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Informist, Wednesday, May. 6, 2026

By Sunil Raghu

 

AHMEDABAD – Companies in the basic industries sector are expected to report healthy year-on-year growth in earnings for the March quarter, supported by strong performance of metals, real estate, and select capital goods companies, even as cement and some industrial players are seen under pressure.

 

Based on the aggregate of estimates from 20 brokerages, the net profit of 40 companies in the basic industries segment that are part of the Nifty 200 index is likely to rise 23% year-on -year in the March quarter. Revenue growth is expected to be 13%, indicating an overall margin expansion during the quarter. Sequentially, revenue is seen rising 18% and net profit increasing 26%, aided by strong quarter-end execution, seasonal strength, and improved operating leverage.

 

The basic industries sector — comprising the capital goods, metals, cement, and real estate sub-sectors – has significant exposure to the domestic market and economy, while select companies have a notable share of exports and international operations. Changing macroeconomic conditions in India and globally have had a mixed impact on the sector's earnings performance. The March quarter saw global upheaval in the form of military conflict in West Asia, leading to a sharp rise in global crude prices and, by extension, in many raw material costs. However, many companies were partially insulated from these pressures by their inventory.

 

Of the 40 companies in the basic industries category in the Nifty 200, 27 are expected to report an increase in net profit for the March quarter, while the remaining 13 are expected to report a decline. The outlook is better for top-line growth, with 34 of the 40 companies expected to report higher revenue in the March quarter and six likely to report a decline.

 

The sector reflects divergent trends across sub-sectors. Metals and mining companies - Tata Steel Ltd., Vedanta Ltd., and Hindustan Zinc Ltd. - are likely to anchor earnings growth, benefiting from improved realisations and operating efficiencies. Real estate developers are expected to report strong profit growth, supported by robust pre-sales and project completions. However, as in the December quarter, cement companies are expected to remain a key drag on sector profitability in the March quarter.

 

ACC Ltd. reported a 66% year-on-year decline in net profit even as revenue grew 18%. Ambuja Cements Ltd., however, reported a 79% year-on-year growth in net profit and a 10% increase in revenue. The sharp increase in Ambuja Cements' net profit was primarily due to a tax writeback. Adjusting for the writeback, the net profit would have fallen by 51% in the March quarter.

 

The sharp decline in net profit in the cement sector, despite moderate revenue growth, was driven by cost pressures and a weak pricing environment during the quarter. The two cement companies account for nearly 109 million tonnes per annum capacity, which is about a quarter of the country's total cement manufacturing capacity.

 

Large companies continue to dominate sector earnings. Four large companies – Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries Ltd., and UltraTech Cement Ltd. – account for nearly 28% of the estimated aggregate net profit and 44% of the estimated aggregate revenue. These four companies are the largest in their respective sub-sectors — capital goods, ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, and cement.

 

The largest capital goods company, Larsen & Toubro, whose revenue accounted for 15% of the aggregate estimated revenue for the basic industries sector for the March quarter, reported an over 11% year-on-year increase in consolidated revenue and a 3?cline in net profit.

 

Tata Steel, which accounts for 11% of the aggregate revenue estimate, is expected to report a consolidated revenue growth of over 10% year-on-year and net profit growth of over 82% in the March quarter. Sequentially, its revenue and net profit are seen rising nearly 9%. The company is expected to benefit in the near term from improved steel price realisations, operating efficiencies, and a strong domestic demand outlook, amid global uncertainty over the military conflict in West Asia and related logistics and cost challenges.

 

Hindalco Industries, the country's largest aluminium producer with an annual capacity of 1.3 million tonnes of primary aluminium and 3.6 million tonnes of alumina, accounts for nearly 13% of the sector's aggregate revenue estimate and is likely to report over 9% year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue and a decline of over 11% in net profit. Another Aditya Birla Group company, UltraTech Cement, the country's largest cement maker with a manufacturing capacity of over 200 million tonnes per annum, reported a nearly 12% rise in consolidated revenue, while its net profit rose over 20%. UltraTech Cement's estimated revenue accounts for nearly 5% of the sector's aggregate revenue.

 

Going forward, sustained government capital expenditure, a recovery in private capex, and stability in commodity prices will be key drivers for the sector. While metals and real estate are expected to remain supportive in the near term, the trajectory of cement prices and input costs will be crucial for a broader margin recovery.

 

Following are the Jan-Mar earnings estimates from 20 brokerage firms for the 40 companies of the basic industries sector that are a part of the Nifty 200 index:

 

 

Company name	Sales, INR million	PAT, INR million	Sales Y-o-Y Change %	PAT Y-o-Y Change %	Sales Q-o-Q Change %	PAT Q-o-Q Change %
ABB India	34,378	5,497	8.81	15.93	-3.35	9.87
ACC	68,735	4,432	13.49	-26.22	6.42	2.09
Ambuja Cements +	1,10,670	4,925	10.89	-40.06	7.69	124.94
APL Apollo Tubes +	62,761	3,454	13.93	17.85	7.93	11.41
Astral +	21,658	2,487	28.81	38.69	40.50	100.21
Bharat Dynamics	19,905	3,522	12.02	29.12	251.29	355.06
Bharat Electronics	98,312	21,059	7.80	0.06	38.04	31.07
BHEL	85,110	7,671	-5.36	52.19	0.45	100.56
CG Power and Industrial Solutions +	33,938	3,344	23.29	22.94	6.88	4.36
Cochin Shipyard	15,535	2,381	-5.91	-16.37	33.31	72.93
Container Corp	23,266	3,169	1.98	4.90	1.08	-3.70
Cummins India	28,568	5,671	16.28	8.78	-6.49	-2.16
DLF +	27,184	12,518	-13.08	-2.37	34.56	-0.93
Godrej Properties +	32,977	6,167	55.43	61.44	561.71	185.18
Hindalco Industries +	7,09,858	46,768	9.39	-11.37	6.71	-0.87
Hindustan Aeronautics	1,31,015	33,051	-4.37	-16.50	70.17	78.49
Hindustan Zinc	1,19,738	45,398	32.44	52.55	9.63	17.79
IRB Infrastructure Developers +	18,565	2,484	-13.62	15.70	-0.78	-1.98
Jindal Steel +	1,50,720	8,788	14.33	-1.26	15.70	258.71
JSW Steel +	5,00,996	25,891	11.78	67.36	8.93	-2.96
L&T +	8,31,904	55,653	11.83	10.81	16.43	22.08
Lodha Developers +	46,405	8,826	9.85	-4.25	-0.68	-7.77
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders +	32,379	7,580	2.00	133.02	-10.09	-13.84
National Aluminium Co	49,904	17,912	-5.27	-13.82	5.49	11.88
NMDC	91,468	21,518	31.55	43.80	22.19	23.79
Oberoi Realty +	16,578	7,028	44.14	62.24	11.06	8.84
Phoenix Mills +	11,734	3,422	15.45	26.00	4.65	13.76
Polycab India +	82,198	7,060	17.66	-2.85	7.64	10.00
Premier Energies +	22,225	3,891	37.12	40.04	14.77	-0.68
Prestige Estates +	33,822	3,273	121.29	1,209.13	-12.66	47.03
Rail Vikas Nigam	66,586	4,079	4.94	9.26	47.84	54.37
Shree Cement	54,989	5,270	4.94	-5.21	24.51	57.50
Siemens +	44,730	4,155	17.44	-16.68	16.77	21.27
Steel Authority of India	3,11,221	16,454	6.16	36.28	13.70	272.52
Supreme Industries +	37,011	4,087	22.27	39.05	37.74	142.20
Tata Steel +	6,19,764	30,749	10.24	82.01	8.73	8.71
Tube Investments of India	22,060	3,080	12.71	-62.86	2.50	50.99
UltraTech Cement +	2,60,129	27,919	12.79	12.06	19.16	53.85
Vedanta +	4,95,061	83,485	22.37	139.69	111.84	39.12
Waaree Energies +	75,694	10,887	89.05	74.78	0.06	-20.20
Total	54,99,747	5,75,002	12.65	22.91	18.33	25.57

 

 

Notes:
+ Consolidated Figure
* Net interest Income
Y-o-Y: Year-on-Year
# Net premium income
Q-o-Q: Quarter-on-Quarter
N.A.: Not Available
 
Estimates from: Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Ltd., Antique Stock Broking Ltd., Centrum Broking Ltd., Dolat Capital Market Pvt. Ltd., Elara Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd., Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd., HDFC Securities Ltd., HSBC Global Research, ICICI Securities Ltd., IIFL Capital Services Ltd., JM Financial Institutional Securities Pvt. Ltd., Kotak Institutional Equities, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd., Nirmal Bang Equities Pvt. Ltd., Nomura Equity Research, Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd., Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd., Sharekhan Ltd., Systematix Shares and Stocks (India) Ltd. and YES Securities (India) Ltd.

 

End

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

Compiled by Mayur Nijap

 

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