Bharat Electronics: Order flow to surge in FY19; revenues may rise 12-15%

BEL received orders worth Rs 100 billion, down 42 per cent, in 2017-18 and lower than the estimates of Rs 160 billion

Bharat Electronics' (BEL's) stock price is down 25 per cent over the past three months due to contraction in earnings, coupled with the delay in order booking of a few projects. Yet, analysts have upgraded the stock citing BEL’s good prospects on account of the expected orders as well as earnings growth. India’s budget for defence equipment, for instance, has increased by 9 per cent for FY19. This will benefit platform developers and system integrators, undeniably BEL. Around half the project cost is electronics and software, and BEL's share is 45-50 per cent.

Strong order flow in FY19

BEL received