Bharat Forge Q3 profit jumps 31% to Rs 378 crore

Defence equipment maker and forging major Bharat Forge on Monday reported net profit of Rs 378 crore in December quarter, marking an upside of 31 per cent from Rs 289 crore in the same period last year.

Its revenue from operations rose 16 per cent to Rs 2,263 crore from Rs 1,952 crore in the year ago period.

The Pune-based company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) also known as operating profit came in at Rs 663 crore, up 24 per cent from Rs 535 crore and its operating profit margin improved 190 basis points to 29.3 per cent.

“Exports from Indian manufacturing operations across components, defence and Industrial in Q3 FY24 stands at $200 million, a growth of 36 per cent over Q3 FY23. Over time, We expect this number to grow as the new verticals scale up and we enhance our presence in the industrial space. Looking ahead in the Q4 & further into FY25, we expect the growth momentum to moderate in both domestic and export market across industries. Our endeavour will be to outperform the market driven by our diversified business mix,” said B N Kalyani, chairman and managing director, Bharat Forge.

The commercial vehicle (CV) business registered a 9 per cent YoY growth in first nine months of current fiscal mirroring the overall market growth. The sector’s long term growth trajectory remains intact supported by government capex and allied infrastructure development, the company said in an investor presentation.

The India passenger vehicle (PV) business remains well-placed for growth driven by premiumization and the shift towards Utility Vehicle within the PV space. We expect this trend to continue supported by burgeoning middle class & higher disposable income, the company added.

The company's board announced an interim dividend of Rs 2.5 per share.

The company also announced plans to raise Rs 500 crore via term loan, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) or any other debt instruments.

The company re-appointed Dipak Mane as non-executive independent director for a period of five years.

Mane holds a Bachelor of Technology Degree in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai; and has done an Advance Management Programme from the IMD, Switzerland.

As of 2:09 pm, Bharat Forge shares traded 2.84 per cent lower at Rs 1,278, underperforming the Sensex which was down 0.6 per cent.