Mixed bag of Q2 results, net up 27%

Margins Improve For FMCG, Cement Cos | IT, Auto Parts Firms Laggards Mumbai: There is a clear divide among the various sectors in the economy in terms of their performance during the July-September quarter. A review of the quarterly results of 181 companies, which contribute about 38% of the total market capitalization of NSE, showed that while companies from sectors like cement and FMCG are among the better performers, showing healthy growth in realizations, two-wheelers and auto components are among the laggards, reporting degrowth in revenues.      "The weak operating environment has resulted in a modest revenue growth, which in turn has come from continued pressure on volume growth in sectors like auto, IT, cement and FMCG," said Mukesh Agarwal, president, Crisil Research. "However, EBIDTA margins have rebounded on Y-o-Y basis by 74 basis points if you exclude RIL (which saw significant contraction in margins), led by either sharp expansion in margins of sectors like cement and FMCG on account of healthy growth in realizations or support from weak rupee for sectors like IT and pharmaceuticals," Agarwal said.      The analysis by Crisil Research shows that revenues of the 181 companies from among 500 top Indian companies that form S&P CNX 500 index rose by 14.4% on an annual basis to nearly Rs 3.2 lakh crore, while net profit rose 26.6% to Rs 36,801 crore during the quarter ended September (Q2FY13). Although net profit margin of these corporates grew by 112 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point), EBITDA margin fell by 63 basis points, the analysis showed. It also showed that the rupee revenues of IT services grew by 29.5% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) on the back of a significant depreciation in rupee, although the dollar revenue growth was only 8-9%. The rupee had depreciated by 20.7% y-o-y against the dollar during the period under review.     Pharmaceutical companies too saw a growth of over 25% in revenues led by currency supporting export realizations, the analysis showed. Two-wheelers and auto components sectors have witnessed a de-growth in revenues, by nearly 8% each, due to pressure on volumes in both domestic and export markets.  Stock mkt to take cue from Q2 nos, RBI  New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review on Tuesday, next set of corporate earnings and the reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers will dictate the trend on the bourses this week, say analysts. Besides, automobile and cement stocks will be in focus as companies from these two sectors will unveil their monthly sales data for October from Thursday. "Markets will react on Monday after seeing the portfolio reshuffle," CNI Research CMD Kishore Ostwal said. For this week, Bhel, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's Lab, Power Grid Corp and Wipro will announce their results. AGENCIES