New Delhi, July 23 -- For Indian companies combating a persistent slump in demand, the June quarter offered some relief, when profits rose at the fastest pace in five quarters. The reason: A plunge in raw material costs, even as revenue growth remained muted.

Aggregate revenue of 182 companies that have declared first quarter results so far showed a marginal improvement to rise 5.4% year-on-year (y-o-y), a Mint analysis showed. Net profits, however, zoomed 23%, as raw material costs fell 14% over the year, the steepest decline in eight quarters.

Raw material costs were also 15% lower than in the March quarter, the sharpest sequential decline since Q1 FY22.







This suggests Indian producers are benefiting from input cost deflation. I...