(Reuters) -India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) reported a nearly 8% drop in its fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, weighed by a delay in the supply of its Tejas light combat aircraft.
The fighter jet maker’s consolidated profit fell to 39.77 billion rupees ($465.9 mln) in the quarter ended March 31, from 43.09 billion rupees a year earlier.
HAL’s revenue was expected to take a hit due to delays in the supply of Tejas Mk 1A light combat aircraft, analysts had said, even as ordering activity in the defence sector remained steady throughout the quarter.
State-owned HAL’s quarterly revenue fell 7.2% to 137 billion rupees for the March quarter, coming just under Elara Securities’ estimates of an 8% fall.
Defence stocks, including HAL, have been under the spotlight since April-end, as India and its neighbour Pakistan engaged in a cross-border conflict following a deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir. HAL has risen 6% since then. Its shares were up 2.6% after the results.
During the quarter, the company bagged orders worth 627 billion rupees for the supply of 156 light combat helicopters called ‘Prachand’. Peer Bharat Electronics will report its quarterly results next week.
($1 = 85.3580 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Vijay Malkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
