India's Dilip Buildcon Q2 profit soars on steady infrastructure demand

Dilip Buildcon

07/11/2023 15:41

BENGALURU, Nov 7 (Reuters) - India's Dilip Buildcon
 DIBL.NS  reported a fourfold surge in second-quarter profit on
Tuesday as the developer benefited from steady infrastructure
demand in its urban and water supply business.
    Its consolidated net profit climbed to 686.3 million rupees
($8.24 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from 170.1 million
rupees a year earlier.
    The Madhya Pradesh-based company, which builds projects
including roads, bridges, dams, and commercial and residential
properties, said its net order book as of September-end stood at
239.89 billion rupees, compared with 263.38 billion rupees a
year ago. 
        
    Analysts said the decline in the company's order book,
indicative of its project pipeline, came amid weak spending
trends in road infrastructure, partly due to seasonal rains
hindering construction work. 
  
    However, infrastructure development companies are seeing
demand picking up as the government spends more on the sector
ahead of upcoming state and general elections. 
    Peer Thermax  THMX.NS  reported a roughly 45% jump in
second-quarter profit, while Larsen & Toubro  LART.NS  surpassed
second-quarter profit estimates on strong growth in
infrastructure-related projects.   
    Dilip Buildcon's revenue from operations rose about 10% to
28.49 billion rupees, boosted by its engineering, procurement
and construction (EPC) projects and road infrastructure
maintenance segment, which accounted for more than 99% of the
overall revenue.         
    Its shares settled 5.6% higher ahead of the results. They
had climbed 59% so far this year, outpacing an over 36% gain in
the small-cap index  .NIFSMCP100 

($1 = 83.2516 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Rama Venkat and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru;
Editing by Devika Syamnath)
 ((ramavenkat.raman@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/ramavenkat0607;
 +91 8095218099;))