L&T net profit up 10 pc in Q1

With the commencement of commercial operations of the company’s cement plant at Tadipatri in Andhra Pradesh, the captive power plant at Awarpur in Maharashtra and the increased level of activities, the interest charges for the quarter have gone up to Rs 83.71 crore from Rs 35.82 crore.

The order booking for the quarter stood at Rs 2,257 crore, indicating anincrease of 4 per cent over the comparative quarter of last year. The order backlog as on June 30 amounted to Rs 6,563 crore, which include reactor building for Nuclear Power Corporation at Tarapur, a pipeline project for ONGC at Bombay High and Chennai water supply job.

The company also reported improved performance in the sales of cement/clinker which rose by 44 per cent in the first quarter to 27.8 lakh tonnes, while the newly commissioned plant at Tadipatri accounted for 5.33 lakh tonnes of sales this quarter.

The domestic demand for cement, during the first quarter, grew by 23 per cent. However, this demand has not resulted in increase in prices and they remained more or less at the same levels as in the corresponding period of last year.

With the improvement in the overall sentiment and policy announcements for the infrastructure sector, investment climate is expected to improve, L&T said adding that with its significant presence in the sector order booking prospects were promising.

However, theovercapacity in many industries such as steel and cement does not augur well for the capital goods industry which in turn limits the prospects for order booking.The company was making serious efforts to increase its presence in the international market.

The major initiatives such as cost-reduction, on-time delivery and technological advancement should improve its position in the market arena.