Aug. 19: First quarter financial results of India Inc, which were earlier expected to provide an impetus to the market have largely been below expectations. Post the disappointment, analysts are also reviewing and revising earnings estimates for FY11 — mostly downwards —which could mean limited gains for investors over the next year or so.
The aggregate growth of 21 per cent in Sensex earnings was in line with expectations, but the breadth was disappointing, notes JP Morgan, a brokerage house. If commodity companies such as metals and oil and gas were excluded, the profits of Sensex firms have gone up by just seven per cent, the broker notes.
More than half of the Sensex firms had first quarter profits below analyst expectations, according to Merrill Lynch.