The Monetary and Banking Research Institute (MBRI) said the output of listed manufacturing companies has increased. In a recent report it reflected on the monthly performance of 280 companies in the Tehran Stock Exchange and Iran Fara Bourse, the junior equities exchange.
Iranian industrial companies listed on the stock exchange experienced an 8.1% growth in production index in the month to March 20, compared to the same period last year. It was unchanged on the month before.
The companies account for almost half the industrial production in Iran and their performance is seen as a benchmark, the MBRI said on its website.
Juxtaposing monthly data shows that the decline seen until April reversed starting in the third calendar month of the year to June 21.
A key factor contributing to IPI growth in recent months is the notable increase in production in the automotive and auto parts industry.
However, the production index of the chemical industry, the largest industry in the country, saw no significant change. The food industry was the only industry with negative growth declining by a massive 6% in the month after falling 0.3% in the preceding month.
Annual IPI for the auto and spare part industries grew 41.3% y/y in the month to March 20. It was down 4.1% in the previous month.
Likewise, metals grew 20.9% during the month from the same time last year. In the previous month the sector grew 23.4%. The textile industry index registered a 13.9% growth down from the 14.8% rise a month earlier.
Electronic industries were up 7% on the corresponding period last year – up 17.1% on the month before. The machinery and equipment index improved 4.1%, but was down from 17.7% a month before.
Moreover, basic metals IPI index saw a 4.1% annual increase. It declined 4.1% in the previous month.
Non-metallic minerals, oil derivatives, tire and plastic, and pharmaceuticals also showed increase in production.
Chemical industry output remained unchanged in the reviewed month after logging 0.4% growth in the month before.
A comparison of the growth of different groups shows that in the month under review showed import-based SMEs and producers of consumer and capital goods logged better growth.
In the second half of the last fiscal year, despite stability and even decline in the growth of large companies, the production trend of small and medium-sized companies was upward.
Inventories Down 2.8%
The MBRI reported decline in the inventories of industries in the calendar month to March 20 implying that demand for goods was high.
Overall inventory index dropped 2.8% to the month and was down 3.9% in the three months ending March 21. It was down 4.1% on an annualized basis.
The report reflected on profitmaking of listed companies in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, which was up 13.8%.
In sum, there were 36 loss-making companies in the first nine months of last year. Of the 477 firms reviewed 54 were in the red in the first half of the fiscal year.
Oil products topped the list in terms of profitability with a robust 104% growth in nine months.
Unexpectedly, the auto and spare part companies were not among loss-making firms ranking after oil and food industries, with 58%.3 increase in profit. Of the 22 companies in the key sector, four reported loss in the first three quarters of the last fiscal year ending Dec 22.
Automakers reported 30% decline in profit during the previous fiscal year (March 2021-22) topping the industrial list while food companies’ growth was 61.2% during the said period.
Basic metals were the laggards in terms of profitability during the six months plunging 10.6%. Of the 31 companies in the sector four reported losses.
The highest number of loss-making companies were in the chemical industry as eight out of 46 were flat during the period.
