Nifty companies' Dec quarter profit may grow in double digits
growth in aggregate net profit for the third consecutive three-month period, ETIG estimates for the December quarter showed, although muted performance of technology and consumer-goods companies could decelerate the pace of expansion.
Net profit in the December 2023 quarter for the Nifty 50 constituents is expected to climb 15%, compared with 7.6% growth in the year-ago period. To be sure, the year-on-year profit growth was above 25% in each of the two previous quarters, reflecting the base effect.
Aggregate revenue is expected to climb 8.5%, compared with the growth of 6.8% and 18.4% in the previous and year-ago quarters, respectively.
Automobiles, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), cement, capital goods, and pharma firms are expected to undergird growth.
Metals & Energy Firms likely to Fare Better
«We predict earnings for the companies we track to jump by around 20% year-on-year. The earnings growth is projected to be driven once again by domestic cyclicals, such as BFSI and automobiles, and oil and gas, led by a surge in marketing margins,» said Gautam Duggad, institutional research head, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Deepak Jasani, retail research head, HDFC Securities, predicts a wide growth divergence across sectors due to varying rates of expansion in the base quarter of December 2022.
«Weak rural demand had impacted sales in the base quarter while urban demand was robust. The situation has only slightly improved since then,» said Jasani, adding that metal and energy companies may do well in the latest December quarter since they had performed poorly in the base quarter.
