Mumbai, Aug. 13 -- Earnings growth is likely to play a larger role in determining portfolio returns than valuation re-rating in the near term, as valuations of Indian equities remain neither cheap nor expensive, according to Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company.

In an exclusive conversation with ANI, Shah said the first-quarter earnings season has been broadly positive, with companies reporting results that were either ahead of expectations or broadly in line with them.

"So the first quarter numbers came reasonably ahead of expectations or in line with expectations. There were very few disappointments," Shah said.

He noted that the overall earnings growth figure was affected by the performance of oil ...