June quarter may see a mere 3% revenue growth: Crisil

Rating agency Crisil today painted a gloomy picture on the earnings front, saying India Inc would be reporting poor numbers yet again for the first quarter on soft commodity prices, weak growth and subdued rural demand.
"India Inc stares at another forgettable quarter... (the earnings will) disappoint as soft commodity prices, weak growth in investment-linked sectors and subdued rural demand restrict earnings," Crisil said in a note.
An analysis of 600 companies (excluding financials and oil and gas), which account for 70 per cent of the market capitalisation, shows a likely 3 per cent uptick in revenues, the agency said.

However, compared on a sequential basis, this is a 2.3 percentage point increase over the March quarter's 0.7 per cent revenue growth.
The pre-tax profits for the June quarter will be down 0.70 per cent, it said, which is a mild improvement from the March quarter when it was minus 1.7 per cent.
Revenue growth in the petrochemicals, steel, sugar and man-made fibre sectors will be the most impacted because of the low commodity prices, it said.

Cement companies are expected to have a weak quarter because of flat volumes.
In what can spell further trouble, it said the continued weak performance of investment-linked sectors and companies impacted by low global commodity prices will "curb even the moderate growth" anticipated in export-oriented and consumer-driven sectors.

Construction companies, Crisil said, may also report a 2-4 per cent uptick in revenues after three consecutive quarters of flat revenues.