Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the data on performance of the private corporate business sector during the third quarter of 2025-26, drawn from abridged quarterly financial results of 3,188 listed non-government non-financial companies. At aggregate level, listed private non-financial companies recorded a double-digit sales growth of 10.1 per cent (y-o-y) during Q3:2025-26, after recording single digit growth in previous eleven quarters. This acceleration was mainly led by substantial improvement in sales growth of manufacturing sector.
Sales of 1,794 listed private manufacturing companies expanded by 11.4 per cent (y-o-y) during Q3:2025-26, up from 8.5 per cent in the previous quarter, mainly driven by higher sales growth in automobiles, electrical machinery and non-ferrous metals industries. Sales growth of Information Technology (IT) companies continued to improve further to 8.8 per cent (y-o-y) during Q3:2025-26 from 7.8 per cent in the previous quarter. On the other hand, sales growth of non-IT services companies remained stable at 10.6 per cent in Q3:2025-26 from the previous quarter.
Raw material expenses of manufacturing companies rose by 12.7 per cent (y-o-y) during Q3:2025-26 in line with the higher sales growth; raw material to sales ratio also inched up to 57.5 per cent during Q3 from 55.9 per cent in the previous quarter, pointing to input cost pressure. Operating profit of manufacturing companies increased by 11.8 per cent (y-o-y) during Q3, supported by moderate rise in other operating expenses. IT companies’ operating profit growth improved to 11.1 per cent, while it moderated to 4.0 per cent for non-IT services companies during Q3.
Operating profit margin of manufacturing companies moderated sequentially during Q3:2025-26, while it improved for services sector companies. With the sequential decline in interest expenses, manufacturing companies’ interest coverage ratio (ICR) improved to 9.0 in Q3:2025-26 from 8.6 in Q2. Within services sector, ICR of non-IT services companies improved to 2.3 in Q3 from 1.9 in the previous quarter, while ICR of IT firms moderated but continued to remain at elevated level during Q3.