Review of Earnings Season Till Date

55 of the Top companies have reported results. Aggregate earnings fell 3.2% YoY against streets’ expectation of a 7% fall YoY. In terms of surprise breadth, for 53%, or 29, companies’ net profits exceeded expectations by 5% or more, while 16 companies reported results that trailed our analyst expectations by 5% or less. Only three companies of this pack have reported losses.

Eighteen companies in the BSE Sensex have reported thus far, with aggregate earnings down 11% YoY, compared with expectations of a 7% fall. Excluding the energy sector, the Sensex earnings are down 14%, below expectations.

At the sector level, industrials and consumer staples are the key positive surprises. Consumer Staples is the best performing sector in terms of profit growth, followed by Technology, while Materials is the worst-performing sector. Excluding the Financials sector, aggregate net profit for this sample is down 3.2%.

Overall, 1,571 companies have reported. While revenue is up 1.6% YoY, net profit is down 11% YoY. Of these 1,571 companies, 34%, or 527 companies, have reported losses for the quarter ended March 2009.