PAT falls on finance-cost; surge in order-book: Unity Infra

Unity Infra Projects announced results on Tuesday. The company recorded growth in the top-line and bottom-line. Sales rose 5% to Rs 397 crore and EBITDA went up 10%. However, PAT fell to Rs 18 crore from Rs 19.5 crore last year. CFO Madhav Nadkarni, explains to CNBC-TV18, the various aspects of the company’s results.

Below is an edited transcript of the interview on CNBC-TV18. Q: What was the pressure on the PAT? Was it margins? How did your margins shape up?
A: Though our EBITDA levels were comfortable, it was the cost of finance that caused the downfall in PAT. Q: What was your cost of finance and how will it pan out through the year? Will it remain as high?
A: For the first quarter, the blended cost of funds was 14%. Going forward, the rate of 25 bps has been reduced recently by a few bankers and we are expecting a fall of another 50 bps in the next three-to-four months. We hope the annual results will not be as bad as the quarterly results. Q: What is the position of your order book? Did you manage to bag any significant orders?
A: Today, we announced three orders amounting to Rs 320 crore from the construction sector- the MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) Centenary Hospital in Mumbai for Rs 58 crore, a medical college worth Rs 156 crore and the common facility building for BARC at Anushakti Nagar worth around Rs 97 crore. With these three orders, excluding the first quarter, is almost Rs 4,180 crore. Q: Ratings agency CARE, in a report, downgraded your bank facilities stating that there are significant debt-repayment obligations in the near term. What are your debt repayment obligations?
A: There are few term loans which are scheduled to be repaid over the next six-to-nine months. They are to be repaid from payments expected from certain projects. But we do not foresee any more pressure. But there would be more pressure due to delay in payments because receivables are not coming in as desired. But we are hopeful of managing that.