An examination of trends in the corporate results for the quarter-ended September declared so far (excluding banking and finance companies) shows that, while the sharp decrease in demand growth as measured by corporate revenue has ceased, it is still, as Table 1 shows, showing year-on-year fall. As Table 2 shows, growth in adjusted net profit has also fallen year on year. That matters are not worse is thanks to sharp declines in costs. As Table 3 shows, raw material costs in particular have shrunk considerably year on year. Employee compensation, as Table 4 describes, has increased year-on-year but not as much as it did the previous quarter. Growth in interest costs has also been positive, according to Table 5, but far from the high levels of two years ago.
Sectors hit hardest by the demand shortfall include steel, as Table 6 shows. Power, however, has seen decent revenue growth, as has infrastructure - but fast moving consumer goods, a bellwether for consumer demand, has seen minimal revenue growth. Table 7 shows raw-material heavy sectors like steel and chemicals have been able to keep spending under tabs - and the capital goods sector has benefited considerably from this.
The differing impact of lower crude oil prices are on display in Table 8 - refineries have shown solid profit growth, whereas the upstream crude sector has suffered.
 "StatsGuru: Tracking the numbers behind corporate results")
