Escorts posts nearly two-fold jump in Q1 net profit at Rs 178.45 cr

Farm equipment and engineering major Escorts Ltd on Thursday reported nearly two-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 178.45 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2021 driven by strong sales in the agri-machinery segment.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 92.58 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal, Escorts Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,701.79 crore as against Rs 1,089.26 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

Tractor sales volume were at 25,935 units for the quarter ended June 2021 as against 18,150 units in the corresponding period last fiscal, a growth of 42.9 per cent, the company said.

Farm equipment segment clocked revenue of Rs 1,436.30 crore in the first quarter as compared to Rs 976.71 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, it said.

Construction equipment vertical had a revenue of Rs 140.82 crore as compared to Rs 52.49 crore in the first quarter last fiscal.

Sales volumes of construction equipment were at 606 machines for the quarter, up 159 per cent from 234 machines in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Commenting on the performance Escorts Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Nikhil Nanda said,"Unlocking has helped in building demand, easing transport and logistics and improved supply chain across farming communities to create a positive industry momentum..."

He further said,"We certainly hope that with sustained government efforts, the tractor and Agri equipment industry and construction equipment industry will be back on a growth path."

While the company is witnessing some encouraging developments in the railway equipment space too, Nanda said,"it may take some time to come out of the impact of the current environment and regain the pre-covid business levels."

Escorts Ltd said the railway equipment division revenue for the first quarter went up by 117.5 per cent at Rs 119.4 crore as against Rs 54.9 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

"Indian railways is still not running its full operations, due to unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and have cut down their annual production rate, affecting fresh order tendering and order inflow," the company said.

Order book for the division, at end of June 2021, was more than Rs 300 crore and going forward "with government safety measures and vaccination drive picking up at fast pace, we expect that the tendering process will get back to pre-covid level within the current fiscal."

Nanda said while respective states are gradually activating controlled unlocks, E scorts is extremely careful and adhering to all safety guidelines.

"Well-being and safety of our customers, dealers, suppliers, and our employees remain our topmost priority. We have facilitated vaccination for all our employees and are working closely with our distribution base to support vaccinations across dealerships and customers and also in local communities," he added.