Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd's (BEL) Q3 net profit dropped nearly 24 per cent year-on-year to Rs 170.6 crore (Rs 223.87 crore). Net sales increased nearly 11 per cent y-o-y to Rs 1,321 crore (Rs 11,79.5 crore).
BEL's Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Ashwani Kumar Datt, told the revised wages during the nine months and some provisioning increased the employee expenditure by Rs 177 crore year-on-year.
A change in portfolio, from components to lower-margin systems, was also a factor for lower profit, which was not a major concern.
The company was set to meet its year's target turnover of Rs 5,700 crore with 20 per cent growth in profit, Mr Datt said.
The company declared an interim dividend of Rs 6 per share for the year 2010-11. Shares on the BSE closed Rs 23 lower at Rs 1,690 on Friday.