Q4 topline growth weakest since Covid-19: Report

Mumbai: India Inc is likely to log 4-6 per cent revenue growth in the January-March quarter of 2023-24, marking the slowest quarterly growth since recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in September 2021, said a Crisil report. The report is based on an analysis of 350 companies which exclude financial services and oil and gas sectors firms. The moderation follows stronger growth in previous years, the report said, adding ‘among the 47 sectors monitored by Crisil, only 12 are expected to have clocked an improvement in revenue growth both sequentially and on-year for the quarter.”

Consumer discretionary products and services are expected to have led the show in the January-March quarter. Among discretionary products, the automobiles sector was steered by healthy growth in passenger vehicles on the back of higher volumes and price hikes in the past year.

The organised retail sector, the report said, grew for the 13th quarter in a row, on healthy urban demand. Discretionary services, such as airlines and hotels benefited from MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), weddings and rebound in corporate travel.

On the other hand, it said, revenue from construction-linked sectors is expected to have grown at a tepid pace, essentially on account of a high base of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 that saw construction companies achieving their highest quarterly revenue. The report further said that the cement sector, despite steady demand momentum during the quarter, recorded moderate revenue growth as prices remained under pressure amid higher supply and intense competition.