Bharat Forge Q1 net profit marginally rises to Rs 160 cr; stock up 3.5%

Auto components maker Bharat Forge Ltd on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 160.37 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 152.75 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, Bharat Forge said in a regulatory filing.

Its consolidated revenue from operations during the period under review stood at Rs 2,851.46 crore. It was Rs 2,107.68 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

The company's total expenses in the first quarter were Rs 2,643.95 crore, while the same was Rs 1,874.24 crore a year ago, the company said.

Bharat Forge said the consolidated results are not comparable with those of the last fiscal due to its alignment of accounting periods of all the subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures for a better presentation of the operating performance of the group.

"At a consolidated level, the European operations have delivered a stable performance as per plan, in spite of high input prices and weak market conditions.

"The new greenfield aluminium forging facility in North America is still in a ramp-up phase and operating at low utilisation levels, which has adversely impacted the overall quarterly profitability. We expect this business to turn around in the second half of the fiscal," Bharat Forge Chairman and Managing Director BN Kalyani said.

The Indian operations secured new business worth around Rs 350 crore across automotive and industrial applications during the period, he added.

Bharat Forge said its India automotive business witnessed a sequential decline in revenue in line with the underlying market drop as production of medium and heavy commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles in the industry fell.

However, automotive export revenue grew, driven by both commercial and passenger vehicle segments, it said, adding in Europe, the geo-political crisis impacted overall demand and supply chain.

"The impact of high energy prices across Europe, and monetary tightening by the central bank will be keenly monitored as they may potentially provide potential opportunities for new business wins," the company said.

On the outlook, Kalyani said, "Looking ahead into Q2 FY23, we expect stable performance across both the domestic and export markets despite uncertainty arising from the macroeconomic headwinds caused by monetary tightening".