**Executive Summary**
This document presents the performance of the private corporate business sector for Q3:2025-26, based on abridged financial results of 3,188 companies. It highlights key performance indicators such as sales growth, expenditure, pricing power, and interest expenses. Comparable data for Q2:2025-26 and Q3:2024-25 are included for trend analysis.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Sales Performance**
* **Aggregate Sales Growth:** Listed private non-financial companies achieved a double-digit sales growth of 10.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) in Q3:2025-26, a notable acceleration from single-digit growth in the preceding eleven quarters. This was primarily driven by improved sales growth in the manufacturing sector.
* **Manufacturing Sector Sales:** Sales for 1,794 listed private manufacturing companies grew by 11.4% y-o-y in Q3:2025-26, an increase from 8.5% in the previous quarter. Key industries contributing to this growth include automobiles, electrical machinery, and non-ferrous metals.
* **IT Sector Sales:** Sales growth for Information Technology (IT) companies continued to improve, reaching 8.8% y-o-y in Q3:2025-26, up from 7.8% in the prior quarter.
* **Non-IT Services Sector Sales:** Sales growth in non-IT services companies remained stable at 10.6% in Q3:2025-26, consistent with the previous quarter.
**Expenditure Trends**
* **Raw Material Expenses:** Manufacturing companies' raw material expenses rose by 12.7% y-o-y in Q3:2025-26, aligning with higher sales. The raw material to sales ratio increased to 57.5% from 55.9%, indicating input cost pressure.
* **Staff Costs:** Staff costs for manufacturing and IT companies increased to 12.4% and 6.6% respectively in Q3:2025-26, compared to the previous quarter. For non-IT services companies, staff cost growth moderated to 8.3% from 8.9%. Staff cost to sales ratios for manufacturing companies remained stable, while they moderated for IT and non-IT services companies.
**Pricing Power and Profitability**
* **Operating Profit Growth:** Operating profit for manufacturing companies increased by 11.8% y-o-y in Q3:2025-26, supported by moderate increases in other operating expenses. IT companies' operating profit growth improved to 11.1%, while non-IT services companies saw a moderation to 4.0%.
* **Operating Profit Margins:** Operating profit margins for manufacturing companies moderated sequentially in Q3:2025-26, while those for services sector companies improved.
**Interest Expenses**
* **Interest Coverage Ratio (ICR):** Manufacturing companies' ICR improved to 9.0 in Q3:2025-26 from 8.6 in Q2, due to a sequential decline in interest expenses. In the services sector, the ICR for non-IT services companies improved to 2.3 from 1.9, while IT firms' ICR moderated but remained at an elevated level.
**Supporting Information**
* The document includes a list of tables providing detailed data on the performance of listed non-government non-financial companies by various metrics, including growth rates and select ratios.
* Explanatory notes detailing the compilation methodology and a glossary of terms are appended.
**Impact Analysis**
**Listed Non-Government Non-Financial Companies**
* **Impact:** These companies are directly assessed by the data presented, reflecting their sales growth, expenditure, profitability, and debt servicing capacity. The information indicates a general positive trend in sales and profit growth for many sectors, but also highlights cost pressures and varying profit margin trends.
* **Action Required:** Companies should review their performance against the aggregate and sector-specific trends presented. This analysis can inform strategic decisions regarding cost management, pricing strategies, and capital expenditure.
**Investors and Financial Analysts**
* **Impact:** This data provides crucial insights into the financial health and performance of a significant segment of the private corporate sector, enabling informed investment decisions and market analysis.
* **Action Required:** Utilize the provided data to conduct further analysis, update financial models, and make investment recommendations based on the observed trends and sector-specific performances.
**Reserve Bank of India (RBI)**
* **Impact:** The Reserve Bank utilizes this data for monitoring economic activity, formulating monetary policy, and assessing the overall stability of the financial system.
* **Action Required:** Continue to collect, analyze, and publish such data to inform policy decisions and provide transparency to the market. Review the explanatory notes and glossary for any updates or revisions in compilation methodology.
Key Entities Referenced
Reserve Bank of India: The central bank of India, which released the data on the performance of the private corporate business sector.
Performance of Private Corporate Business Sector during Q3:2025-26: The title of the press release, indicating the core subject matter of the document.
Listed Non-Government Non-Financial Companies: The specific group of companies whose financial performance is being analyzed in the report.
Manufacturing sector: A key sector within the private corporate business that shows significant sales growth and is analyzed in detail.
Information Technology (IT) companies: A specific sector within the private corporate business whose performance is tracked and reported.
प्रेस प्रकाशनी PRESS RELEASE
भारतीय �रज़वर् बैंक
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
वेबसाइट : www.rbi.org.in/hindi संचार िवभाग, केंद्रीय कायार्लय, शहीद भगत िसंह मागर्, फोटर्, मुंबई - 400 001
Website : www.rbi.org.in Department of Communication, Central Office, Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg, Fort,
ई-मेल/email : helpdoc@rbi.org.in Mumbai - 400 001 फोन/Phone: 022 - 2266 0502
February 25, 2026
Performance of Private Corporate Business Sector during Q3:2025-26
Today, the Reserve Bank released the data on performance of the private
corporate business sector during the third quarter of 2025-26, drawn from abridged
quarterly financial results of 3,188 listed non-government non-financial companies.
This summary position also includes comparable data for Q2:2025-26 and Q3:2024-
25 to enable study of sequential (q-o-q) and annual (y-o-y) change (web-link
https://data.rbi.org.in/DBIE/#/dbie/reports/Statistics/Corporate%20Sector/Listed%20N
on-Government%20Non-Financial%20Companies).
Highlights
Sales
• At aggregate level, listed private non-financial companies recorded a double-
digit sales growth of 10.1 per cent (y-o-y) during Q3:2025-26, after recording
single digit growth in previous eleven quarters. This acceleration was mainly
led by substantial improvement in sales growth of manufacturing sector (Table
1A).
• Sales of 1,794 listed private manufacturing companies expanded by 11.4 per
cent (y-o-y) during Q3:2025-26, up from 8.5 per cent in the previous quarter,
mainly driven by higher sales growth in automobiles, electrical machinery and
non-ferrous metals industries (Chart 1, Table 2A and 5A).
Sources: Capitaline and RBI staff calculations.2
• Sales growth of Information Technology (IT) companies continued to improve
further to 8.8 per cent (y-o-y) during Q3:2025-26 from 7.8 per cent in the
previous quarter.
• On the other hand, sales growth of non-IT services companies remained
stable at 10.6 per cent in Q3:2025-26 from the previous quarter.
Expenditure
• Raw material expenses of manufacturing companies rose by 12.7 per cent (y-
o-y) during Q3:2025-26 in line with the higher sales growth; raw material to
sales ratio also inched up to 57.5 per cent during Q3 from 55.9 per cent in the
previous quarter, pointing to input cost pressure (Table 2A and 2B).
• Staff cost of manufacturing and IT companies rose at higher pace to 12.4 per
cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively, during Q3:2025-26, compared to the
previous quarter. However, for non-IT services companies, the staff cost
growth moderated to 8.3 per cent during Q3 from 8.9 percent in the previous
quarter. Staff cost to sales ratio for manufacturing companies remained stable
at 5.8 per cent in Q3:2025-26; however, it moderated for both IT and non-IT
services companies during Q3 from the previous quarter.
Pricing power
• Operating profit of manufacturing companies increased by 11.8 per cent (y-o-
y) during Q3, supported by moderate rise in other operating expenses. IT
companies’ operating profit growth improved to 11.1 per cent, while it
moderated to 4.0 per cent for non-IT services companies during Q3 (Table
2A).
• Operating profit margin of manufacturing companies moderated sequentially
during Q3:2025-26, while it improved for services sector companies (Chart 2
and Table 2B).
Sources: Capitaline and RBI staff calculations.3
Interest expenses
• With the sequential decline in interest expenses, manufacturing companies’
interest coverage ratio (ICR)1 improved to 9.0 in Q3:2025-26 from 8.6 in Q2.
Within services sector, ICR of non-IT services companies improved to 2.3 in
Q3 from 1.9 in the previous quarter, while ICR of IT firms moderated but
continued to remain at elevated level during Q3 (Table 2B).
List of Tables
Table No. Title
A Growth Rates
Performance of Listed Non-Government Non-Financial
1
Companies
B Select Ratios
A Growth Rates
Performance of Listed Non-Government Non-Financial
2
Companies – Sector-wise
B Select Ratios
A Growth Rates
Performance of Listed Non-Government Non-Financial
3
Companies according to Size of Paid-up-Capital
B Select Ratios
A Growth Rates
Performance of Listed Non-Government Non-Financial
4
Companies according to Size of Sales
B Select Ratios
A Growth Rates
Performance of Listed Non-Government Non-Financial
5
Companies according to Industry
B Select Ratios
Explanatory Notes
Glossary
Notes:
• The coverage of companies in different quarters varies, depending on the date
of declaration of results; this is, however, not expected to significantly alter the
aggregate position.
• Explanatory notes detailing the compilation methodology, and the glossary
(including revised definitions and calculations that differ from previous
releases) are appended.
(Brij Raj)
Press Release: 2025-2026/2169 Chief General Manager
1 ICR (i.e., ratio of earnings before interest and tax to interest expenses) is a measure of debt servicing capacity
of a company. The minimum value for ICR is 1 for a company to be viable.