Business Top 5: Infosys gains 3% after company found no evidence to corroborate whistleblowers' allegations

1) JSW Energy surges in trade 
CLSA, in a note today upgraded its recommendation on JSW Energy from SELL to BUY and raised the target price from Rs 59 to Rs 85.CLSA believes that JSW Energy is capitalizing on unique position as one of thefew solvent independent power producers with a deleveraged balance sheet.Company has in it's focus a plethora of stressed assets for value-accretive M&A.CLSA believes that the JSW Energy’s board decided not to pursue electric vehicle business in order to focus on power business and on demonstrated, value-accretive M&A,actually reduced investor concerns on profitable growth and cash diversion into unrelated projects.

2) Infosys
Infosys shares closed up 3.2% at Rs 710 after it said in a statement that it is yet to receive any evidence to corroborate whistleblower complaints against top executives. The stock had rallied 6% intra-day as investors learned that "With respect to the anonymous complaints, there is no prima facie evidence that the company has received until date to corroborate any of the allegations made. In any event, the Audit Committee retained the services of the law firm, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. to investigate the matter." Infosys however said that the anonymous complaints are still under investigation and the "company is not in a position to determine the concreteness, credibility and materiality of the anonymous complaints and will update the exchanges with the key findings when the investigation concludes.

3)Titan Q2 Preview
In its quarterly update, Titan had flagged off a tough macro economic environment, weakness in jewellery business & the adverse impact of hedging. Jewellery sales are expected to see a single digit growth of 5-6%. The high gold prices are also a factor impacting the business. Watches division is likely to report higher single digit growth. The EBITDA margin for company is likely to remain flat  due to low operating leverage and adverse product mix. Key factors to watch out for will be the management commentary for the H2FY20, proportion of jewellery sales being driven by SSSG & watch business margins.

Titan Q2 Standalone Preview YoY  
Revenue seen at Rs 4850 cr vs Rs 4353 cr, up 11.4%
EBITDA expected at Rs 528 cr vs Rs 466cr, up 13%
Margins seen at 10.9% vs 10.7%
PAT expected at Rs 358 cr vs Rs 314 cr, up 14%

4)Tech Mahindra
ET NOW poll expects revenue growth of 1.9% in cc terms but anticipating a cross-currency headwind of 70 bps, we see topline coming at $1262 mn. Growth will largely come from communication segment while enterprise vertical is expected to be subdued. EBITDA is seen growing 5.4% sequentially to Rs 1385 cr and as a result EBITDA margins will reflect a 30 bps QoQ bump up to 15.5%. Profits are seen declining 1.9% to Rs 941 cr as transition cost from AT&T deal will weigh on profitability near-term. Here's the ETNOW estimates with factors to watch and monitorables from management commentary.

Q2FY20 (QoQ)
$ Revenue seen at $1262 mn vs $1247 mn, up 1.2% QoQ
Rs Revenue seen at Rs 8,908 cr vs Rs 8,653 cr, up 2.9% QoQ
EBITDA seen at Rs 1385 cr vs Rs 1314.1 cr, up 5.4% QoQ
EBITDA Margin seen at 15.5% vs 15.2% QoQ
PAT seen at Rs 941 cr vs Rs 959.3 cr, down 1.9% QoQ

Factors:
See revenue growth of 1.2% in US$ terms, 1.9% in cc terms
Expect cross currency headwind of 70 bps
Telecom vertical would drive growth while enterprise vertical to remain subdued (client-specific issue, macro distress in mfg)

Margins to improve by 30 bps due to absence of one-off expenses but AT&T deal to weigh on profitability near-term

Key monitorables:
Pick-up in telecom, scope of work related to 5G (any impact of Huawei) 
Outlook for enterprise vertical (BFSI, Mfg, Retail, Healthcare)
AT&T deal contribution expected in H2 and impact from transition cost
Growth outlook in BPO biz
TCV deal wins (telecom vs enterprise), deal pipeline, ramp-up schedule 
Mgmt commentary on FY20 growth outlook (H1 to be subdued) and margin trajectory 

5)Jindal Steel shines 
For Jindal Steel's tryst with the coveted coal mine Gare Palma IV/1, things have come a full circle. 4 years after JSPL was disallowed by the govt from bidding for it, the steel major has posted the highest bid for the block at Rs. 230/MT as against floor price of Rs. 170 and reserve price of Rs. 150 in an elongated e-auction session conducted today. 
The mine's close proximity of 40-50 kms from JSPL's Raigarh Steel plant and its captive power plant make this mine very important to the company. Gare Palma IV/1 is expected to have mineable reserves of 127 mn tn with annual capacity of 6 mn tn. In a chat with ET NOW post the auction close, JSPL's MD VR Sharma said that the yield post washing would be used for the Raigarh Steel plant and the rejects or the middlings for the captive power plant. Waiving off the low yield argument given by the management 4 years ago to justify the non-aggressive bid, Mr. Sharma added that this block would cater to 100% of the coal requirements for both plants and will significantly amp up the EBITDA by stabilising costs.