Sterlite Technologies Limited (STL) reported a consolidated loss of Rs 82 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024, due to a decline in the optical networking business.
The optic fibre maker posted a profit of Rs 63 crore a year ago.
The company's consolidated revenue from operations declined about 39 percent to Rs 1,140 crore during the quarter from Rs 1,872 crore in the March 2023 quarter.
“FY24 had its challenges, but we were resilient in actioning our priorities on customer, cost, and cash. We see the market turning gradually, and early signs of this are visible in our customer discussions and order volumes,” Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director, STL said in a statement.
The company said that its recent Rs 1,000 crore fundraise with top global investors via a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) shows strong investor confidence in STL’s growth trajectory.
STL said that it utilised this lean industry period to strengthen its capability across the board, including its cost structure, balance sheet, global operations, and product portfolio.
STL posted a consolidated loss of Rs 57 crore for fiscal ended March 31, 2024. It had reported a profit of Rs 127 crore in FY23.
The optical networking business revenue of the company almost halved to Rs 777 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 1,505 crore in the March 2023 quarter.
The annual revenue from the optical networking business also declined by about 30 percent to Rs 3,830 crore from Rs 5,439 crore a year ago.
The annual profit of STL declined by about 21 percent to Rs 5,478 crore during the reported year from Rs 6,925 crore in FY23.
"AI is bringing renewed excitement into the fibre space. We see 5G, fibre to the home, and data centre build-outs as the holy trinity of fiberisation for the years to come," Agarwal said.
STL said it completed its capex investment cycle and started operations in its Palmetto Plant in South Carolina, United States.
During the quarter, STL said it optimised cost structures to become more operationally efficient in the Optical Networking Business. It also secured its first set of large order wins in North America.
STL said it added diversified customers across geographies, forming
deep partnerships with service providers like Windstream, Truvista, Lumos and Archtop in the US, Vocus in Australia, Swaminarayan BAPS temple in MEA and leading service providers in India.
The company scaled its digital business rapidly to achieve a 4.25 times year-on-year revenue growth with a robust order book of Rs 660 crore. The company also formed strategic partnerships with SAP and Google and acquired 25 global customers across India and the US.
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