Larsen & Toubro Q2 net down 14 per cent to Rs 977.51 cr

Infrastructure conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has reported 14 per cent decline in standalone net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, to Rs 977.51 crore, as some one-time gains made in the corresponding quarter were not available to the company.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 1,137.31 crore in Q2 FY13, which included an exceptional gain of Rs 214.29 crore and an extra-ordinary gain of Rs 52.89 crore.

Net sales of L&T, however, was up nearly 10 per cent to Rs 14,509.51 crore during the quarter vis-a-vis Rs 13,195.23 crore of July-September quarter of the previous fiscal, it said in a filing to the BSE.

The sales increased largely due to good performance posted by its infrastructure and "others" business segments, though revenues from the power, hydrocarbon and metallurgical and material handing divisions declined during the quarter.

The infrastructure business reported 30.76 per cent growth in revenues at Rs 7,198.44 crore, while "others" segment, which includes integrated engineering services, shipbuilding and property development businesses, reported a 53 per cent rise in revenues to Rs 527.36 crore.

On the other hand, revenue from hydrocarbons business was down nearly 9 per cent to Rs 2,231.6 crore, revenue from power business declined by over 40 per cent to Rs 1,181.16 crore.

Metallurgical and materials business' revenue was down over 23 per cent to Rs 1,115.11 crore.

L&T's total expenditure, at Rs 13,324.17 crore, accounted for 91.83 per cent of its net sales.

In a separate statement, the company said that its order book grew by Rs 26,533 crore in the last quarter, recording a growth of 27 per cent.

"International order inflow more than doubled contributing 43 per cent of the total order inflow on the back of a few orders for large projects in the Middle-East. The major orders came from infrastructure and hydrocarbons segments," the company said.

As on September 30, 2013, the company had a total order book of Rs 1,76,036 crore.

Giving its outlook, the company said that domestic macro-economic outlook remains "weak and uncertain on account of the twin deficits (fiscal and current account deficits), tight liquidity, persistent inflation and heightened volatility in the financial markets. Investment climate in the economy is yet to show sign of recovery."

Recent government measures like improved allocation of resources to kick-start the stalled projects are a welcome move to improve the investment sentiment, the company said. Besides, its strategy to focus on select international markets has also started "yielding results".

Shares of the company rose by 4.06 per cent on Friday to close at Rs 871.25 apiece on BSE in an overall strong market. The results were announced post-market hours.