Blue Star Limited on Tuesday recorded the Q3FY24 profit at Rs 100.39 crore, up 71.9 per cent on-year in comparison to Rs 58.41 crore during the corresponding quarter of previous year, surpassing estimates. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 2,241.19 crore, up 24.9 per cent as against Rs 1,794.17 crore during the third quarter of FY23. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 155.3 crore, up 48.2 per cent on-year. According to the CNBC TV18 poll, Blue Star was expected to report Q3FY24 profit at Rs 84 crore and revenue for the quarter was estimated at Rs 2,128 crore.
“The company witnessed robust demand for its room air conditioners and commercial refrigeration products during the festive season. The growth momentum during the quarter was also evident in its commercial air conditioning as well as the electromechanical projects business. This resulted in the company registering a record Q3 in terms of revenue. Further, sustained improvement in its operating margins was made possible due to the company’s continued focus on total cost management, product portfolio optimisation and higher scale,” Blue Star said in a statement.
Carried-forward order book as of December 31, 2023, the company said, grew by 24.2 per cent to Rs 6,038.53 crore, as compared to Rs 4,861.99 crore as of December 31, 2022.
Blue Star continues to invest in expanding its manufacturing capacity, accelerating R&D and digitalisation spends as part of its growth plans and profitability improvement programmes. The capital employed as of December 31, 2023, increased to Rs 2,298.88 crore as compared to Rs 1,505.56 crore as of December 31, 2022. The company ended the quarter with a net cash position of Rs 157.30 crore as compared to a net borrowing of Rs 395.85 crore as of December 31, 2022.
Blue Star’s Q3 performance across segments
Blue Star stated that the revenue from the Electro-Mechanical Projects and Commercial Air Conditioning Systems segment grew by 17.9 per cent to Rs 1182.30 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 1002.97 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. In the Electro-Mechanical Projects business, order finalisations from factories and data centres remained healthy. While the business witnessed a slowdown/delay in order finalisations as well as inflow of tenders both in the commercial buildings segment and in the infrastructure segment respectively, the execution of existing projects continued to be on track. The Commercial Air conditioning business, it said, continued to witness good demand from the industrial, healthcare, education and retail sectors apart from a significant increase in demand from tier 3 & 4 cities.
Unitary Products revenue grew by 35.5 per cent to Rs 955.38 crore in Q3Y24 compared to Rs 704.99 crore in Q3Y23. Aided by a good festive season, the room air conditioners business registered strong growth. While the summer season was tepid, robust demand in Q2 and Q3 has made up for the shortfall to a large extent. “Driven by enhanced demand for deep freezers and modular cold rooms, the commercial refrigeration business also witnessed significant growth during the quarter. Stable raw material prices, exchange rates, total cost management, and the introduction of new products in this segment helped in profitability,” it said.
The Professional Electronics and Industrial Systems segment revenue grew 20.1 per cent to Rs 103.51 crore in the quarter compared to Rs 86.21 crore in Q3FY23. The non-destructive testing business continued to gain traction while the healthcare business is benefiting from the expansion of the country’s healthcare infrastructure and the rise in private and public investments.
Vir S Advani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Blue Star Limited, said, “During the current financial year, the company has delivered stellar operating performance across all its businesses. A buoyant festive season coupled with robust demand from the corporate and commercial segments, including from tier 3 and 4 towns, enabled the company to sustain this performance during the quarter. We anticipate the forthcoming summer season to be strong and expect the demand for room air conditioners and commercial refrigeration products to be robust. The carried-forward order book for the B2B businesses is healthy and we are confident that the execution pace will be sustained. Therefore, we are optimistic about ending FY24 on a high note in our 80th anniversary year.”