Earthquake off Fukushima was an aftershock of 2011 disaster: JMA
Analysis of 2,485 cos shows that net profit grew at fastest pace in at least 25 quarters
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the 7.3 magnitude earthquake of Saturday was believed to be an aftershock from the magnitude 9.0 quake on March 11, 2011 that set off a tsunami, killing nearly 20,000 people along a wide swath of northeastern Japan.
That disaster had also led to the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown, the world’s worst such accident in 25 years.
JMA warned of aftershocks for several days from the weekend temblor.
Residents on Sunday cleaned up debris in stores and homes after the quake set off a landslide on a highway, damaged buildings and parts of bullet train lines and caused power blackouts for thousands of people. It shook the quake-prone areas of
Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, and injured more than 140 people, mostly through falling objects and cuts while stepping on broken glass. Three people were confirmed with serious injures but there were no reports of deaths, chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato said.
Tokyo Electric Power Co, the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant that was hit by the March 2011 disaster, said the water used to cool spent fuel rods near the reactors had spilled but there were no radiation leaks or other irregularities.
MUMBAI: Corporate earnings grew at a robust pace in the December quarter in a bright spot for the Indian economy that is seeking to ride out of the brutal effects of the pandemic.
Out-of-home consumption, festive demand and improved consumer sentiment, besides benefits of tight cost control led to better-than-expected earnings growth during the quarter.
A Mint analysis of 2,485 publicly-traded companies, which reported earnings for the three months ended December 31 showed that net profit after adjusting for one-time items grew at the fastest pace in at least 25-quarters, at 71.95% from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Capitaline. That compares with a 34.88% rise in the September quarter and a contraction of 12.93% in the December quarter of 2019.
The review excludes banks, financial services and insurance, and oil and gas companies as they follow a different revenue model.
During Q3FY21, net sales growth of these set of companies grew 7.07% from a year earlier—a seven-quarter high. This is a recovery from a 1.8% decline in the September quarter, and a 2.13% drop in the December quarter of FY20.
“Broadly, earnings across most sectors have been quite robust this quarter and have continued to surprise consensus estimates. Earnings for most metal stocks have been very strong backed by high realizations; within the construction sector, execution has almost normalized to pre-covid levels and also saw very strong order inflows; this trend was also reflected in strong volume growth for the cement sector. Pent up demand drove volumes for discretionary stocks in Q2FY21, strong volume growth continued into Q3FY21 as well and the information technology sector continued to see strong deal wins,” said Amish Shah, India Equity Strategist, Bofa Securities.
A buoyant festive season, pent-up demand, strong rural growth and consolidation in favour of organized players also helped overall-demand growth, he added.
Net profit margin of these firms expanded to 9.15% in the three months to December from 7.51% in the preceding quarter and 6.34% a year earlier.
Likewise, operating profit margin widened to 23.76% in Q3 from 22.53% in the preceding quarter and 19.98% in Q3FY20.
“The Q3FY21 earnings season has maintained the momentum of the second quarter results– continued big beats and upgrades, and upbeat corporate commentaries across sectors and companies,” said Gautam Duggad and Jayant Parasramka, analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
To be sure, analysts cautioned that some of the cost rationalization measures by companies are likely to reverse as the economy starts to open up. Rise in prices of major commodities is feared to hit gross margins.
Analysts expect companies to offset the impact through product price increases and cost-saving initiatives.
Prices of major commodities surged in the December quarter. Crude oil prices jumped 26.5%, while aluminium, copper and zinc rose 14-16%, increasing raw material costs for these companies.
“Rising commodity prices is a risk for volume growth and margins. Some sectors such as automobiles and consumer durables have already started to take price hikes to pass on the cost pressures from high commodity prices—its impact on volume growth would be a key factor to watch going ahead,” said Shah.
Shah added that earnings for Nifty companies is likely to rise 37% in FY22, upgraded from 33% in FY21 on the back of the positive earnings surprise seen for most sectors and stocks, and a growth-focused Union budget.
Though improvement in the overall economy has not been able to catch up with the fastpaced recovery in corporate earnings, analysts are optimistic that the budget proposals with a focus on capital expenditure and infrastructure investments will be beneficial, going ahead.
NEW DELHI: A pitch looks playable as long as a batsman makes it to be. India, so far, have been better at it than England in the second Test in Chennai. For all their productive patience shown on a flat pitch in the first Test, England may not be skilled enough to tackle this one. It’s to India’s liking though. Don’t be surprised if Cheteshwar Pujara steps out to Moeen Ali again on Monday. Skipping down a few yards is an aggressive but popular way of forcing the spinner to drop it shorter from the rough on the pitch. That’s one of the basic methods to counter spin on an inconsistent surface. And considering how the game has panned out, this may well dictate the contrasting fortunes of England and India.
Sweeping helps too but on pitches with variable turn and bounce, it isn’t always a percentage shot. Approaches vary, said R Ashwin after his five-wicket haul. But the off-spinner feels getting stuck in defence doesn’t help. There were times when it looked as if England had retreated into a shell. “Rohit’s been sweeping very well, he has been using his feet very well too. Puji (Pujara) uses his feet really well. On the other hand, someone like Joe Root likes sweeping and uses his feet a little less,” said Ashwin after play on Sunday. “At the end of the day, I feel playing on a wicket where there is a bit of help, even for the quicks, you need to take those percentage and calculated risks. Sometimes when you are just waiting and trying to trust your defence, there is a ball that will eventually get you.”
Barring Ben Foakes and Dan Lawrence, no England batsman faced more than 50 deliveries. And only Foakes tried to farm the strike regularly. “It was extremely difficult against a high-quality spin outfit and the pitch was playing tricks. I just tried to play within my limits and play the ball late,” Foakes later said. Playing the ball late also demands proper defensive technique and superb hand-eye coordination. England fell short on that front. Deconstruct the first innings of England and you will find every batsman dismissed by a spinner was playing from the crease.
Dom Sibley and Root got out to the sweep, Daniel Lawrence tried forward defence at a sharply turning and bouncing Ashwin delivery, Ben Stokes missed a full in-dipping ripper from Ashwin and Moeen Ali poked at an Axar Patel delivery that was drifting away.
Pujara’s technique
Compare their approach to India’s, particularly Pujara’s attempts to meet the ball down the pitch, and you know staying back has its pitfalls. Being overtly defensive isn’t helping either. According to Cricviz, defensive strokes induced a miss or an edge 27% of the time on Day 2, compared to 22% on Day 1. This is going to worsen. That explained India’s urgency in making the most of loose deliveries. Like the six Shubman Gill hit off Ali in the fifth over—not waiting for the ball to pitch and turn, but picking the delivery off Ali’s hand and playing through the line.
Intent thus becomes crucial on a pitch like this. Till just before the end of Day 2, India had attacked 23% of the deliveries, playing a false shot to 16%. England attacked 15% of their deliveries, playing a false shot to 23%. It reflects in their scoring as well. Over 56% of India’s runs in the first innings came in fours and sixes. In England’s case, that was around 39%.
There is no debate Rohit Sharma has made the difference between the sides. The best executor of the sweep shot this Test, he has also been the most attacking batsmen at home in recent years. Outside India, his attacking strokes average 41.06. In India, they average 127.87. Central to his scoring prowess around the wicket is clarity of thought.
On Sunday, Rohit whipped, flicked and sliced the ball with aplomb. Perhaps the only big occasion when he wanted to defend in the second innings turned controversial when England appealed for leg-before after Sharma stretched fulllength, bat hidden behind the front pad, contending he was not playing a shot though struck outside the line of stumps. The field umpire though decided he was playing a shot.
Barring that, the game has pretty much gone the way India wanted. Thanks to India’s big first-innings lead, England are more or less set to play the pinkball Test in Ahmedabad with the series tied 1-1. For that, they have themselves to blame. India had risked preparing a surface that would require the highest skilllevel to play spin. After two days, it’s clear why they took that gamble.