Gammon India reports Rs 125 cr net loss in Q4

Leading infrastructure firm Gammon India today reported net loss of Rs 124.98 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, largely due to some exceptional items on its operations abroad.

The company had reported net profit of Rs 52.95 crore in the January-March period of 2011-12 fiscal.

Net sales of were down 12% at Rs 1,632.56 crore in Q4, 2012-13 vis-a-vis Rs 1,856.21 crore of Q4 of 2011-12, the company said in a filing to the BSE.

During the quarter, Gammon incurred Rs 106.64 crore on some exceptional items. This includes a provisioning of Rs 95.29 crore on its investments in Europe due to the economic scenario prevailing in the continent.

It has also written off Rs 11.35 crore investments made in a joint venture (JV) in Oman and has suspended recognition of the results of the JV in its financials, the company said, adding that it does not expect any liability in this regard.

"Exceptional item includes provision made by the company on a prudent basis, considering current economic scenario in Europe, in connection with investments/advances of Rs 95.29 crore," Gammon said.

For the entire 2012-13 fiscal, it reported net loss of Rs 445.67 crore vis-a-vis a net profit of Rs 87.04 crore.

The company has been making losses for last few quarters and due to mounting losses, Gammon had approached the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) empowered group for restructuring of its debt.

According to Gammon, its proposal was accepted by the CDR Empowered group in March and it is under consideration.

Gammon's total borrowings (both, long term and short term) stood at Rs 3,300.44 crore at the end of the last fiscal. Of this, its short term borrowings, at Rs 2,391.32 crore, account for over 72% of total borrowings.

The company scrip fell 4.14% on the BSE to close at Rs 19.70.