Thermax Q3 results: Net profit falls 51% to Rs 116 cr, expenses up 8%

India's Thermax reported third-quarter profit below market expectations on Tuesday, hurt by a weak order book and higher expenses.

The industrial machine maker's consolidated net profit fell 51 per cent to Rs 116 crore ($13.33 million) in the quarter, from Rs 238 crore a year ago, which included a one-off gain of Rs 126 crore from the sale of a plot of land. 

 

Analysts had expected a profit of Rs 183 crore, as per data compiled by LSEG.

Capital goods companies, which rely heavily on government entities for a bulk of their orders, have faced an election-related slowdown in orders in the last few quarters.

 

With elections at both the federal and state levels during the financial year, ordering activity remained subdued.

Thermax's order booking dropped 8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2,296 crore, as no large orders were booked in the quarter.

Its total expenses surged 8 per cent to Rs 2,383 crore, led by a 4 per cent rise in the cost of raw materials.

Revenue from its industrial products segment rose 5.6 per cent, while that from its division which sets up bio-CNG and power plants, rose 3 per cent.

Both together contribute over 88 per cent to the total revenue, which grew 7.9 per cent to Rs 2,508 crore in the quarter, below analysts' expectation of Rs 2,695 crore.

Peer ABB India will post results later this month.

Thermax's shares closed 3 per cent lower after the results.