Indian firms' earnings seen weak

Indian firms are expected to report a fall in profits in the
quarterly results season that kicks off Friday, but better times lie
ahead as the country's economic recovery takes hold, analysts
forecast. "The economic fundamentals are improving," Hitesh Agrawal,
head of research at Mumbai's Angel Broking, said Wednesday. For the
three months to September, the 30 companies which make up Mumbai's
benchmark Sensex index could report up to a 12 percent drop in net
profit year-on-year, analysts say. But on a quarter-on-quarter basis,
profits are expected to rise, reflecting a recovery that is slowly
gathering steam in Asia's third- largest economy. "Sequentially over
previous quarters, we see better earnings," Bharat Iyer, India
strategist with JP Morgan, told AFP. India's economy grew by 6.1
percent in the three months to June, picking up pace from the
previous quarter when it expanded by 5.8 percent and signalling the
country's emergence from the global downturn.