Turnaround stories bump up corporate profits

Combined net profit triples for 863 companies as Vedanta, some public sector banks are back in black

Corporate India’s earnings scorecard in the fourth quarter of 2016-17 was greatly influenced by companies that reported a turnaround from loss to profit. The combined net profit of 863 companies that have declared their fourth-quarter results so far tripled during the January-March period (up 217 per cent) over the corresponding quarter a year ago. 

Adjusted for loss-making companies, however, the net profit was up 18.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) during the fourth quarter, against 3.2 per cent growth during the corresponding quarter of 2015-16 and 17 per cent y-o-y growth during the third quarter.

The bump in growth is largely