Q4 results today: What's in store for Ashok Leyland, NMDC and Biocon

Ashok Leyland, NMDC and Biocon will announce their fourth-quarter results today. Here is a brief preview of what to expect from these companies in the March quarter.

Ashok Leyland
Ashok Leyland's revenues are expected to increase by 31% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in the fourth quarter, led by a 26% sequential increase in volumes and 4% QoQ increase in ASPs (average selling prices). Net sales are seen rising 35% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 11,786 crore.

Kotak Institutional Equities expects ASPs to increase by 4% QoQ, mainly on account of a higher mix of domestic M&HCV segment and better retention of price increases taken during the quarter.


Net profit for the quarter is likely to decline 10% to Rs 807 crore.

"We expect EBITDA margin to improve by 260 bps QoQ, led by operating leverage benefits, richer product mix (higher mix of M&HCV segment) and lagged benefit of RM tailwinds (correction in steel prices) in the fourth quarter," Kotak said.

MHCV volumes witnessed significant traction during the quarter, driven by strong demand in underlying industries and pre-buying ahead of BS6-II norms.

NMDC
NMDC's iron-ore sales increased 1.5% year-on-year (YoY) (30% QoQ) to 12.5 million tons during the quarter due to a recovery in demand.

The miner's net profit is seen declining about 14% year-on-year to Rs 1,562 crore. However, profit is likely to jump 75% quarter-on-quarter.

Revenue from operations is expected to be in the range of Rs 5,789 crore for the reporting quarter, again down 14% year-on-year.

"We estimate blended iron-ore realizations to increase by 20% QoQ (-15% yoy) led by price hikes during the quarter. We expect EBITDA/ton to increase sequentially to Rs 1,614/ton (-26% yoy, +35% QoQ) mainly on account of higher prices and operating leverage," Kotak said.

Biocon
Biocon's net profit is likely to fall 58% to Rs 100 crore for the March quarter, according to analyst estimates. The company had reported a loss of Rs 41.8 crore in the December quarter and Rs 238 crore in last year's quarter.

Meanwhile, net sales are expected to rise 51% in the fourth quarter.

Motilal Oswal sees biologics sales doubling YoY to Rs 1900 crore, led by increased traction in existing products and partly aided by Viatris acquisition.

Update on new contracts for insulin Glargine in the US and other geographies and outlook of vaccines business would be key monitorables.

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