Will Fitch cut in the US ratings impact Indian market? Hemang Jani answers

Hemang Jani, Independent Market Expert, says the Indian earnings season so far has been progressing reasonably well. About 33 Nifty companies have delivered numbers and by and large at the aggregate level things are looking decent. Monsoon is progressing well. So, I am not too worried about small things here and there. The broader trend for our market is quite positive.”

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the US rating to AA+ from AAA. How should one understand the Fitch impact on Indian markets? Can we ignore it?
From April onwards, we have done exceedingly well in the index level, broader markets. If you see some negative data points on the global markets or some sort of a correction somewhere, I do not think we should really bother too much. If you look at the earnings season so far, it has been progressing reasonably well. About 33 Nifty companies have delivered numbers and by and large at the aggregate level things are looking decent. Monsoon is progressing well. So, I am not too worried about small things here and there. The broader trend for our market is quite positive.

I do not know if you have gone to the theatres and seen Barbie, Oppenheimer or even our very own Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Starrer, but do you think that all of these movies will give a fresh lease of life to a lot of multiplex companies that have been struggling for a long time?
Though I have not been able to catch up on any of these movies, I looked at the PVR numbers and what is really coming out very clearly is that there is some degree of revival on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Still the overall numbers and the comfort is not that great. Hardly about 2-3% kind of an uptick on the ticketing side and our sense is that the pipeline of the new content and the kind of things which have happened in terms of the cost control and all and the kind of cash that they have seen is quite huge.

So, though you might get a little positive on it because of the quarter-on-quarter performance because some movie is doing well, on an overall basis the space will remain a little subdued.

The entire urban consumption is just a corollary of what you are talking about PVR, Inox as well and the entire hospitality industry, hotels, etc. Do you still see an upside or do you think the best is already priced in?
When it comes to hospitality, things are looking much better. Though the last year per se was exceptionally good, the traction in terms of the occupancy, in terms of the pricing continues to remain very strong. Some of the companies have also carried out expansion and that have a lot of positive rub-off across. Indian Hotels still have a 15-20% kind of an upside. Lemon Tree looks even more promising at Rs 95-96, with exceptionally good performance. The numbers would be out maybe in a day or so, looking exceptionally good. Surely, we have a positive view across this space.