Q4 Results Today: What to expect from L&T, Dr Reddy’s, Godrej Consumer

With the earnings season going on in full swing, a plethora of companies will be releasing their March quarter numbers today.

The major ones are Larsen & Toubro, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Godrej Consumer Products, Bosch, Procter & Gamble Hygiene, Escorts Kubota, Sanofi India, and Max Financial Services.

ETMarkets has summarised the broad expectations on earnings from the following companies.

Larsen & Toubro
Analysts widely expect the engineering behemoth to report double-digit growth in both topline and bottomline for the March quarter, on the back of healthy execution and strong order book.

The core engineering business is expected to drive the topline growth, given healthy opening order book, brokerage Sharekhan said in its report.

Kotak Institutional Equities expects a 10% YoY growth in the core EPC revenues on improved construction activity across projects in Q4.

L&T usually does not share the exact value of the orders it has bagged, however, Kotak Equities expects order inflows of Rs 63,000 crore in the quarter gone by.

The management’s guidance for sales and order inflow growth for FY24 will be closely tracked by Dalal Street investors. Besides, the status of non-core assets like Nabha power, metro ridership and financial assistance will be other key monitorables.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
A favourable base could help Dr Reddy’s Laboratories report a sharp YoY increase in the consolidated net profit for the March quarter, while revenue is seen rising in double digits, led by strong traction in the US sales.

Analysts expect India business to report a high single-digit to low double-digit growth in sales for the quarter.

The key contributor to US business growth is the generic version of cancer drug Revlimid. According to analysts, it is the largest contributor to US sales, and Nomura Financial Advisory sees the contribution changing significantly quarter to quarter.

The pharma major booked $100 million in sales from the drug in Q2 and Q3, and Nomura has factored in $80 million sales in Q4.

Nomura has pegged an 18% YoY growth in Dr Reddy’s consolidated sales to Rs 6,416 crore and a 59% growth in net profit to Rs 1,336 crore.

Dalal Street investors will closely watch for the outlook for US sales, given that FY23 was primarily driven by Revlimid drug sales. Besides, they will also look for planned product launches over the next 12-15 months.

Besides the US, an outlook for India and Russia will also be eyed as these two markets are key revenue contributors after North America.

Godrej Consumer Products
The fast-moving consumer goods major is seen reporting double-digit growth in the consolidated net profit for the March quarter, on the back of a similar growth in the topline.

JM Financial Institutional Securities expects India growth in teens with both home care and personal care growth expected in double-digits. After several quarters of correction, Indonesia is expected to rebound, but Africa growth will be impacted by local issues in Nigeria.

A sharp decline in palm oil prices is expected to lead to sequential and YoY improvement in gross margins, Motilal Oswal Securities said. Despite likely higher advertising spend, operating profit growth for Q4 and beyond is likely to be over 25%, the brokerage said.

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