Jaiprakash Associates Q4: Analysts expect subdued earnings

Jaiprakash Associates is set to declare its fourth quarter (January-March) earnings on Saturday. Analysts expect the company to report subdued results during the quarter, according to CNBC-TV18 poll.

Standalone profit after tax is likely to fall 41.1 percent year-on-year (up 50.7 percent sequentially) to Rs 167 crore owing to higher interest costs.

Net sales are expected to fall 6.3 percent Y-o-Y (up 11 percent Q-o-Q) to Rs 3,771 crore in March quarter.

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Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) may fall 10.6 percent Y-o-Y (15.4 percent sequentially) to Rs 880 crore due to lower margins in cement and construction segments.

Operating profit margin is seen falling 110 basis points Y-o-Y (up 90 bps quarter-on-quarter) to 23.3 percent during the quarter.

Cement (contributes around 40 percent of business)

Analysts feel the cement volumes (ex-Jaypee Cement Corporation) are likely to decline 2 percent Y-o-Y (up 11 percent Q-o-Q) to around 4.1 million tonne.

Cement realization is likely to increase by 1 percent Y-o-Y owing to better pricing in Central and Eastern regions.

Cement revenues are expected to decline 1.1 percent Y-o-Y to around Rs 1,650 crore.

Revenues from construction segment (that constitutes 40-45 percent of business) are likely to fall 17 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,450 crore due to completion of the Yamuna Express project.

However, real estate segment (contributes around 15-20 percent of total business) may register a growth of around 15 percent to Rs 650 crore.