India Inc Posts 3% Drop In Q3 Sales

Corporate India has reported a 3.08 per cent drop in sales turnover (Rs 1,76,928 crore) during the quarter ended December 2001. The sales of 1701 companies, if taken into the account for the inflation of around 2 per cent for the quarter, have dropped by over 5 per cent.

With the decline in sales, the aggregate net profit declined 16.2 per cent (Rs 7,592 crore). A lacklustre performance by top four refineries and Reliance Industries weighed heavy on the aggregate topline performance of the corporate sector in the third quarter (Q3).

The four refineries and Reliance Industries together reported a drop of 11.7 per cent in topline. Excluding, the top five companies, ranked by sales, the gloomy scenario changed into a marginal sales growth of 1.4 per cent for the rest 1696 companies.

Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Reliance Petroleum, Reliance Industries and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation shared 33 per cent of the aggregate sales of the1701 companies.

Interestingly, in terms of net profit, a restricted drop of 6.8 per cent by major five companies prevented the aggregate net profit from deteriorating further. Excluding, the rest 1696 companies