(Reuters) -India’s Bajaj Electricals 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 reported first-quarter profit below analysts’ estimates on subdued demand and heightened competition.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation (next Estimates (next 12 months) Analysts’ sentiment
12 months)
RIC PE EV/EBITDA Revenue Profit growth Mean # of Stock to Div
growth (%) (%) rating* analysts price yield
target** (%)
Bajaj Electricals BJEL.NS 34.97 15.97 10.11 45.56 Buy 12 0.83 0.49
Ltd
Blue Star Ltd BLUS.NS 49.25 32.10 15.19 18.77 Hold 18 1.03 0.51
Voltas Ltd VOLT.NS 43.23 33.10 9.39 15.55 Buy 34 0.94 0.53
Havells India Ltd HVEL.NS 50.89 33.49 11.00 15.61 Buy 28 0.87 0.67
* 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
(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
