Bajaj Electricals Q3 net loss at Rs 52.26 cr on lower sales

Bajaj Electricals today reported a net loss of Rs 52.26 crore for the third quarter ended December due to higher expenditures and lower sales in the lighting and consumer durable segments.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 20.03 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, Bajaj Electricals said in a BSE filing.
Net sales during the October-December period this fiscal increased marginally by 0.27 per cent to Rs 1,029.27 as against Rs 1026.42 crore in the same period last year.
The company said revenues from the lighting business declined by 6.23 per cent to Rs 231.79 crore during the period under review as against Rs 247.19 crore in the year-ago period.

Sales from consumer durables segment declined marginally to Rs 507.19 crore as against Rs 511 crore in the same period last fiscal.
Revenues from engineering and projects segment were up 8.04 per cent to Rs 290.48 crore in the quarter under review as against Rs 268.86 crore in the year-ago period.

Other expenses during the quarter increased 42.95 per cent to Rs 204.47 crore as against Rs 143.03 crore of the previous fiscal.
"Performance of the lighting and consumer durable segments has been affected largely because of lower volumes. While the lighting segment declined due to drop in CFL volumes, consumer durables segment got impacted owing to overall slackness in the market," said Bajaj Electricals Chairman and Managing Director Shekhar Bajaj.

He further said margins of the company were impacted due to "lower volumes and higher marketing and other operating expenses and other fixed costs".
Over the outlook, Bajaj said: "Demand conditions in the last quarter are expected to be fairly reasonable and the company is optimistic of closing the year with a good performance."
Shares of the company closed today at Rs 223.05 per scrip, up 1.48 per cent from their previous close on the BSE.