L&T net falls over 37% to Rs 606 cr, but revenue jumps 7%

Despite a marginal growth in overall revenue, engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today reported a 37.3 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 606.19 crore in the three months to June due to high base effect in the year-ago period.
During the June 2014 quarter, the engineering major had reported a net profit of Rs 966.89 crore following a one-time gain of Rs 1,383 crore from the proceeds of Dhamra port sale and stake sales in two subsidiaries.
During the reporting quarter, total revenue increased 6.73 per cent to Rs 20,252.17 crore, from Rs 18,974.75 crore a year earlier.

"Our performance has to be seen against the backdrop of the challenging environment. Revenue has increased on the back of execution, but PAT has come down mainly due to exceptional gains that the company recorded in the first quarter of FY15," Chief Financial Officer R Shankar Raman said.
The exceptional gains last year included the proceeds from the sale of Dhamra port, sale of stake in L&T Finance Holding and L&T Finance Holding selling its stake in City Union Bank, he said.
International revenue stood at Rs 6,609 crore, which constituted 32 per cent of the total revenue, while international order book accounted for 26 per cent of the total order book.

Its total expenditure rose to Rs 18,584.18 crore, from Rs 17,271.07 crore in the year-ago period.

On the overall business environment, Raman said the government needs to speed up the reforms process though there are some signs of improving macroeconomic trends.
"Though favourable conditions to contain fiscal deficit and a likely easy money policy are expected to enthuse an investment-friendly framework, overall investment climate is subdued against the backdrop of global uncertainties and the unhurried pace of reforms in the country," Raman said.
"What is important is public spending should improve, financial conditions of banks should improve as well as global headwinds need to settle down. Private sector investment in the industrial sector is constrained by weak demand, low commodity prices and under utilisation of existing capacities.

"We are hopeful of benefiting from the growth opportunities as they emerge," he added.