RBI: Private NFC Sales Slow to 5.5% in Q1 FY26

Mumbai, Aug 25 (PTI) Sales of listed private non-financial companies grew at a slower pace of 5.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2025-26 compared to 6.9 per cent in the year-ago period, the Reserve Bank of India said on Monday.

The RBI released the data on the performance of the private corporate sector during the first quarter of 2025-26, drawn from abridged quarterly financial results of 3,079 listed private non-financial companies.

"Sales of listed private non-financial companies rose by 5.5 per cent during Q1 2025-26 compared to 7.1 per cent growth in the previous quarter (6.9 per cent in Q1 2024-25)," the central bank said.

According to the data, aggregate sales growth of 1,736 listed private manufacturing companies moderated further to 5.3 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal from 6.6 per cent in the previous quarter, mainly dragged by the weak performance of the petroleum industry.

Sales growth of IT firms declined to 6 per cent during Q1 of 2025-26 from 8.6 per cent in the previous quarter, reversing the upward trend seen since the first quarter of 2024-25.

On the other hand, sales growth of non-IT services companies moderated to 7.5 per cent in Q1 2025-26, after recording double-digit growth in the previous three quarters, primarily due to lower sales growth recorded by the transport and storage companies.

The RBI further said manufacturing companies' expenses on raw material increased at a slower pace of 4.5 per cent compared to 8.3 per cent during the previous quarter, in tandem with a moderation in sales growth.

Consequently, the raw material to sales ratio moderated to 54.1 per cent during Q1 from 55.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

Staff costs of manufacturing, IT and non-IT services companies rose by 8.3 per cent, 5.8 per cent and 8.0 per cent, respectively, during Q1 2025-26, lower than the growth recorded during the previous quarter.

Also, operating profit growth of manufacturing and non-IT services companies moderated to 6.9 per cent and 11.3 per cent, respectively, while it improved to 5.4 per cent for IT companies during Q1 from the previous quarter.