Early earnings trends for the June quarter showed sluggish revenue and profit growth, excluding a one-time gain reported by Reliance Industries (RIL).According to an ET report, growth momentum has slowed to its lowest in at least nine quarters, largely due to muted performance from key sectors like banking, finance, FMCG, and IT.Among 186 companies that have announced results so far, net profit rose 18.5% year-on-year, the highest in five quarters. However, this strong growth was largely due to a one-time gain by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which earned Rs 8,924 crore from the sale of its stake in Asian Paints. Revenue growth, however, slowed to just 4.6%, the weakest in at least nine quarters.Shares of RIL fell 2.4% on Monday to a day’s low of Rs 1,441.95 on the BSE, following the announcement of its Q1FY26 results. When RIL’s figures are excluded, revenue and profit showed growth of 5.7% and 7.3% respectively, marking nine-quarter lows for both metrics, ET reported.RIL’s contribution to the sample’s net profit increased to 24.4% in the June quarter from 16.4% in the previous year, significantly influencing overall profit growth. Its revenue share showed a slight decrease to 31.8% from 32.5% year-on-year.The banking and finance sector displayed weak performance due to compressed net interest margins and reduced credit uptake. Companies in this sector reported their lowest nine-quarter growth, with revenue at 6.4% and net profit at 5.1% year-on-year for the June quarter.IT sector companies in the sample recorded their lowest five-quarter performance, with revenue growth at 3.4% and profit growth at 4.6%.Analysts had expected double-digit profit growth driven by sectors including capital goods, cement, healthcare, oil and gas, and telecom at the quarter’s start.“The key highlight of the quarter is anticipated to be the better sectoral breadth of earnings growth. Multiple sectors are expected to post double-digit profit growth,” Motilal Oswal Securities said in a preview report.The current analysis is based on a small number of early results, as more companies release their earnings in the coming weeks, a clearer picture of overall performance is expected to emerge.
