Corporate India continues to be on the fast track of recovery. Going by the financial results of 370 manufacturing companies for the October-December quarter that have come in so far, Corporate India posted a 16.76 per cent rise in sales.

This is for the first time in recent times that Corporate India has posted such a blistering sales growth. Not only that, these 370 companies posted a smart 45.3 per cent jump in net profits.

However, if banks and non-banking finance companies' performance is included in the aggregates, the expanded sample of 400 companies still shows a 15.6 per cent growth in revenues and a 37.0 per cent jump in net profits.

Out of the 370 manufacturing companies, there are 321 companies whose data is available for the previous two quarters.

This sub-sample shows 12 per cent sales growth in the June quarter, followed by 13.9 per cent growth in the September quarter and 17.1 per cent in the latest quarter.

Net profit growth increased much more sharply: from 19.1 per cent in the June quarter to 44.1 per cent in the September quarter and 41.6 per cent in the December quarter.

At the operating level, the 370 companies posted a 16.2 per cent growth on the back of a 24.2 per cent reduction in interest costs. Gross profits increased 26.8 per cent.

Other income, which increased 20.7 per cent in the quarter, added substantially to the bottomline growth.

Yet, the operating margins of the full sample of 370 companies declined to from 17.48 per cent in the quarter ended December 2002 to 17.39 per cent in the December 2003 quarter.

But gross profit margins increased from 13.84 per cent to 15.03 per cent and net profit margins from 6.54 per cent to 8.14 per cent.

Among major industries, the steel sector, including both hot rolled and cold rolled steel manufacturing companies, posted 27.42 per cent growth in sales and a 47.55 per cent rise in net profits.

The information technology sector posted 27.4 per cent growth in sales and a 25.7 per cent jump in net profits.

Among others, the solvent extraction sector posting a mind- boggling 424.94 per cent jump in net profits on 16.48 per cent growth in sales and pharmaceuticals companies a 21.79 per cent in net profit on a 10.23 per cent growth in sales.

The diversified, two- and three-wheeler, aluminium, organic chemicals, petrochemicals, composite and alloy steel and auto ancillaries, too recorded double-digit growth in sales and profits.