More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025

 

By Shakshi Jain

 

NEW DELHI – It was yet another quarter of sluggish single-digit growth for the top 500 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange. Low demand and the early onset of the monsoon weighed on the revenue performance of companies in the June quarter, according to analysts.

 

The year-on-year top-line growth of the Nifty 500 companies in the quarter was the weakest in seven quarters while their bottom-line growth was at a three-quarter low. Sequentially, both aggregate net sales and profit of this broad set of companies declined for the first time in three quarters.

 

The aggregate top line of the Nifty 500 companies grew 5.8% on year in the June quarter. Their net profit, excluding exceptional items, grew slightly faster at 7.8% on year. Of the 58 companies that reported one or more exceptional items for the quarter, 23 reported a one-time income while 35 posted a one-time cost. "The broader market delivered weak earnings for Q1FY26 (Apr-Jun), though trends did not worsen significantly," Emkay Global Financial Services said in a report.

 

Excluding the top 200 companies in the Nifty 500 pack, the net sales for the quarter of the remaining 300 firms grew 6.5% on year. However, their adjusted net profit declined 3.5% on year. The Nifty 200 group posted similar revenue growth as the overall Nifty 500 pack but fared better in terms of adjusted net profit. The cumulative net sales of the Nifty 200 group grew 5.6% on year in Apr-Jun while the adjusted net profit rose 10%.

 

Of the 500 companies, consensus earnings estimates were available for 400 companies. Of these, 205 companies met or exceeded the Street's net profit expectations for the quarter. Two companies--Jyothy Labs Ltd. and Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals Ltd.--matched the consensus estimates perfectly while 91 companies surpassed expectations by a margin of 10% or more. On the flip side, 112 companies missed net profit estimates by a gap of 10% or more.

 

On adjusted net profit, 211 of the 400 companies met or exceeded consensus estimates while 189 reported lower-than-expected numbers. Further, 93 companies surpassed expectations by 10% or more while 116 fell short of estimates by the same margin.

 

On revenue, 177 companies exceeded analysts' expectations while 223 failed to do so. Thirty-one companies surpassed revenue estimates by 10% or more while 146 failed to meet expectations by a similar margin.

 

SECTORAL CHAMPIONS

Sectors that outperformed the aggregate performance of the Nifty 500 companies in the June quarter were information technology, media, telecommunications, financial services, and basic industries, which includes metals and mining, capital goods, and real estate. These sectors logged double-digit growth on year in adjusted net profit for the quarter alongside high single-digit growth in net sales.

 

The segment comprising the IT, media, and telecom sectors, which accounts for 45 companies in the Nifty 500 universe, registered the highest year-on-year growth in adjusted net profit of nearly 14% for the June quarter, almost double the adjusted bottom-line growth clocked by the Nifty 500 companies put together. The aggregate revenue of these companies grew 7.3% on year in Apr-Jun, higher than the 5.8% growth recorded by the Nifty 500 group. 

 

Sequentially, these 45 companies logged a fall of around 13% in adjusted net profit for the quarter while the net sales and total expenses declined slightly. The aggregate top line of these companies declined sequentially for the first time in at least 20 quarters, data showed.

 

Of the 45 companies in the segment, 25 reported a sequential decline in their bottom lines for the June quarter while six reported a loss and one came into profitability in the reporting quarter. The average median sequential growth rate of mid-cap IT companies has outpaced that of large-caps in the sector over the past eight quarters, Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers said in a note.

 

The basic industries segment was the next best performer in the June quarter in terms of bottom-line growth. The 110 companies in this sector under the broader Nifty 500 group recorded an adjusted net profit growth of 12.3% on year for the quarter and a net sales growth of 8%. The year-on-year growth in adjusted bottom line of these companies was, however, the weakest in five quarters.

 

The 95 financial services companies in the Nifty 500 together recorded an adjusted bottom-line growth of 11.3% on year for the June quarter, alongside an 8% uptick in aggregate net sales for the three months. "It was a tough quarter for lenders," Kotak Institutional Equities said in a report. Banks faced pressure on net interest margins and loan growth while non-banking finance companies exhibited mixed performance for the quarter, the broking firm added.

 

In the energy sector, which includes oil and utility players, 37 companies that are part of the Nifty 500 cumulatively recorded a rise of nearly 11% on year in adjusted net profit for the June quarter. However, the aggregate net sales of these companies saw a slight year-on-year decline. The bottom line of these 37 companies, inclusive of exceptional items, rose nearly 13% on year.

 

The 48 consumer-focused companies in the Nifty 500 collectively recorded growth in adjusted net profit of 3.8% on year for Apr-Jun on net sales growth of 15%. The profit growth of this set of companies was restricted in the quarter by a 17% on-year rise in total expenses. Higher prices of key raw materials exerted pressure on margins of fast-moving consumer goods companies, analysts said.

 

POOR SHOW

The pharmaceutical and chemicals segment posted the weakest earnings for the June quarter with the 82 companies from these two sectors in the Nifty 500 universe registering 10.4% year-on-year decline in adjusted net profit. This was despite recording 9.2% year-on-year growth in net sales for the three months.

 

The aggregate bottom line of these companies, inclusive of exceptional items, fell 16.3% on year in Apr-Jun, weighed down by one-time costs of INR 8.18 billion for Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and INR 3.23 billion for Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Excluding these two companies, the decline in aggregate net profit of the pharmaceutical and chemicals segment would moderate to 14.9% on year.

 

Kotak Equities said a factor that boosted the performance of chemical companies in the June quarter was front-loading of orders by customers ahead of the imposition of tariffs by the US. The brokerage added that the industry faces a difficult outlook amid expectations of a slowdown in demand for chemicals after the imposition of tariffs, particularly in key end-use segments such as textiles and automobile ancillaries.

 

The services segment, which includes hospitality, retail, tourism, and travel companies, trumped other sectors with 21% on-year growth in net sales for the June quarter but posted a decline of almost 10% in adjusted net profit. The 40 companies in this segment that are part of the Nifty 500 saw their total expenses for the reporting quarter rise over 22% on year. The depreciation and amortisation expenses of these companies grew 26.5% on year in Apr-Jun.

 

The transport sector, which includes 43 automobile, automobile ancillary, shipping, airline, and railway companies, logged 5.3% year-on-year decline in adjusted net profit for the June quarter as the aggregate expenses of the companies grew faster than their top line. These companies together clocked 4.8% year-on-year growth in aggregate net sales for the quarter. However, their total expenses for the quarter rose nearly 7% on year.

 

Inclusive of exceptional items, the cumulative bottom line of these 43 companies fell 14% on year for the June quarter. Six of the 43 companies in the sector reported a one-time cost for the June quarter while four reported a one-time gain.

 

The following table gives the snapshot of sector-wise performance of companies for Apr-Jun in descending order of year-on-year growth in net profit excluding exceptional items:

 

Sector	Number of companies	Apr-Jun PAT excluding exceptional items (% change)		Apr-Jun net sales (% change)		Total expense growth in %
		YoY	QoQ	YoY	QoQ	YoY	QoQ
Nifty 500	500	7.82	(-)5.79	5.78	(-)4.56	5.79	(-)2.68
Nifty 200	200	9.95	(-)8.04	5.64	(-)4.73	5.52	(-)2.47
IT, media, telecom	45	13.87	(-)13.29	7.26	(-)0.19	5.50	(-)0.44
Basic industries	110	12.26	(-)9.70	8.23	(-)11.40	7.15	(-)10.56
Financial services	95	11.27	(-)5.14	8.10	(-)7.64	10.20	4.03
Energy	37	10.83	(-)2.40	(-)0.32	(-)3.29	(-)0.97	(-)4.20
Consumer	48	3.75	6.09	14.84	3.56	16.95	3.98
Transport	43	(-)5.30	(-)16.50	4.80	(-)4.70	6.87	(-)3.00
Services	40	(-)9.88	32.01	20.56	5.18	22.36	4.28
Pharma & chemicals	82	(-)10.36	3.88	9.17	1.78	8.90	1.39

 

End

 

Data compiled by Vinod Bhovad

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.