The week in charts: Q3 earnings, India’s economic downturn, UK trade talks
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Indian companies navigated yet more revenue-profit divergence in the December quarter, and India’s ranking declined significantly among its emerging-market peers in January. Meanwhile, India and the UK have resumed trade negotiations amid protectionist policies by the US.
India Inc. recorded a slower year-on-year revenue growth of 4.4% in the December quarter, down from 7.3% and 9.1% in the two previous quarters, according to a Mintanalysis of 3,577 BSE-listed companies. Meanwhile, net profits grew 12.4%, outpacing about 9% growth in the preceding quarters.
Companies maintained profitability thanks to favourable input costs, with raw material expenses as a share of revenue falling to 37%—the lowest in six quarters. However, experts caution that robust revenue expansion is essential to maintain profits. Also read: India’s elusive private investment boom: Why animal spirits remain shackled India and the UK have resumed free-trade negotiations after a year's pause, bringing some optimism amid rising fears of protectionism globally, news agency PTI reported.
The talks will address the Free Trade Agreement, a Bilateral Investment Treaty, and a deal on social security. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said the proposed FTA could nearly triple India-UK trade within a decade. India’s trade with the UK grew from $14.5 billion in FY18 to $21.34 billion in FY24, with the UK ranking as India's 11th largest trade partner.
₹2.5 trillion: That’s the annual asset-monetisation target the union government plans to set for 2025-26, Mintreported. The plan will focus on power transmission, mining, petroleum sectors, and opening high-value assets like transmission lines for private participation. In the
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