BEML posts Rs 39-cr Q1 loss

Defence PSU BEML Ltd posted Q1 loss of Rs 39.44 crore year-on-year. Net sales declined 25 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 413.9 crore (Rs 552.57 crore) for the April-June 2012 quarter. This is the second successive quarter of loss for the nearly Rs 3,000-crore earth moving equipment major. It posted Q4 loss of almost Rs 14 crore in the last fiscal. A company official, however, said the two quarters should not be connected. The current fiscal was yet to see sales volumes pick up. “We expect the planned volumes to grow by the end of Q2,” the official said. Clearances were getting delayed in the defence segment that accounts for around 20 per cent of the business. Mining clients had postponed contracts. “We are sorting it all out” over the coming months, the official said.