In spite of inertia in infrastructure sector, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has managed to clock 19 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ending March 31. The company has attributed the growth to higher net sales.
The company clocked ₹2,578 crore net profit, up from ₹2,160 crore in the same quarter last year. Net sales grew 18 per cent to ₹32,812 crore (₹27,687 crore).
The company had consolidated gross revenue of ₹103,522 crore for the year ended March 31, registering an increase of 12 per cent over the previous year.
R Shankar Raman, CFO of L&T, told media persons that FY16 was one of the most challenging for the infrastructure sector and capital goods industry. For the year under the consideration, the company won orders amounting to ₹1.36-lakh crore, which is a 12 per cent reduction over the ₹1.55-lakh crore orders won in the previous year, he said.
Raman said that out of the total orders, 32 per cent came from international and the rest from the domestic market. The domestic market did not yield the orders the way it was anticipated. The order book is at ₹2.50-lakh crore, a 7-per-cent increase over the previous year’s order book of ₹2.32-lakh crore.
“The good thing about this order book is that it provides revenue visibility for the company for the next three years,” he said. Chairman AM Naik said that huge infrastructure projects such as the Mumbai sea link, coastal road, and Metro-3 are under being discussed. Thought the intentions of the Centre are very good, the implementation is taking longer than expected, he said.
On the business environment, he said the company has more confidence now than six months ago. With oil prices moving to $50, the company has better prospects, especially for hydrocarbon business, he said.
Commenting on his succession, Naik said that since SN Subrahmanyan has been appointed Deputy MD and President, “I do not see any body else coming from outside and to run this company. There will be more clarity before September next year,” he said.
On L&T Infotech’s IPO plans, Naik said that the picture would be clear in a week as to whether the IPO would be launched immediately or a few months time.