ABB Q1 PAT seen up 9.6% to Rs 52.2 cr

Engineering firm ABB will declare its first quarter (January-March) CY13 earnings on Wednesday. Analysts on an average expect the profit after tax to rise by 9.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 52.2 crore, according to CNBC-TV18 poll.

Total income is seen going up by 3.3 percent to Rs 1,850 crore from Rs 1,790 crore Y-o-Y.

Also Read - Capital goods to report subdued performance in March quarter: Nirmal Bang

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are likely to jump 6.4 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 104 crore and EBITDA margin may go up 20 bps Y-o-Y to 5.6 percent in March quarter.

Expectations

According to analysts, topline is expected to remain muted, although the company has seen some increase in order intake in the last few quarters.

Delay in finalization of projects is slowing down order intake.

Analysts feel the profitability would remain under pressure, particularly in project businesses impacted by cost overruns and pricing pressures.

Profits could also be impacted negatively by adverse currency movement, as imports constitute around 39 percent of material consumption.

Margins will be under pressure this quarter also - due to low margin orders in the power systems and process automation segments

Brokerages have an underperform rating on the stock because of rich valuations, deteriorating visibility and unlikely de-listing any time soon as parent is busy absorbing a large M&A.