Shares of capital goods player Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) fell nearly 4% intraday on the BSE after the company on Saturday said that its net profit for FY14 on provisional basis had fallen more than 50%.
Bhel’s net profit on provisional basis for the year ending March 31, 2014, stood at Rs 3,228 crore. According to experts, the numbers indicate Bhel’s margins must have taken a hit. “BHEL over the weekend declared FY14 provisional earnings, which at INR32.3bn, were down 51% and 16% below our and consensus estimates. However, this is despite gross sales at INR404bn (down 20% y/y), only 5% below HSBCe. This suggests that margins/other income must have taken a beating. We would not be surprised if BHEL has taken write-offs on its receivables, which have been on an uptrend. New orders in FY14e at Rs 280 bn were also 3% below HSBCe,” HSBC said in a report.
The scrip was trading 3.64% lower at Rs 177.25 at 2.00 pm IST on the BSE Sensex.
