BHEL Q3 net up 2.4% at Rs 790 cr

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), the country's largest power equipment manufacturer, has posted a marginal 2.4 per cent increase in net profit for the third quarter ended December 2008 on the back of increased raw material costs and higher wage revision.

The company has posted a net profit of Rs 790.56 crore for the reporting quarter as compared to Rs 771.90 crore posted in the corresponding quarter in the previous financial year.

“The marginal increase in profit is because of accomodating a wage revision of Rs 1,300 crore (40 per cent) for the current year and increased cost of raw materials in the June-August quarter,” said K Ravi Kumar, chairman and managing director of the company.

“Had it not been for the wage revision and the increased costs, we would have posted a 15 per cent jump in net profit,” he added.

Total income of the company in the quarter has increased 21 per cent at Rs 6,328 crore as compared to Rs 5,229 crore posted in the corresponding quarter last year.

The company has set a target of achieving a turnover of about 25,000 crore and an increases in net profit of about 27 per cent by the end of the current fiscal.  

BHEL is the country’s largest manufacturer of power equipment with a current manufacturing capacity of about 10,000 Mw. The company further plans to ramp it up to 15,000 Mw by the end of the current plan period.

The company has an outstanding order book position of about Rs 113,500 crore at the end of  the quarter ended December 2008.

The company’s shares were settled at Rs 1,355.70, down 2.7 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.