HCC Q2 net loss widens to Rs 476 crore, expenses decline to Rs 2,093 crore

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) on Thursday said its consolidated net loss widened to Rs 476.61 crore in the second quarter ended September 30.

The company had clocked a net loss of Rs 398.10 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, it said in a BSE filing.

Its total income during the September 2020 quarter stood at Rs 1,689.82 crore, compared to Rs 2,815.21 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The firm's total expenses declined to Rs 2,093.75 crore, as against Rs 2,176.30 crore a year ago.

"After being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown, HCC began mobilisation of its sites and gradually resumed operations as per prescribed norms, to almost 80 per cent of its capacity in the quarter ended September 30, 2020.

"The company is working with its clients on solutions to improve its working capital flow and for the accelerated recovery of costs per contract provisions," the company said in a statement.

It has recorded an exceptional loss of Rs 84.5 crore on account of conciliating an NHAI award in order to generate immediate liquidity for its operations.

During the quarter, HCC also completed the 100 per cent sale of Farakka-Raiganj Highways Limited (FRHL), a subsidiary SPV of HCC Concessions Ltd and one of the largest public-private partnership projects in India, to Cube Highways and Infrastructure II Pte Ltd for an enterprise valuation of Rs 1,508 crore.

HCC's registered order backlog stood at Rs 18,995 crore at the end of Q2 FY21, it said.

"Three projects worth Rs 7,402 crore were won in a joint venture in July and August; HCC's share being Rs 3,337 crore. This included a Rs 1,900 crore NHAI order to construct a 22 km highway link between Jharkhand and Bihar, a Rs 4,167 crore contract for Bhadbhut barrage in Gujarat and Rs 1,335 crore Rail Vikas Nigam order to construct 8.04 km BG rail line between Rishikesh and Karanprayag in Uttarakhand," the company said.