Tech Mahindra Ltd (TechM), Bharti Airtel Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Tata Steel Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd, ITC Ltd, Larsen & Toubro, SBI Life Insurance Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd are among 15 Nifty constituents that could report a fall in year-on-year (YoY) profit in the March quarter, Motilal Oswal Securities suggested.
Among these companies, two steelmakers Tata Steel and JSW Steel, IT major TechM, telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd and oil marketing company BPCL are seen reporting 10-60 per cent drop in YoY profit. In total, 50 Nifty companies are expected to report 6 per cent YoY growth in bottom lines.
Tata Steel (down 4.9 per cent) and JSW Steel (down 1.7 per cent) have seen FY25 earnings downgrades since December quarter results; BPCL has seen a marginal earnings upgrade; while there has been no changes to TechM and Bharti Airtel FY25 earnings estimates so far.
Motilal Oswal sees JSW Steel's profit falling 58 per cent to Rs 1,534.90 crore on 4.6 per cent YoY drop in sales at Rs 44,791 crore. Tata Steel may log 37.7 per cent drop in profit at Rs 1,054 crore on 2.8 per cent YoY fall in sales at Rs 61,228 crore.
In the case of Tata Steel, the management commentary on European operations is critical. Its guidance on ASP and CoP across geographies will be monitored. For JSW Steel, coal costs are expected to remain at elevated levels in 4QFY24. The management commentaries on capex and performance of domestic and overseas subsidiaries will be crucial, Motilal Oswal said.
Motilal Oswal sees TechM logging 30.6 per cent YoY drop in profit at Rs 923.20 crore on 3.5 per cent fall in sales at Rs 13,232 crore. Motilal Oswal said revenue growth for TechM is expected to be muted at 0.7 per cent QoQ CC due to weakness in both CME and Enterprise verticals.
"Deal wins are likely to be muted due to macro uncertainty. We expect deal TCV to the tune of $500 million in 4Q. Margins are likely to improve 140 bps QoQ, as the impact of cost-control efforts should start becoming visible," the domestic brokerage said.
Bharti Airtel is seen reporing 15 per cent YoY drop in profit at Rs 2,199 crore. The telecom operator is seen reporting sales of Rs 38,860 crore, up 7.9 per cent. BPCL is seen reporting 15.9 per cent YoY fall in profit at Rs 6,362 crore on flattish sales at Rs 1,18,178 crore.