Bharti Airtel clears deferred liabilities, JK Cement to hike prices & more

Nifty50: 16,985 ▼-263 (1.5%)
Sensex: 57,011 ▼-889 (1.5%)

• After a gap-up opening, markets fell sharply 
• 45 stocks from the Nifty50 pack declined
• Among the Nifty sectoral indices only Nifty IT (+1.3%) closed in green.
• Whereas, Media (-4.7%) and Realty (-3.9%) were the top losers.

For more updates on F&O, click here.

Here are the top stories of the day.

Bharti Airtel clears deferred liabilities

Telecom major, Bharti Airtel prepaid ₹15,519 crore to the Department of Telecom and cleared all deferred liabilities for the spectrum it acquired in 2014. The company had acquired 128.4 MHz spectrum for a consideration of ₹19,051 crores in the 2014 auction.

The liabilities were due in annual instalments from FY27 to FY32 and carried an interest rate of 10%. The company estimates that the prepayment will likely result in interest cost savings of at least ₹3,400 crores.

JK Cement to hike prices 

The cement maker is, reportedly, looking to hike prices in the fourth quarter of this fiscal. Cement prices saw a 4 percent decline in November due to weak demand. The price drop continued in December as well. 

Meanwhile, the company has cut the volume growth guidance sharply from 20-25% to 8-10% in FY22. The company expects demand to pick-up in the coming months on the back of a strong project pipeline.

Retail loan demand remain steady

As per reports, demand for retail loans is firm as the borrowers are taking advantage of decade-low interest rates. While, the demand for loans usually tapers post Diwali, this time the pent-up demand is holding it up. 

Meanwhile,  the car loan segment is seeing the impact of lower production on account of global chip semiconductor shortage. Amidst this, the Bank Nifty (-2.5%) fell sharply today.

IPO corner

On day 3, the IPO of HP Adhesives was oversubscribed more than 20 times. Similarly, Supriya Lifescience’s IPO also received strong response from investors. This public issue was oversubscribed over 5 times on day 2. 

Meanwhile, the IPO rush will continue on the D-Street next week. On 21 December 2021, cash management company CMS Info Systems will launch its ₹1,100 crore IPO. To pre-apply and apply for IPOs on Upstox, click here.  

Closing bell

The market scenario is changing. From being liquidity surplus, the situation is turning to liquidity tightening. The US Fed is likely to raise interest rates thrice in 2022, which is structurally not in favour of equity markets. Secondly, the spike in the number of new cases in the US and Europe (UK, France and Germany) raises fear of the new variant spreading globally. Lastly, foreign investors have been on a selling spree in the Indian markets resulting in pressure on the stock prices. Next week, there are no major data releases and so Indian markets could take cues from international indices.  

Good to know

What is CIBIL score?

The Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) is the most popular of the four credit information companies licensed by the Reserve Bank of India. CIBIL Score is a 3-digit numeric summary of your credit history, rating and report, and ranges from 300 to 900. The closer your score is to 900, the better your credit rating is. CIBIL score plays an important role in the loan application process. The CIBIL score works as a first impression for the lender, the higher the score, the better are your chances of the loan being reviewed and approved. However, the ultimate decision to lend lies with the Bank.

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