Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is expecting to make up for the ‘less than expected' growth in its order book in the remaining quarters of the year.
“The order inflow in the first quarter was below our expectations. Over the year, we will make this up as the order inflow is expected to pick up,” Mr J P Nayak, President, L&T told newspersons on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) press conference here on Monday.
The company received new orders to the tune of Rs 161.9 billion, an increase of 3.6 per cent compared to the year ago period, during the first quarter ended June 30, 2011.
For the full year, it gave guidance for a 15 per cent growth in the order book.
On the scenario in the infrastructure industry, Mr Nayak said the rising interest rates were ‘injurious'.
The increasing rates for the last few months led to an increase in the cost of the projects and affecting the viability of some projects by reducing the internal rate of return.
“We are hoping that the interest rate rise will reverse going forward,” the L&T President said.
When asked on the proposed entry into banking, he said, “We have thrown our hat in the ring.”