Unlisted non-finance companies in the private sector fared remarkably well in 2002-03, the latest year for which figures were available, with 7,948 firms posting a rise of 85.75 per cent in net profit and a 14.71 per cent growth in revenue.
However, unlisted public sector undertakings did not fare as well: the net profit of 218 PSUs declined sharply by 78.5 per cent, despite a 9 per cent rise in revenue.
Data released by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy were based on the financial performance of over 260,000 unlisted Indian companies. CMIE First Source procures data from the Registrar of Companies.
Heading the profit table for unlisted private companies is Tata Sons, whose profit after tax in 2002-03 was Rs 816.84 crore (Rs 8.17 billion). It is followed by Mahindra-British Telecom {profit after tax of Rs 171.54 crore (Rs 1.71 billion)}, Bennett, Coleman & Company {Rs 166.42 crore (Rs 1.66 billion)}, Hyundai Motor India {164.75 crore (Rs 1.65 billion)} and Syntel (India) {Rs 97.64 crore (Rs 976 million)}.
Nuclear Power Corporation tops in profitability for unlisted PSUs with a profit after tax of Rs 1509.25 crore (Rs 15.09 billion) in 2002-03. It is followed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam (Rs 1,444.45 crore), Oil India Ltd (Rs 916.73), Northern Coalfields {Rs 748.74 crore (Rs 7.49 billion)} and Power Grid Corporation {Rs 642.59 crore (Rs 6.43 billion)}.
Profit and loss accounts were available for 43,000 companies. The remaining companies were private limited firms, which furnished only their balance sheets.
Of the 43,000 firms, the financial performance of 12,283 companies, including finance companies and banks, in 2001-02 and 2002-03 was available, thereby, permitting a comparison of their results. Finance companies and banks (4,217 of them) were excluded from the study.
The 8,166 unlisted private and public sector companies were, of course, pigmies compared with the listed giants -- they accounted for a mere 38 per cent of the gross revenue of the listed BS 1,000 giants (that is, the top 1,000 companies ranked by net sales).
The BS 1,000 companies in the private and public sectors did extremely well in 2002-03, with their net profit rising 54.1 per cent and revenue growing 13.4 per cent.
In contrast, the net profit of the 8,166 unlisted companies, which accounted for a modest 6.6 per cent of the net profit of the BS 1,000 companies, declined by a huge 63.7 per cent to Rs 3,496 crore (Rs 34.96 billion) in 2002-03 from Rs 9,626 crore (Rs 96.26 billion) in 2001-02.
The total revenue of the unlisted companies shot up by 12.1 per cent to Rs 3,78,410 crore (Rs 3,784.10 billion) in 2002-03, and from Rs 3,37,586 crore (Rs 3,375.86 billion) in 2001-02.
The 7,948 private unlisted companies (that is, companies excluding the PSUs) posted revenue of Rs 2,09,104 crore (Rs 2,091.04 billion), up 14.71 per cent over the previous year's revenue. Their net profit rose 85.75 per cent to Rs 1,608 crore (Rs 16.08 billion).
The total revenue of 218 PSUs rose by a modest 9 per cent to Rs 1,69,306 crore (Rs 1,693.06 billion). Their net profit declined by 78.45 per cent to Rs 1,888 crore (Rs 18.88 billion). The PSUs were party poopers -- include them and the overall picture of unlisted companies in 2002-03 becomes less prettier.
Interest costs rose marginally for both listed and unlisted companies. The interest costs of the unlisted companies studied here rose by 2.42 cent. The rise was 1.64 per cent for private companies and 2.92 per cent for PSUs.
Both unlisted and listed companies in the private sector seem to have treated their employees well. Salaries and wages at listed companies climbed by over 10 per cent in 2002-03. In the case of unlisted limited companies, salaries and wages went up by 13.22 per cent.
