Q2 Results Highlights: Gave salary increase effective September 1, says CEO Srini Pallia

Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia on Thursday reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings, mainly on the back of cost-cutting measures, but saw its sales dive 8 percent largely due to a weaker India market.

The Espoo, Finland-based company reported a net profit of 358 million euros ($389 million) for the July-September period, up 22 percent from 293 million euros ($318 million) a year earlier.

Net income attributable to shareholders was 352 million euros ($382 million), up from 299 million euros a year earlier.

LTIMindtree reports 7.75 per cent year-on-year increase in its consolidated net profits to Rs 1,251 crore for the second quarter ended September 2024.

It posted a profit of Rs 1,161 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

Its revenue for the quarter under review came in at Rs 9,432 crore, 5.91 percent higher than Rs 8,905 crore in Q2 FY24.

-- Net Profit down 41.4% at ₹121.9 cr vs ₹208 cr (YoY)

-- Revenue up 8.2% at ₹3,304.5 cr vs ₹3,053.3 cr (YoY)

-- EBITDA down 20.6% at ₹362.3 cr vs ₹456.1 cr (YoY)

-- Margin at 11% vs 14.9% (YoY)

Tata Chemicals on October 17 reported a 54.67 percent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 194 crore during the second quarter ended September 2024.

“Overall demand for soda ash in India was stable, while some segments like container glass in Americas and Europe experienced muted demand,” Tata Chemicals Managing Director and CEO R Mukundan said.

“Unprecedented heavy rains in July and August impacted Mithapur operations leading to lower production as compared to the previous quarter, thus impacting margins,” the CMD added.

Dhanlaxmi Bank’s Q2 net profit climbs 11.4 percent to Rs 25.8 crore; shares surge nearly 6 percent.

-- Net profit down 46.1% at ₹267 cr vs ₹495 cr (YoY)

-- Revenue at ₹3,999 cr vs ₹3,998 cr (YoY)

-- EBITDA down 24.5% at ₹618 cr vs ₹819 cr (YoY)

-- Margin at 15.5% vs 20.5% (YoY)

Wipro CFO Pallia says unique business cycle last year led to the company delaying salary increments; September will be the normal hike cycle going forward, he added.

Wipro CEO Pallia says the company works on three categories of AI, namely, AI-led projects, AI-infused projects, AI-powered projects.

He added, “Overexcited on Gen AI, many PoCs have gone into production.”

Strategy to partner with GCCs, very secular, across industries, says Wipro CEO Pallia, adds, “Working with a lot of GCCs in India in FS, telco and life sciences.”

He further said, “We have the talent to help GCCs; the partnership is helping us grow.”

Speaking about discretionary spending, he said it is coming back in the BFSI segment but added he cannot say the same for other sectors.

Wipro CEO Pallia says, “Nothing has changed from last quarter as far as discretionary spend is concerned.”

Wipro CFO Aparna C Iyer says the company’s operating margin of 35 bps QoQ brought it closer to the aspiration of the 17-17:50 percent band.

She added that there was margin expansion despite giving salary hikes in September.

Wipro CEO Srini Pallia says the company gave salary increase effective September 1.

Wipro CEO Srini Pallia says the company’s earnings for the second quarter ended September met expectations, and that the company is well placed to capture demand. He added that the Capco business growth was led by America's market.

Wipro on October 17 announced 21 percent rise in net profit at Rs 3,209 crore for the September quarter as against Rs 2,646 crore in the year-ago period. The IT major also announced a bonus share issue in proportion of 1:1.

The company's consolidated revenue fell 1 percent on-year to Rs 22,302 crore in the July-September quarter from Rs 22,543 crore in the year-ago period.

He further said that Wipro is advancing well in all five strategic priority areas for growth and that it has trained and certified over 44,000 employees on advanced AI skills.

-- We will have headwinds in H2 from wage hikes

-- Softness from H2 will be there

-- Tailwinds will come from Project Maximus

-- Third party costs come as part of mega large deals, helps with stickiness and propensity with clients

-- Delivered mid-point of our margin guidance

Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys says the company is focusing greatly on Generative AI and it is also building a small language model to roll out across industries.

The company is on track to onboard 15000-20000 freshers in FY25, says Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka.

Infosys Ltd, which reported its second quarter earnings on October 17 said the company raised its full-year revenue growth guidance to 3.75-4.5 percent, topping up on the surprise hike to 3-4 percent announced in July.

Commenting on the same, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said, “The company’s revenue growth guidance is based on what we've done in the past quarter.”

He said he continues to see an increase in discretionary spending in financial services, but says there has been slowness in the automotive sector in Europe.

-- Axis Bank’s gross NPA stood at Rs 15,466 crore vs Rs 16,211.3 crore QoQ

-- The private lender’s net NPA was at Rs 3,612 crore vs Rs 3,553 crore QoQ

-- Provisions at Rs 2,204 crore vs Rs 814.6 crore YoY and vs Rs 2,039.3 crore QoQ

-- Net profit up 18 percent at Rs 6,918 crore vs Rs 5,864 crore year on year

-- NII up 10 percent at Rs 13,483 crore vs Rs 12,314 crore year on year

-- Net profit up 53.6 percent at Rs 55.6 crore vs Rs 36.2 crore (YoY)

-- Revenue up 51.8 percent at Rs 218.5 crore vs Rs 143.9 crore (YoY)

-- Jindal Stainless net profit down 21.1 percent at Rs 611.3 cire vs Rs 774.3 crore year-on-year

-- Revenue down 0.2 percent at Rs 9,776.7 crore vs Rs 9,797 crore year-on-year

-- EBITDA down 3.6 percent at Rs 1,186.5 crore vs Rs 1,230.5 crore year-on-year

-- Net NPA at Rs 1,059.3 crore vs Rs 1,153.5 crore QoQ

-- Gross NPA at Rs 6,249.1 crore vs Rs 6,648.7 crore QoQ

-- Provisions at Rs 1,146.3 crore vs Rs 937.9 crore QoQ and vs Rs 1,044.2 crore YoY

-- Net profit up 24.4 percent at Rs 777.2 crore vs Rs 624.6 crore YoY

-- NII up 8.2 percent at Rs 2,537.3 crore vs Rs 2,345.8 crore YoY

-- Net NPA at 0.47 percent vs 0.51 percent QoQ

-- Gross NPA at 2.72 percent vs 2.89 percent QoQ

-- Net Profit up 7.7 percent at Rs 268.2 crore vs Rs 249 crore year-on-year.

-- Revenue up 16.4 percent Rs 4,539 crore vs Rs 3,900 crore year-on-year.

State-owned Central Bank of India’s total income increased to Rs 9,849 crore in the second quarter ended September 2024, as against Rs 8,412 crore in the same period last year, the lender said in a regulatory filing.

Net Interest Income increased to Rs 3,410 crore in the latest July-September quarter as compared to Rs 3,028 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The bank earned an interest income of Rs 8,203 crore during the quarter, compared to Rs 7,351 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Karur Vyasa Bank net profit climbed 25% year-over-year at Rs 1,060 crores. Moreover, net NPA shrank to 0.28% from the previous quarter's 0.38%.

Central Bank net profit rose 51% to stand at Rs 913 crore year-over-year. Gross NPA rose to 4.59% from 4.54% sequentially.

Nestle India's net profit for Q2 FY25 on October 17 stood at Rs 899 crore, falling marginally from Rs 908 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Meanwhile, Nestle India's Swiss parent announced that it is revamping senior leadership and its operating structure, cut its full-year sales outlook and reported worse-than-expected nine-month organic sales growth, after failing to raise volumes amid continued price hikes.

The Street will closely monitor Wipro’s revenue guidance and commentary on the demand environment when the information technology major reports its earnings for the second quarter late this week.

Brokerages expect the Bengaluru-headquartered firm to perform better than its guided range of -1 percent to +1 percent when its reports its second quarter earnings on October 17. Read more

CRISIL Ltd reported a 12.9 percent on-year (YoY) increase in net profit at Rs 171.6 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. The company's revenue from operations rose 10.3 percent YoY to Rs 811.8 crore.

At the operating level, CRISIL's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 16.7 percent YoY to Rs 223.8 in the quarter under review, while EBITDA margin stood at 27.6 percent in the reporting quarter as compared to 26.1 percent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. Read more

Infosys is set to announce its Q2 FY25 earnings on October 17, with analysts predicting a rise in consolidated revenue driven by large deals and growing interest in generative AI. Margins are expected to benefit from cost optimization, while discretionary spending in sectors like BFSI will be key. According to a Moneycontrol poll, revenue is forecasted to grow by 3.9% to Rs 40,857 crore, and net profit may increase by 6.3% to Rs 6,769 crore QoQ. Any surprises in the results could trigger significant stock reactions.