The EPS is calculated as PAT divided by number of paid-up equity shares. This study attempts to determine the trend of EPS for 495 big companies spanning 20 industries during 1998-99 and 1997-98. Only profit making companies during 1998-99 and 1997-98 are considered for this study.

Of the selected 495 companies, top 10 companies in terms of EPS during 98-99 are Electrosteel Casting (Rs 75.15), Punjab Tractors (Rs 62.14), Pentafour Software (Rs 59.65), Patel Engineering (Rs 58.25), Cipla (Rs 57.54), Rhone-Poulenc (Rs 57.36), Monsanto Chem (Rs 54.40), GGDandekar Machine (Rs 53.09), Aurobindo Pharma (Rs 53.06) and Nirma (Rs 50.32). Similarly, in the year 1997-98, the top 10 companies were Kirloskar Oil Engine (Rs 78.68), Indo National (Rs 73.94), Macmillan (Rs 65.53), Mahindra-British Telecom (Rs 61.02), Jay Shree Tea (Rs 60.05), Cipla (Rs 51.01), Aurobindo Pharma (Rs 50.30), Punjab Tractors (Rs 47.72), Electrosteel Castings (Rs 47.47) and Patel Engineering Co (Rs 47.14). Five companies namely Aurobindo Pharma, Cipla, Electrosteel Casting, Patel Engineering and Punjab Tractors were in both the list of top ten in terms EPS.

The EPS of Electrosteel Castings increased by 58.3 per cent to Rs 75.15 during 1998-99 from the level of Rs 47.47 during 1997-98. This was probably due to the significant increase in PAT by 58.5 per cent to Rs 60.65 crore in 1998-99 from the level of Rs 38.26 crore in 1997-98. And its number of equity shares were more or less same in both the years.

Among the 495 companies, 210 companies have witnessed a fall in EPS, while 285 companieshave shown a higher EPS in 1998-99 compared with 1997-98. Companies which have shown significant improvement in EPS during 98-99 mention may be made of Agro Dutch Food (Rs 0.65 in 97-98 to Rs 6.23 in 98-99), Alchemie Organics (Rs 1.14 to Rs 6.02), Alkyl Amins Chem (Rs 5.87 to Rs 17.58), Associated Cement (Rs 0.98 to Rs 4.15), Birla Ericsson Optical (Rs 0.34 to Rs 3.61), Century Enka (Rs 2.60 to Rs 12.03), Cheminor Drugs (Rs 3.08 to Rs 13.37), DCM Shriram Industries (Rs 1.20 to Rs Rs12.30), Jyoti (Rs 0.20 to Rs 2.14), Lanyard Foods (Rs 2.24 to Rs 19.65), Liberty Oil Mills (Rs 1.36 to Rs 10.89), Prime Solvent Extractions (Rs 0.29 to Rs 2.96) and Rider Electronics (Rs 0.34 to Rs 2.92).

A reverse trend can be seen in the case of Arvind Mills (Rs 10.05 in 1997-98 to Rs 1.44 in 1998-99), Bombay Burmah (Rs 5.80 to Rs 0.06), Easun Reyrolle (Rs 15.46 to Rs 1.50), Kanoria Chemicals (Rs 9.42 to Rs 1.85), Kirloskar Oil Engine (Rs 78.68 to Rs 9.76), Malwa Cotton (Rs 31.90 to Rs 5.14), Mather & Platt (Rs 1.52 to Rs0.22), Menon Pistons (Rs 4.55 to Rs 0.31), Nahar Industries (Rs 4.21 to Rs 0.61), Phil Corpn. (Rs 9.45 to Rs 1.60), Sabero Organics Gujarat (Rs 3.05 to Rs 0.46) and Zenith (Rs 26.84 to Rs 0.28). The net profit of Arvind Mills declined by -85.7 per cent to Rs 14.47 crore in 1998-99 from the level of Rs 101.04 crore in 1997-98. This was responsible for declining trend in the EPS of Arvind Mills.

A look at the EPS of 20 industries shows a decline from 1997-98 to 1998-99 in the case of automobiles (Rs 21.58 in 1997-98 to Rs 19.26 in 1998-99), cotton textiles (Rs 10.68 to Rs 7.33), engineering (Rs 14.91 to Rs 11.67), fertilisers (Rs 6.00 to Rs 5.69), hotels (Rs 19.19 to Rs 13.95), iron & steel (Rs 8.50 to Rs 7.22), other chemicals (Rs 10.15 to Rs 7.68), paints (Rs 16.82 to Rs 15.37), shipping (Rs 4.04 to Rs 3.43), and tea & coffee (Rs 19.17 to Rs 18.45). An improvement in the EPS from 1997-98 to 1998-99 was witnessed in the case of cables (Rs 9.58 in 1997-98 to Rs 12.74 in 1998-99), cement (Rs 3.40 to Rs 4.87),electrical goods (Rs 10.86 to Rs 10.99), electricity (Rs 15.80 to Rs 16.45), food products (Rs 6.92 to Rs 10.00), paper & products (Rs 2.58 to Rs 3.09), pharmaceuticals (Rs 16.76 to Rs 19.25), software (Rs 18.83 to Rs 27.18), sugar & breweries (Rs 13.91 to Rs 14.73) and tyres & tubes (Rs 4.73 to Rs 3.57). The highest and lowest EPS for 1998-99 were recorded in the case of software and paper & products respectively.

It is interesting to observe the shifts in ranking according to EPS among the 20 industries between 1998-99 and 1997-98. In 1997-98, the top five industries in that order were: automobiles, hotels, tea & coffee, software and paints. In 1998-99, the top five were software, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, tea & coffee and electricity. Three industries-software, tea & coffee and automobiles -figure in the list of top five industries in both years. A significant improvement in ranks from 1997-98 to 1998-99 was witnessed in the case of cables (13th in 1997-98 to 9th in 1998-99), food products (15th to12th), pharmaceuticals (6th to 3rd) and software (4th to 1st). Among others, three industries maintained their position in both years. A significant decline in rank was observed in the case of cotton textiles (11th in 1997-98 to 14th in 1998-99) and hotels (2nd to 8th).