India's Bajaj Electricals Q1 profit falls as unseasonal rains, inflation hit demand

Bajaj Electricals

10/08/2023 09:03

Aug 10 (Reuters) - Bajaj Electricals Ltd  BJEL.NS  on
Thursday reported a 13.6% decline in first-quarter profit,
dragged by intermittent unseasonal rains and inflationary
pressure, sending the consumer durables major's shares down
3.2%.
    Consolidated net profit was 371.3 million rupees ($4.49
million) for the three months ended June 30, compared with 429.6
million rupees a year earlier.
    Overall revenue from operations fell about 1.5% to 11.12
billion rupees, dragged by its lighting solutions segment.
    Revenue from its consumer products segment, which accounts
for more than 78% of the business, reported a marginal 2%
increase to 8.73 billion rupees.
    Analysts had flagged that sales of consumer durables in the
summer season fell sharply due to unseasonal intermittent rains.
    Demand was impacted in semi-urban areas due to inflationary
pressures on consumer spending, leading to lower footfalls
across segments, they added.
    The company's total expenses remained unchanged during the
quarter.
    "Lighting Solutions segment is facing demand headwinds,"
Chairman Shekhar Bajaj said in a statement.
    The scheme of demerger of its engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) segment has been approved by the NCLT, Mumbai
and hence the segment is shown as discontinued operations from
this quarter, the company said.
    Earlier this month, rival Havells India Ltd  HVEL.NS 
reported a 18.5% rise quarterly profit on strong demand for its
wires and cables.


($1 = 82.7770 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((AshnaTeresa.Britto@thomsonreuters.com;))