Private Corporate Sector Sales Growth Modest to 4.7% in Fiscal 2024: RBI Data

The annual sales growth rate of listed private non-financial companies slowed to 4.7 per cent in FY 2023-24 from 19.8 per cent in FY 2023, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

Data showed that for the fiscal period ended March 31, 2024, publicly traded private non-financial companies recorded double-digit earnings growth and margin improvement at the aggregate level.

“Annual sales growth of listed private non-financial companies slowed to 4.7%. in 2023–24 from a peak of 19.8%. in 2022-23, which took into account the post-pandemic recovery period – data on the performance of the private business of the corporate sector 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 in the automotive, electrical machinery and pharmaceutical industries remained high, but the overall condition of the manufacturing sector was mainly negatively affected by the chemical and oil industries.

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The data showed that listed private non-financial companies recorded double-digit annual earnings growth in 2023-24 (18% in FY2024 compared to (-)0.2% in FY2023). Operating profit growth accelerated for manufacturing companies (12.4% in FY2024 compared to (-) 1.2% in FY2023) and non-IT services companies (27.9% in FY2024 in compared to 15.1% in fiscal year 2023), while in the case of IT companies it slowed down (5.6% in fiscal year 2024 compared to 8.8% in fiscal year 2023).

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, operating profit margin improved across all major sectors in 2023-2024, reaching 14.4 percent, 22.4 percent, and 22.7 percent for manufacturing, non-IT services, and IT companies, respectively.

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.