BHEL profit surges 38% in 2003-04

The state-owned equipment supplier Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) announced a 38 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 615 crore in 2003-04 against Rs 445 crore profit posted in 2002-03.

According to provisional figures announced by chairman and managing director H W Bhatnagar, the company's turnover rose 15 per cent to Rs 8,610 crore during 2003-04 against Rs 7,482 crore in 2002-03.

Outstanding order position stood at Rs 23,650 crore at the end of 2003-04, while order inflows stood at Rs 16,469 crore against Rs 11,227 crore in 2002-03, registering a 46 per cent improvement, he said.

Profit before tax was recorded at Rs 947 crore during 2003-04 against Rs 802 crore in the previous year, Bhatnagar said.

"In tandem with noticeable upswing in the economy and especially the capital goods sector, BHEL posted a sterling performance with a scintillating double-digit growth in top line, a quantum jump in bottom line, a robust order book and across-the-board gains in all parameters," Bhatnagar said.

During 2003-04, BHEL bagged orders from power sector worth Rs 12,650 crore, including work for the first and second phases of the Kahalgaon super thermal power project and the second phase of the Sipat thermal project. In the industrial sector, the company secured orders for Rs 3,567 crore during the last fiscal.

Bhatnagar said BHEL's international business also performed well, with exports placed at Rs 232 crore and the company securing orders from new markets including Romania. Bhatnagar said the plant load factor of the company's thermal sets rose to 74 per cent during the last fiscal, 2 per cent above national average.

BHEL also entered into a memorandum of understanding with NTPC for establishing a joint venture company for undertaking maintenance jobs.