After a dull performance in 2007-08, the Indian corporate sector showed some bright moment in their top line performance during 2008-09.

Sales of FE 500 were pitched high. Speeding ahead at a rate of 19.35%, the FE 500?s net sales reached the high of Rs 23.14 lakh crore. Though, in comparison with 2007-08, the sales growth was slightly high. The FE 500?s sales growth was 17.69% in the year 2007-08.

The increase in the cost of raw materials and energy, however, presented some hurdles in their profit growth.

The top ten, in terms of composite ranks, seemed slightly slower than the FE 500 as a whole. Their sales growth, at 14.63%, was actually slightly lower than the FE 500, which recorded a collective growth of 19.35%. In absolute terms also, the top ten ended 2008-09 with a lower record: their aggregate sales as a percentage of the total FE 500 actually saw a marginal decrease from 30.93% in the year before to 29.71% in 2008-09.

Barring BPCL, all the other nine who graced the super league in 2007-08, also showed up in the same starry league the next year. BPCL, the top tenner of 2007-08, was edged out by the Larsen & Toubro in 2008-09.

In 2008-09, at the top spot was Reliance Industries. In the slot just behind it was stable mate ONGC; the third runner-up was NTPC. And the fourth runner-up was Indian Oil Corp. The other six top tenners, in descending order of their composite ranks were SAIL, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Bhel, Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Communications. Within the top ten group, some shifting of positions had taken place. Thus, SAIL, sixth in 2007-08, moved up to the fifth position and Bharti Airtel lost the position from fifth to the sixth. Tata Steel, Bhel and Larsen & Toubro moved up from 8th to 7th, 9th to 8th and 11th to 9th respectively. Reliance Communications lost ground and declined, from the 7th to the 10th.

The FE 500 have been clubbed into five groups-the first 100, the second 100, the third 100, fourth 100 and the rest were neck to neck. So, the comparisons, if any, have to be made within the FE-500. As against an overall sales growth rate of 19.35% for the 500 as a group, the sub-groups of 100 each recorded growth rates of 19.18, 22.88, 17.88, 17.30 and 15.93% respectively during 2008-09.

The top 100 group (according to composite rankings) saw five new companies making an entry in 2008-09. The highest rate of rise in net sales in the first set was recorded by Lanco Infratech (190.68%), Coromandel International (149.32%), Tata Chemicals (107.18%), Ambuja Cements (65.65%), United Phosphorus (62.53%) and RCF (62.20%). The laggards in the top 100 were DLF (-48.89%), Unitech (-34.67%), Hindustan Zinc (-27.95%), Housing Development & Infrastructure (-27.76%), Ashok Leyland (-22.80%), Indian Hotels (-13.06%) and Tata Motors (-10.77%).

Some eight companies in the first group of 100 recorded more than 50% increase in net sales in 2008-09. The second set of 100 companies grew at 22.88%, higher than the FE 500?s average. Their combined net sales increased from Rs 2.32 lakh crore (on an annualised basis) in 2007-08 to Rs 2.85 lakh crore in 2008-09. The second set saw many changes, but the more noteworthy among them were the 16 new entrants from the lower ranks in 2008-09. The highest rate of rise in net sales was recorded by Shree Renuka Sugars (148.30%), followed by Zuari Industries (132.65%) and Engineers India (112.09%).

Among the poor performers in this group was Parsvnath Developers (-57.5%). Compared to the first two, the third group of 100 companies did not perform well in terms of net sales growth. Aggregate net sales of the set increased by 17.88% from Rs 1.20 lakh crore in 2007-08 to Rs 1.41 lakh crore in 2008-09. In terms of individual performance, 14 companies recorded declines in the third set. Of them, Omaxe recorded the highest (-60.90%), followed by Lakshmi Machine Works (-39.28%), Amtek India (-26.20%) and Ansal Properties & Infrastructure (-22.0%). Kingfisher Airlines (174.17%), Fertilisers & Chemicals Travancore (143.56%), Rain Commodities (80.39%), Icsa (64.07%), Peninsula Land (56.88%), AIA Engineering (55.51%) and Binani Cement (55.40%) were among those registering significant sales growth.

There were 23 new members in the set in 2008-09. Not all the new members, however have cause for jubilation. As many as 11 of them are rejects from the second set, including such big names like Ballarpur Industries, Castrol India, Omaxe, Varun Shipping Company and ITI.

Twelve others, which were in fourth set in 2007-08, entered the third set of companies in 2008-09. Mention may be made of Bharati Shipyard, Jai Neco Industries, Rain Commodities, AIA Engineering, Madhucon Projects, Bajaj Electricals, Balkrishna Industries, and Amara Raja Batteries.

The fourth set of 100 companies registered the lowest growth in sales compared to the first, second and third set, indicating that at the bottom of the corporate heap there is a lack of enterprise. The fourth group of companies grew at 17.30%, and their combined net sales increased from Rs 87,518 crore (on an annualised basis) in 2007-08 to Rs 1.02 lakh crore in 2008-09. The highest rate of rise in net sales was recorded by Sujana Metal Products (101.58%), followed by Jindal Drilling & Industries (88.45%), Ushdev International (83.62%), Dish TV India (78.48%), McNally Bharat Engg (77.47%), Aarti Industries (60.02%) and Visa Steel (54.53%). The most interesting part of FE 500 is the sales growth of fifth set of 100 companies. The fifth group of companies grew at 15.93%, which is lower than first, second, third and fourth hundred groups and their combined net sales increased from Rs 62,428 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 72,373 crore in 2008-09.

Looking at the FE 500 on a whole, it is obvious that individual performance was substantially determined by the fortunes of the industry in which they operated. The fastest growing industries in 2008-09 were fertilizers, chlor-alkali/soda ash, cement products, ship breaking and repairing, computer software-converts, transport-airlines/ travel agencies, construction, sugar, pesticides/agrichemical-Indian and steel-sponge iron. The slowest growing industries were pharmaceuticals-multinational, mining/minerals/metals, steel-pig iron, domestic appliances, auto ancillaries, electrodes-graphites, automobiles-motor cycles/ mopeds, electronics- components, bearings and castings and forgings.

Given the perky overall growth rate of 19.35% for the FE 500, asset growth was significantly higher than the sales growth. The combined total assets of the FE 500 (according to sales) rose by 24.28% from Rs 22.09 lakh crore in 2007-08 to Rs 27.46 lakh crore in 2008-09.

While building assets, the FE 500 took a beating on the profitability front. Gross profits decreased marginally during the study period. The total gross profits of the FE 500 decreased from Rs 3.41 lakh crore (on an annualised basis) in 2007-08 to Rs 3.17 lakh crore in 2008-09, a 7.11% decline. The top 10 of the FE 500 accounted for a major share of the booty (Rs 1.27 lakh crore), leaving Rs 1.90 lakh crore to be divided up among the remaining 490.

ONGC, the number one profit-maker of the year, notched up gross profits of Rs 36,419 crore, a 2.93% increase from Rs 35,381 crore in the previous year. The other nine companies in the top 10 list in terms of gross profits were Reliance Industries (Rs 23,571 crore), NTPC (Rs 13,548 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 11,471 crore), SAIL (Rs 10,692 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 8,273 crore), Infosys Technologies (Rs 7,408 crore), Indian Oil (Rs 7,166 crore), Reliance Communications (Rs 6,736 crore) and TCS (Rs 5,957 crore).

Reliance Industries topped in terms of net worth during 2008-09. The networth grew to Rs 1.26 lakh crore, a 58.34% rise from Rs 79,766 crore in the previous year. The other companies in the Top 10 list in terms of net worth were ONGC (Rs 78,735 crore), NTPC (Rs 57,370 crore), Reliance Communications (Rs 51,690 crore), Indian Oil (Rs 43,976 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 29,704 crore), SAIL (Rs 27,984 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 27,643 crore), Hindalco (Rs 23,758 crore) and Infosys Technologies (Rs 17,809 crore).

The aggregate net worth of the FE 500 increased by 20.46% from Rs 10.21 lakh crore in 2007-08 to Rs 12.30 lakh crore in 2008-09. Eight companies, namely Kingfisher Airlines, Tata Teleservices (Maha), ITI, Spice Communications, Dish TV, Lloyd Steel Indus- tries, Spice Jet and Balaji Distilleries had a negative net worth in absolute terms.

As for market capitalisation, performance was good, the aggregate market capitalisation of the FE 500 corporates increased by 103.9% from Rs 21.92 lakh crore as on January 29, 2009 to Rs 44.71 lakh crore as on January 29, 2010. The highest increase in market capitalisation among the FE 500 companies was witnessed in the case of Piramal Glass (756.70%), McNally Bharat Engg Co (648.74%), Sterlite Technologies (584.68%), Hindustan Copper (571.12%), Tata Motors (514.69%), Micro Inks (491.73%), Madhucon Projects (474.51%), Unity Infra Projects (470.98%), Alok Industries (436.34%) and Century Enka (426.72%).

In contrast, five companies showed a decrease in market capitalisation during the study period. Mention may be made of Tata Communications (-29.81%), Madras Cements (-14.87%), Koutons Retail (-14.23%), Hindustan Unilever (-4.77%) and Bharti Airtel (-2.37%).

The top 10 in terms of market capitalisation in 2008-09 were Reliance Industries (Rs 3,42,221 crore), ONGC (Rs 2,35,233 crore), NMDC (Rs 1,97,204 crore), NTPC (Rs 1,76,659 crore), MMTC (Rs 1,69,456 crore), TCS (Rs 1,43,942 crore), Infosys Technologies (Rs 1,42,162 crore), Bhel (Rs 1,17,800 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,16,376 crore) and ITC (Rs 95,095 crore).

The market capitalisation of the top 10 companies (in terms of composite rank) increased by 55.63% to Rs 13.21 lakh crore on January 29, 2010 from Rs 8.85 lakh crore on January 29, 2009. The share of the top 10 in the FE 500 in market capitalisation decreased from 38.72% on January 29, 2009 to 29.54% on January 29, 2010.