Bajaj Electricals Q3 net down 84 pc at Rs 9 cr

Bajaj Electricals Ltd on Tuesday reported a 84.51 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 9.37 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31, 2019.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 60.52 crore in the October-December quarter a year ago, Bajaj Electricals said in a BSE filing.

Its net sales was down 40.91 per cent to Rs 1,275.60 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 2,158.91 crore a year ago.

Its revenue from consumer product segment was up 12.70 per cent to Rs 860.21 crore as against Rs 763.23 crore of the corresponding period.

However, revenue from engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) segment was down 69.77 per cent to Rs 423.45 crore as against Rs 1,401.18 crore a year ago.

"Our consumer products segment has registered a growth of 12.7 per cent in top line, while the EPC segment has registered a planned de-growth due to selective bidding for fresh contracts. In the near term this will continue to impact profitability, but we remain confident about a healthy bounce back as our strategic shift plays out," said Bajaj Electricals CMD Shekhar Bajaj.

Bajaj Electricals' total expenses fell 38.52 per cent to Rs 1,274.91 crore as against Rs 2,074.01 crore in the year-ago period.

"We have been pursuing our stated path of a strong focus on positive cashflow from operations, reducing our debt and strengthening our balance sheet. I'm glad to note that we have done well on all of these parameters and remain committed to it," Bajaj said.

He further said "we continue to drive growth in our consumer products segment while adopting a more risk-calibrated approach for the EPC segment with a focus on completion of existing projects on hand."