Corporate turnaround
Early results for the second quarter of 2012-13 indicate that the drop in sales growth and earnings witnessed in the previous quarters may finally be bottoming out. Added to this is rebound in car sales numbers, reported by manufacturers in the beginning of this month.
During the first quarter, an RBI analysis of corporate performance based on a common sample of 2,308 non-government non-financial companies, indicated that the year-on-year sales growth had decelerated sequentially over the last three quarters, but remained positive after adjusting for inflation. Earnings, however, contracted sharply due to higher increase in expenditure relative to sales, indicating a decline in pricing power. Things are certainly looking up this quarter.
The progressive improvement comes amid a clear trend pointing to subdued credit flows to key sectors. Since April this year, after the RBI signaled a reversal of its monetary stance by way of a lending rate cut that was followed up by CRR (cash reserve ratio) cuts in September and the one announced late last month, most commercial banks have lowered their lending rates. Despite this, the flow of funds into the country’s commercial sector continues to be stifled. According to the central bank, the estimated flow of financial resources from banks, non-banks and external sources to the country’s commercial sector was pegged around Rs 4,70,000 crore in 2012-13 (up to October 5, 2012), lower than the Rs 5,00,000 crore during the corresponding period of last year.
Not that the rate cuts did not have the desired effect. During the first
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