As investors await the onset of a new earnings season on Dalal Street, all eyes are on the metal basket in the final three months of the financial year 2023-24 following a quarter that saw the profits for players grow more than 65 per cent. This time around, many analysts anticipate a margin contraction for steelmakers within the metals space amid lower price realisations and higher coking coal consumption costs despite a pickup in volumes in a seasonally strong quarter. 

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Meanwhile, the Nifty Metal rose 3.5 per cent in the March quarter as against a 2.7 per cent rise in the headline Nifty50 index. 

What to expect in March-quarter (Q4 FY24) earnings reports of metal players 

Axis Securities expects a good fiscal fourth quarter for base metal companies under its coverage, with margins at Hindalco and NALCO anticipated to expand both on quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year basis, but sees steel firms logging margin contraction owing to persistent demand uncertainty in China’s property sector that continues to hamper steel demand. 

Net profit

Analysts at Antique Stock Broking peg the overall PAT of the metal companies under its coverage at around Rs 11,431 crore in the March quarter, marking a fall of more than 24 per cent on a year-on-year basis and 11.5 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The overall quarterly revenue for the sector is expected to decline 6.6 per cent and increase 4.4 per cent to Rs 2,206.5 crore, respectively, according to the analysts.

Company-wise performance 

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