Aggregate sales of 1,701 listed manufacturing companies recorded a growth of 27.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2021-22 on an annual basis, aided by high sales growth in petroleum, non-ferrous metals, iron and steel, chemicals and textiles industries, according to RBI data released on Monday.

RBI released the data on the performance of the private corporate sector during the third quarter of 2021-22 drawn from abridged quarterly financial results of 2,744 listed Non-Government Non-Financial (NGNF) companies.

“Sales of listed private non-financial companies increased (y-o-y) by 25.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2021-22 as compared with 31.8 per cent in the previous quarter and 4 per cent in the corresponding quarter a year ago,” the RBI said.

As per the data, aggregate sales of 1,701 listed manufacturing companies recorded steady growth (y-o-y) of 27.3 per cent, aided by high sales growth in petroleum, non-ferrous metals, iron and steel, chemicals and textiles industries.

In value terms, the sales of manufacturing companies stood at Rs 8,87,137 crore in the third quarter as against Rs 6,79,462 crore (1,685 companies). Their net profits stood at Rs 88,167 crore during October-December period of 2021-22 as against Rs 73,789 crore in the year ago quarter.

Maintaining their growth momentum, information technology companies recorded 20.7 per cent increase (y-o-y) in sales during the third quarter of 2021-22.

Further, sales of non-IT services companies expanded (y-o-y) by 22 per cent in the October-December period of 2021-22.

RBI said telecommunication companies, which account for nearly a fourth of this broad category, witnessed a marginal decline in sales but non-telecom companies recorded good growth.

On expenditure, the central bank said that in tandem with increase in sales, manufacturing companies’ expenditure on raw material increased year-on-year by 37.1 per cent. Expenses on raw material accounted for 63.3 per cent of their total expenditure.

“With rising expenditures, operating profit growth decelerated across sectors in the third quarter of 2021-22,” RBI said.

Also, pricing power in terms of operating profit and net profit margins remained stable for manufacturing and IT companies.