BHEL posts profit for second straight quarter at Rs 109 crore

New Delhi: State-run power equipment maker Bhel today reported a net profit of Rs 109 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, helped by strategic initiatives taken by the new management. The company had reported a net loss of Rs 180.78 crore for the July-September quarter last fiscal. [caption id=“attachment_3081808” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Total income has increased to Rs 6860.53 crore in the second quarter of current fiscal from Rs 6314.56 crore in the corresponding period last year, the company said in BSE filing. “Strategic initiatives put in place by the new management have begun yielding results and the company is well on its way to get back on the growth trajectory,” said Bhel Chairman and MD Atul Sobti. Sobti said,“Holding on to our strengths and building new ones, we are resolutely focused on achieving the immediate target of regaining growth.” Attributing the reversal of negative growth trend to accelerated execution, he said that specific steps of expeditious execution and cost cutting, coupled with efforts to enhance executable order book, have been initiated by the firm. As part of this, the company’s focus will be on creating new verticals to capitalise on the massive infrastructure spending by the government with a special focus on railways, defence and other industrial products to drive the next wave of growth. Bhel has also been focusing on sustainable energy development by offering EPC solutions in solar and an environment-friendly supercritical technology in the thermal sector, he said. In the second quarter, Bhel maintained the momentum of positive growth and profitability achieved in the first quarter of the current fiscal, with the company registering a topline growth of 12 per cent and posting a profit before tax of Rs 138 crore as against a loss of Rs 293 crore in the same period last year. In the first quarter, Bhel had recorded positive growth after reversing the trend of negative topline growth prevailing for the last 14 straight quarters. In the first half of the current fiscal, Bhel’s turnover has shown a double-digit growth of 19 per cent and profit after tax increased to Rs 187 crore compared to a loss of Rs 130 crore in the corresponding period last year. The company has an order book position of Rs 1,03,300 crore at the end of second quarter this fiscal.