By Maitane Sardon

Zara Owner Inditex on Wednesday reported first-half sales which beat market forecast, thanks to a strong performance both online and in stores.
The Spanish fashion giant, which also owns Bershka, Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear, said that net profit for the six months ended July 31 surged to 2.51 billion euros($2.70 billion), from EUR1.79 billion last year.

Sales came to EUR16.85 billion, topping the EUR14.85 billion it reported for the same period a year earlier. Analysts had forecast first-half sales of EUR16.68 billion, according to a poll of estimates compiled by FactSet.
Earnings before interest and taxes climbed to EUR3.16 billion in the first half from EUR2.43 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization increased to EUR4.66 billion from EUR4.03 billion.
The operating margin increased to 18.8% from 16.4%, while the gross margin was up at 58.2% Inditex said.
For the year, Inditex continues to expect a stable gross margin plus or minus 50 basis points.
Inditex’s results come as the company seeks to maintain its edge over rivals in a challenging business environment. On Tuesday, Primark owner AB Foods upped its forecast for 2023 and said its sugar and clothing-retail divisions should be even more profitable next year despite an arduous macroeconomic backdrop. Stockholm-based H&M Hennes & Mauritz is set to report sales on Friday.
Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@wsj.com

By Joshua Kirby

The U.K. economy contracted more than expected in July, suggesting activity is cooling in the face of monetary tightening by the Bank of England.
Gross domestic product fell 0.5% compared with the previous month, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. This missed forecasts for a shallower 0.2% fall in output, according to economists polled by The Wall Street Journal ahead of the release.

On an annual basis, the economy was flat in July, the figures showed. Economists had expected a 0.4% rise.
The contraction comes after the economy grew above expectations in the second quarter, driven by a stronger-than-expected services sector. The fallback in July suggests the Bank of England’s policy of raising interest rates is beginning to take some heat out of the U.K. economy.
The BOE will next week decide to meet whether to raise its benchmark rate again, past its current 5.25%, as it looks to ease rapid price inflation.
Unemployment figures earlier this week showed the U.K. jobless rate inching up in the three months to July, though wage growth remained steady in the same period.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

Apple refreshed its iPhone and Apple Watch lineups at a Tuesday event that focused on camera and processing improvements for the phones as well as new gesture controls for the watch.

Apple
AAPL,
-1.71%
kept prices the same on three of its iPhone models, while boosting the starting price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max for the first time when it eliminated what previously was the smallest and cheapest configuration. The least expensive iPhone 15 Pro Max will cost $1,199 for 256GB of storage, which is what that configuration cost a year ago, though at that time there was also a cheaper 128GB option. Apple previously had stuck with a $1,099 base price on the iPhone Pro Max since it rolled out that model in 2019.

Shares of Apollo Tyres hit a multi-year high of Rs 303.40 as it surged 6 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday’s intra-day trade, in an otherwise subdued market, after the company reported a double digit growth in revenue, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) in the September quarter (Q2FY23) despite challenging environment.

At 12:11 pm, the stock was trading 4 per cent higher at Rs 297.65, as compared to 0.21 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. Trading volumes on the counter jumped nearly three-times with a combined 11.87 million shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report. The stock was trading close to its record high level of Rs 307, touched on April 17, 2018.

In Q2FY23, the company’s consolidated net profit grew 11 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 194 crore due to higher sales. The tyre major had reported a net profit of Rs 174 crore in the year-ago quarter. Despite adverse environment, it reported 17 per cent YoY increase in revenues at Rs 5,956 crore, largely driven by price increases.

Consolidated Ebitda margin at 12 per cent was down 61 bps YoY, but up 35bps QoQ. Despite cost push, it reported sequential improvement in standalone and Europe operating margin performance.

“Pricing environment remained stable, and the company undertook price increase up to around 5 per cent in replacement segment. In terms of demand outlook, the company is cautiously optimistic. Correction in input prices should help in improving operating margin performance in near to medium term,” the company said.

According to ICICI Securities, Apollo Tyres’ performance in terms of gross margin performance was largely on expected lines. Gross margin declined 80 bps QoQ whereas employee cost & other expense was down 54 bps & 60 bps QoQ, respectively. Ebitda margins on a standalone basis were at 10.3 per cent (up 62 bps QoQ) supported by operating leverage gains amid steady gross margin.

The brokerage firm said they hold a positive view on the company primarily tracking controlled capex spends amid focus on balance sheet health, and capital efficiency.

Shares of Globus Spirits slumped 13 per cent to hit a fresh 52-week low of Rs 700 on the BSE in Tuesday’s intra-day trade as the company reported a weak set of numbers for the quarter ended September (Q2FY23).

The stock of the breweries & distilleries company has fallen below its previous low of Rs 766.05 touched on October 26, 2022. In the past 10 months, it has tanked 59 per cent from a level of Rs 1,720. It had hit a record high of Rs 1,760 on January 14, 2022.

Globus Spirits is primarily engaged in the business of manufacturing and sale of Indian made Indian liquor (IMIL), Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL), bulk alcohol, hand sanitizer and franchise bottling.

The company’s current brands include Governors Reserve Premium Grain Whisky, Governors Reserve 100 per cent Finest Grain Whisky, Oakton Barrel Aged Rare Finest Grain Whisky, Laffaire Napolean Premium French Blended Grape Brandy and Terai Craft Gin.

In Q2FY23, Globus Spirits’ profit after tax declined 57.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and 40.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 22.10 crore due to higher operational costs. However, net revenue from operations was up 25.7 per cent YoY and down 3.7 per cent QoQ at Rs 480 crore.

The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (ebitda) was down 47.4 per cent YoY and 33.2 percent QoQ at Rs 47 crore. The EBITDA margin stood at around 10 percent against 23 percent in Q2FY22 and 14 per cent in Q1FY23.

The company said the margin was lower on account of lower operating leverage due to lower share of higher margin. Bulk Spirits range- cost push has been mitigated to better ethanol and ENA realization rate. The softening of market share in Haryana & change of business mix Rajasthan in Q2 impacted profitability, it said.

Meanwhile, Globus Spirits said the Jharkhand Greenfield project, which commenced commercial production in September 2022, adding incremental capacity of 140 KLPD, is likely to operate at optimum utilization in Q2FY23. The inflationary pressure on input (grain and fuel) costs is expected to soften with the new crop season, aiding profitability, it said.

The primary market continues to be a busy one with four firms, including Archean Chemical Industries and Five Star Business Finance, are set to float their IPOs next week to collectively raise about Rs 5,000 crore.

The other two firms whose initial public offerings (IPOs) are ready to open are — Kaynes Technology India and Inox Green Energy Services.

This came after four companies launched their initial share-sales last week. Of these, two IPOs — maker of snacks and sweets Bikaji Foods International and Global Health Ltd which operates hospitals under the Medanta brand — are currently underway.

The IPOs of Archean Chemical and Five Star Business will be open for public subscription on November 9 and close on November 11, while that of Kaynes Technology and Inox Green are set to kick off on November 10 and November 11 respectively, as per the red herring prospectus (RHP).

So far in 2022, as many as 26 companies have floated their IPOs to raise over Rs 48,000 crore. In 2021, 63 IPOs had mopped up over Rs 1.19 lakh crore, the data with exchanges showed.

According to market experts, volatility in the secondary market led to a weak IPO market in 2022.

Non-banking lender Five Star Business Finance’s IPO is entirely an offer for sale (OFS) of shares to the tune of Rs 1,960 crore by existing shareholders and promoter group entities.

The OFS will see the sale of shares to the tune of Rs 166.74 crore by SCI Investments V, Rs 719.41 crore by Matrix Partners India Investment Holdings II LLC, Rs 12.08 crore by Matrix Partners India Investments II Extension LLC, Rs 361.44 crore by Norwest Venture Partners X- Mauritius and Rs 700.31 crore by TPG Asia VII SF Pte Ltd.

The Chennai-headquartered firm has set a price band of Rs 450-474 per equity shares. The NBFC is backed by investors like TPG, Matrix Partners, Norwest Ventures, Sequoia and KKR.

The IPO of speciality marine chemical manufacturer Archean Chemical consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 805 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 1.61 crore shares by the promoter and investors, including the India Resurgence Fund, a joint venture between the Piramal Group and Bain Capital.

Promoter Chemikas Speciality will sell 20 lakh shares via OFS, while investors Piramal Natural Resources and India Resurgence Fund will sell 38.35 lakh shares each. India Resurgence Fund II will divest 64.78 lakh shares.

The price band has been set at Rs 386-407 a share for the issue, which is expected to fetch Rs 1,462.3 crore at the upper end of the band. The company plans to use the proceeds of the fresh issue for the redemption of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issued by it.

The initial share-sale of Kaynes Technology, an IoT (Internet of Things) solutions-enabled integrated electronics manufacturing company, comprises fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 530 crore and an OFS of up to 55.85 lakh equity shares by a promoter and an existing shareholder.

The OFS comprises sale of 20.84 lakh equity shares by promoter Ramesh Kunhikannan and 35 lakh equity shares by existing shareholder Freny Firoze Irani.

According to merchant banking sources, the issue is expected to mop up over Rs 850 crore.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to repay debt, funding capital expenditure for its manufacturing facilities at Mysore and Manesar and funding working capital requirements. Also, the company plans to invest in its arm Kaynes Electronics Manufacturing for setting up a new facility at Chamarajanagar in Karnataka.

The Rs 740-crore IPO of Inox Green, an arm of Inox Wind, comprises a fresh issue and an offer for sale of Rs 370 crore each. The issue will open on November 11 and close on November 15.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised for repaying debts and general corporate purposes.

The equity shares of the four companies will be listed on the BSE and NSE.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Seven of the top-10 most valued firms together added Rs 1,33,707.42 crore in market valuation last week amid an overall positive trend in equities, with Reliance Industries emerging as the biggest winner.

Last week, the BSE benchmark jumped 990.51 points or 1.65 per cent.

Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC Bank, Infosys, State Bank of India, HDFC and ITC were among the gainers, while ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever Limited and Bharti Airtel faced erosion from their market valuation.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of Reliance Industries jumped Rs 44,956.5 crore to Rs 17,53,888.92 crore.

HDFC Bank added Rs 22,139.15 crore taking its valuation to Rs 8,34,517.67 crore.

The market valuation of State Bank of India rallied Rs 20,526.61 crore to Rs 5,29,898.82 crore and that of TCS climbed Rs 19,521.04 crore to Rs 11,76,860.69 crore.

HDFC’s mcap advanced Rs 16,156.04 crore to Rs 4,52,396.31 crore and that of ITC spurted by Rs 9,861.07 crore to Rs 4,38,538.73 crore.

The valuation of Infosys gained Rs 547.01 crore to Rs 6,37,023.14 crore.

In contrast, the mcap of ICICI Bank declined by Rs 1,518.27 crore to Rs 6,31,314.49 crore and that of Hindustan Unilever fell by Rs 1,186.55 crore to Rs 5,92,132.24 crore.

Bharti Airtel’s mcap dipped Rs 222.53 crore to Rs 4,54,182.23 crore.

Reliance Industries remained the most valued domestic firm, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, HDFC and ITC.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)