Bigger, Stronger, Better: Top companies of 2023 are batting in peak form
new-age companies that use technology to do things differently and better, and a soaring stock market. The latest ET 500 rankings, the definitive list of the biggest publicly traded companies operating in the world’s fastest-growing economy, reflect the changing face of India Inc.
At the aggregate level, the incumbent companies show manageable debt and improving ability to service it, adequate equity and healthy top-line and bottomline growth.
While oil and gas has retained its status as the biggest sector in the listing based on annual revenue, banking leads in net profit share aided by buoyancy in credit offtake and improving asset quality.
India’s banks are again in the pink of health, a good sign for the economy amid signs of a pickup in private capex.
The total revenue of the ET 500 companies increased by 12.7% annually between FY18 and FY23 to `151.2 lakh crore. In FY23, it was 55.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices compared with 49.6% in FY18 reflecting the increasing formalisation of the economy that is benefiting the big companies.
The sample’s net profit rose by 23.5% annually to `11 lakh crore between FY18 and FY23.
The net margin widened to 7.3% from 4.6%, indicating a significant improvement in profitability in the post-pandemic years.
After excluding banking and finance companies to better understand India Inc’s balance sheet, total debt rose by an annual 5.1% during the period under observation but total equity grew at a faster rate of 9.9% annually. (The truncated sample of companies varied between 425 and 436 during the period depending upon how many lenders made it to the ET 500 list in a particular year.) As a result, the debt-equity (D/E) ratio improved to 0.7 in FY23 from
