Q2 advance tax payout of top 100 companies sees muted growth

In line with macro environment, the advance tax collections from the top-100 corporates from the financial capital showed a muted growth for the September quarter, with the outgoes increasing by only up to 8 per cent, a senior official said on Monday.

"For the top-100 companies, the advance tax payments have increased by 7-8 per cent," the official said.

Cumulatively for the first two quarters till now, the advance tax collections from the Mumbai zone, which contributes over a third of the income tax collections nationally, have grown 11 per cent, the official said.

Leading the pack in the financial capital was Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries which paid Rs 1,670 crore (Rs 16.7 billion) as against the Rs 1,534 crore (Rs 15.34 billion) in the same period year ago, the official said.

Insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation paid Rs 1,624 crore (Rs 16.24 billion) as against the Rs 1,307 crore (Rs 13.07 billion) paid in the same period last year, the official said.

The country's largest software exporter TCS paid Rs 1,030 crore (Rs 10.3 billion) as against Rs 810 crore (Rs 8.1 billion) in the same period last year, the official said.

Advance tax payments is a system of staggered payment of taxes by the companies. Generally, a company's payout is considered as a barometer of the company's performance during the quarter.

The payouts for September quarter come with grim news on the economic front wherein the quarterly growth had slipped to a four year low of 4.4 per cent for the June quarter.

The state-run banks led by the largest lender SBI (which paid Rs 1,120 crore or Rs 11.2 billion, down from Rs 1,820 crore or Rs 18.2 billion last year) were a disappointment due to issues over asset quality deterioration and treasury losses, the official said.

The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation's payout also dipped to Rs 797 crore (Rs 7.97 billion) from the year ago figure of Rs 974 crore (Rs 9.74 billion), the official said.

Dena Bank's payout plummeted to Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) from the year ago's Rs 185 crore (Rs 1.85 billion), while for Central Bank of India, the payout dipped to Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) as against the Rs 268 crore (Rs 2.68 billion) in the year ago period, the official said.

Some public sector peers, including Bank of Baroda (Rs 630 crore as against Rs 620 crore) and Bank of India (Rs 270 crore versus Rs 200 crore), also noted increases in the September quarter, the official said.

The private sector lenders continued to show a rise with ICICI Bank paying Rs 975 crore (Rs 9.75 billion) as against the Rs 815 crore (Rs 8.15 billion) and HDFC Bank paying Rs 1,375 crore (Rs 13.75 billion) versus the Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) during the same period of last year, the official said.

Mortgage lender HDFC paid Rs 650 crore (Rs 6.5 billion) for the September quarter, up from the year ago's Rs 560 crore (Rs 5.6 billion).

With some revival in demand, the auto majors Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 230 crore or Rs 2.3 billion versus Rs 200 crore or Rs 2 billion) and Bajaj Auto (Rs 365 crore or Rs 3.65 billion versus Rs 300 crore or Rs 3 billion) also posted increases.

Interestingly, in spite of talk of under-recoveries, the oil marketing companies returned to paying advance taxes with IOC paying Rs 255 crore (Rs 2.55 billion) versus nil last year while BPCL paid Rs 202 crore (Rs 2.02 billion), the official said.

On the infrastructure side, EPC giant Larsen & Toubro's payout estimate was flat at Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion), while the cement companies posted a dip, the official said.

ACC paid Rs 85 crore (Rs 850 million) versus Rs 96 crore (Rs 960 million), while the collection from Ambuja fell to Rs 115 crore (Rs 1.15 billion) from the year ago's Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion). Aditya Birla Group company Ultratech paid Rs 160 crore (Rs 1.6 billion) as against Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion).

Hindalco, the flagship company of the Aditya Birla group, posted a fall in advance tax payout at Rs 90 crore (Rs 900 million) as against the Rs 130 crore (Rs 1.3 billion) last year, the official said.

Among other conglomerate companies, Tata Steel posted a rise to Rs 525 crore (Rs 5.25 billion) as against Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion), while Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel's payout plummeted to Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) from the year ago's Rs 130 crore (Rs 1.3 billion), the official added.

Pharma players reported a good quarter with Lupin paying Rs 165 crore (Rs 1.65 billion), up from the year ago's Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion),while Cipla's payout increased to Rs 95 crore (Rs 950 million) from the year ago's Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million), the official said.