The quarter- on- quarter topline growth of Indian companies has shown a secular decline, said rating agency CARE. Though it has primarily been driven by certain large entities, the strengthening of the rupee and the fallout from American sub-prime crisis may also be the reasons behind it. Talking to FE, K Sivaprakasam, MD and CEO of CARE, said, ?The topline growth has declined from 18.25% for the quarter ended June 07 to 15.1% for the quarter ended September 30, 2007. Citing the reason behind the slowdown Sivaprakasam said, ?It appears to be driven by the large sectors like software, steel, aluminium, auto ancillaries, CVs, petroleum products, paper, sugar and fertilisers.? Net profit growth has grown at 23.88% for the quarter ended September 2007 as against a growth of 38.33 % for the quarter ended June 2007.This could be more due to productivity improvements and curtailment of raw material costs, he said. Going forward concerns come mainly from the strengthening rupee and any fallout from the American sub-prime crisis, added Sivaprakasam. CARE?s rating upgrades this year continue to exceed downgrades as in the previous two years, however the gap between upgrades and downgrades is declining, he said. CARE has significant coverage of Indian banks, financial institutions and public finance ratings apart from manufacturing and other sectors like IPO grading.