BEL Q4 results: Bharat Electronics share up ahead of earnings; what stock analysts say

Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) is likely to report a single-digit rise in net profit for the March quarter on a similar growth in sales. Margin is seen falling, said stock analysts who believe the management commentary on order inflow will be critical.
 
To recall, BEL had announced provisional annual sales turnover of Rs 23,000 crore, implying a Q4 sales of Rs 8,930 crore, up 5 per cent. The order backlog stood at Rs 71,600 crore, down 5.6 per cent, Nomura India noted, adding that BEL received order inflows of Rs 18,700 crore (guidance of Rs 25,000 crore in FY25) and Rs 9,100 crore in Q4. 

Nomura said BEL had ordering slippages in Q4FY25, which led to the miss on inflows. This brokerage is expecting Q4 profit at Rs 1,816 crore, up 1.8 per cent. It sees BEL Q4 sales at Rs 8,927 crore, up 4.7 per cent YoY.

Sharekhan expects BEL to report a 4.9 per cent YoY rise in net profit at Rs 1,873 crore for the March quarter compared with Rs 1,786 crore in the same quarter last year. Sales for the quarter is seen growing 4.2 per cent YoY to Rs 8,920 crore from Rs 8,564 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. operating profit margin is seen at 26.6 per cent against 26.7 per cent YoY, down 8 basis points. 

Kotak Institutional Equities pegged the profit figure at Rs 1,903 crore and sales at Rs 9,079 crore, 6 per cent growth each.

"BEL's Q4 revenue is likely to grow 6 per cent YoY and come in at Rs 9,100 crore. BEL's order inflow growth has been muted at Rs 8,900 crore. BEL has just achieved 75 per cent of its FY2025 guided order inflow," Kotak said.

"We model in a 27.5 per cent Ebitda margin for 4QFY25. We expect BEL to report 27.5 per cent Ebitda margins for FY2025, ahead of its guidance of 25 per cent, largely driven by the strong performance seen in 9MFY25," it added.

ICICI Securities noted that BEL missed its order inflow guidance. it sees profit for BEL falling 15.9 per cent YoY to Rs 1,499.80 crore on 0.4 per cent drop in sales at Rs 8,497 crore. The brokerage expects lower Ebitda margin, in line with execution plan and the company’s annual guidance. Commentary on order inflow will be critical, the broking firm said.

At 10.07 am, BEL was trading 0.59 per cent higher at Rs 366.05. The defence stock has jumped 44 per cent in the past three months against 8.39 per cent rise in the BSE Sensex.

Nomura India noted that BEL signed order inflows Rs 2,800 crore and also concluded negotiations of further orders worth Rs 2,500-3,000 in the first week of April.

"Ebitda margins are steady at 26 per cent due to operating leverage, and stage of project execution. Key things to watch out for: Order inflow prospects, update on QRSAM contract," it said.