Borrowing costs come back to bite corporate earnings of India Inc

Borrowing costs have come back to bite corporate earnings after remaining muted for three years. The combined interest payment for India's top listed companies, excluding financial and oil and gas firms, was up 15.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) during the six months ended March 2019, outpacing the change in net sales and operating profit. 

This was the fastest growth in companies’ interest payment in at least three-and-a-half years.  

In comparison, companies’ combined operating profit or Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was down 5.9 per cent YoY during the second half of FY19, its worst show in at least three-and-a-half