RITES shares soar 13%, other PSU stocks rise; BSE PSU index up 3.5% after BJP-led alliance win in Maharashtra elections

PSU stocks were in great demand on Monday, November 25, as the market participants cheered the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance's clean sweep in the Maharashtra state assembly elections. The alliance won 230 out of 288 seats.

The BSE PSU index jumped as much as 3.6% to 19,873.98 levels in the morning trade. 

The only loser on the index was NALCO (down over 1%). 

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) were trading around 3.7% higher at ₹846 apiece on the BSE. 

RITES stock gained after the firm informed exchanges that it has received a revised estimate of ₹532 crore for an electrification project under the Northeast Frontier Railway.

The revised total cost for the project stands at ₹531.77 crore, excluding GST, which marks an increase from the original cost of ₹288.44 crore.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2024 (Q2 FY25), RITES' net profit fell by 25% to ₹82.5 crore.

Revenue for the quarter declined to ₹541 crore, compared to ₹582.4 crore during the same period last year, a drop of 7.1%, as per news reports. 

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) also fell 23% year-on-year to ₹106.4 crore, compared to ₹138 crore last year.

EBITDA margin for the quarter narrowed to 19.7% from 23.6% last year.

Additionally, RITES also declared its second interim dividend for financial year 2025 at ₹1.75 per share. The record date for the same was set as November 15, 2024.

Meanwhile, SBI reported a 23% on-year jump in consolidated net profit at ₹19,782 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. 

On a standalone basis, the country's largest lender reported a net profit of ₹18,331 crore, as against ₹14,330 crore in the year-ago period and ₹17,035 crore in the preceding quarter, PTI reported. 

Provisions for bad assets nearly doubled to ₹3,631 crore from ₹1,814 crore, and the gross non-performing assets ratio stood at 2.13% as of September 30, as against 2.21% in June.