Air conditioner maker Blue Star today reported a net loss of Rs 32.76 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, due to increase in input costs and forex losses.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 22.36 crore in the corresponding period last financial year, Blue Star said in a statement.
The total operating income of the company during the quarter declined by 3.87% to Rs 589.69 crore from Rs 613.41 crore in the year-ago period, it added.
"Unprecedented input cost increases have impacted all business segments of the company. As seen in the earlier quarters of this financial year, the electro mechanical projects business has been particularly impacted largely due to the fixed price nature of the contracts," the company said.
The company has seen a loss of Rs 15.18 crore in this segment compared to a profit of Rs 29.13 crore in Q3 of FY11, it added.
Projects in the building electricals segment, long gestation infrastructure projects and a few other projects executed for builders and general contractors have been severely impacted, it added.
During the third quarter, company's financial expenses soared by over two-fold to Rs 22.10 crore from 8.92 crore.
"This was due to higher interest costs and unrealised foreign exchange losses on account of strengthening of the dollar," the statement said.
However, the company's carry forward order book as on December 31 last year increased by 4.25% to Rs 2,160 crore from Rs 2,072 crore in the year-ago period, it added.
Commenting on the future, the company said it expects the next few quarters to be challenging on account of uncertain economic environment.
"The company has been through several challenging periods in its seven-decade history and has been able to adapt well to the circumstances... The Company will endeavour to return to the growth path in the next financial year, and is focused on returning to profitability on a stand-alone quarterly basis from Q1FY13," it added.
The shares of the company today closed 2.27% up at Rs 178.20 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
