Net profit growth of Nifty companies likely to be lowest in nine quarters The goods and services tax (GST) is estimated to have taken a toll on corporate earnings for the April-June quarter of financial year 2017-18 (FY18) even before it was implemented from July 1. Brokerages have said earnings growth of the 50 Nifty companies in the June quarter could be one of the worst in the past nine quarters. The combined net profit of the 50 companies is estimated to decline by 2.6 per cent on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis — worst since the March FY-15 quarter when it contracted by 41.7 per cent y-o-y. In comparison, the combined net profit of the 50 companies was up 49.6 per cent in the March FY17 quarter, while it was down 2.1 per cent in the June FY17 quarter. The decline in profitability is likely to be led by slowdown in top line growth, inventory losses by oil marketers due to a sharp fall in crude oil prices and lower operating profit margins in the manufacturing sector. The analysi