Dun & Bradstreet announces the 16th edition of Top 500 Companies and felicitates the leading Corporates in India

• The average market capitalisation of Top 500 Companies for calendar year (CY) 2015 recorded 18% growth as compared to corresponding period of prior year 
• 37 new entrants made their debut in the 2016 edition as compared to 51 new companies in the last edition
• New entrants recorded 8% growth in total income in FY15 as compared to FY14
• Top-line growth for the Top 500 Companies slowed down to 2.8% in FY15, compared to 9.9% in FY14 highlighting moderation from the previous year
• The Profit after Tax (PAT) of the Top 500 companies grew by 4.6% in FY15 as compared to 3.2% in FY14
• PSUs accounted for 14% of Top 500 companies in terms of absolute numbers and contributed to approximately 40% of the aggregate total income and aggregate net profit of Top 500 Companies.

Mumbai, 31^st May, 2016: Dun & Bradstreet, the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, released the 16^th edition of its premium publication ‘India’s Top 500 Companies 2016 at an event in Mumbai. ‘India’s Top 500 Companies’ is among the longest running reputed publication in the country that ranks and felicitates high performance Indian companies in terms of various financial and operational parameters. The top corporates from 49 sectors will also be felicitated on the occasion through the Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards 2016.

The ceremony was hosted in august company of the Honourable Chief Guest, Mr. Bibek Debroy, Permanent Member NITI Aayog along with Special Guest Shri Anil Swarup, IAS, Secretary - Ministry of Coal, Government of India and Mr. Rishi Dave, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Dun & Bradstreet. Others present at the event were Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Altran Technologies India Private Limited; Mr. C S Sunder Raju, Managing Director, Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited and Mr. Kaushal Sampat, President & Managing Director – India, Dun & Bradstreet. In addition, the eminent dignitaries also included the representatives from the companies featured in the Top 500 Companies list.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rishi Dave, Chief Marketing Officer (Global), Dun & Bradstreet said, “India’s Top 500 Companies” is in its 16^th edition – and has catalogued the changing landscape of Corporate India over this period. In fact, since its inception in 1841, Dun & Bradstreet has a proud heritage of providing such indispensable content through modern channels for serving new customer needs across the globe. Our purpose is to help grow the most valuable relationships in business by uncovering truth and meaning from data. And our passion for this mission is reflected in our three core values: being data inspired, relentlessly curious and inherently generous.”

“Dun & Bradstreet is privileged to felicitate the best among India’s companies.  I would like to congratulate all the companies featured in India’s Top 500 Companies 2016, and the award winners tonight – I wish all of you the very best for the future.”

Highlighting the key insights from the publication, Mr. Kaushal Sampat, President & MD - India, Dun & Bradstreet said, “The Indian economic prospects have largely remained positive over the past 12-15 months. But, I must admit that the situation, through the period April - Dec 2015, for the Top 500 Companies shows that while the economy is registering a steady pace of growth, tangible outcomes for Corporate India are yet to be seen.”

“The total income of Top 500 Companies for the nine month period ended Dec 31, 2015 declined by 4%, as compared to the 6% growth recorded in similar period prior year. We looked at the Top 10 sectors of the economy and identified which of the sectors had grown or declined by double digit. Oil refining & marketing and iron & steel showed double digit decline in their aggregate total income. On the other hand four sectors - financial services, software & ITeS, automobiles and pharmaceuticals showed positive results with double digit growth in their aggregate total income.”

“The slowdown in the total income had a cascading effect on aggregate net profit, which declined by 3% for the nine month period ended December 31, 2015 compared with the prior year. Margins continued to be flat with the aggregate net profit margin for the Top 500 Companies during the period standing at 7.7%, only marginally higher compared with 7.6% recorded in the prior year.”

“Given the current pace of reforms and the high level of confidence among investors, both foreign and domestic, I am optimistic that FY17 will be a much better year for the Indian corporate sector”, he further added.

Key Highlights of India’s Top 500 companies 2016

• 37 new entrants made their debut in 2016 edition as compared to 51 new companies in the last edition. These new entrants recorded 8.1% growth in total income in FY15 compared to FY14
• Due to surplus capacity in the domestic market and continued macroeconomic pressure, top-line growth for the Top 500 Companies slowed down to 2.8% in FY15, compared to 9.9% in FY14 highlighting moderation from previous year
• The Profit after Tax (PAT) of the Top 500 companies grew by 4.6% in FY15 compared to 3.2% in FY14, indicating the nearly flat growth in profitability of the Top 500 companies during FY15
• Slow income and profit growth led to the aggregate dividend paid by the Top 500 Companies slowing down from 16.7% in FY14 to 13.2% in FY15
• In terms of y-o-y growth, total income of mid-cap companies grew at a rate of 6.2% in FY15 as compared to the growth of 1.8% and 4.2% witnessed by large-cap and small-cap companies, during the same period
• For the period of 3Q FY16 (Apr-Dec 2015), the total income of Top 500 companies declined by 4% as compared to 9M FY15, while their PAT declined by 2.9% during the same period.
• Lower input costs on the back of weakening crude oil prices along with lower commodity prices, especially metal, helped the companies in retaining the margins. For 3Q FY16, aggregate net profit margin stood at 7.7%, marginally higher than 7.6% of the previous year.
• The critical role of PSUs in driving the Indian economy is underscored by the fact that even though PSUs account for 14% of Top 500 companies in terms of absolute numbers, they contribute to around 40% of the aggregate total income and aggregate net profit of Top 500 Companies

Winners of Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards 2016

Sector	Award Winners 2016
Agro Chemicals	UPL Limited
Auto Components	Bosch Limited
Automobile - Two/Three Wheelers	Hero MotoCorp Limited
Automobiles	Maruti Suzuki India Limited
Banks	HDFC Bank Limited
Batteries	Exide Industries Limited
Bearings	SKF India Limited
Cement	UltraTech Cement Limited
Chemicals	Pidilite Industries Limited
Cigarettes	ITC Limited
Coal & Coal Products	Coal India Limited
Construction - Infrastructure Development	Larsen & Toubro Limited
Consumer Durables & Appliances	Whirlpool of India Limited
Electrical & Electronics	Bharat Electronics Limited
Engineering Projects/ Capital Goods	Siemens Limited
Fertilisers	Tata Chemicals Limited
FIs / NBFCs / Financial Services	Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited
FMCG	Hindustan Unilever Limited
Food Products	Britannia Industries Limited
Footwear	Bata India Limited
Gas - Processing, Transmission and Marketing	GAIL (India) Limited
Gems and Jewellery	Titan Company Limited
Glass and Ceramics	Kajaria Ceramics Limited
Hotels	EIH Limited
Iron and Steel	Tata Steel Limited
Media and Entertainment	Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited
Metal Products	Jindal Saw Limited
Mining - Metals & Minerals	Vedanta Limited
Non - Ferrous & Precious  Metals	Hindustan Zinc Limited
Oil - Refining and Marketing	Reliance Industries Limited
Oil & Gas Exploration	Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited
Packaging and Allied Activities	Jindal Poly Films Limited
Paints	Asian Paints Limited
Paper & Paper Products	Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited
Pharmaceuticals	Lupin Limited
Plastic & Plastic Products	The Supreme Industries Limited
Power	NTPC Limited
Power Equipment	ABB India Limited
Real Estate	Prestige Estates Projects Limited
Retail	Future Enterprises Limited
Shipping	The Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited
Software and ITeS	Tata Consultancy Services Limited
Specialty Oils and Lubricants	Castrol India Limited
Sugar	E.I.D.-Parry (India) Limited
Telecom Services	Bharti Airtel Limited
Textiles	Welspun India Limited
Transport and Logistics	Container Corporation of India Limited
Tyres	MRF Limited
Wood & Wood Products	Century Plyboards (India) Limited

About 'India's Top 500 Companies 2016'

Over the past decade, Dun & Bradstreet India (D&B India) has endeavoured to provide

top Indian companies a global platform through its acclaimed publication, 'India's Top 500

Companies'. The publication profiles India's most well - respected and high performing companies on the basis of various financial parameters. The 2016 edition is the 16th edition of the publication.

‘India’s Top 500 Companies 2016’ includes private sector companies and public sector enterprises (PSEs) listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and/or the National Stock Exchange (NSE), India’s two major stock exchanges. Standalone total income remains the primary criteria for the initial shortlisting of companies. Total income, net profit, and net worth continue to be the criteria used for ranking Dun & Bradstreet’s ‘India’s Top 500 Companies 2016’.

The companies in the publication have been classified on a sectoral basis. The sectoral classification is based on segmental revenue – a company should generate at least 35% of its revenues from a particular sector in order to be classified under that sector. Within each sector, the companies have been further ranked based on total income. The 'Others' category includes companies which are the only ones present in a particular sector; whereas companies operating in more than one segment which individually does not contribute to more than 35% are classified under the 'Diversified' category.