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Informist, Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025

 

By Shakshi Jain

 

NEW DELHI – The aggregate quarterly sales growth of 498 of the Nifty 500 companies inched up yet again on a year-on-year basis in the March quarter, in a repeat of the December quarter. The sales growth in the March quarter was the highest in three quarters. The year-on-year growth in bottom line, excluding exceptional items, of these companies in the March quarter was slightly below that in the previous quarter.

 

Of the 498 companies, the March quarter estimates for 406 companies from brokerage firms were available with Informist. Among these 406 companies, the reported adjusted net profit of 245 companies was above their respective net profit estimates, and the remaining 161 missed their Street view.

 

On net sales, 202 companies reported lower-than-expected numbers while the remaining 204 companies beat the Street view. Though Rajesh Exports Ltd. and Aegis Logistics Ltd. are a part of the Nifty 500, they have been excluded from this analysis as they are yet to announce their earnings for the March quarter.

 

The adjusted net profit growth of the bigger group of 498 companies was reined in by a fall in other income, higher depreciation and amortisation costs, and higher finance costs. It, however, benefitted from lower operating expenses during the March quarter. Sequentially, the adjusted bottom line growth outpaced revenue growth by a wider margin on the back of higher other income and lower depreciation and amortisation costs and finance costs.

 

The net sales of the 498 companies grew just over 6% on year to INR 34.37 trillion in the March quarter. Their adjusted net profit for the same period rose around 7% on year to INR 4.07 trillion.

 

The total expenses of these companies rose 5% on year and around 6% sequentially in Jan-Mar while their other income fell over 3% on year but rose more than 23% on quarter. Sequentially, the revenue rose nearly 7%, the highest in 12 quarters.

 

Excluding Nifty 200 companies, the net sales, total expenses, and adjusted net profit of 298 companies grew in tandem with each other in the reporting quarter. They logged a collective adjusted net profit growth of 8.5% on year alongside a 9% uptick each in net sales and total expenses for the quarter.

 

Sequentially, the net profit of these 298 companies outpaced the revenue growth, aided by a lower rise in total expenses compared to the revenue growth and higher other income. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, their aggregate bottom line, excluding exceptional items, rose almost 13%, while revenue grew over 5%. Total expenses of these companies grew just 5% on quarter, with a more than 17% rise in other income for the March quarter.

 

SECTORAL PERFORMERS, LAGGARDS

"Q4-FY25 marked a significant shift in market leadership, with midcaps outshining both large and small caps on earnings," said Motilal Oswal Financial Services in a note earlier this month. The brokerage said there was good contribution of sectors such as healthcare, technology, capital goods, automobiles, public sector banks, oil marketing companies, and metals to the March quarter corporate earnings. It added that the oil and gas sector excluding oil marketing companies and private sector banks were a drag on overall profitability.

 

Within the Nifty 500 universe, sectors that saw a sharp on-year growth in adjusted net profit for the March quarter were information technology, media, telecommunications, services, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. These sectors also logged low-to-mid double digit growth in their revenues for the quarter on a year-on-year basis.

 

Sequentially, the adjusted net profit of 49 information technology, media, and telecom companies showed weakness and increased only 3.5%, while their aggregate revenue increased by a percent in Jan-Mar. Including exceptional items, their bottom line declined by almost 8% on quarter, making it the sector's poorest sequential performance in seven quarters. About 12 of the 49 companies in the sector reported exceptional items for the March quarter, leading to a net gain. However, in the December quarter, a substantial one-time gain of INR 75.5 billion reported by Bharti Airtel Ltd. resulted in a high base for the sector.

 

The sector's March quarter revenue growth was the slowest in four quarters on a sequential basis. On a year-on-year basis, the 49 companies collectively registered an adjusted net profit growth of nearly 25% on year for the March quarter. This is more than three times the adjusted bottom line growth clocked by the Nifty 500 companies put together. The aggregate revenue of these companies grew almost 10% on year, which is the fourth-highest among all sectors and higher than the 6% growth recorded by the Nifty 500 group.

 

The services sector, which includes hospitality, retail, tourism, and travel, was also a strong outperformer with an adjusted net profit growth of 24% on year for the March quarter. However, the bottom line of the 25 companies under this sector, inclusive of exceptional items, grew only around 2% on year. This was largely due to a substantial one-time loss of INR 1.6 billion reported by Quess Corp. Ltd. for the quarter. The 25 companies together recorded the second-highest revenue growth among all sectors at nearly 16% on year for the March quarter.

 

In the pharmaceutical and chemicals sector, 85 companies together logged an adjusted net profit growth of 20% on year for the quarter under review. The net sales of these companies grew 11% on year in Jan-Mar, making it the best performance of the sector on this front in nine quarters.

 

The basic industries sector, which includes mining, metals, cement, construction, and real estate companies, was also among the top sectors in terms of bottom line growth in the March quarter. The 110 companies in this sector under the broader Nifty 500 pack recorded a net profit growth and adjusted net profit growth of 18?ch for the quarter on year, with a sales growth of over 7%. A nearly 2% rise in other operating income and a more than 12% uptick in other income of these companies helped the sector post a bottom line growth higher than the revenue growth.

 

Meanwhile, 93 companies in the financial services sector together recorded an adjusted bottom line growth of just over 7% on year for the March quarter, alongside a nearly 5% uptick in their aggregate net sales for the three-month period. This was driven by a near 1?ll in their total expenses for the quarter.

 

In terms of revenue growth, consumer-heavy companies bagged the top spot among all sectors with a rise of over 17% on year for Jan-Mar. The bottom line of the 54 companies under the sector more than doubled for the quarter, led by ITC Ltd. which reported a substantial one-time gain of INR 151.79 billion for the quarter. ITC's bottom line in Jan-Mar accounted for 58% of the overall net profit of the sector for the March quarter. However, excluding exceptional items, the cumulative net profit of the 54 companies was up only 5% on year. This sector includes fast-moving consumer goods and consumer durable companies.

 

SECTORAL LAGGARDS

For the March quarter, the transport sector was the only sector to see a contraction in adjusted net profit on year. About 48 companies in the sector collectively registered a near 8% rise in revenue on year but their net profit and adjusted net profit fell over 15% for the quarter. This was largely due to a 12% rise in tax expenses of these companies. This sector includes automobile, auto ancillaries, shipping, airline, and rail companies.

 

Another laggard for the March quarter was the energy sector, which includes oil and utility players. The adjusted net profit of the 34 companies under the sector grew by less than a percent on year in the March quarter while their aggregate revenue grew 2%. The sector, however, bounced back from on-year fall in its adjusted bottom line for four quarters in a row.

 

The following table is the snapshot of index-wise and sector-wise performance of companies for the March quarter:

 

Sector	Number of companies	Jan-Mar PAT excluding exceptional items (% change)		Jan-Mar net sales (% change)		Total expense growth in %
		YoY	QoQ	YoY	QoQ	YoY	QoQ
Nifty 200	200	6.89	11.72	5.85	6.85	4.45	6.56
Nifty 500	498	7.06	11.85	6.30	6.64	5.14	6.27
IT, media, telecom	49	24.59	3.50	9.90	0.93	8.06	1.85
Pharma & chemicals	85	20.40	0.90	11.03	1.14	9.40	1.05
Financial services	93	7.30	9.95	4.91	11.35	(-)0.68	13.73
Basic industries	110	18.49	31.83	7.12	14.36	6.30	12.34
Services	25	24.24	(-)14.81	15.53	(-)8.58	15.17	(-)6.90
Consumer	54	4.70	0.40	17.07	4.79	18.08	4.43
Transport	48	(-)15.01	20.41	7.78	4.82	7.26	3.48
Energy	34	0.59	12.52	1.98	4.46	2.28	4.41

 

Data compiled by Vinod Bhovad

 

End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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