L&T shares plunged over 7 per cent today, wiping-out Rs 10,342 crore from its market valuation, as its third quarter earnings failed to meet market expectations.
The L&T scrip fell by 6.61 per cent to settle at Rs 1,573 on the BSE. In intra-day session, it lost 7.98 per cent to Rs 1,549.85.
On the NSE, it slumped 7.44 per cent to close the day at Rs 1,558.35.
The stock was the biggest dampener among the blue-chips on both the Sensex and Nifty during the day.
The market value of the engineering and construction major plummeted by Rs 10,342 crore to Rs 1,46,107.99 crore.
"Larsen & Toubro (standalone entity) reported a bad set of numbers for Q3 FY15, both at the top-line and the bottom- line level," said Santosh Yellapu, Sr Research Analyst - Infrastructure, Angel Broking.
L&T reported 8.7 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for the third quarter at Rs 866.54 crore on higher revenue. It had clocked Rs 796.66 crore net profit in the October-December quarter of last fiscal, it said in a BSE filing.
The company's revenue grew 9.6 per cent to Rs 24,033 crore in which international business contributed Rs 6,400 crore. It had reported Rs 21,929 crore revenue in the same period of last fiscal.
On standalone basis, the company reported 15 per cent year-on-year (yoy) decline in net profit at Rs 1,060 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014-15.
It had profit of Rs 1,241 crore in the same quarter of last fiscal. Net sales grew 4 per cent at Rs 14,995 crore on yoy basis.
"Announcement of weaker-than-expected corporate earnings from infra major L&T, worsened the sentiments in the end," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities.
In the broader market, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended at 28,227.39, down 490.52 points.
