Larsen & Toubro Q4: Net down 7%, bonus issue fails to cheer
Engineering major Larsen and Toubro disappointed the street on all parameters. Total income rose lower than expected 10 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 20,294 crore during the fourth quarter.
Moneycontrol Bureau
Engineering major Larsen and Toubro’s (L&T) net profit for the March quarter fell 6.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 1788 crore, weighed by a steep rise in interest cost. A bonus issue of one share for every two held (1:2) failed to boost sentiment for the stock, which got hammered after the numbers were announced.Total income rose lower than expected 10 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 20,294 crore during the quarter.Also Read: Expect 25% upside in L&T, says Rajen ShahAnalysts on an average had expected the company to report a net profit of Rs 1,944 crore on net sales of Rs 21,050 crore.Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell more than 4 percent to Rs 2,451 crore from Rs 2,561 crore year-on-year.Operating profit margin dropped 180 basis points Y-o-Y to 12.1 percent during the January-March quarter.Analysts were expecting EBITDA at Rs 2,835 crore and operating profit margin at 13.5 percent.Finance cost more than doubled to Rs 281 crore from Rs 121 crore Y-o-Y.Other income jumped over 19 percent to Rs 374.4 crore in fourth quarter of financial year 2012-13 from Rs 314 crore in a year ago period.Speaking at the result press conference, CFO R Shankar Raman says the company did not account for Rs 17,000 crore of slow moving orders. “The environment remains fairly challenging,” he said. Raman said the international order inflow constituted about 17 percent of the total inflow in FY13. The total FY13 order inflow is up 25 percent (year-on-year) at Rs 88,000 crore. “About 50 percent of the order book came from the infrastructure sector,” he said. L&T’s EBITDA the full year came in at Rs 6,400 crore versus Rs 6,200 crore and EBITDA margin at 11.8 percent versus 10.5 percent last year L&T shares rose 3 percent after the bonus issue announcement. However, disappointment over the fourth quarter numbers offset the positive mood and the stock weakened thereafter. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
