L&T’s profit up 8% at ₹3,418 crore

Our Bureau

Engineering and infrastructure major L&T has reported a strong set of numbers on the back of orders in infrastructure, hydrocarbon and others but said that with a new government on the anvil, it expects a modest start to the first half of 2019-20.

Inflating order book

L&T’s Q4 profit came in at ₹3,418 crore, a 7.9-per cent increase compared to ₹3,167 crore it posted in the same period last year. For the whole year, profits went up 22 per cent from ₹8,167 crore in the 2018 fiscal to ₹9,986 crore in the 2019 fiscal.

The company bagged new orders worth ₹1.76 lakh crore in the 2019 fiscal — a 16 per cent increase from last year. The consolidated order book for the group is ₹2.9 lakh crore, with international orders contributing to 22 per cent of the total order book. Revenues for the fourth quarter ended March 31, came in at ₹45,555 crore ( ₹41,091 crore). For the whole year, revenues came in at ₹142,858 crore ( ₹121,204 crore).

The board has recommended a dividend of ₹18 per equity share.

Segment-wise numbers

The infrastructure segment saw its EBIT go up to ₹3,088.3 crore, while margin was at 11.4 per cent. However, revenue from power business was down by 38 per cent at ₹934.3 crore.

Defence and Aerospace, which was part of Heavy Engineering segment until last year, was reported as a separate segment from the current financial year. Heavy Engineering segment bagged new orders worth ₹4,049 crore during the year ended March 31, 2019 substantially higher by 78 per cent y-o-y supported by increased demand for clean fuel to comply with Euro and other regulatory norms. International orders constituted 67 per cent of the total order inflow of the segment during the year, with orders mainly from the Netherlands, the US and the UK. The segment, for Q4, recorded an order inflow of ₹791 crore.

Hydrocarbon segment clocked revenues of ₹2,174 crore, a yearly growth of 56 per cent, with execution momentum in oil and gas projects. International sales constituted 54 per cent.

Hydrocarbon Segment secured orders valued Rs 27,871 crore during the year, a 76 per cent increase. The order inflow for the quarter January-March 2019 stood at Rs 12,568 crore.

L&T Infotech

IT & Technology Services segment clocked revenues of ₹14,371 crore during the year, a yearly growth of 28 per cent. Financial Services revenues grew by 26 per cent to ₹12,638 crore.

L&T is also involved in a takeover battle of services company Mindtree to acquire a majority stake but L&T CEO SN Subrahmanyan offered no updates on the gameplan to acquire this stake.

Developmental Projects vertical clocked revenues of ₹5,068 crore , an 18 per cent increase driven by divestment of container port at Kattupalli near Chennai and partial commissioning of the company’s metro rail concession in Hyderabad, which is being implemented through a subsidiary.