Sona Comstar’s FY24 net profit up 31% YoY; Q4 profit grows 24% to all-time high

Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd (Sona Comstar) has reported a 31 percent on-year growth in its net profit for the financial year 2023-24 with a 19 percent increase in its revenue from operations. For the fourth quarter, the company’s net profit rose 24 percent on year to an all-time high on a 19 percent growth in revenue.

The Gurugram-based auto components maker’s consolidated profit attributable to the owners during the financial year came in at Rs 517.3 crore, against Rs 395.3 crore in 2022-23. Revenue from operations rose to Rs 3,184.8 crore from Rs 2,655 crore in the year-ago period.

Sales from the battery electric vehicle (BEV) business rose 32 percent over the year and it now accounts for 29 percent of Sona Comstar’s total revenue. In the previous financial year, BEV revenue constituted 26 percent of the total revenue.

The company generates 70 percent of its revenue from the passenger vehicle business, while commercial vehicles account for 14 percent of its sales. North America is the largest market for Sona Comstar, followed by India. Europe is the fastest-growing market in the revenue mix.

EBITDA, or operating profit, increased around 30 percent on year to Rs 902.1 crore while its EBITDA margin, or operating profit margin, improved to 28.3 percent from 26 percent in FY23. The operating margin is higher largely due to a better product mix, operational efficiency gains and lower input, Sona Comstar’s management said.

The company’s net order book increased to Rs 22,600 crores at the end of March from Rs 21,500 crores as of March 31 last year with the addition of 39 new programs and five new customers. EV business accounts for 79 percent of the net order book.

Sona Comstar refers to net order book as the aggregate revenue from awarded programs that are either yet to start production or are yet to fully ramp up, in the next 10 years, after adjusting for the negative impact of all programs that are expected to reach end of life or be phased out.

“We closed FY24 with a strong order book, which gives us the confidence to sustain growth momentum in FY25 and beyond. Overall, we added 12 new EV programs and four new EV customers during the year, further growing and diversifying our EV order book,” MD and Group CEO Vivek Vikram Singh said.

Meanwhile, for the quarter ended March 31, Sona Comstar clocked a profit of Rs 148.7 crore, compared with Rs 119.8 crore in the year-ago period.  Revenue from operations rose to Rs 884.1 crore from Rs 742.5 crore. EBITDA grew 23 percent on year to Rs 248.1 crore rupees while EBITDA margin expanded to 28 percent from 27.1 percent.

“We achieved our highest quarterly revenue, EBITDA and net profit in Q4 FY24. BEV revenue grew 34% y-o-y, led by strong EV differential assembly sales growth, and BEV revenue share increased to the highest ever, 32%. EBITDA margin improved by 180 bps y-o-y to 28.0%, driving EBITDA and PAT growth of 23% and 24%,” Singh said.

The company added one new electric vehicle program to supply differential assemblies to an existing customer in North America during the fourth quarter.

Also, the company’s board today recommended a final dividend of Rs. 1.53 per share for the financial year 2024. Sona Comstar’s shares closed at Rs 625.25 on the National Stock Exchange today.