The results declared so far for the July-September quarter show a mixed trend. The 333 companies for which quarterly data is available with the Business Standard Research Bureau posted a 24.53 per cent rise in aggregate sales and a 42.87 per cent rise in net profits.

Operating profit increased by 27 per cent to Rs 6,950 crore (Rs 69.5 billion) while gross profit jumped by 33 per cent to Rs 6,107 crore (Rs 61.07 billion).

The profit margins also improved in the period. Operating profit margin is up 34 basis points to 17.07 per cent, gross profit margins by 95 basis points to 15 per cent and net profit margins by 112 basis points to 8.78 per cent. Interest outgo declined by four per cent to Rs 843.21 crore (Rs 8.43 billion) for the 33 companies during the quarter.

The sector-wise analysis of the quarterly results shows that companies in the steel sector, including both composite and alloy steel manufacturing, sugar, ferro alloys, glass and food products have registered a sharp turnaround during the quarter.

Sectors such as cement, hotels, steel strips and bars, telephone cables, trading, textiles machinery, shipping, construction (civil and turnkey) and petrochemicals polymers logged growths of over 100 per cent.

However, the lubricants, cotton textiles, fertilisers, telecommunication, breweries, packaging and solvent extraction sectors reported net losses during the quarter ended September 2004.

The entertainment, industrial gases, inorganic chemicals, power cables and paper sectors reported declines in net profit, while pharmaceuticals, automobiles (two and three wheelers), electronics, engines and personal care products sectors managed single digit growths in bottomline during the quarter ended September 2004.

Of the 87 sectors, as many as 33 outperformed the 43 per cent average growth in net profit recorded by the overall industry.

At the top of the chart is the cement sector -- where five companies have declared results till date -- with an aggregate bottomline growth of 1,357 per cent. Total net profit of the sector increased from Rs 7.26 crore (Rs 72.6 million) to Rs 105.76 crore (1.06 billion) during the quarter.

The five companies in the hotels sector posted a net profit growth of 588 per cent from Rs 2.45 crore (Rs 24.5 million) in the September quarter of 2003-04 to Rs 1,685 crore (Rs 16.85 billion) in the quarter ended September 2004.

Two telephone cables companies reported a six-fold jump in the bottomline from Rs 1.55 crore (Rs 15.5 million) to Rs 9.35 crore (Rs 93.5 million), while six shipping companies reported a 119 per cent jump in net profits to Rs 94.28 crore {(Rs 942.8 million)Rs 43.07 crore} in September quarter.

The long-term growth continues on track
FIIs shift focus to mid-caps

Other top performing sectors on the bottomline growth parameter include decorative and lamination (257 per cent), textile machinery (171 per cent), dyes and dyes intermediates (123 per cent), civil and turnkey constructions (105 per cent), tea and coffee (73 per cent), auto ancillaries (64 per cent) and information technologies (44 per cent).

On the top line growth as many as 39 sectors outperformed the industry average sales growth of 24.5 per cent. Telephone cable firms lead the chart with a 316 per cent growth in sales income to Rs 80.40 crore (Rs 804 million).