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ICICI Lombard General Insurance reported a net profit of INR 437 crore ($58.5 million) for the quarter ending 31 March, up 40% YoY driven by a 24% QoQ rise to INR 352 crore. Total income also increased 13% YoY to INR 5,255 crore. However, profits missed estimates amid competition in the motor insurance business. At 9:53 am the share price had fallen 3.8% but analysts mostly suggested holding or buying the shares, with Jefferies having a buy rating and target price of INR 1,560 ($20), which signifies a 43% upside.

The brokerage maintains BUY rating with a revised target price of INR1,800 (15x Mar-25E EPS, rolling forward multiple from Sep-24E).

BEML Land Assets shares made a premium debut on the stock exchange but quickly fell in value. BEML, a state-run company involved in industries such as defence and aerospace, made the decision to spin off non-core parts of the business in order to create a new wholly owned subsidiary. The demerger scheme will allow shareholders to receive one share in BEML Land Assets for every BEML share owned. BEML shares were also negatively affected by market conditions and are currently trading below their 52-week high of Rs1933.95.

Further, it models 26/11/8% YoY growth for Home Care, BPC and Food business.

A total of 122,272 shares changed hands on the counter till 12:07PM (IST).

The stock traded at a P/E multiple of 8.5, while the price-to-book value ratio stood at 1.08.

Shares of Patel Engineering surged over 18% to Rs 17.9 after Kedia Securities, promoted by ace investor Vijay Kedia, bought 1 crore shares during the March quarter, giving it a 1.29% stake in the infrastructure and construction services company. Patel Engineering reported increased net sales of Rs 1,036.9 crore in Q3 FY2023 and made a net profit after tax of Rs 37.8 crore. Kedia publicly holds 17 stocks with a net worth of over Rs 818.8 crore, including Neuland Laboratories, Heritage Foods, and Atul Auto.

As of 31-Mar-2023, promoters held 51.14 per cent stake in the company, while FIIs held 16.42 per cent and domestic institutional investors had 20.07 per cent.

I think if you look at as a company, ICICI Lombard has got a market share of 8.2% but if you look at maybe the retail health space, particularly in the indemnity side, we would possibly have a market share of maybe 3%. And that is clearly the opportunity that one sees.

Market insiders note that the sideways-to-downtrend movement of Nifty in the last one-and-a-half years is gradually throwing weak hands out of the Street. The work-from-home culture during Covid-related lockdowns had made trading fashionable among youngsters who could easily punch orders away from the prying eyes of their bosses.