Stocks to Watch: Zee, HDFC Bank, LIC, Adani Transmission, Infosys

Zee Entertainment: Punit Goenka, chief executive of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zee), on Thursday approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) seeking relief against the National Company Law Tribunal’s insolvency order passed on Wednesday. In a statement shared by Goenka, he said he is taking all the necessary steps as per law to protect the interests of all stakeholders of Zee and to achieve the timely completion of the proposed merger with Culver Max Entertainment Pvt. Ltd (Sony Pictures Networks India).

HDFC Bank: The country’s largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Thursday announced that it has raised USD 750 million through a dollar bond sale. The bank said it will be paying a coupon of 5.686 per cent for the three-year bonds, according to an exchange filing. The paper, rated Baa3 by Moody’s Rating Services and Bbb by S&P, will be listed on the India International Exchange, it said. The USD-denominated senior unsecured instruments will be redeemed on maturity in March 2026.

LIC: The investments of Life Insurance Corporation of India made in Adani Group companies have turned negative, according to reports. LIC’s investment value in Adani Group companies stood at ₹33,632 crore as per the December shareholding pattern available on the exchanges as of closing on February 22. On January 27, LIC disclosed that the value of its investments in the Adani Group stood at ₹56,142 crore. With Thursday’s fall, the value of the investments has declined by another ₹500 crore, pushing the company into a loss on its investment.

Adani Transmission: Global rating agency Fitch has affirmed the ‘BBB-‘ ratings on the $400 million senior secured notes issued by the restricted group of India-based Adani Transmission Limited. The outlook is stable, according to the global rating agency. The credit assessment of the restricted group reflects the project companies’ availability-based revenue under a supportive regulatory framework, with low technical complexity, reflected in high availability levels and operating performance that we expect to remain stable, Fitch Ratings said.

Infosys: Indian IT services major Infosys on Thursday announced that it will expand collaboration with tech giant Microsoft to drive enterprise cloud transformation globally. According to a statement, the extended strategic collaboration between Infosys and Microsoft is expected to benefit enterprises by bringing them the best of Infosys Cobalt cloud offerings and Microsoft’s cloud computing technologies, led by Azure, across the business value chain. 

Tech Mahindra: IT company Tech Mahindra on Thursday said it has engaged group firm Comviva to expand its partnership with Vodafone Germany for the digital transformation of its sales and customer experience processes. As part of this multi-year engagement, Comviva will deliver a unified sales solution across mobile, fixed, cable and TV services businesses of Vodafone Germany. The Tech Mahindra, Vodafone Germany contract has been in place since 2019 with a focus on transforming assisted sales experience.

ONGC: India’s top oil and gas producer ONGC will invest over USD 2 billion in drilling a record 103 wells on its main gas-bearing asset in the Arabia Sea as it pivots a turnaround plan that will add 100 million tonnes to production, a company official said. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has three main assets off the west coast – Mumbai High, Heera and Neelam, and Bassein and Satellite, which contributed the bulk of 21.7 million tonnes of oil and 21.68 billion cubic metres of gas it produced in 2021-22.

Bharat Forge: Kalyani Group-backed forging company, Bharat Forge on Thursday received approval for housing all its defence-related investments under one entity. To do so, the company will transfer the stake in Aeron Systems (Aeron) to Kalyani Strategic Systems (KSSL). Both are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Bharat Forge. In its regulatory filing on Thursday, Bharat Forge said, “the Company has decided to house all its defence-related investments under KSSL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, for a better strategic alignment.”

Sanofi India: Sanofi India has said today in a stock exchange filing that its Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of ₹194/- per equity share of the face value of Rs.10/- each and a second special dividend of ₹183/- per equity share of the face value of ₹10/- each for the financial year ended 31st December 2022, subject to approval by the shareholders at the 67th Annual General Meeting. The company had earlier paid a one-time special interim dividend of ₹193/- per equity share on 22nd August 2022.

Mahindra Lifespace: With the resignation of Arvind Subramanian as Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the company — effective from 22 May 2023 — Mahindra Lifespace Developers has announced its MD designate as Amit Kumar Sinha. Sinha will join as an Additional Director on the Board of Directors of the company with effect from 23 February 2023, the firm said in a stock filing. His appointment has been made for a period of 5 years with effect from 23 May 2023 to 22 May 2028.