Operating profit growth of listed private companies decelerated across broad sectors in the January-March quarter of 2021-22, on the back of rise in expenditure, according to an RBI data.
The Reserve Bank has released its data on the performance of the private corporate sector during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021-22 drawn from abridged quarterly financial results of 2,758 listed Non-Government, Non-Financial (NGNF) companies.
Operating profit of manufacturing companies decelerated sharply to 7% in the fourth quarter of last fiscal as against 70% in the corresponding quarter of the preceding fiscal.
In case of companies in services sector (non-IT), the growth in operating profit slowed to 6.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021-22 compared with 62.5% in the year-earlier period.
The operating profit in case of IT firms slowed to 5.9% from 19.7%.
RBI data further said sales of 2,758 listed private non-financial companies recorded a healthy growth of 22.3% (year-on-year) in the fourth quarter of 2021-22, compared with 22.8% in the comparable quarter of previous year.
“Aggregate sales of 1,709 listed private manufacturing companies registered a steady growth (y-o-y) of 24.6% in Q4, 2021-22, driven by high sales growth in petroleum, non-ferrous metals, iron and steel, chemicals and textiles industries,” the RBI said.
Information Technology (IT) companies continued their move on growth trajectory with 20.7% growth in sales during fourth quarter of 2021-22.
Sales of non-IT services companies expanded by 20.9% (y-o-y) in January-March period 2021-22, led by steady growth in transport, trade, telecom, hotel and restaurant sectors.
Despite rising expenditures, manufacturing companies maintained their operating and net profit margins in the fourth quarter of 2021-22 as compared to previous quarter.
Net profit margin remained stable for IT companies, while for non-IT services companies it remained in negative terrain due to losses recorded by telecom and transport companies, the RBI said.
