Despite a lower than expected top line growth, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) posted a 22 per cent surge in net profit at Rs 816 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal.
The net profit was boosted by a 52 per cent jump in other income at Rs 249 crore during the quarter and by the continuing efforts to prune input costs.
The State-owned equipment firm reported a 10 per cent increase in top line growth, with income from operation recorded at Rs 7,433 crore during the latest reported quarter. Analysts were expecting a much stronger revenue growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal on expectations of a strong execution of the company's order book. BHEL is the country's largest power equipment maker by sales.
The company's outstanding order book declined to Rs 1,59,600 crore as on June 30, 2011, from Rs 1,64,130 crore as on March 31, 2011. A final equity dividend of 179 per cent has been declared in addition to the interim equity dividend of 132.5 per cent paid earlier for 2010-11, the company said.
The Government has initiated a process to divest 5 per cent stake in the power equipment maker. The Centre holds 67.7 per cent of the company. To make the shares affordable to investors, the company has cleared a proposal to split each of its shares into five before the follow-on offer.
BHEL has established capacity to deliver power equipment totalling 15,000 MW a year, and augmentation to 20,000 MW a year is underway.
BHEL shares closed the day down 4.5 per cent at Rs 1,908.80 on the BSE. The 52-week high for the stock was Rs 2,695 while the corresponding low was Rs 1,872.50.