Bharat Forge reports consolidated net profit of Rs 422 cr in Dec quarter

Auto components major Bharat Forge Ltd on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 422 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2021.

The company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 210.45 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, Bharat Forge Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated revenue from operations for the period under review stood at Rs 2,394.69 crore as compared to Rs 1,723.11 crore in the year-ago quarter, it added.

Total expenses were higher at Rs 2,093.39 crore as against Rs 1,633.88 crore, it added.

Bharat Forge Chairman & Managing Director BN Kalyani said the Q3 FY22 performance was on expected lines.

"Total sales were flat as compared to the previous quarter with exports revenues declining by around 10 per cent while the domestic revenues grew by 16.5 per cent," he said.

The drop in exports revenues were primarily on account of curtailment of production of Class 8 (heavy duty) trucks due to semiconductor chip shortage, Kalyani said.

On the outlook, he said, "Looking ahead into Q4 FY22 for the standalone operations, while demand continues to remain robust, supply chain issues persist and are creating a big hangover especially in the export markets."

Kalyani further said, "We expect both the domestic and export markets to witness positive sales development across all major sectors barring the Agri equipment sector in India."

For the international operations, he said, "While the demand is robust, severe and unprecedented inflationary cost pressures across all variable cost elements are expected to take a toll on the profitability of our companies in Europe in the initial quarters of CY22 and we are actively engaged with customers in recovery of these cost increases."

In a separate filing, Bharat Forge said it has entered into a power purchase agreement and share subscription and shareholders' agreement with Avaada MHVidarbha Pvt Ltd (AMHVPL) to purchase solar power on a single captive user basis.

As part of the agreement, it will acquire 26 per cent equity stake in AMHVPL for Rs 11.37 crore, the company added.