Bharat Forge Q4 net dips 19% to Rs 164 cr

Auto component major Bharat Forge today reported 19.02 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 164.52 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 203.18 crore for the same period of previous fiscal.
Net sales declined to Rs 987.07 crore for the fourth quarter, as compared to Rs 1,195.36 crore during the same period of previous fiscal, Bharat Forge said in a regulatory filing.
For the year ended March 31, the company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 649.53 crore as compared to Rs 763.56 crore in the same period of previous fiscal.

Net sales rose to Rs 7,742.49 crore for the fiscal, as against Rs 7,646.68 crore in the corresponding fiscal.
"Sales demand developed during the quarter as expected, apart from North America, which witnessed sharper decline than anticipated reflecting continued weakness in the oil and gas," Bharat Forge Chairman and Managing Director B N Kalyani said.

On the outlook for the current fiscal, Kalyani said: "As we enter into fiscal year 2016-17, we continue to witness growth in passenger vehicle segment, commercial vehicle segment across India and Europe while the US truck markets are reverting to normal replacement levels."
The industrial sector across segments continues to witness a slew of capex cuts by OEMs and depressed commodity prices are impacting underlying demand, he added.

"Overall, we expect topline to be in line with last year," Kalyani said.
Though the company has expanded penetration in the aerospace sector, the sales from these new initiatives are not adequate enough to compensate for the impact of the downturn, he noted.
"These initiatives will gradually ramp up and will have substantial positive impact on topline and profitability over the next 6-8 months," Kalyani said.
Bharat Forge shares today ended at Rs 750.50 apiece on the BSE, down 0.55 per cent from previous close.