3 days ago
India's Bajaj Electricals posts quarterly profit plunge on weak demand, one-time charge
Aug 7 (Reuters) - India's Bajaj Electricals ( opens new tab reported a 96.8% slump in first-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by lower demand for its home appliances and a one-off expense.
The Bajaj Group company's net profit fell to 9.1 million rupees ($103,769.93) for the three months ended June 30, from 281.1 million rupees a year ago.
The company incurred a one-time expense of 66.8 million rupees, related to ex gratia for the Nashik factory. Before the exceptional item, profit fell 76.7% in the quarter.
Net sales fell 8.1% to 10.59 billion rupees. Revenue from its mainstay consumer segment, which sells products ranging from fans to induction stoves, slipped 10.8%.
Bajaj Electrical's shares slipped 2.7% after the results.
For further earnings highlights, click (Full Story)
KEY CONTEXT
Analysts said demand was weak for cooling appliances such as air coolers and fans — part of Bajaj Electricals' consumer durables segment — due to the early onset of monsoon.
The consumer durables segment accounts for more than three-fourths of the company's total revenue.
Last month, peer Havells India ( opens new tab reported first-quarter profit below analysts' estimates on subdued demand and heightened competition.
PEER COMPARISON
* The mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT
APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE
-- All data from LSEG
-- $1 = 87.6940 Indian rupees
