Sales, profits of most Indian firms declined in 2012-13: RBI

Sales and profits of most Indian companies declined in the 2012-13 financial year, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released Thursday showed.

"Most of the industries followed the general trend of lower sales growth and lower profit margins in 2012-13 as compared to 2011-12," the RBI said in a statement.

Among major industries, machinery, motor vehicles and cement industries in the manufacturing sector witnessed significant decline in sales growth, it said.

Profit margin growth improved for iron and steel industry and declined sharply for the cement industry. Motor vehicles, construction and machinery industry witnessed contraction in Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) levels.

"EBITDA margins contracted for all these industries," the RBI said.

The data is based on financial results of 2,931 listed non-government non-financial companies.

All three sectors - manufacturing, services other than IT and IT - exhibited lower sales growth.

EBITDA margin declined for manufacturing and services other than IT sectors. Some improvement was noticed for the IT sector.

Interest expenses as percentage of sales increased across all sectors and size classes.

Small companies (sales up to Rs.1 billion) witnessed a persistent contraction of sales since 2008-09 and rates of contraction worsened over the years. Sales of large companies also moderated sharply in 2012-13, the report said.