 "BEML")
Shares of BEML surged 13 per cent to Rs 3,636 on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade amid heavy volumes in an otherwise weak market after the company reported a solid 62.85 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 256.80 crore in the March 2024 quarter (Q4FY24).
The state-owned construction vehicles company had posted PAT of Rs 157.69 crore in Q4FY23. It had reported PAT of Rs 48.20 crore in December quarter (Q3FY24). Revenue from operations grew 9 per cent YoY at Rs 1,513.65 crore.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew 29.1 per cent YoY to Rs 370 crore. EBITDA margin increased by 381bps YoY to 24.5 per cent, aided by gross margin expansion and lower employee costs.
The board recommended a final dividend of Rs 15.5 per equity share for the year ended 31.03.2024.
At 11:20 am; BEML was trading 11 per cent higher at Rs 3,565.05, as compared to 0.54 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The average trading volumes on the counter more-than-doubled with a combined 1.7 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 4,139.40 on February 2, 2024.
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BEML, a ‘Schedule-A’ Company, serves core sectors including defence, rail, power, mining, and infrastructure. The company operates under three major business verticals: mining and construction, defence and aerospace, and rail and metro. Government of India owns 54 per cent of total equity and balance 46 per cent is held by public, financial institutions, foreign institutional investors, banks, and employees.
BEML’s client base consists of major Government organisation and PSUs including Coal India Limited, Ministry of Defence, various metro rail corporation among others. BEML has various repeat orders, specifically in rail and metro sector, owing to its track record in providing products and services to various metro rail corporations.
BEML’s order book as on April 01, 2024, stood at Rs 11,872 crore as against Rs 8,570 crore in the previous year, an increase of 38.5 per cent. One of BEML’s significant new orders is from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC), worth Rs 3,177 crore. This translates to almost three years of orders to be executed considering the turnover of FY23.
Since most of the company’s clients are PSUs, they place orders once budget is approved, typically in August or September. Execution of these orders under stipulated timelines remains a key monitorable. Further, Government’s push for indigenisation with the “Make in India” campaign, is expected to augur well for BEML’s order book addition, according to CARE Ratings.
The stable outlook reflects CARE Ratings’ expectation that positive industry outlook and the existence of experienced management will continue to benefit BEML in the near term, the rating agency had said in rationale.
