The power generation equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has reported slump in its net profit during 2013-14. However, the good news is that the company achieved all time high commissioning and synchronization of power projects.
The company has said that it recorded a net profit of Rs 3,328 crore (provisional) in 2013-14 against Rs 6,615 crore (audited) in 2012-13. At the same time, total turnover was Rs 40,336 crore (provisional) during the period under consideration against Rs 50,157 crore (audited) in previous year.
The company blamed lower volumes for impact on profit. The company’s order book at the end of March, 2014 was Rs 1.02 lakh crore against Rs 1.15 lakh crore as on March 31, 2013.
“Certain ongoing projects have got impacted as the Indian power sector continues to be besieged with issues relating to fund constraints, land acquisition, clearances and coal linkages,” the company said in a statement. However, focus on cost optimisation through increased localisation of super critical technologies, higher value additions; increased vendor base and design optimisation efforts aided the company in its margins, it said.
Focus on cash realisation during the year has resulted in coming back to cash surplus situation after a gap of four years. The rising trend of debtors has also been arrested. It may be noted that over last year, the company announced a total dues of Rs 40,000 crore from various power companies, out of which half was collectable while remaining was linked to achieving certain milestones and deferred payment.
Talking about achievements, the company said that it managed to record highest ever commissioning/synchronisation of 13,452 MW of power plants in domestic and international markets in 2013-14. The company has a market share of 72 per cent in power sector.
The plant load factor of all BHEL supplied sets in the country was 1.6 per cent more than that of all India average. 35 BHEL supplied sets achieved a PLF of over 90 per cent while 79 sets achieved a PLF of 80-90 per cent during 2013-14.
BHEL which ranks among the highest R&D spenders in the country in the engineering and manufacturing segment spent 2.78 per cent of turnover on R&D in 2013-14 compared to 2.49 per cent in 2012-13.
Increased R&D efforts have led to filing of nearly two patents/ copyrights every working day. 434 patents or copyrights filed during 2013-14 were an increase of 13 per cent over 2012-13.