Shares of Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd today surged over 8 per cent after the company entered into a joint venture with Orbicular Pharmaceutical to develop, manufacture and commercialise dermatology products for global markets.

Earlier, the stock climbed 8.14 per cent to Rs 618 on the BSE. On the NSE, it zoomed 8 per cent to Rs 618.25.

The stock hit intra-day high of Rs 618 and low of Rs 577.95 on the BSE.

At the pre-close trade, the stock was up 7.28 per cent at Rs 613.05 on the BSE. On the NSE, it was up 7.32 per cent at Rs 613.80.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals today informed the BSE that it has entered into a joint venture with Orbicular Pharmaceutical Technologies and Dr M S Mohan.

“APL and Orbicular will own 60 per cent and 40 per cent of the equity capital of Aleor when the transaction is completed,” the Vadodara-based company said in a BSE filing.

It further said: “The joint venture agreement has standard terms including transfer of employees, financing and borrowing, management functioning, restriction on transfer of shares, non-compete, non-solicitation and termination events and consequences.”

Mohan is one of the founders of Orbicular Pharmaceutical Technologies.

Bharti Infratel shares plunge

Extending its downtrend for the second straight session, shares of Bharti Infratel fell nearly 4 per cent today following reports that Airtel is looking to sell 5 per cent stake in the tower unit through an open market trade deal to raise about Rs 3,500-Rs 4,000 crore.

At 3.25 pm, the stock was down 3.51 per cent at Rs 372.95 on the BSE. On the NSE, it was down 3.84 per cent at Rs 371.50.

The stock hit intra-day high of Rs 390 and low of Rs 370.90 on the BSE.

The stock had fallen 2.5 per cent in the previous session also.

Airtel has 71.70 per cent stake in Infratel. The company plans to sell 5 per cent stake in Infratel, proceeds of which are likely to be used to cut debt, sources said.

When contacted, a company spokesperson declined to comment.

The net debt of Airtel stood at Rs 78,816 crore at the end of December 2015.

Ahead of the launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm, Airtel is aggressively expanding its 4G footprint. The company has already acquired 4G spectrum from Aircel and Videocon to become a pan-India player in the high-speed data services market.

Bank stocks rally

Bank stocks surged as RBI has trimmed the list of firms whose loans need provisioning.

S&P BSE Bankex index jumped 1.95 per cent at the closing trade.

The Reserve Bank of India has trimmed the list of companies whose loans need to be provided for against the risk of default, according to a media report, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

Bankex index has the highest weightage on benchmark BSE index.

Shares of ICICI Bank were up 5.71 per cent, SBI 3.42 per cent and Punjab National Bank 4.57 per cent.

Wipro slumps nearly 7%

Shares of IT major Wipro today tumbled over 7 per cent after the company’s March quarter earnings missed street expectations.

The stock ended the session lower by 7.3 per cent at Rs 557.45 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it tanked 7.31 per cent to Rs 557.30.

The blue-chip was the top loser among the frontline scrips on both Sensex and Nifty during the morning trade.

“Wipro’s March quarter results have missed expectations both on growth and margins,” Emkay Global Financial Services said in a report.

Wipro, India’s third-largest IT firm, yesterday reported 1.6 per cent drop in March quarter profit to Rs 2,235 crore due to pressure on margins even as it aims to double its revenue to $15 billion by 2020, while its board approved a Rs 2,500-crore share buyback plan.

The Azim Premji-led firm had registered a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,272 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

IT services, which account for a lion’s share of its turnover, saw margins drop by 10 basis points to 20.1 per cent compared to October-December quarter and by two percentage points on year-on-year basis and were also impacted by weakness in its financial and healthcare services business.

The company board also approved a share buyback for Rs 2,500 crore. Wipro will buy up to 4 crore shares, representing 1.62 per cent of the total paid-up capital, at Rs 625 apiece.

The company is looking to double its turnover to $15 billion by 2020 as it focuses more on digital and automation under the new management team.

It had closed 2015-16 fiscal with about $7.7 billion in annual revenues. During January-March quarter, Wipro’s revenue rose 12.9 per cent to Rs 13,741.7 crore.

Kotak Securities Senior Vice-President and Head of Private Client Group Research Dipen Shah said the revenues matched up with expectations but margins were below our expectations.

“Client-specific challenges in BFSI impacted growth, while energy vertical continued to witness headwinds. The revenue guidance for Q1 indicates marginal growth on an organic basis, which is disappointing,” he added.

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