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Nifty’s Q4 Earnings Scorecard: The Biggest Surprise In A Year

18 out of Nifty 50 Firms surpassed street forecast in March quarter, the highest in a year.

Targets are set up at the Sky Range shooting club at the Solaire Resort and Casino operated by Bloomberry Resorts Corp. in Manila, the Philippines (Photographer: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg)  
Targets are set up at the Sky Range shooting club at the Solaire Resort and Casino operated by Bloomberry Resorts Corp. in Manila, the Philippines (Photographer: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg)  

India’s 50 largest companies reported the biggest earnings surprise in at least a year.

Among the NSE Nifty 50 companies, 18 beat consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That’s the best performance since the three months to March 2017. Nineteen companies reported earnings in line with estimates, while 13 disappointed the Street.

Nifty’s Q4 Earnings Scorecard: The Biggest Surprise In A Year

All the metal and cement companies surpassed analysts estimates, while most automakers, oil and gas firms and drugmakers missed forecasts. Here’s a snapshot:

Nifty’s Q4 Earnings Scorecard: The Biggest Surprise In A Year

Segment Wise Key Takeaways

Agriculture

  • UPL Ltd., the only farm-focused company in the 50-stock index, met analysts estimates.
  • The agro-chemicals maker is cautious about guidance for 2018-19 due to challenging market conditions.

Automakers

Banking and Financial Services

Cement Producers

  • Higher volume growth and cost cuts helped UltraTech Cement Ltd., the country’s largest cement maker, report a better-than-expected operational performance.

Construction

  • Larsen & Toubro Ltd.’s operating income surpassed estimates and the construction giant forecast a strong growth in 2018-19.

Consumer Goods

Information Technology

Media

Metal And Mining

  • Higher commodity prices and volumes helped all metal companies.
  • Coal India Ltd. reported better-than-expected numbers in the March quarter.

Oil & Gas

Pharma

Ports and Shipping

Power

Telecom

  • Bharti Airtel Ltd. reported a strong growth in Africa business and better-than-expected revenue per user in India. Its tower unit Bharti Infratel Ltd. was impacted by consolidation in telecom sector, reducing tenancies.

Textile

Grasim Industries Ltd., recently added to the 50-index gauge, reported earnings in line with estimates despite a one-time provision.