Escorts Q4 net profit drops 28% to Rs 190 cr, impacted by lower sales

Farm machinery and construction equipment major Escorts Ltd on Friday reported a 28.42% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 189.98 crore in the fourth quarter ended March, impacted by lower sales

Farm machinery and construction equipment major Escorts Ltd on Friday reported a 28.42 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 189.98 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2022, impacted by lower sales.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 265.41 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, Escorts said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,878.51 crore as against Rs 2,228.75 crore in the year-ago period.

For the quarter ended March 2022, tractor volumes were at 21,895 units, down 32.8 per cent as against 32,588 units in the year-ago period, the company said.

Construction equipment sales in the fourth quarter were at 1,286 units, down 19.8 per cent from 1,604 units earlier.

For the fiscal ended March 31, 2022, Escorts said its consolidated net profit was at Rs 735.61 crore as compared to Rs 871.63 crore in the previous fiscal, down 15.6 per cent.

Revenue from operations for FY22 came in at Rs 7,238.43 crore as compared to Rs 7,014.42 crore in FY21.

Escorts Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Nikhil Nanda said the farm sector is seeing some positive tailwinds.

"With prediction of a normal monsoon and good news on crop prices and production, we hope this sector will continue to flourish," he said, adding the construction and railway sectors have also shown signs of improvement.

With government spending focused on these sectors, the situation shall only improve from here, Nanda added.

However, he said, "Continued inflation is a big cause of worry, both in terms of suppressing potential demand as well as for ecosystem profitability."

Escorts said its Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of 70 per cent, at Rs 7 per share of face value Rs 10 for the financial year 2021-22.