Q4 earnings watch: Consumption giants drive revenue but lag in profits
This divergence—where consumption-led firms maintained sales momentum but ceded ground on profitability—underscores how rising input costs and tepid urban demand are squeezing margins, even as pricing actions helped protect revenues.
Read this |
Can an early summer thaw India's consumption slowdown?
A
Mint
analysis of 13 consumption-driven companies from the Nifty India Consumption Index, which includes firms deriving over half their revenue from domestic demand, shows aggregate revenue grew 11.9% year-on-year. While this double-digit growth outpaced the broader India Inc., which posted just 2.9% growth, it was slower than the December quarter's performance.
The analysis, based on standalone data from the Capitaline database, examined the latest quarterly earnings of 439 listed companies that have declared results so far.
Analysts note that price increases have helped sustain volumes, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming quarters. Even so, the data comes against the backdrop of a broader
consumption
slowdown.
While consumption-led companies managed to maintain their revenue momentum, profitability told a different story. Net profit growth in this cohort slowed to 6.9% in Q4FY25, down sharply from 21.6% in the December quarter. In contrast, the rest of India Inc. posted stronger bottomline growth of 9.5%.
A company-wise breakdown shows that only four of the 13 firms—Adani Power, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India, and Trent—reported a decline in net profits, pulling down the segment's overall earnings performance.
Read this |
Zudio, Trent's greatest strength, may also be its biggest weakness
A detailed company-wise performance of all consumption-led companies revealed that only four of the 13 companies reported a decline in their bottom line numbers that slowed the samples' overall net profit growth. These included
Adani Power
, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India, and
Trent
.
Among these underperformers, Adani Power faced particular challenges. After managing to record some profit growth in the December quarter, the company experienced a profit contraction in the March quarter. Nevertheless, this contraction was significantly less severe than what the company witnessed during the first half of the fiscal year.
The Adani Group's energy subsidiary also recorded negative revenue growth in Q4, in-line with the trend of double-digit revenue contraction observed in the first half of the fiscal year.
Tata Group-owned retailer, Trent, also reported its first profit contraction in the March quarter, following robust profit performance in the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
Also read |
Price hikes and premium push: What explains automakers' latest moves?
Meanwhile, large-cap staples like Hindustan Unilever and Avenue Supermarts posted muted profit growth of 3-4%. On the brighter side, the remaining seven firms delivered strong double-digit earnings growth, led by Tata Consumer Products.
This is the eighth part of a series of data stories about the ongoing Q4 earnings season. Read previous parts of our earnings series
here
.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Economic Times
India lacks adequate valuation mechanism for skilled workers: Jayant Chaudhary
Synopsis Speaking at the 16th FICCI Global Skills Summit on Friday, Jayant Chaudhary, minister of state (independent charge) for ministry of skills development and entrepreneurship urged Indian industry to offer higher pay scales for certified workers and recognise formal qualifications over informal labour practices. Agencies Skills development minister Jayant Chaudhary on Friday urged India Inc to offer higher pay scales for certified workers and recognise formal qualifications over informal labour practices, saying India lacks adequate valuation mechanisms for skilled workers. 'Currently, we don't really have a price for employability, for skilling,' the minister said while speaking at the 16th FICCI Global Skills Summit. 'Everyone understands our skilling gap — young people are graduating, but we cannot hire them,' the minister said, emphasising that formal education systems struggle to keep pace with technological disruption.'Industry should really take ownership of skills development,' he said, urging companies to co-create from curriculum to protocols to bridge the skill gap. A FICCI–KPMG Knowledge Report on 'Next-Gen Skills for a Global Workforce: Enabling Youth and Empowering Economy', released at the summit, projected AI to grow to a $4.8 industry by 2033, with India facing particular disruption in IT, finance, healthcare and entry-level positions. The report outlines six strategic recommendations including tailored sector-specific AI skilling frameworks, modernised ITI curricula with AI machine interface training, and localised AI skilling hubs in Tier II and III cities, Ficci said in a statement. Besides, the summit also witnessed the launch of FICCI–FRSN Knowledge Report on 'Grading Framework for ITIs in India'. The report introduces a comprehensive three-stage methodology for evaluating India's 15,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), moving beyond traditional input-focused metrics to outcome-oriented assessment. The framework evaluates ITIs across three key levers, namely youth readiness and skills, ITI-industry engagement, and institutional functioning, using triangulated data from multiple stakeholders, including learners, alumni, employers, and administrators.'The framework emphasises that proper 'pricing' of skills requires industry to value certified workers through higher pay scales, whilst enabling targeted interventions based on performance patterns rather than uniform mandates across India's diverse institutional landscape,' Ficci added.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
India lacks adequate valuation mechanism for skilled workers: Jayant Chaudhary
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Skills development minister Jayant Chaudhary on Friday urged India Inc to offer higher pay scales for certified workers and recognise formal qualifications over informal labour practices, saying India lacks adequate valuation mechanisms for skilled workers.'Currently, we don't really have a price for employability, for skilling,' the minister said while speaking at the 16th FICCI Global Skills Summit 'Everyone understands our skilling gap — young people are graduating, but we cannot hire them,' the minister said, emphasising that formal education systems struggle to keep pace with technological disruption.'Industry should really take ownership of skills development,' he said, urging companies to co-create from curriculum to protocols to bridge the skill gap.A FICCI–KPMG Knowledge Report on 'Next-Gen Skills for a Global Workforce: Enabling Youth and Empowering Economy', released at the summit, projected AI to grow to a $4.8 industry by 2033, with India facing particular disruption in IT, finance, healthcare and entry-level report outlines six strategic recommendations including tailored sector-specific AI skilling frameworks , modernised ITI curricula with AI machine interface training, and localised AI skilling hubs in Tier II and III cities, Ficci said in a the summit also witnessed the launch of FICCI–FRSN Knowledge Report on 'Grading Framework for ITIs in India'. The report introduces a comprehensive three-stage methodology for evaluating India's 15,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), moving beyond traditional input-focused metrics to outcome-oriented framework evaluates ITIs across three key levers, namely youth readiness and skills, ITI-industry engagement, and institutional functioning, using triangulated data from multiple stakeholders, including learners, alumni, employers, and administrators.'The framework emphasises that proper 'pricing' of skills requires industry to value certified workers through higher pay scales, whilst enabling targeted interventions based on performance patterns rather than uniform mandates across India's diverse institutional landscape,' Ficci added.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
India's power giants battle low demand as monsoon arrives early
Indian power giants- Tata Power, Adani Power and JSW Energy- are coping with the country's declining power demand in Q1 FY26. Power consumption between April-June period reduced by 1.3-1.6% in India due to the early onset of monsoon. 'After many years, we had a quarter in which the power consumption declined by nearly 1.3%,' Praveen Sinha, CEO Tata Power said. 'We have not seen (this) for at least the last 5-6 years and this was because of the early onset of monsoon where we saw the monsoon coming around mid-May and this has continued till now,' he added. Power consumption grew 11% in the first quarter of FY25, followed by a sluggish demand in the corresponding quarter of the current fiscal year, as stated by JSW Energy . Last year, an intense heatwave in the first quarter drove up power demand across many parts of India, unlike this year when early monsoon rains have kept temperatures lower. 'In Q1 FY26, the country's power demand registered a year-on-year decline of 1.5%. This moderation was primarily due to a high base effect, stemming from an 11% year-on-year growth in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, coupled with the early onset of the monsoon, which impacted consumption patterns,' Sharad Mahendra, CEO JSW Energy , said. As monsoon withdraws from most parts of western and central India, companies expect higher power demand in the later part of August and September. 'We anticipate this seasonal demand fluctuation to normalize in the coming quarters and remain structurally optimistic about strong medium-term power demand. Notably, the peak demand during the quarter reached 243 GW in June 2025,' Mahendra said. Adani Power reported a reduction in Power Purchase Agreements receipts due to weaker power demand in Q1 FY26. However, its sales volume was supported by an additional 2,300 MW capacity acquired last year and higher short-term sales under bilateral and exchange models. 'The recent slackness in power demand affected the offtake of power under 'Power Purchase Agreements by distribution companies. It also affected tariffs in the merchant market,' Dilip Jha, CFO Adani Power, said. The company's receipts for Q1 this year was Rs 6.51 per kWh as against Rs 7.60. per kWh in FY25. To ensure stable earnings, JSW Energy linked the unused capacity of imported coal-based Vijayanagar plant with JSW Steel. This move helped reduce dependence on the risky merchant market for coal-based power generation. JSW reported that the merchant market remained resilient during Q1 FY26 averaging around ₹ 4.41 /unit on exchanges despite record capacity addition and lower coal prices. The 'Day Ahead Market' rates were flat quarter on quarter but they softened year on year.
