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Mumbai, October 31, 2003:
Larsen & Toubro Limited achieved Gross Sales & Service income
of Rs. 2639 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2003,
which represents a growth of 30% over the corresponding quarter
last year. Profit before tax of Rs.90.59 crore and Profit
after tax of Rs.71.03 crore for the quarter, show a significant
growth of 100% and 68% respectively over last year.
The profit for the quarter is after absorbing the impact of
the long term wage settlement for establishments based at
Mumbai.
The continued growth of E&C segment's order booking which
registered an impressive increase of 64%, is the highlight
of the quarter's performance.
Cumulatively, for the half-year
ended September 30, 2003 the Gross Sales & Service income
at Rs. 4915 crore reflects a 20% growth over last year. Profit
before tax and after tax respectively at Rs. 206.11 crore
and 150.25 crore, translate into a growth of 87% and 73% over
last year.
Engineering & Construction
Segment
The Engineering & Construction business maintained the growth
momentum in Order Booking and Revenues for the quarter. Domestic
& Export Order Booking at Rs.2131 crore and Rs.1082 crore
respectively for the quarter have recorded impressive increases
of 49% and 103% over the corresponding quarter of last year.
Details of major orders booked during the quarter are:
| |
Rs. Crore |
| Domestic |
|
| Construction of bridge
cum road at Howrah for Second Vivekananda Bridge Tollway
Co. Private Limited |
430 |
| Project management, Design,
Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning
of Coke Drum System Package of Delayed Coker Unit for
IOCL, Panipat |
207 |
| Repairs and Maintenance
work at Kutch Lignite Thermal Power Station for Gujarat
Electricity Board |
104 |
| Electrical and Instrumentation
works at Sidhpur - Sangamer pipeline for IOCL |
88 |
| Overseas |
|
| Engineering, Design and
Construction of 3600 TPD Cement Plant on turnkey basis
for Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd, Bangladesh |
480 |
| Engineering, Construction
and Electrification of Soda Ash Plant at Kenya for Magadi
Soda Ash Company |
262 |
| Engineering, Procurement,
Construction of Sulphur Recovery Unit for Abu Dhabi Oil
Refinery Co (Takreer), Abu Dhabi |
104 |
| Submarine and Land power
cable / fibre optic cable, connecting Mugharraq and Sir
Baniyas substations for Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity
Authority |
58 |
| Equipment for Desalination
plant such as evaporator modules, ejecto compressors,
condensors and heat exchangers for Sidem France, Ras Al
Khaimah, UAE |
34 |
| Overflow converter and
spitter columns for Kellog Brown & Root, Texas, USA |
25 |
While the domestic order
booking reflects the leadership position of the Company, the
export orders booked increasingly underscore the Company's
ability to secure orders against stiff international competition.
The segment's Gross Revenues
for the quarter at Rs.1726 crore have grown 44% over last
year. Of this, Export Sales amounted to Rs.243 crore, 19%
lower than last year when two major power plant jobs were
under execution in Sri Lanka/Oman.
The Operating Margin for
the period is marginally lower than last year, but is in line
with Management's expectations for the period. The same is
expected to improve in the second half of the financial year,
as jobs under execution cross the margin recognition threshold.
Cement Segment
The Cement segment recorded Revenues of Rs.629 crore for the
quarter, translating into a quarter-on-quarter increase of
about 5%. In quantitative terms, Cement & Clinker Sales in
domestic market were marginally lower at 2.45 MMT vis-à-vis
2.47 MMT last year.
In the current quarter,
cement prices remained subdued and unremunerative in the Southern
and Western regions. Average domestic sales realisation for
the quarter dropped to Rs.1101 pmt, lower by 3.8% vis-à-vis
last year. Consequently, Operating Margin is lower at 10.9%
as compared to 12.7% for the same period last quarter. However,
the overall margin for the half year is better than last year,
aided by a comparatively improved performance in the first
quarter of the current year.
Electrical & Electronics
Segment
Gross Revenues of Electrical & Electronics business for the
quarter aggregated to Rs.254 crore, representing a significant
growth of 26% over the previous year. This is mainly due to
improvement in sales for Switchgear Standard Products, Switchboards
and Petrol Dispensing Pumps. Export sales for the quarter
grew impressively by 83% to Rs.22 crore. The Company is pursuing
initiatives such as approval of its production infrastructure
by overseas customers and certification of its products in
the target countries so as to capitalize and build on the
breakthrough achieved this year in securing export orders
for its switchboards.
Operating margin for the
quarter is lower at 11.4% vis-à-vis 14.5% last year, largely
due to the impact of long-term wage settlement at Powai Works.
Overall Outlook
The order booking performance of E&C business has resulted
in a robust Order Backlog position of Rs.15697 crore, up 32%
vis-à-vis September 30, 2002. E&C Revenues for the year are
therefore expected to be higher by at least 20%. Operating
margin is also expected to be higher in the second half of
the year.
The Company expects improvement
in performance of the Cement business in the second half of
the year on the back of expected price improvement. The demand
growth is expected to be in the range of 7-8% as post-monsoon
activity picks up.
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