Of the 240 companies, as many as 220 (91.7 per cent) registered net profits.An industry-wise analysis reveals that out of the 32 industry groups, 23 earned a higher net profit during the year. Prominent among these are iron and steel, leather and leather products, sugar, other food products, dry and wet batteries, rubber and plastic products, cotton spinning, motorcycles and scooters and non-metallic mineral products. The net sales of the sample companies increased by 12.6 per cent to Rs 87,258 crore in 1997-98, up from 11.9 per cent in 1996-97.

The gross profit (after depreciation but before interest) increased by 11.9 per cent to Rs 12,321 crore. The depreciation and interest increased by 25.5 per cent and 13.4 per centrespectively during the year. The profit before tax witnessed an increase of 11.0 per cent to Rs 7,528 crore as against a decline of 10.5 per cent last year. The equity capital of the sample companies increased by 9.1 per cent to Rs 6,605 crore. The EPS increased marginally to Rs 9.70 in 1997-98 from Rs 9.30 in 1996-97.

The gross margin on sales declined marginally to 14.1 per cent in 1997-98 from 14.2 per cent in 1996-97.

However, the net margin on sales increased to 7.4 per cent in 1997-98 from 7.2 per cent in 1996-97.

The gross margin on sales for the sample companies during 1997-98 at 14.1 per cent was marginally lower than 14.2 per cent in 1996-97.

In all, 15 industry groups recorded an improved margin compared with that in the previous year. Restaurants and hotels (38.5 per cent), basic chemicals (27.2 per cent), other textiles (23.5 per cent), electricity generation and distribution (19.1 per cent), rubber and plastic products (19.0 per cent), sugar (17.7 per cent), petro-products (16.7 percent), pharmaceuticals (15.7 per cent), fertilisers, non-metallic mineral products and cotton spinning (15.4 per cent) performed better than the sample average. The net margin on sales for sample companies improved to 7.4 per cent during 1997-98 from 7.2 per cent in the preceding year.

Out of the 32 industry groups in the sample, as many as 19 have improved the net margin on sales during 1997-98 compared with the previous year. Industry groups such as restaurants and hotels, other textiles, basic chemicals, rubber and plastic products, pharmaceuticals, petro-products, cotton spinning and electrical machinery recorded an impressive net margin on sales.

Interest charges of the sample companies increased by 13.4 per cent during the year, thereby marginally increasing its share in the cost of production (including interest) to 5.9 per cent in 1997-98 in the previous year. The ratio of interest to cost of production increased for 13 industry groups during the year.

Among others, basic chemicals (13.7 percent), sugar (12.0 per cent), electricity generation and distribution (10.3 per cent), restaurants and hotels (9.6 per cent), other textiles (8.3 per cent), fertilisers (7.4 per cent), non-metallic mineral products (7.0 per cent), petro-products (6.9 per cent), cotton spinning (6.6 per cent) and metal products (6.3 per cent) had higher than average interest to cost of production ratio.