Corporate contraction

Recovery depends on how quickly the pandemic is contained

The corporate results for the April-June 2020 quarter, announced so far, indicate the catastrophic impact of the lockdown and the pandemic. Consumption and core sector activities are down, though select sectors are displaying some resilience. A look at 317 listed companies with revenues of above Rs 10 crore shows a 22 per cent fall in net sales and 19 per cent fall in income year-on-year. While profit after tax (PAT) is down 22 per cent, operating profit has reduced by 7 per cent. If banks, refiners, and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are excluded from this sample, the performance is worse.