L&T profit soars 69%, beats expectations; orders set to rise

Engineering major Larsen & Toubro reported a 69 per cent increase in standalone net profit to Rs 2,723.5 crore for the March quarter and said it expects a 20 per cent increase in orders this year.
Net sales at the country's largest engineering and construction company in the fourth quarter of 2013-14 climbed to Rs 20,079.10 crore from Rs 18,075.60 crore.
Profit growth includes an exceptional gain of Rs 484.11 crore on divestment of stake in subsidiary L&T Finance Holdings, which was listed in 2011.
"Despite several challenges of clearance, awarding decisions, diminishing order book, our performance has been more than satisfactory. Profit has grown on the back of steep gains in revenue from infrastructure and heavy engineering business," Group Chief Financial Officer R Shankar Raman told reporters.

Revenue from the infrastructure segment increased 17 per cent to 13,260 crore, while income from the heavy engineering business grew 47 per cent.
Raman said the results for the quarter and the financial year exclude the hydrocarbon business, which was transferred with effect from April 2013 to L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary.
"The numbers were ahead of our expectations on the revenue as well as profit fronts. Margins were ahead of estimates at 14.4 per cent vs 11.8 per cent in Q4," Sanjeev Zarbade of Kotak Securities said.
"Net income was well ahead of our estimates. Even the guidance on order intake (20 per cent) and revenue (15 per cent) is robust. Overall a great set of numbers and we remain positive on the stock," Zarbade said.