A third of Sensex companies may report drop in profits

Nearly one-third of Sensex 30 companies are likely to report a drop in fourth quarter profits, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) has said. The brokerage expects the aggregate earnings of Sensex companies to grow by 7.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the fourth quarter of FY17. The growth will be led by commodity companies. Excluding commodity companies, the growth will be 2.7 per cent, it said. The broader market performance, however, is expected to be better by virtue of good performance of state-owned banks on a low base.  “Broader equity sets are likely to grow faster: Led by