L&T

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) posted a good set of numbers for third quarter. Its net profit rose 19% (YoY) at Rs.1035 crore, getting this jump up on the back of a 91% jump in other income and 19% drop in interest outgo. Its revenue rose by a muted 8% at Rs.25,829 crore. The market is thrilled because the CFO, at an ensuing Press Conference said that the company was well on the road to meet its full year revenue guidance of 10-15%. EBITDA was down 8% at Rs.2649 crore and margins declined 180 bps to 10.3%.

The order inflow has been the major cause for cheer. Till date in current fiscal, order inflow at Rs.93,548 crore though lower by 39% on YoY, the Q3 order inflow is what called for a cheer – Q3 order inflow was at Rs.38,528 crore, up 11%. This included international order inflow of Rs.11,115 crore. Its consolidated order book for the entire group was at Rs.2.56 lakh crore, up 14% with 27% coming from abroad.

In terms of segment wise breakup, infrastructure showed a 2.5% rise in revenue and its EBIT was almost static, growing by less than 1%. Power segment did well with revenue doubling to Rs.2296 crore and EBIT rose 19%. Heavy Engineering showed a 11% rise in topline but it posted a loss at EBIT level – topline grew thanks to orders from defence and aerospace while costs and time overruns is what pushed in into the red.  Hydrocarbon registered a 23% rise in topline with a turnaround on EBIT level.

Looking ahead, the company has stated that outlook is tentative due to tight liquidity and poor global cues. China slowdown, fall in oil and commodity prices, currency depreciation – all will have a bearing om the private sector capex, expected to keep it muted.