Orient Electric on Tuesday reported 22.16 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 48.78 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022.
The CK Birla group firm had posted a net profit of Rs 62.67 crore for the year-ago period, Orient Electric said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue from operations was down at Rs 753.32 crore during the period under review from Rs 801.71 crore in the year-ago quarter.
This was mainly “due to the degrowth in ECD (electrical consumer durables) segment by 11 per cent YoY. This was due to the challenging macro environment, beset by a negative sentiment caused by the Omicron wave and efforts to protect margins through price increase,” it said in an investor’s release.
This also contrasted against the higher base of last year caused by the pent-up demand.
Revenue from ECD segment was at Rs 574.14 crore, down 11.06 per cent from Rs 645.60 crore.
Lighting & Switchgear segment was up at Rs 179.18 crore from Rs 156.11 crore.
The segment demonstrated “resilience against adverse macro headwinds”, said Orient Electric.
“As ECD constituted 76 per cent of the overall revenue, its muted business environment kept Orient’s total performance for Q4 somewhat constrained,” it said.
Total expenses were at Rs 690.53 crore as against Rs 721.22 crore.
During March quarter, key raw materials saw a “sharp spike in input costs, such as steel (17 per cent), aluminium (34 per cent) and polymers (crude 40 per cent).” Gross margins during the quarter remained “flattish”.
The company said raw materials inflation is expected to continue over the medium term, against which Orient’s gradual price revisions and systematic cost reductions will act as cushion.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, consolidated net profit was up 5.76 per cent at Rs 126.64 crore. It had logged a net profit of Rs 119.74 crore in 2020-21.
Revenue from operation was at Rs 2,448.37 crore in 2021-22, higher than Rs 2,032.60 crore in the previous year.
“FY22 has been a year of consumer demand revival. Revenue growth of 20.5 per cent YoY is testimony to Orient’s continuous response to macro headwinds such as the 3rd Covid Wave, geopolitical conflicts, semiconductor shortages, and raw material inflation,” it said.
Meanwhile, in a separate filing Orient Electric said its board in a meeting held on Tuesday recommended a final dividend of Rs 1.25 per equity share of face value of Re 1 each for financial year ended March 31, 2022.
With this, the total dividend is Rs 2 for FY22, including interim dividend of 75 paise per equity share declared earlier during the financial year.
Shares of Orient Electric on Tuesday settled at Rs 319.75 apiece on BSE, up 0.71 per cent from the previous close. PTI KRH KRH ANU ANU
