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Escorts declines after weak Q1 results

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Capital Market
Last Updated : Jul 30 2014 | 11:51 PM IST

Escorts fell 3.36% to Rs 117.80 at 11:37 IST on BSE after net profit declined 41.49% to Rs 34.11 crore on 4.33% decline in net sales to Rs 1122.11 crore in Q1 June 2014 over Q1 June 2013.

The Q1 result was announced on Tuesday, 29 July 2014, when stock market was closed on account of Ramzan ID.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 28.08 points, or 0.11%, to 25,963.15.

On BSE, so far 1.36 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 5.75 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 118.85 and a low of Rs 115 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 148.80 on 18 June 2014. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 64.80 on 5 August 2013.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 28 July 2014, falling 10.53% compared with 3.55% rise in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 4.35% as against Sensex's 14.84% rise.

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The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 122.58 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Escorts' EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) rose by 38 basis points to 5% in Q1 June 2014 from 4.7% in Q4 March 2014.

Tractor volumes went sequentially up by 14.7% to 17,849 tractors in Q1 June 2014 as compared to 15,556 tractors in Q4 March 2014. Construction equipment volumes increased to 719 in Q1 June 2014 from 677 in Q4 March 2014. Auto products continued to be under pressure and quarterly income dropped to Rs 22.90 crore in Q1 June 2014 from Rs 30.60 crore in Q4 March 2014. While railway products also saw a dip in quarterly revenues from Rs 45.1 crore in Q4 March 2014 to Rs 42.70 crore Q1 June 2014, the current order book of around Rs 33 crore to be executed over the next 2 to 3 months provides a sound base for the forthcoming quarter.

Speaking on the results, Chairman Mr. Rajan Nanda said, "The new government has brought in winds of change and new energy into the economy. We plan to aggressively address segments, which will open up with the implementation of the government's ambitious plans in infrastructure and farm mechanization. There has been a marked improvement in the sentiment around the construction industry due to the announcement of major infrastructure programs. Escorts is strengthening its product portfolio to meet the aspirations of its customer base with higher dependency on mechanization and technology. While we intend to focus on improving market share in the tractor market, we shall maintain our focus on growth in the construction equipment business."

Mr. Nikhil Nanda, Managing Director added, "We stand today at the cusp of change as a country. The sinews of a new India will emerge from new roads, new rail networks, greater mechanization and productivity. And the tools for executing these projects lie in both farm equipment and construction equipment. At the market end, we continue to work on strengthening our image and technology leadership by understanding our customer better. Our new products have been successful in creating new market segments and tapping into a wider range of customers for our tractors, both in the farm and non-farm segment. On the manufacturing front, we have embarked on ambitious programs that focus on 'lean' management and consolidation of manufacturing facilities."

The Escorts Group is among India's leading engineering conglomerates operating in high growth sectors of agri machinery, material handling & construction equipment, railway equipment and auto components.

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First Published: Jul 30 2014 | 11:37 AM IST

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