Corporate sector showed positive sales growth: RBI

Pricing power of private corporate sector - measured by operating profit margin - remained flat in the fourth quarter over the third quarter, but sales growth was positive at the aggregate level after contracting for four quarters, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.

Pricing power improved for services sector (other than IT) and declined marginally for the IT sector in the fourth quarter, an analysis by the RBI showed. RBI comes up with the study every quarter. RBI also added, "Operating profit growth continued to improve at the aggregate level and across all sectors, mainly on account of improved sales growth and continued contraction in raw material expenses."

The financial stability report of by the RBI released earlier this week showed that private companies are deleveraging at a faster clip.

Aggregate sales grew by 2.3 per cent after contraction for four successive quarters, while expenses on raw material contracted at a slower pace than previous quarter.

At the aggregate level, operating profit grew by 16.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, while operating profit growth stood at 11.8 per cent for the manufacturing sector. Net profit grew by 16.4 per cent in the Q4 against 15.9 per cent in the previous quarter, the RBI said.