Slowdown in orders pull down BHEL's Q3 profit 41% to Rs 695 cr

This is the power equipment maker's sixth straight profit dip

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), India’s largest power equipment manufacturer, posted a 41.2% decline in net profit, its sixth straight drop, during the third quarter ended December.

A historic slowdown in fresh orders coupled with huge outstanding dues from customers pulled down net profit to Rs 694.8 crore as compared to Rs 1,181.8 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

 

Total Income of the company also declined 15.4% to Rs 8,925.6 crore as against Rs 10,552 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The results, however, were not comparable with the corresponding financial numbers in the same quarter last year as they reflected the impact of the merger of Bharat Heavy Plates & Vessels (BHPV) with the Company on August 30,  BHEL said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

 

The equipment manufacturer’s revenue from the power segment dipped 12% to Rs 7,319 crore as compared to Rs 8,302 crore in the same period last year. Revenue from the industry segment too dropped 28% to Rs 1,599 crore reflecting the overall sluggish growth in new project activity in the sector.

 

The company managed to pull down total expenses by 10% to Rs 7,890 crore during the three months period ended December helped largely by a 11.5% decline in cost of raw material consumed and engineering expenses. However, the effort was partially dented by an over 6% jump in employee benefit expenses to Rs 1,525 crore.

 

The capital goods giant has been grappling with high receivables from its customers which have held back payments owing to the liquidity crunch in the power utilities sector.

BHEL did not disclose the quantum of outstanding dues at the end of the December quarter, its trade receivables stood at Rs 29,760 crore on September 30, 2013.

 

The company had outstanding orders of around Rs 100,600 crore at the end of third quarter. BHEL’s share price at the BSE today closed at Rs 160.6, down 1.7% as compared to previous close.