World's top forging company Bharat Forge reported a sharp decline of 68.03 per cent in consolidated net profit to Rs 20.33 crore during the fourth quarter of the financial year 2008-09 as against Rs 63.6 crore posted over the same quarter a year ago.
The consolidated revenue of the company also fell to Rs 627.33 crore, a drop of 46.13 per cent over revenue of Rs 1,164.69 crore year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The severe slump in the global automotive market has seen the company deliver poor performance during the financial year 2008-09. Although, the consolidated revenue of the Pune-based company grew marginally by 2.61 per cent to Rs 4,774.04 crore during the year 2008-09 against Rs 4,652.28 crore in the previous fiscal, the company's net profit saw a severe decline.
The consolidated net profit for the year 2008-09 stood at Rs 41.11 crore, down 85.86 per cent as compared to Rs 290.82 crore posted in the previous financial year, the company said. The company had to suffered a foreign exchange loss of Rs 103.73 crore during the year along with damage claims settlement of Rs 30 crore, which affected company's profit.
Commenting on the results, Bharat Forge CMD Baba Kalyani said, "The first half of the year was characterised by sharp increase in steel and crude oil prices driven by booming global economic activity. In contrast, the second half has witnessed a severe recession globally. Bharat Forge, with its global operations, has been severely affected by the downturn. We have taken various measures internally to reduce operational costs and working capital with emphasis on conserving cash. Similarly on the market side, we are working to increase our customer base as well as our product portfolio."
"We are optimistic that with a stable government at the Centre, new measures will be put in place to stimulate the economy and bring it back on the high growth path,” he added.