Bajaj Electricals Q1 profit falls as unseasonal rains, inflation hit demand

(Reuters) - Bajaj Electricals Ltd on Thursday reported a 13.6% decline in first-quarter profit, dragged by intermittent unseasonal rains and inflationary pressure, sending the consumer durables major's shares down 3.2%.

Consolidated net profit was 371.3 million rupees ($4.49 million) for the three months ended June 30, compared with 429.6 million rupees a year earlier.

Overall revenue from operations fell about 1.5% to 11.12 billion rupees, dragged by its lighting solutions segment.

Revenue from its consumer products segment, which accounts for more than 78% of the business, reported a marginal 2% increase to 8.73 billion rupees.

Analysts had flagged that sales of consumer durables in the summer season fell sharply due to unseasonal intermittent rains.

Demand was impacted in semi-urban areas due to inflationary pressures on consumer spending, leading to lower footfalls across segments, they added.

The company's total expenses remained unchanged during the quarter.

"Lighting Solutions segment is facing demand headwinds," Chairman Shekhar Bajaj said in a statement.

The scheme of demerger of its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) segment has been approved by the NCLT, Mumbai and hence the segment is shown as discontinued operations from this quarter, the company said.

Earlier this month, rival Havells India Ltd reported a 18.5% rise quarterly profit on strong demand for its wires and cables.