'Net income of corporates likely to rise 4.2% in December quarter'

MUMBAI: Net income of corporates is expected to increase 4.2 per cent for the three months ended December 2015 over the same quarter in the previous year, led by sharp improvement in profitability of oil marketing companies and Reliance Industries, says a report.

However, on ex-energy basis, the net income of companies is likely to drop by 4.5 per cent during the October-December quarter 2015-16 compared to the same period year-ago, as per a latest report by Kotak Institutional Equities ( KIE).

"We expect net income to increase 4.2 per cent year-on-year, led by sharp improvement in the profitability of oil marketing companies and Reliance Industries," it said.

According to the report, improvement in profitability of oil marketing companies is based on "the strength in refining margins and lower quarter-on-quarter inventory/forex losses".

KIE has estimated that net income for quarter ended December 2015 would fall for companies in the automobiles, cement, industrials, metals and mining, telecom and utilities sectors.

For the BSE-30 index, the net income is expected to grow 1.5 per cent for the period under review.

"We estimate BSE-30 Index' FY2017 earning per share at Rs 1,627 and FY2018 EPS at Rs 1,910," the report said.