The corporate results of first quarter of FY24 so far (excluding financial services firms) have reflected a substantial surge in profits but a decline in net sales,. Out of the 635 non-financial companies that have reported their results, the combined sales have decreased by 2.82% to reach ₹13.91 lakh crore, according to data from the CMIE. Remarkably, even Reliance Industries, the country’s largest revenue-generating company, faced a 4.69% drop in revenues, totaling ₹2,31,132 crore, alongside a 10.8% decrease in net profit, amounting to ₹16,011 crore.

The recent promise for the markets and the economy all started in September 2019 with the cutting of Corporate tax rates. This event, which we’ve referred to in many of our write-ups in the past 24 months, is very significant because it marks a shift in government policy away from boosting share of labor compensation in GDP and towards boosting share of corporate profits in GDP.