Mumbai: Three sets of September-quarter numbers landed on Tuesday and the market sorted them in a single session, rewarding the cooking-oil maker, forgiving the cigarette major and punishing the country's largest bank.
State Bank of India reported a 14.3 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit for Q2FY27 to ₹23,038 crore. The bank attributed the increase to higher net interest income and lower provisions. Asset quality improved, with gross non-performing assets down to 1.39 per cent. Two caveats sat inside the number: operating profit fell 1.4 per cent, and the reported profit included a one-time gain of ₹7,288 crore.
Investors read the fine print. SBI shares closed 1.77 per cent lower, making the stock one of the biggest losers on the Sensex, and the Nifty PSU Bank index fell 1.27 per cent.
ITC reported an 18.7 per cent year-on-year decline in Q2FY27 consolidated net profit to ₹4,168 crore, which it linked to higher taxes on its cigarette business. The stock still gained about 2.8 per cent, part of a broader FMCG rally that lifted the sector index nearly 3.65 per cent.
Marico was the day's clear winner. The company reported a 29.16 per cent year-on-year increase in Q2FY27 consolidated profit and raised its FY27 guidance. The shares rose about 10 per cent to ₹878.4, and the FMCG index finished as the best-performing sector.
The divergence is the point. In a market that has risen nearly 5 per cent in four sessions on hopes of a capital gains tax review for foreign investors and a 7 per cent fall in crude, stock-specific results decided who got paid. Nomura's read on the season so far is that of 134 companies in its BSE 200-plus universe that have reported, normalised profit after tax grew 34 per cent year on year, beating consensus by 18 per cent.
Lower copra costs and steady demand did the work for Marico. For ITC, the tax line did the damage. For SBI, a strong headline number was not enough once operating profit was read alongside it.