logo

Welspun shares rally 11% to record high as Q4 profit more than doubles, debt drops

Economic Times29-05-2025

Shares of Welspun Corp surged as much as 11% on Thursday to a record high of Rs 903.2 on the BSE, after the pipe manufacturing major's fourth-quarter net profit more than doubled, the company slashed its gross debt, and it guided for strong revenue growth in the year ahead.
ADVERTISEMENT The stock has now rallied over 47% in the past year and gained 328% over three years.
Welspun Corp reported a 143% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 699.19 crore for the March quarter, compared with Rs 287.28 crore in the same period a year earlier. The profit surge came even as total income declined to Rs 3,966.86 crore from Rs 4,543.70 crore, driven by a sharp reduction in expenses, which fell to Rs 3,639.32 crore from Rs 4,292.37 crore.
On a sequential basis, profit rose 4% from Rs 672.19 crore in the December quarter. For the full year FY25, net profit rose to Rs 1,902.28 crore, up from Rs 1,136 crore in FY24.
The board recommended a final dividend of Rs 5 per share for FY25 and approved a fundraising proposal of up to Rs 500 crore via commercial papers or non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis. The company noted that it has traditionally used these instruments for routine working capital needs and will disclose specific terms at the time of issuance.
Welspun said it reduced gross debt by Rs 1,000 crore during FY25, despite incurring a capital expenditure of Rs 900 crore. It closed the year as a net cash company with reserves of Rs 1,049 crore—a key milestone for the manufacturer.
Welspun forecast FY26 revenue at Rs 17,500 crore, a 25% increase over the Rs 13,977.54 crore it posted in FY25. The company said its order book exceeds Rs 19,500 crore, spanning line pipes in India and the U.S., ductile iron pipes, and stainless steel products. Its U.S. mill is fully booked for the next eight quarters.
ADVERTISEMENT To meet growing demand, the company is investing Rs 5,482 crore across India, the U.S., and Saudi Arabia to expand capacity across segments.
The rally in Welspun shares also tracked broader gains in metal stocks on Thursday, with the Nifty Metal index rising 1% after a U.S. trade court blocked most of former President Donald Trump's proposed 'Liberation Day' import tariffs.
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that 'President Trump exceeded his authority' with the tariff proposal. While the White House has appealed the decision, the ruling raised hopes that Trump may scale back the highest tariff levels he had threatened, improving global risk sentiment.
ADVERTISEMENT With Thursday's surge, Welspun shares surpassed their previous record of Rs 900, hit on March 24, 2025, and now trade well above their 52-week low of Rs 441, touched on June 4, 2024.The company, a flagship of Welspun World, is one of the top three manufacturers of large-diameter pipes globally, with a diversified presence across six continents.
ADVERTISEMENT
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Cancelling contracts, making big disclosures: Who loses what in Musk-Trump breakup?
Cancelling contracts, making big disclosures: Who loses what in Musk-Trump breakup?

First Post

time18 minutes ago

  • First Post

Cancelling contracts, making big disclosures: Who loses what in Musk-Trump breakup?

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have called time on their friendship in the most shocking of ways — social media posts were fired off, threats were made, and big bombshells were dropped. In the aftermath of it, Tesla stocks tanked, and the world's richest man's personal net worth declined. Yes, this breakup could be costly for both. Here's how read more The aftermath of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's breakup raises the question: Who has the most to lose? File image/Reuters No one believed that the Donald Trump-Elon Musk friendship would be one that would last forever. But the fact that it ended in the most spectacular of ways and that too so quickly was not anticipated. On Thursday (June 5), America's two most powerful men — one is the US president and the other is the world's richest man — spent time on social media trying to destroy each other's reputations with threats and secrets. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Their spectacular breakup also means the end to perhaps the most powerful of alliances in the US with many pondering who emerges as the bigger loser in this spat. Does Trump have more to lose or will Musk be the one to suffer? A bromance turns nasty It was last July when Elon Musk endorsed Trump for president and became an integral part of his campaign machinery — who can forget Musk manically jumping around at Trump rallies, funding a massive super-PAC on his behalf. Later, when Trump became US president, he returned the favour by appointing Musk to take charge at Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). When Elon Musk attached himself to Trump many began speculating when these two massive egos would, eventually, clash and that their strategic partnership would flame out spectacularly. And crash and burn the relationship did. Since late May, Musk has been vocally critical of Trump's so-called big, beautiful spending bill. 'I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,' Musk told the TV programme CBS Sunday Morning. But Trump kept his cool and bid adieu to Musk as he called time on his service to the White House. Once out of government, though, the Tesla chief took his criticism against the bill even further. He called the bill a 'd isgusting abomination ,' threatened to politically retaliate against its supporters, and argued it would increase the debt. Social media posts by US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are displayed on smartphones. Trump has threatened to revoke government contracts from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as a public feud escalates over Musk's criticism of the Trump administration's policies. AFP The US president then shot back on Thursday, while he had a sit down in the Oval Office with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. ' I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here,' Trump said. 'He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He further stated, ' I'll be honest, I think he misses the place. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome. We have it with others, too. They leave, and they wake up in the morning, and the glamour's gone. The whole world is different, and they become hostile.' Trump then took the fight online, writing in one social media post, 'Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' And this led Musk to hit back. Musk argued, 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election' and accused Trump of 'such ingratitude.' And that wasn't the end, the feud kept going with Musk levelling a serious allegation, '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Consequences of the big, nasty breakup But who shall suffer from this breakup? After all, it was a mutual relationship benefiting both individuals. Many analysts and Trump watchers believe Musk shall be the big loser from this breakup. In fact, as the two bickered on social media, Tesla shares slumped — dropping 14 per cent, wiping out roughly $150 billion in market value in one of the worst days in months. Analysts and pundits believed that the losses were an indication of what might be at stake for Musk. Musk's personal net worth also took a tumble on Thursday — it fell by nearly $34 billion, making him the biggest daily loser on Bloomberg's list of the world's 500 richest people. Trump could even take the fight further with cancelling government contracts with Musk's various companies, including SpaceX and Tesla. In fact, the US president even suggested this while feuding with Musk online. 'The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump wrote. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California. If the Trump administration pauses government contracts, SpaceX will lose billions of dollars. Reuters According to data available, last year, Musk's companies were promised $3 billion in nearly 100 contracts with 17 government agencies. Additionally, Reuters reported that if Trump did go ahead with this move, about $22 billion of SpaceX's government contracts would be at risk. In addition to hitting his businesses, this feud could also threaten Musk's stay in the US. Musk is not a natural-born American — he was born in Pretoria, South Africa and thanks to his mother, Maye Musk, obtained Canadian citizenship in 1989 when he was 17 years old. This helped him move to North America for his studies and eventually to the United States. It was only in 2002 that he became a naturalised US citizen. Moreover, Musk has already lost his fan base on the liberal side and now with the fight with Trump, he will also lose his Conservative supporters. This will be bad for Musk — personally and from a business standpoint. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On June 5, Elon Musk and Donald Trump ended their friendship in the most spectacular way. File image/Reuters But many also note that the Trump-Musk feud also has the potential to hurt the US president. How? When Trump was campaigning, Musk emerged as one of his major donors. The SpaceX chief spent more than $250 million to get Trump elected. Now imagine if he used that same financial clout against the US president. Musk could fund campaigns against Republicans, hurting Trump in the long run. Moreover, he could also align with fiscally conservative lawmakers to block Trump's signature tax bill in the Senate. Besides this, Musk could also use the time he has spent with Trump against him. After spending a lot of time closely with the US president, he could use information that the two shared to hurt Trump. He could make big revelations, which have the ability to hurt the US president. For instance, on Thursday, amid the online battle Musk claimed that the US president was part of the Epstein Files STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Musk could also use X against Trump — the X owner has more than 220 million followers compared to the US president's 105.6 million followers. As some note, Musk could use the platform to keep airing his grievances against Trump. In fact, on Thursday, he called for the impeachment of the US president and even asked his followers 'is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80 per cent in the middle?' It's left to be seen if Trump or Musk will win this battle, but for now, we can buckle up and wait for their next steps. With inputs from agencies

US hiring likely slowed to 1,30,000 new jobs last month amid uncertainty over Trumps policies
US hiring likely slowed to 1,30,000 new jobs last month amid uncertainty over Trumps policies

Mint

time22 minutes ago

  • Mint

US hiring likely slowed to 1,30,000 new jobs last month amid uncertainty over Trumps policies

Washington, The American job market likely continued to slow last month, hobbled by worries over President Donald Trump's trade wars, deportations and purges of the federal workforce. The Labour Department's numbers on May hiring Friday are expected to show that businesses, government agencies and nonprofits added 1,30,000 jobs last month. That would be down from 1,77,000 in April but enough to stay ahead of people entering the workforce and keep the unemployment rate at a low 4.2 per cent, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. Mainstream economists expect Trump's policies to take a toll on America's economy, the world's largest. His massive taxes on imports – tariffs – are expected to raise costs for US companies that buy raw materials, equipment and components from overseas and force them to cut back hiring or even lay workers off. Billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has slashed federal workers and cancelled government contracts. Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration is expected to make it harder for businesses to find enough workers. For the most part, though, any damage has yet to show up in the government's economic data. The US economy and job market have proven surprisingly resilient in recent years. When the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve raised their benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023, the higher borrowing costs were widely expected to tip the United States into a recession. Instead, the economy kept growing and employers kept hiring. But former Fed economist Claudia Sahm warns that the job market of 2025 isn't nearly as durable as the two or three years ago when immigrants were pouring into the US job market and employers were posting record job openings. 'Any signs of weakness in the data this week would stoke fears of a recession again,' Sahm, now chief economist at New Century Advisors, wrote in a Substack post this week. 'It's too soon to see the full effects of tariffs, DOGE, or other policies on the labour market; softening now would suggest less resilience to those later effects, raising the odds of a recession.' Recent economic reports have sent mixed signals. The Labour Department reported Tuesday that US job openings rose unexpectedly to 7.4 million in April – seemingly a good sign. But the same report showed that layoffs ticked up and the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell, a sign they were less confident they could find something better elsewhere. Surveys by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, found that both American manufacturing and services businesses were contracting last month. And the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in eight months. Jobless claims — a proxy for layoffs — still remain low by historical standards, suggesting that employers are reluctant to cut staff despite uncertainty over Trump's policies. They likely remember how hard it was to bring people back from the massive but short-lived layoffs of the 2020 COVID-19 recession as the US economy bounced back with unexpected strength. Still, the job market has clearly decelerated. So far this year, American employers have added an average 1,44,000 jobs a month. That is down from 1,68,000 last year; 2,16,000 in 2023; 3,80,000 in 2022, and a record 6,03,000 in 2021 in the rebound from COVID-19 layoffs. Trump's tariffs — and the erratic way he rolls them out, suspends them and conjures up new ones — have already buffeted the economy. America's gross domestic product — the nation's output of goods and services — fell at a 0.2 per cent annual pace from January through March this year. A surge of imports shaved 5 percentage points off growth during the first quarter as companies rushed to bring in foreign products ahead of Trump's tariffs. Imports plunged by a record 16 per cent in April as Trump's levies took effect. The drop in foreign goods could mean fewer jobs at the warehouses that store them and the trucking companies that haul them around, wrote Michael Madowitz, an economist at the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute. NPK NPK This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

Techie tries to buy a Gurgaon flat but finds even his Rs 1.2 lakh in-hand salary with no responsibilities not good enough
Techie tries to buy a Gurgaon flat but finds even his Rs 1.2 lakh in-hand salary with no responsibilities not good enough

Time of India

time23 minutes ago

  • Time of India

Techie tries to buy a Gurgaon flat but finds even his Rs 1.2 lakh in-hand salary with no responsibilities not good enough

In today's India, earning Rs 20 lakh per annum is often seen as the benchmark of financial comfort. But a recent viral post on X has struck a chord with thousands, exposing the grim reality of urban homeownership , even for high earners. Shared by a user named Akhilesh, the post details how a friend living in Gurgaon , despite a hefty Rs 20 LPA CTC and frugal lifestyle, still finds himself priced out of the real estate market. In the tweet, Akhilesh writes about his friend's predicament: no car, no children, modest lifestyle, yet every real estate project he visits starts at a steep Rs 2.5 crore. 'If he buys this, he has to live paycheck to paycheck. No buffer. No vacations. No emergencies,' the tweet reads. Despite being in the top 5% of Indian earners, the post suggests, owning a decent home in a metro city remains out of reach, highlighting a growing mismatch between income and urban housing prices. — akhileshutup (@akhileshutup) Netizens react The post quickly caught fire online, igniting a flurry of responses that reflect the simmering frustration among India's salaried middle class. One user echoed the sentiment, writing, 'It's wild how even a high salary feels inadequate in certain cities. Many people are in the same boat, juggling expenses while trying to save. It makes you question what success means nowadays.' Another pointed out the long-term burden of luxury add-ons like 'infinity pools, zen gardens, biometric lifts', which not only inflate the purchase cost but also hike up monthly maintenance charges in the future. The discussion also took a broader economic turn, with one user arguing, 'He earns more than 95% of Indians. That means 7 crore people earn more than him, and a significant portion live in metro cities like Delhi. That's lakhs of families competing for premium housing. Demand is simply outpacing supply.' While some suggested that renting is a smarter option in the current climate, others questioned the societal obsession with homeownership. One user summed it up: 'Rent pe raho. Don't buy a home right now. Save up. Invest. You buy a home when you can afford it, not according to your whims and fancies."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store