Key factors that will impact L&T's Q4 nos

Larsen & Toubro is likely to post a marginal growth in profit during March quarter as higher interest cost continues to impact company financials. Sales will grow 14 percent year-on-year to Rs 21050 crore, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll

The heavy engineering and construction company will announce numbers later in the day and is estimated to announce 1.2 percent growth in profit to Rs 1944 crore. In Q4FY12, the firm had an exceptional item of Rs 55 cr on gain on sale of subsidiary.

Key factors that will impact L&T's Q4 numbers

* Interest rate cost

*Order Inflows will be watched very closely

* In nine months to December period, the firm has already done Rs 60,100 crore of orders. Now, L&T requires to achieve around Rs 25,000 crore of orders to achieve upper end of its full year guidance of Rs 85,000 crore

*Given that, Q4 is the strongest quarter, L&T may achieve its guidance.

* In Q4, L&T has declared orders worth Rs 18,900 crore – given that the firm reports only 50-75 percent of its overall orders. It is to be seen whether it will deliver a beat on order inflows for Q4 & FY13.

*Revenues are likely to be boosted by engineering and construction division

*Electrical and electronics (E&E) department may report subdued performance.

*Forex loss on overseas loans also needs to be watched

Stock strategy
Analysts have recommendations with a positive bias on the stock (BUY or ACCUMULATE) with price targets close to around Rs 1,800. The stock has appreciated around 40 percent in the last year
In the last 3 months, L&T has rebounded from the lows of Rs 1,313 it saw in early Apr 2013.

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