The Monetary and Banking Research Institute (MBRI) said the output of listed manufacturing companies has increased. In a report it reviewed the monthly performance of 280 companies in the Tehran Stock Exchange and Iran Fara Bourse, the junior equities exchange.
Industrial companies logged 5.8% growth in the month to April 21 compared to the same period last year. On the monthly basis it was unchanged.
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. A key factor contributing to IPI growth in recent months is the notable increase in production in the automotive and auto part industry.
However, the chemical sector that is the largest industry in the country, saw no significant change. The food industry was the only industry with negative growth declining by a massive 8% in the month after growing 19.2% in the preceding month.
Annual IPI for the auto and spare part industries grew 34% y/y in the month to April 21. It was up 41.7% in the previous month.
Likewise, metals grew 15.4% during the month from the same time last year. In the previous month the sector grew 16.4%. Oil derivatives registered the third largest growth during the period --13.7% year-on-year.
Tire and plastic industries ranked after posting 12.4% growth from the same period last year. Electronic industries were up 9.4% on the corresponding period last year.
The machinery and equipment industry’s output was down 8% during the month to April 21, recording the worst performance compared to other industries. The textile industry index registered a 4.9% decline from the 15.2% rise a month earlier.
Moreover, basic metals IPI index saw a 0.1% annual increase. Non-metallic minerals, paper, and pharmaceuticals also showed increase.
Chemical industry output was up 1.4% in the month after remaining stagnant in the month before.
Inventories Up 7.8%
The MBRI reported growth in inventories of industries in the calendar month to April 21 implying that demand for goods was high.
Overall inventory index increased 7.8% to the month and was up 2.2% in the three months ending April 21. It was down 2.6% on an annualized basis.
The report reflected on profit taking of listed companies in the first three quarters of the last fiscal year, which was up 13.8%.
In sum, there were 36 loss-making companies in the first nine months of the last calendar year that ended in March. Of the 500 firms reviewed 54 were in the red in the first half of the year.
Oil products topped the list in terms of profitability with a robust 104.6% 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% increase in profit. Of the 22 firms in the key sector four reported loss in the first three quarters.
Automakers reported 30% decline in profit during the previous fiscal year (March 2021-22) topping the industrial list while food companies’ grew 61.2% during the same 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.
