Whistleblowers open a Pandora’s box in Infosys, is the worst over for FMCG sector; all this and more on Moneycontrol Pro

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Whistleblowers open a Pandora’s box in Infosys

A few anonymous employees of Infosys have accused its CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy of unethical practices for many quarters. The whistleblowers have written to the US-based office of the Whistleblower Protection Programme alleging wilful mis-statement and material accounting irregularities for the past two quarters (April-September). These developments are bound to impact performance, the company’s image with clients, and deal flow as well as employee morale when the sector is facing tumultuous times due to global macro uncertainties. Click here to read our in-house research team’s analysis and recommendation.

FMCG slowdown: Is the worst over?

That India’s FMCG sector is slowing down in FY20 was known. Market research agency The Nielsen Company’s September quarter update puts numbers to the overall slowdown. FMCG sales growth in rural areas came in at 5 percent, a fourth of what it was a year ago, while urban sales grew by 8 percent which was also lower than the 14 percent a year ago. While that’s the overall picture, Nielsen has given several nuggets of information, which together lead to some interesting threads, which investors in FMCG stocks should take note of. Read more.

Ideas for Profit | UltraTech

India’s largest cement manufacturer UltraTech Cement posted a mixed set of results for the second quarter of FY20. Higher realisations along with a stable cost base expanded operating margin and profitability for the company. The operational performance was strong, but volumes were disappointing. So, what should investors do? Read more.

Should long term investors consider DCB Bank at all?

DCB Bank reported a mixed set of numbers in the second quarter of FY20. Net profit growth was healthy at 24 percent YoY led by controlled operating expenses. However, lower advances growth and deterioration in asset quality undermined the bank’s performance. With a balance sheet size of Rs 37,018 crore at the end of September, DCB Bank must grow faster than the industry to remain relevant and gain scale. Given the softer loan growth in Q2, we don’t see much upside to the stock price in the near term. Read more.

Abhijit Banerjee and Raghuram Rajan prescribe solutions for the slowdown

Ever since Abhijit Banerjee won the Nobel prize for economics for his work on devising solutions to fight poverty, his views on addressing the current problems facing the Indian economy have gained wide circulation. Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has also weighed in on the economic crisis. The Nobel laureate and the former RBI governor suggest putting more money in the hands of consumers, letting the rupee slide to foster exports growth and privatising banks and upskilling government as solutions for the economic slowdown. Read more.

Picks from our technical analysts

GAIL: GAIL is in a sideways trend and is trading in the range of 118 and 148. Our chartist is assuming that it will continue like this for a while with high volatility. Click here for an options trading strategy.

Amara Raja: The price of Amara Raja Batteries stock is in a strong uptrend and the shorter-term moving average is above its longer-term average. Click here for a futures trading strategy.