Muted profit margins, moderate increase in costs and sales: IIM-A survey of 1000 cos

By Our Representative
The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A's) latest Business Inflation Expectations Survey (BIES) has said that the cost perceptions data obtained from India’s business executives suggests that there is “mild increase in cost pressures”.
“However”, it says, “The percentage of firms perceiving significant cost increase (over 6%) in February 2024 has marginally declined to 30%, from around 31% reported in January 2024”, adding, “The percentage of firms reporting moderate cost increase (3.1% to 6.0%), on the other hand, has increased from 25% in January 2024 to 28% in February 2024.”

The survey results – obtained on the basis of responses of around 1000 companies – says that “about 19% of the firms are reporting ‘somewhat greater than normal’ sales in February 2024 – marginally up from 18% reported in January 2024.” It adds, “About 47% of the firms are reporting ‘normal’ or greater sales in February 2024 – moderately up from 43% reported in January 2024.”
According to the survey, “Around 40% of the firms in February 2024 are reporting profit margins to be ‘about normal’ or greater – almost same as reported in January 2024”, though underlining, “Overall, the profit margins expectations have remained somewhat muted during Jan-Feb 2024.”

Carried out by the Misra Centre for Financial Markets and Economy, IIM-A. the survey, which provides ways to examine the amount of slack in the economy by polling a panel of business leaders, seeks answers about year-ahead cost expectations and the factors influencing price changes, such as profit, sales levels, etc.
The survey is claimed to be unique in that it goes straight to businesses -- the price setters -- rather than to consumers or households, to understand their expectations of the price level changes. It states, “Results are useful in understanding the inflation expectations of businesses and complement other macro data required for policy making”.

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