Early birds herald result season with good tidings
A strong set of numbers from technology firms, together with sterling performances from heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC, have given India Inc a flying start this earnings season. Both Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services set the markets on fire before the slow movers — the two-wheeler players — tempered the sentiment. Hero MotoCorp was a huge disappointment with the company reporting a 20% year-on-year drop in net profit as it sold more of less profitable models while Bajaj Auto’s bottom line rose just 3% y-o-y as margins contracted.
That apart, the trends have been encouraging. Almost all private sector banks to have announced results have done exceeding well in what is seen to be a highly competitive environment. HDFC Bank reported its customary 30% y-o-y rise in profits, its asset quality as impeccable as ever, while Axis Bank did well to post a 22% y-o-y increase in the bottom line.
For a sample of 77 companies (excluding banks and financials), skewed heavily in favour of software giants, revenues grew nearly 19%, y-o-y, comparable with the previous three quarters. With companies keeping costs in check, operating profit margins expanded nearly 200 basis points, a sharp improvement over the previous three quarters when they had contracted by anywhere between 150 and 400 basis points. Consequently, operating profits saw a big jump of 38% y-o-y, driving up the bottom line for the sample by an impressive 51% y-o-y. That compares with a 17% increase in the three months to September and a drop in the
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