Amber Enterprises slips 12% on weak December quarter earnings

Increase in finance cost, owing to increase in interest rates and higher depreciation on account of capex done in last year and this year, led to decline in profit after tax

Shares of Amber Enterprises India (AEIL) slipped 12 per cent to Rs 3,672.05 on the BSE in Monday's intraday trade after the white goods' company consolidated net loss of Rs 1 crore in the December quarter (Q3FY24) due to higher operational cost. The household appliances company had posted a net profit of Rs 15 crore in the year-ago quarter (Q3FY23).

Increase in finance cost, owing to increase in interest rates and higher depreciation on account of capex done last year and this year, led to a decline in profit after tax.

AEIL is a market leader in the Indian Room Air Conditioner (RAC) industry, and Air Conditioning industry for mobility applications such as railways, metros, buses etc. The company has a diversified portfolio which includes RACs, RAC Components, and Air conditioning solutions for Railways, Metro's, Defence, Bus and Commercial segment.

The company's revenue declined 3.93 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) at Rs 1,295 crore, as against Rs 1,348 crore in Q3FY23. Reported operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) contracted 30 bps to 6.3 per cent from 6.6 per cent in the previous year quarter.

That said, Amber plans to expand its portfolio in the electronics (EMS) space by further strengthening its R&D and PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) manufacturing capabilities through backward integration of Bare PCB Boards and adding new industries in its EMS portfolio with the Government's encouraging policy framework for domestic manufacturing.

This strategic move positions Amber as a key player in the electronics EMS space, aligning well with the sector's anticipated double-digit growth in FY25 and beyond, the company said.

Meanwhile, Amber Group has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea's Korea Circuit, a YoungPoong group co., through its recent venture 'Ascent Circuits' to manufacture Flex, HDI, Semiconductor substrates PCBs, fortifying PCB manufacturing in India.

The company also formed a strategic alliance with Titagarh Rail Systems to provide comprehensive integrated solutions to rolling stock manufacturers for railway subsystems in India & overseas and to make fresh equity investments into Titagarh Firema SPA, Italy.