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    RIL-backed co, new-age techies among 41 firms to post losses for 4 straight quarters

    Synopsis

    RIL-promoted Alok Industries, Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co, Wockhardt, Suven Life Sciences, Spencer’s Retail, Inox Wind, Sagar Cements, Restaurant Brands, Religare Enterprises, and Orissa Mineral Development Co, among others also remained in the red for 4 straight quarters.

    RIL-backed co, new-age techies among 41 firms to post losses for 4 straight quartersAgencies
    The December quarter earnings were a mixed big, but an analysis of the bottomline performance of the companies showed that as many as 41 of them reported a loss for the fourth straight quarter.

    The analysis by ETMarkets was done on companies with a minimum market capitalisation of Rs 500 crore.

    The new-age technology companies, and many in the telecom space were part of this list.

    RIL-promoted Alok Industries, Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co, Wockhardt, Suven Life Sciences, Spencer’s Retail, Inox Wind, Sagar Cements, Restaurant Brands, Religare Enterprises, and Orissa Mineral Development Co, among others also remained in the red for 4 straight quarters.

    Zomato, One 97 Communications, PB Fintech, and Delhivery reported a net loss for the fourth straight time in the December quarter.

    However, the parents of both Paytm and Policybazaar.com, and Delhivery have trimmed their losses considerably.

    One 97 Communications’ loss in the December quarter narrowed to Rs 397.10 crore from Rs 724.20 crore in the March quarter.

    Similarly, PB Fintech’s loss in the December quarter narrowed to Rs 87.40 crore from around Rs 220 crore in the March quarter.

    Delhivery’s losses came down to Rs 194.29 crore in the December quarter from Rs 405.34 crore in the June quarter.



    On the contrary, the RIL-backed textile maker slipped deeper into red by posting a loss of Rs 250 crore in the December quarter from Rs 26.50 crore in the March quarter.

    Similarly, Bombay Dyieng’s loss widened to Rs 100 crore in the December quarter from Rs 42 crore in the March quarter.

    Joining them is Vodafone Idea which also saw losses widening for the third straight quarter despite getting a lifeline from the government. The telecom operator posted a net loss of Rs 7,990 crore in the last quarter, which has widened from Rs 6,563.40 crore in the March quarter.


    What should investors do?
    A majority of the stocks have been big laggards in the last 1 year. As many as 24 companies have given double-digit negative returns in the last 1 year, including PB Fintech, Paytm, Zomato, Vodafone Idea, Alok Industries, and Wockhardt.


    However, the outlook for the new-age technology companies have significantly improved with the recovery in their earnings.

    Macquarie Capital Securities, who was one of the biggest critics of Paytm owner, upgraded its rating on the stock by 2 notches to “outperform”.

    “We see a very visible change in approach of management to deliver profit, evidenced, we believe, by the core EBITDA profitability that was reported recently,” Macquarie said in its report, while raising the price target for the stock by a whopping 80% to Rs 800 a share.

    Similarly, analysts are bullish on the growth prospects of Zomato, Delhivery and PB Fintech and see earnings improving further.

    But analysts remain bearish on Vodafone Idea given the structural issues surrounding the company.

    “VIL's stretched cash position has limited its ability to invest and its capex moderated to lowest in two years. Bharti and Jio's focus on network investments with a cash-strapped VIL, will result in market share shifts in favour of Bharti/Jio, in our view,” Jefferies said in its report.

    (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)




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    (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today.

    Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price

    ...more
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