At the aggregate level, listed private non-financial companies continued to record a double-digit sales growth of 13.9 per cent during the January-March period of 2025-26, up from 10.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the data on the performance of the private corporate business sector during the fourth quarter of 2025-26, drawn from abridged quarterly financial results of 3,266 listed non-government non-financial companies.
“Sales of 1,817 listed private manufacturing companies expanded by 14.5 per cent (y-o-y) during Q4:2025-26, as compared to 11.4 per cent in the previous quarter,” the RBI said.
This acceleration was mainly driven by automobiles, electrical machinery and non-ferrous metals industries, it added.
RBI further said sales growth of Information Technology (IT) companies continued to improve further to 9.9 per cent YoY during Q4 of 2025-26 from 8.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
On the other hand, expansion in sales growth of non-IT services companies improved substantially to 20.3 per cent from the previous quarter, mainly driven by the wholesale and retail trade industry.RBI also said that with global uncertainties, raw material expenses of manufacturing companies rose substantially by 18.3 per cent YoY during Q4FY26.
Raw material to sales ratio also increased to 58.5 per cent during the January-March quarter from 57.5 per cent in the previous quarter, indicating input cost pressure.
The staff cost growth of manufacturing companies moderated to 9.8 per cent YoY during Q4FY26, compared to the previous quarter.
Within the services sector, the staff cost growth for non-IT services companies rose at a higher pace, while it remained broadly similar for IT companies during the fourth quarter as compared to the previous quarter.
On a sequential basis, the operating profit margin of manufacturing companies remained stable, while it moderated for services sector companies during the January-March period of the last fiscal.