LTTS Q2 results: Net profit up 1.3% at Rs 319.6 cr as margins narrow

Revenues grew 7.8% to Rs 2,572.9 crore in the reporting quarter, helped by an over 24% growth in the European market on demand from the automobile sector and sustainability-focused solutions

Engineering services player L&T Technology Services (LTTS) on Wednesday reported a 1.3 per cent rise in the September quarter net profit at Rs 319.6 crore, as profit margins narrowed.

The company, an arm of engineering, procurement and construction major Larsen & Toubro, had reported a net profit of Rs 315.4 crore in the year-ago period while the was Rs 313.6 crore in the preceding June quarter.

Its revenues grew 7.8 per cent to Rs 2,572.9 crore in the reporting quarter, helped by an over 24 per cent growth in the European market on demand from the automobile sector and sustainability-focused solutions.

LTTS Managing Director and Chief Executive Amit Chadha said it is aiming for revenues to grow between 8-10 per cent in FY25, and maintaining its guidance on hitting the USD 2 billion yearly revenue in medium-term mark.

Higher spends on sales and technology led to a narrowing of the operating profit margin to 15.1 per cent during the reporting quarter, as against 17.1 per cent in the year-ago period and 15.6 per cent quarter-ago.

Chadha reiterated the company's guidance of getting the number to 16 per cent by the end of the fiscal, stating that the margins will grow from here as the company is through with its investments.

During the quarter, it signed two deals of USD 20 million deals and four USD 10 million total contract value, and Chadha said it may announce a couple more deals of USD 50 million soon.

The company wants to focus on the Middle East and European regions to grow the business going forward, he said.

On the human resources front, Chadha said the company has started giving out its yearly hikes from October onwards. In Q2, its overall employee base increased by 121 people to 23,698 staffers and the voluntary attrition declined to 14.3 per cent.

Chadha said the company will be hiring 2,000 freshers in FY25 and offers are already being made on the same and expects the attrition levels to be stable or improve further from the current levels.

The company also announced an interim dividend of Rs 17 per share and the record date to be October 25.

The LTTS scrip closed 0.33 per cent up at Rs 5,336 on the BSE on Wednesday, as against a 0.39 per cent correction on the benchmark.