>FINVESTOR FOCUS (RELIGARE)

Equity markets – India fares better than Global counterparts!

The year 2009 had an action-packed start with the

government announcing a second stimulus package of

Rs. 200 bn along with additional easing of the

monetary policy. The Rs. 7000 Cr Satyam fraud dealt

a negative blow to the Indian IT industry and thereby

to the equity markets raising questions on the

corporate governance in India.

The third quarter results season has been a mixed

bag so far, with the topline growth meeting the

estimates (without inclusion of the Banking and Oil &

Gas sectors). Metal, Cement and Media sectors

largely contributed to dragging down the YoY

performance from 2008. Contracting EBIDTA

margins and hence the bottom line (net profit) threw

negative surprises at the market. Religare in-house

equity view states that the positive effect of lower

interest rates will begin to show in another couple of

quarters by when the margins are expected to improve.

plummeted by 1/3rd of its value while metal, banking

and capital goods were amongst the worst

performers during the month.

To see full report: Finvestor Focus Feb 2009