L&T Q4 net up 17%

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has posted a net profit of Rs 333.68 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2005, a 16.60 per cent growth over Rs 286.16 crore for the previous corresponding quarter. Total income rose by 18.73 per cent to Rs 4,388.02 crore from Rs 3,695.69 crore.

For the year ended March 31, 2005, L&T posted a 84.67 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 983.85 crore against Rs 532.75 crore in the previous year.

Net income, excluding excise duty, grew to Rs 13,091.82 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005, a 36.92 per cent growth compared with Rs 9,561.33 crore, a year ago.

The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 17.50 per equity share of Rs 2 each in addition to the dividend of Rs 10 per equity share declared in October 2004.

The engineering & construction (E&C) segment booked orders of Rs 13,301 crore, an increase of 14 per cent over the previous year. Of this, export order accounted for Rs 1,692 crore, constituting 13 per cent of the orders booked during year.

Of the new orders booked during the year, 32 per cent are from the infrastructure sector. Hydrocarbon sector accounted for 21 per cent, while power sector and process equipment sectors together contributed 21 per cent of the orders booked.

"L&T had to manage on its own the increasing commodity prices. Despite the bottlenecks, the company managed to post good growth. The coming years would prove to be good for the company with projects taking shape in the lucrative gulf region comprising of countries like Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan," said A M Naik, managing director.

It is estimated that the Gulf region might attract an invest of $ 50 billion in the infrastructure sector in five years.