Broader sentiment of lack of transparency bothers most in India Inc.
The stellar rise in corporate earnings in financial year 2021-22 (FY21) and FY22 did not result in a corresponding boom in capital expenditure (capex), with listed companies' investment in fixed assets rising just 2.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in FY22, growing at the slowest pace in the last six years. In comparison, the firms' combined net profit jumped 63.5 per cent YoY in FY22, while net sales increased 31.1 per cent - the fastest pace in over a decade. The 955 non-financial companies in Business Standard's sample reported combined net profit of Rs 7.18 trillion in FY22, compared with Rs 4.39 trillion in FY21 and Rs 2.59 trillion in FY20.
'India Inc has been afraid to criticise the government of the day for many years now, and it is perhaps unfair to blame the current one alone,' says Shyamal Majumdar.
Corporate earnings grew in double digits during the April-June 2022 (Q1FY23) quarter but the momentum waned. Overall corporate earnings in the quarter were down sharply from their highs in FY22. The combined net profit of 2,981 listed companies across sectors in the Business Standard sample was up 22.4 per cent YoY to Rs 2.24 trillion in the June quarter, driven by a big jump in the earnings of banks, non-banking lenders, oil & producers, and FMCG companies. Also, earnings in the corresponding quarter a year ago were affected because of the second wave of the Covid pandemic, even though the numbers were a lot better than Q1FY21 when there was a nationwide lockdown.
India Inc is set to post an 18-20 per cent revenue growth for July-September as compared to the year-ago period, domestic rating agency Crisil said on Thursday ahead of the filing of quarterly earnings by companies. The handsome growth in the topline will be driven by both higher volumes and higher commodity prices, the rating agency said. However, the rising input prices may have capped operating profit margin expansion for companies when compared to the preceding quarter, the agency said.
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
'Within India, people want high-quality, personalised banking services, and the demand for such services has exploded.'
India Inc continued to grapple with muted revenue growth in the September 2024 quarter (Q2FY25) and witnessed a decline in margins and profits. The headwinds were especially severe for non-financial companies, while banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) firms significantly outpaced the rest of the corporate sector. The total profit of 1,353 listed companies that have released their Q2FY25 results thus far dropped by 0.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) - the first cumulative earnings decline in eight quarters.
The early bird results for the January-March 2022 quarter (Q4FY22) hint at a slowdown in corporate sector growth in the upcoming quarters. The combined net sales of the 81 early bird companies in the Business Standard sample were up 15.1 per cent year-on-year in Q4FY22; this was less than the 15.9 per cent YoY jump reported in Q3FY22. The slowdown could be much stronger for the domestic market-focused companies, including those in the banking, finance, and insurance (BFSI) space.
There has been a sharp recovery in the headline corporate earnings in the April-June 2023 quarter (Q1FY24), after a dismal showing by early bird companies. The combined net profit of the 983 listed companies that have declared their quarterly results, so far, was up 64.7 per cent year-on-year to record a high of Rs 2.68 trillion in the first quarter, but growth in earnings remained lopsided because most of the incremental gains came from a handful of companies. Moreover, the quarterly numbers showed a continued slowdown in revenue growth.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. This was Sitharaman's fourth Budget. While the taxpayers were left in the lurch, once again, was she able to cheer Corporate India?
Indian companies are planning to increase investments in the new year to expand capacity, acquire companies, and go on a hiring spree, a survey of top executives showed. They, however, cited rising costs, weak consumer demand, and increasing interest rates as major concerns for 2023 which may impact their plans.
Corporate results confirm worst fears about growth trajectory.
A group of current and retired faculty members at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) has asked leaders of corporate India to "de-fund" the spread of misinformation and hate speech through news channels and social media.
In 2020-21, Indian firms offered to buy back shares worth Rs 39,295 crore, or 97% more than Rs 19,972 cr proposed in the previous financial year.
India Inc has started lobbying with the government to compensate them by giving tax incentives on the funds spent on CSR.
Making strong inroads in the global acquisition arena, Indian companies have won many big ticket deals and acquisitions.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday had a breakfast meeting with top honchos of India Inc at the iconic, sea-facing Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Amongst those from India Inc who were present at the meeting included Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group and Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani. Others present were the chiefs of India's two largest banks, O P Bhatt of State Bank and Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank, Swati Piramal and Sudha Murthy.
In absolute terms, capex spending has risen by Rs 228,000 crore (Rs 2,280 billion), despite declining profits and a 37 per cent decline in fund flow from financial markets in 2008-09. The capital-intensive sectors of India Inc do not find the current environment a deterrent to push ongoing expansion and so they continue with capex plans. The study looks at 323 listed companies whose capex spending data for 2008-09 is available.
Welcoming the government's move to name new members on Satyam's board, industry on Sunday exuded confidence that the new directors would help shape the future of the scam-hit company and restore the global investors' confidence in India Inc.
From offering office premises that can be converted into isolation wards to earmarking funds to be used for procuring kits, ventilators as well as personal protective equipment for health care workers, India Inc has put a united front to combat the unprecedented crisis facing the country.
As Covid-19 cases recede, India Inc is once again tweaking work rules. Big tech companies such as TCS, Wipro and Infosys have either begun or are in the process of calling employees back to office in a staggered manner. A survey by Aon, a global professional services firm, has found that 60 per cent of tech firms now expect every second employee to come to office. More than half of the employees working in engineering and manufacturing firms are also being asked to return to work.
While margins contracted by 30 basis points on y-o-y basis, they fell a sharper 120 basis points on a sequential basis to 16.8 per cent. Profitability was impacted adversely due to subdued demand, tepid realisations in commodity sectors, and negative operating leverage.
India's captains of industry said they were disappointed at the exit of Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.
India Inc's profit share in the country's GDP at 15-year low in 2018. Since 2013, net profit for top 500 companies has remained in the range between Rs 4 trillion and Rs 4.8 trillion despite steady growth in nominal GDP.
A strong performance by sectors including banking raised the profits of Indian companies by 28 per cent in the three months ended March 2022. The rate of growth is, however, lower than the 30 per cent seen in December. Growth in net sales was also lower than what was seen in the December quarter for the sample under consideration.
Demand on rise as companies look to expand in Asian, European markets
'Invest only in stocks of those companies that deliver on earnings and there is earnings visibility too for the next few quarters.'
Not surprisingly, equity investors are bidding-up stock prices across sectors and the broader market is now more valuable than pre-Covid levels.
India Inc on Tuesday expressed deep reservations over the supplier liability provision -- the contentious Clause 17(b) -- in the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010, saying it would seriously hinder nuclear commerce.
India's top listed companies reported their best-ever quarterly net profit of Rs 2.39 trillion in the September quarter of FY22, up 46.4 per cent year-on-year. The earnings were driven by a big surge in the profitability of banks, non-banking financial companies & insurance (BFSI), oil & gas, and metal & mining firms. The combined net profit of these three cyclical sectors were up 87 per cent YoY to a record high of Rs 1.53 trillion, up from Rs 82,000 crore a year ago and Rs 1.08 trillion in Q1FY22.
'Kerala isn't as dependent on agriculture like Bihar or Odisha or even other southern states.' 'Economic losses would not be too intense, unlike other states.' 'The floods could, at best, impact India Inc's earnings for a quarter or two.'
Having rung in the New Year with two major acquisitions in the metals space, India Inc is set to execute more such deals, albeit in automotive, pharma and IT sectors, with companies in Europe being the targets.
Food inflation fell to a four-month low of 9.18 per cent for the week ended March 26, even as wholesale price inflation stood at 8.31 per cent in February.
Over the weekend, many companies stepped in to ease the bottleneck in supply and transportation of oxygen, as demand ran high with the surge in cases.
During the first eight months of CY24, 50 IPOs mobilised Rs 53,453 crore.
Industry leaders on Thursday mourned the death of Ratan Tata saying with his demise India has lost a visionary who shaped its industrial and philanthropic landscape. Tata was a truly remarkable business leader who placed the country before business interests, and whose vision was truly transformational for a country and its people, TVS Motor Co Chairman Emeritus Venu Srinivasan said in a statement. "Mr Tata was a truly remarkable business leader, the likes of whom nations get only once in a century," he added.
