This is a roundup of the day's top stories in brief.
1. TCS: Earnings Beat, Rs 16,000-Crore Buyback, And Salary Hikes
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.'s quarterly profit rose as the software services provider charted a recovery amid disruptions stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Net profit rose 6.6% sequentially to Rs 7,475 crore in the July-September period, according to an exchange filing.
Margin expanded to 26.2% from 23.6% last quarter.
Get the earnings fineprint here.
TCS' board approved a proposal to buy back up to Rs 16,000 crore worth of shares to reward stakeholders.
India's largest software services outsourcer will repurchase 5.33 crore shares, or 1.42% of the total paid-up equity, at Rs 3,000 apiece, it said in an exchange filing.
That is a 9.6% premium to Wednesday's closing price.
It's the third buyback by the company in four years.
The Tata Group company also said that it has increased hiring and will resume pay hikes as the IT firm leaves behind disruption from the pandemic.
“We are happy to announce that we will be rolling out salary increases, effective Oct. 1,” said Milind Lakkad, global head of human resources.
It's attrition rate stood at 8.9%—an all-time low.
2. New Boss Dinesh Khara Sees Limited Signs Of Stress In SBI's Books
The country's largest lender State Bank of India has seen limited signs of Covid-related stress building up on its books, said Dinesh Kumar Khara, who took over as the bank's chairman on Wednesday.
Early indications suggest that one-time restructuring requests are limited, he said.
“When we look at the hits on our restructuring portal, it is an indication of the stress on our book. The indications are that stress is not very high,” Khara told reporters at a press conference.
Here are the other highlights from Khara's first press conference as SBI chairman.
3. Sensex Hits 7-Month High; U.S. Stocks Rally
Indian stocks rose after a volatile start to the session as the central bank's new monetary policy committee began meeting ahead of a decision later this week.
The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.8% to 39,878.95, the highest in more than seven months, after slipping as much as 0.3% in early trade.
The NSE Nifty 50 Index added 0.7%.
Gains were driven by Reliance Industries Ltd., which said it will get a $750 million investment in its retail unit.
Follow the day's trading action here.
