Air conditioning and commercial refrigeration firm Blue Star Ltd on Thursday reported a 12.13 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 83.37 crore in the first quarter ended June. The higher profit was led by a good performance of its B2B business portfolio even though unseasonal rains impacted residential AC business.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 74.35 crore in the June quarter of the previous fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing. Its revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 2,226 crore, up 12.6 per cent. In the year-ago period, the same was at Rs 1,977.03 crore. “While the unseasonal rains across the country resulted in muted demand for the unitary products, with its robust performance in its diversified B2B business portfolio, the company delivered good results for the quarter,” Blue Star said in an earning statement.
Blue Star’s total expenses in the first quarter of FY 2023-24 rose 12.47 per cent to Rs 2,121.79 crore. Its total income in the June quarter was at Rs 2,235.40 crore. Revenue from the electro-mechanical projects and commercial air conditioning systems segment grew 19.12 per cent to Rs 949.12 crore in the latest June quarter.
In the electro-mechanical projects business, the government’s continued thrust in enhancing manufacturing capex led to healthy order bookings from the factories and data centre sectors. Unitary product revenue grew 6.28 per cent to Rs 1,198.45 crore in the June quarter. “With large parts of the country witnessing unseasonal rains, the demand for room air conditioners remained flat,” Blue Star said.
The commercial refrigeration business witnessed an uptick in demand from the hospitality, pharma and processed food sectors coupled with strong demand from educational institutions and commercial establishments.Its revenue from professional electronics and industrial systems business revenue grew 48.88 per cent to Rs 78.43 crore.
“With a steady rise in corporate capex across segments, revenue grew across all lines of business. Increased penetration and investments in the healthcare segment by both the public and private sectors continued to create opportunities for the healthcare business,” it said. Blue Star Vice Chairman & Managing Director Vir S Advani said quite a few market segments such as infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, data centre, food processing and retail continue to attract investments and are growing.
As a result, the demand for our B2B products and solutions continues to be robust, he added.”The unseasonal rains during the summer season impacted the revenue growth in the room air conditioners category during Q1FY24, but given the fact that the penetration level is exceptionally low in the residential segment, we are confident that the demand will revive from the festival season.
“We remain optimistic about the prospects for the rest of the fiscal year,” he said. Shares of Blue Star declined 0.81 per cent to close at Rs 768.30 on BSE.