Bharat Forge Q1 profit up 34% at Rs 214 crore

Pune-based forging firm, Bharat Forge on Wednesday reported a 34 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 213.73 crore in the June quarter (Q1 FY24). Meanwhile, the company's consolidated revenue from operations was at Rs 3,877.27 crore as against Rs 2,851.46 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

During the quarter under review, standalone revenues from operations rose by 21% YoY to Rs 2,127.3 crore, the highest so far for the company. Bharat Forge also secured new business in June quarter worth Rs 200 crore in the core business, a combination of orders from passenger vehicles and the industrial segment.

"As we progress ahead in FY24, we expect consolidated EBITDA to increase from current levels of 16% along with an improvement in Return Ratios. For the standalone business, the demand environment remains benign across sectors and geographies, and we expect stable demand coupled with the ramp-up of new business to drive topline growth in FY24," said B.N. Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director of the company.

"Our 'Last Man Standing' strategy is bearing fruit, with the company signing LTAs going up to 2035 with all our key customers. We are undertaking a fairly large and diversified capex programme in India to create capacity in our core businesses, EV components and systems, and defence products. These capacities and facilities will come online in a phased manner over FY24–FY26. This capex will be funded out of internal cash accruals,” he added.

In Q1 FY24, the company also bagged cumulative orders worth Rs 277.8 crore in defence from multiple customers and product segments, to be executed over the next 18 months. "The defence order book is increasing steadily and over a period of time, will encompass orders across Artillery systems, Armored vehicles, components, solutions for Naval forces and Unmanned systems," he added.

"Aligned with the government's ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ push in defence, in addition to Artillery systems and specialty vehicles, this marks the beginning of our journey into the other product domains, and we expect the share of the same to increase meaningfully in the coming years," Kalyani added.

In the overseas business, the company's European operations have posted EBITDA of Rs 51 crore in the last quarter as against a loss of Rs 14 crore in the previous quarter, while the US operations have posted an EBITDA loss of Rs 35 crore in the quarter. "Subject to conducive end demand, we expect the US business to turn around by Q4 FY24," Kalyani noted.