Private sector corporate sales growth to decline to 4.7% in FY24: RBI data | Business news

“Annual sales growth of listed private non-financial companies slowed to 4.7 per cent in 2023-24 from a peak of 19.8 per cent in 2022-23, which included the post-pandemic recovery period,” data on private corporate business performance in 2023-24. The analysis is based on the financial results of 3,281 listed non-financial non-governmental companies.

Among the major sectors, sales of manufacturing, information technology (IT) and non-IT services enterprises grew by 3.5%, 5.5% and 7.9%, respectively, in fiscal year 2024, compared with 18%, 19.4% and 33.5%, respectively, in the previous year.

In 2023-2024, sales of cars, electrical machinery and the pharmaceutical industry remained strong, but the overall performance of the manufacturing sector was held back mainly by the chemical and oil industries.

The data showed that listed private non-financial companies recorded double-digit annual profit growth in 2023-2024 (18% in FY2024 vs. (-) 0.2% in FY2023). Operating profit growth accelerated for manufacturing companies (12.4% in FY2024 vs. (-) 1.2% in FY2023) and non-IT services companies (27.9% in FY2024 vs. 15.1% in FY2023), while it slowed for IT companies (5.6% in FY2024 vs. 8.8% in FY2023).

In the financial year ended March 31, 2024, operating profit margin improved across all major sectors in 2023-24 and stood at 14.4%, 22.4%, respectively. and 22.7 percent in the case of the manufacturing sector, non-IT services and IT companies.

On the spending front, the data shows that easing input cost pressures and low sales growth kept manufacturing companies’ overall raw material spending unchanged in fiscal 2024 compared to fiscal 2023. Employee costs increased by 10.8 percent, 6, 6 percent and 15.6 percent (y/y) in 2023–2024 for manufacturing, IT and non-IT services companies, respectively.