that we have achieved so far, supported by double digit growth in Replacement & International businesses. We partially mitigated the impact of steep increase in the prices of natural rubber through judicious price increases and cost efficiencies. This quarter also saw our overall debt level rise by Rs 280 crore, driven in part by increased raw material inventory, necessitated due to increase in transit period on imports and the distribution of dividend in Sept to the tune of Rs 120 crore.”

Arnab Banerjee, MD & CEO, CEAT Limited, said, “We are pleased to see that we have successfully carried the momentum from Q1 through Q2. This quarter marks our highest revenue ever, driven largely by robust performances in our Replacement and International sectors. While there’s a significant increase in the commodity prices, our margins got impacted during the quarter. We took selective price increases during the quarter that offset part of the cost impact. The revenue outlook remains positive as we enter Q3.”

Ceat Ltd reported a profit of Rs 121.88 crore during the second quarter of FY25, posting a decline of 41.4 per cent in comparison to Rs 208.00 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY24. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 3304.53 crore, up 8.2 per cent as against Rs 3053.32 crore during the same period of previous financial year. The company’s EBITDA margin stood at 11.1 per cent, posting a contraction of 102 bps vs Q1FY25.

On a standalone basis, Ceat recorded revenue at Rs 3,298.1 crore and EBITDA margin stood at 11.1 per cent. Net profit, meanwhile, came in at Rs 136.5 crore.

Shaji Nair, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, “Among Tier 1 companies, Infosys and LTIM reported strong CC growth q-o-q but missed our estimates. HCLtech stood out in terms of beating estimates despite soft expectations from it. Wipro also managed to beat weak expectations while TCS reported a soft quarter slightly lower than estimates. EBIT margin improved for HCLtech and Wipro beating expectations. EBIT margin was in line with expectations for LTIM. EBIT margins were flat for Infosys and declined for TCS missing estimates.

In terms of deal wins, Shaji Nair said, “TCV deal wins for most Tier 1 companies baring Wipro moderated and was slightly lower than expectations. Wipro reported the best large deal TCV deal to win momentum among the reported Tier1 companies.”

Elara Securities said that Karur Vysya Bank’s Q2FY25 PAT rose >25 per cent YoY to ~Rs 4.7 billion, surpassing estimates, aided by higher revenue traction even as provisions were higher (prudent provisions and rising coverage). “Q2 was characterized by steady delivery across key metrics, enabling it to deliver > 20 per cent YoY PPoP growth, RoA of >1.7 per cent and RoE of 17 per cent plus. Asset quality continues to be steady, with curtailed slippages feeding into GNPL at 1.1 per cent and NNPL at 28bps, at the lowest level, which is commendable.”

It further added that despite being conservative, the Bank consistently delivered 1.5 per cent RoA and 15 per cent plus RoE in the medium term and seems a steady compounder. “That said, we see limited positive triggers hereon and a re-rating thus will be gradual – Revise to Accumulate from Buy with TP unchanged at Rs 242,” it said.

Nestle India Q2 performance, Elara Securities said, fell short of expectations as well as the Street’s estimates, with domestic sales up by a modest 1.2 per cent, bringing H1 growth to 2.7 per cent. “This subdued growth was driven by two main factors: 1) weak consumption demand, and 2) high base of 12% growth in H1FY24. While we cut our estimates to factor in the lower growth outlook for FY25, we like Nestle’s portfolio, which has low penetration, and should benefit from the packaged and healthy food opportunity. We reiterate Accumulate rating with a lower TP of INR 2,600, although the key risk remains prolonged weak demand,” the report added.

Today, companies like Hindustan Zinc, Jio Financial Services, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, L&T Finance, TATA Consumer Products, Oberoi Realty, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and others will release their Q2 earnings report.

With majors like like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro, Reliance Industries, Nestle India, Tata Elxsi, Avenue Supermarts, Just Dial, Lotus Chocolate Company, Axis Bank, HDFC Life Insurance, PVR INOX, Bajaj Auto, L&T Technology Services, Mphasis, having already released their Q2 numbers, the second earnings season is now picking up pace.

Greetings! The fiscal second quarter earnings season is in full swing now with almost all major IT services companies including TCS, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro, having already released their Q2 earnings report already. We, at FinancialExpress.com, have been continuously bringing you with all the updates on how India Inc performed during Q2, what helped the growth and what led to de-growth. Stay tuned for further updates.