Revenue from operations grew by 9.91% year on year to Rs 2,338.10 crore in Q1 FY25, driven by 26% growth in domestic business. Domestic revenues were higher as execution of defence orders picked up.
Shipment tonnage rose marginally to Rs 6750.1 crore in Q1 FY25 from Rs 6802.8 crore in Q1 FY24. Domestic revenue was higher by 23.9% YoY to Rs 1,140.7 crore and export revenue fell by 0.7% YoY to Rs 1,170.2 crore during the period under review.
Profit before exceptional items and tax in Q1 FY25 was at Rs 516.45 crore, up 23.99% from Rs 416.51 crore recorded in Q1 FY24. Exceptional loss stood at Rs 145.66 crore in Q1 FY25, representing provision for impairment for investment in its wholly owned subsidiary, Kalyani Powertrain.
EBITDA stood at Rs 657.6 crore in the June quarter, registering a growth of 18.9% YoY. EBITDA margin improved to 28.1 % in Q1 FY25 as compared to 26% registered in the corresponding quarter previous year.
B.N. Kalyani, chairman & managing director of Bharat Forge, said, “On a consolidated basis, revenues grew by 5.9% to Rs 4,106 crore while EBITDA grew by 22.8% to Rs 760 crore and PBT increased by 30.6% to Rs 470 crore. Our standalone revenue from operations rose by 10% YoY to Rs 2,338 crore. Steady execution of the Defence export orders and recovery in the oil & gas business sustained the operating performance.
The group secured new orders worth Rs 980 crore across Defence, Ferrous & Aluminum castings and the core forging business.
BFL group’s defence business posted revenue of Rs 642 crore in Q1 registering a jump of 147% YoY. With order wins of Rs 775 crore, the executable order book as of 30 June stands at Rs 5,400 crore, with a mix of Artillery Guns, vehicles and consumables.
JS Auto continued to witness strong momentum and during the quarter recorded revenue of Rs 159 crore and EBITDA at Rs 22 crore and PBT of Rs 10 crore, growth of 26%, 48% and 89% respectively vs Q1 FY24. As the company embarks on various productivity and cost improvement measures, we expect the operating profitability amply supported by organic sales growth to improve over the next 24 – 36 months. The Overseas operations recorded sales of Rs 1,320 crore and EBITDA of Rs 13 crore. The weak CV demand in Europe was a spoiler in an otherwise stable quarter for the overseas operations.
Looking ahead into Q2 FY25, we expect continued positive momentum in the Indian entities across Forging, castings & Defence and for the overseas operations, we reiterate our expectation that these businesses will see an improvement in operational parameters resulting in reduction of losses in FY25.”
Meanwhile, the company’s board has approved fund raising of upto Rs 2,000 crore by way of issue of equity shares, debt issue, or any other securities convertible into equity shares or a combination of such securities by way of further public offer, rights issue, American Depository Receipts/Global Depository Receipts/Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds, qualified institutions placement, preferential issue or any other method as may be permitted by applicable laws.
Further, the board has given a green light for conversion of $12 million loan to equity in Bharat Forge America Inc. The company said that the conversion is aimed at reducing the interest burden on it and to strengthen the net worth.
Lastly, the firm’s board has also approved the transfer of 39.43% stake held in TMJ Electric Vehicles to Bharat Forge International, a wholly-owned subsidiary, at fair value assessed by an independent valuer. The company will intimate exchanges as and when there are any updates regarding this transfer, it added.
Bharat Forge manufactures an extensive array of critical and safety components for several sectors including automobiles (across commercial & passenger vehicle), oil & gas, aerospace, locomotives, marine, energy (across renewable and non-renewable sources), construction, mining and general engineering.
Shares of Bharat Forge rallied 3% to settle at Rs 1,605.15 on the BSE.