Auto ancillary company Bharat Forge has started off the financial year 2018-19 on a strong note as first quarter profit surged 33.9 percent on growth across the board.
Profit increased to Rs 234.5 crore from Rs 175.1 crore in same period last year, the company said.
Revenue during the quarter rose 23.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,479.7 crore, backed by domestic as well as exports businesses.
"Q1FY19 was the seventh consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth, driven by combination of de-risked business model and end market growth," B N Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director said.
He further said despite continued inflationary pressures on raw material and energy front, EBITDA margin at 29 percent were maintained compared to the same quarter previous year.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) grew by 28.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 428.7 crore and margin expanded by 120 basis points to 29 percent in Q1.
Domestic revenue in Q1 increased 19.3 percent to Rs 600.1 crore and exports rose by 25.8 percent to Rs 844.3 crore compared to year-ago. "Shipment tonnage jumped 19.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 6,681.5 crore in Q1."
During the quarter, Bharat Forge has secured new business wins of Rs 120 crore across domestic and export markets. "Its German operations, CDP BF has secured a multi-year 40 million euro business win for supply of AI Forgings for a marquee global premium vehicle manufacturer," the company said.
Kalyani expects to see demand sustaining at current elevated levels. "While demand is extremly strong on the export front across sectors, domestic demand especially on the commercial vehicle (CV) front could be volatile due to the recent regulatory change in axle load norms and the understanding of its impact on end demand. However, the Indian CV story remains intact."
At 10:22 hours IST, the stock price was quoting at Rs 646.95, up Rs 7.55, or 1.18 percent on the BSE.