L&T reports 15 pct rise in Q2 net profit

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Industrial group Larsen & Toubro Ltd on Friday reported a 15.5 percent rise in its second-quarter net profit after generating more revenue from its infrastructure and power businesses, but missed analyst forecasts.

Larsen, a $15 billion business with interests in engineering, construction, financial services and logistics, said it made 9.96 billion rupees ($152.8 million) in the three months to the end of September, up from 8.61 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts had forecast a consolidated net profit of 10.03 billion rupees, Thomson Reuters data shows.

Larsen has disappointed investors in recent quarters with worse-than-expected revenue growth amid a slowdown among oil and gas clients and continued weakness in India, and has pledged to sell some assets and simplify its structure to boost returns.

 

Shares in Larsen were down 2.4 percent by 2:33 p.m., against a 0.5 percent drop in the Sensex.

($1 = 65.1700 rupees)

(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)