Mumbai, Feb 20 || Earnings of Nifty 50 companies showed a year‑on‑year contraction in the December quarter for the first time in 13 quarters, even as top-line growth returned to double digits, as per industry data.
Excluding banks, financial services and oil and gas firms, aggregate revenue rose 10 per cent in the quarter — the first double‑digit increase since the March 2023 quarter but aggregate profits dipped due to one‑time accounting impact of India’s new Labour Codes.
Operating profit grew 7.5 per cent year on year, up from 6.1 per cent in the September quarter and 5 per cent a year earlier.
Despite the revenue gains, aggregate net profit for 37 Nifty 50 companies fell 8.1 per cent from a year earlier, marking the first negative profit growth since the September 2022 quarter, industry data showed.
Analysts attributed the dip in profits to the one‑time accounting impact of India’s new labour codes, which require basic salary to be raised to 50 per cent of total cost‑to‑company, with rise in gratuity provisions. The Labour Code changes trimmed overall profit after tax by roughly 5 per cent, with the technology sector estimated to have a 13 per cent dip, they added.