Mixed results

An examination of the second-quarter (July-September) results of 3,200 listed companies indicates a slowdown in both sales growth and the momentum in profit generation. There are signs of higher credit demand. Consequently, a tighter money supply is showing up in elevated interest costs. The pace of activity in the corporate sector has picked up compared to a year ago but it remains uneven. Not surprisingly, Q2FY24 was disappointing compared to Q1FY24. At the aggregate level, net sales reached Rs 39.5 trillion in Q2FY24, 4 per cent higher year-on-year (Y-o-Y), and they showed 1.3 per cent growth over Q1FY24, or quarter-on-quarter