Monthly Communiqué – Portfolio Management Service
April 2009
Flashback - FY 09
The Sensex fell 38% in FY08-09 from 15,327 to 9,708. In the 240-odd trading days in 2008-09, investors witnessed a wealth destruction of
Rs20.5lakh crore (roughly 40% of India's GDP). For the first time in five years, the BSE Sensex gave negative returns over a financial year - losing
6,000 points or 37.94%.
Huge selling/redemptions were witnessed in markets across the world post the collapse of Lehman Brothers in October 2008. The Indian
markets underperformed as compared to developed markets. Both benchmark indices - the Sensex and the Nifty were down ~37% in FY08-09
but outperformed MSCI BRIC Index, which was down ~44% in local currency terms.
Among the worst performing indices were the BSE Capital Goods Index, the Metals Index, and the Real Estate Index, which fell >50% in FY08-
09. Smaller stocks were the worst hit, with the BSE Mid-cap and the BSE Small-cap indices losing 54% and 59%, respectively. The BSE FMCG
Index outperformed - down just ~11% during the year.
10-year G-Sec yields have fallen by 95bp YoY to 7.01% v/s 7.96% but have hardened by 175bp of late as compared to last quarter, despite steep
fall in inflation to 0.27%. The rise in bond yields will reduce treasury profits and MTM profits for banks.
The rupee depreciated by a sharp 26.5% vis-à-vis the US dollar and closed the year at Rs50.73/US$. Commodities crashed by more than 50%. The
real negatives of futures were seen in the unprecedented rise in oil prices to US$147/barrel and the subsequent crash to US$36/barrel. The fall
in commodity prices is reflected in the drastic fall in inflation from ~8% in March 2008 (at peak, inflation was 12.91% in September 2008) to
0.27%. However, CPI remains at a high of 10%. Gold was the only commodity that continued to shine through the year and closed 4.3% up at
US$921/ounce due to risk aversion (in Rupee terms, the gain was ~29%).
Mutual funds bought equities worth Rs63b during the year. FII's were net sellers to the tune of Rs480b. The most significant part of this selling
came after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
To address the liquidity crisis arising due to mass exodus of foreign investments, RBI slashed all benchmark rates. CRR and Repo rates were cut
to 5% from a peak of 9%.
Looking ahead
Expected earnings in 4QFY09
Most sectors would report earnings decline or single-digit growth. We expect MOSL Universe (comprising 117 companies) excluding oil
refining & marketing companies (RMCs) to report 1.5% YoY decline in sales, 11.8% YoY decline in EBITDA and 19.3% YoY. RMCs would be
reporting significant profits due to issuance of oil bonds; hence it has been excluded them from the comparison. Most sectors would report
either a decline or single-digit growth in earnings with just 3 out of 16 sectors reporting double-digit earnings growth. The decline in
aggregates would be largely due to sharply lower earnings from Metals and Real Estate. Excluding these two sectors, aggregate earnings would
grow 3% YoY.
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