India Strategy | Review 1QFY25
India Strategy
BSE Sensex: 79,106
Refer to our Jun’24
Quarter Preview
Nifty-50: 24,144
Earnings review – 1QFY25: A muted quarter, as expected!
OMC’s drag 1Q; Nifty EPS cut 1.7%/1% for FY25/26
OMCs temper corporate earnings:
The 1QFY25 corporate earnings came in line,
with overall growth primarily propelled once again by domestic cyclicals. Notable
contributions were witnessed from the Healthcare, Real Estate, Capital Goods,
and Metals sectors. In contrast, earnings growth was adversely affected by OMCs.
Domestic cyclicals ignite resilience:
The aggregate earnings of the MOFSL
Universe companies were in line with our expectations and grew 1% YoY (vs. our
est. of -1% YoY). Earnings for the Nifty-50 rose 4% YoY (vs. our est. of +3%). The
aggregate performance was hit by a drag from OMCs. Excluding OMCs, the MOFSL
Universe and Nifty posted 12% and 9% earnings growth vs. expectations of +10%
and +7%, respectively. The overall earnings growth was fueled once again by
domestic cyclicals, such as Automobiles (+28% YoY) and BFSI (+16% YoY), with
improved contributions from Healthcare (+29% YoY), Real Estate (+62% YoY),
and Capital Goods (+23% YoY). Metals also reported a strong earnings growth of
18% YoY (vs. our est. of 1% YoY drop), driven by Vedanta, Hindalco, and Tata
Steel. Excluding BFSI, profits for the MOFSL Universe would have declined 6%
YoY (vs. our est. of -8% YoY).
Heavyweights on the march:
Nifty delivered a 4% YoY PAT growth (vs. our est.
of +3%).
Nifty reported first quarter of a single digit EBITDA growth (5%) in
four years, (last time Nifty posted single digit EBITDA growth in Sep’20). Also,
4% PAT growth is the lowest since the Pandemic quarter (June’20).
Five Nifty
companies – HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and TCS –
contributed 127% of the incremental YoY accretion in earnings. Conversely,
BPCL, JSW Steel, ONGC, Reliance Industries, and Grasim Industries contributed
adversely to the Nifty earnings.
The beat-miss dynamics:
The beat-miss ratio for the MOFSL Universe was
unfavorable, with 43% of the companies missing our estimates, while 29%
reported a beat at the PAT level. For the MOFSL Universe, the earnings upgrade-
to-downgrade ratio has turned weaker for FY25E as 46 companies’ earnings
have been upgraded by >3%, while 107 companies’ earnings have been
downgraded by >3%. The earnings upgrade/downgrade ratio of 0.4x was the
worst since 1QFY21. EBITDA margin of the MOFSL Universe (ex-Financials)
contracted 120bp YoY to 16.3%.
Report card:
Of the 24 sectors under our coverage, 7/11/6 sectors reported
profits above/in line/below our estimates. Of the 263 companies under coverage,
77 exceeded our profit estimates, 113 posted a miss, and 73 were in line.
FY25E earnings highlights:
The MOFSL Universe is likely to deliver sales/EBITDA/
PAT growth of 9%/9%/11% YoY in FY25. The Financials and Metals sectors are
projected to be the key growth drivers, with 16% and 38% YoY earnings growth,
respectively. They are likely to contribute 78% of the earnings growth.
Nifty EPS experiences a downgrade of 1.7%/1% for FY25E/FY26E:
The Nifty EPS
estimate for FY25 was cut by 1.7% to INR1,115, largely owing to Reliance
Industries, ONGC, and BPCL. FY26E EPS was also trimmed by 1% to INR1,316
(from INR1,330) as upgrades in Infosys, Coal India, Tata Motors, and Maruti
were offset by downgrades in ONGC, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and
Indusind Bank.
1QFY25: Expectations vs. delivery
% of companies that have declared results
Above Expectations
In-line
Below Expectations
MOFSL
PAT
Nifty
29
28
43
24
40
36
Gautam Duggad – Research Analyst
(Gautam.Duggad@MotilalOswal.com)
Research Analyst: Deven Mistry
(Deven@MotilalOswal.com)
/
Aanshul Agarawal
(Aanshul.Agarawal@Motilaloswal.com)
Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.
Motilal Oswal research is available on www.motilaloswal.com/Institutional-Equities, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Capital.