Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) revenues in the first half of FY22 have reverted to pre-Covid levels on steady execution of infrastructure projects and steps taken to mitigate the productivity risks that arose from the second wave. The company’s revenues for the quarter ended September 30 rose 12% to Rs 34,773 crore and in the first half of the year sales rose 23% to Rs 64,100 crore. International sales during the quarter at Rs 12,318 crore constituted 35% of the total revenue. The company’s chief financial officer, R Shankar Raman, said that there was a visible increase in tendering and ordering activity in the September quarter.
The company’s Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) rose 20% year-on-year to Rs 4,000 crore during the September quarter and by 45% in the first half to Rs 7,170 crore on higher volumes and cost control. The company’s consolidated net profit during the quarter declined 67% to Rs 1,819 crore, which was on account of higher income from sale of the electrical and automation business to Schneider in the comparable quarter last year and an impairment in some of its assets. The net profit figure for the September quarter includes Rs 144 crore gain from divestment in a hydel power plant in Uttarakhand and tax expense of Rs 47 crore arising on transfer of the NxT Digital Business from the Parent to Mindtree.
Excluding exceptional items and discontinued operations, L&T’s consolidated net profit after tax rose by 56% year-on-year during the quarter at Rs1,723 crore. For the first half, consolidated operational PAT rose by over 100% to Rs 2,900 crore.
R Shankar Raman, chief financial officer of L&T, said, “At Rs 64,100 crore revenues for H1, we have caught up with revenues of pre-Covid H1 revenues of FY19. The share of international revenues in these revenues is from 35% overseas contracts.”
Safety measures taken by the company ensured the sites and the factories had sufficient infrastructure to provide a safe working environment. It also managed resource mobilisation well to execute the record order book by ensuring that the sites and factories remained staffed. “The 50% increase in orders in Q2 to Rs 42,100 crore augurs well and for H1 orders rose 33% YoY higher to Rs 68,700 crore,” said Raman. The order book grew 11% year-on-year in H1 to `3.3 lakh crore.