Skip to main content

78% of firms report sales are 'somewhat or much less than normal': IIM-A survey

Sales level: % response
By A Representative
The latest Business Inflation Expectations Survey (BIES) has said that while around 46% of the firms in August 2019 reported increase in costs has been more than 3%, down from 49% in July 2019 and 55% in June 2019, and the proportion of firms perceiving significant cost increase (more than 6%) declined sharply to 23% from 29% reported in July 2019, the situation has worsened insofar as sales and profits are concerned.
Thus, says the BIES report, prepared under the directions of Prof Abhiman Das of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) by taking responses from over 1600 companies, “In August 2019, over three fourths of the firms (77.6%, highest ever since the inception of the survey in May 2017) in the sample reported that sales are ‘somewhat or much less than normal’. This proportion has increased significantly since June 2019.”
Profit margins: % response
It adds, “The proportion of firms in the sample reporting ‘much less than normal’ profit margins has increased further to over 54% in August 2019. It may be mentioned that this proportion had crossed 50% mark for the first time in June 2019. Overall, the profit margin scenario has further deteriorated in August 2019.”

Comments

TRENDING

Ahmedabad world’s least climate resilient major city: AlphaGeo study

By Rajiv Shah  A new study has ranked Ahmedabad as the least climate-resilient major city in the world , highlighting a dangerous gap between the city’s extreme physical vulnerability to climate hazards and its capacity to adapt. Cited by The New York Times , the analysis, conducted by geospatial artificial intelligence firm AlphaGeo , places the Indian city at the top of a list of global urban centres most exposed to climate risk.

The making of a self-made woman: How eighty sheep changed everything for Kalawati Ninama

By Vikas Meshram*  About forty-two kilometres from Rajasthan's Banswara district, in the tribal heartland of Ghatol block, lies the small village of Ubapana. This is where Kalawati Ninama, her husband Dhulji, and their four children make their home. Their days unfold much like those of their neighbours—bustling mornings, long hours of farm labour through the afternoon, and evenings spent tending livestock. For this family, farming and livestock were once simply a means of putting food on the table. Today, they have become the sturdy foundation of something far greater: genuine self-sufficiency.

India has spent billions on skilling. Where are the jobs?

By Vikas Gupta   India loves the photograph of a certificate ceremony. A minister on a stage. A banner bearing the word “skill.” Young people holding folders that promise a future. It is a reassuring image because it tells us the problem has a manageable answer: train the young, make them job-ready, and work will follow.