IndusInd Bank, IOCL, HPCL, BPCL hit record high

All three listed oil marketing companies (OMCs) Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) along with IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Zinc and Power Grid Corporation are 10 stocks from the Nifty500 index hitting their respective record highs on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Caplin Point Lab, CCL Products, EID Parry and Vakrangee are others that hit lifetime highs on the NSE in intra-day trade.

IndusInd Bank was up 2% at Rs 1,257 extending its 6% gain in past nine trading sessions post October–December quarter (Q3) results. The bank reported a healthy 29% year on year (YoY) growth in net profit at Rs 751 crore in Q3FY17 against Rs 581 crore in the same quarter last financial year.

“The bank’s asset quality largely stable with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) increased marginally by 4 basis points QoQ to 0.94% as two small restructured accounts slipped into NPAs. Management stated that only accounts worth Rs 52 crore availed RBI’s special dispensation for a 90-day grace period for prudential classification,” analysts at Religare Institutional Research said in a pre-quarter review report, maintaining ‘buy’ rating on the stock with target price of Rs 1,350.

IOCL hit a new high of Rs 366, up 2% on the NSE. The stock of state-owned company surged 19% from its recent low of Rs 308 on December 26, as compared to 5.6% rise in the Nifty 50 index.

The company is schedule to announce its Q3 results on January 31, 2017 and also may consider declaration of Interim Dividend for the financial year 2016-17.

Analysts expect companies with marketing/distribution presence to post a strong performance in Q3FY17, with robust performance across the refining/marketing segments.

According to brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher, IOCL will report strong results in line with other OMCs on the back of higher refining profits. Marketing and petrochemicals earnings are likely to remain firm.

“For OMCs, gross refining margins (GRMs) are likely to see sharp uptick QoQ to levels of US$6-6.5/bbl as Q2FY17 GRMs were impacted by weak diesel spreads and inventory losses, both of which reversed course in Q3FY17,” IDFC Securities said in results preview.

“The key trends which stood out in Q3 were QoQ higher crude prices and benchmark GRMs, lower domestic gas but higher LNG prices and smart recovery in domestic fuel consumption growth,” according to Antique Stock Broking.

As a result upstream, companies (ONGC and OIL) and OMCs (IOCL, BPCL and HPCL) are expected to report stronger earnings, the brokerage firm said in Q3 results preview.