Home appliance firm
Whirlpool of India, a subsidiary of Whirlpool Corporation, reported a 16 per cent drop in profit after tax for March quarter at Rs 87.4 crore, which the company attributed to the lockdown in the later part of March.
Total income from operations of came in flat at Rs 1,379.3 crore while standalone profit before tax fell 26.3 per cent to Rs 118.9 crore.
For the financial year ended on March 31, 2020, total income from operations of grew 11.2 per cent year on year to Rs 6,121.2 crore while standalone PBT rose 4.2 per cent to Rs 652.9 crore and PAT expanded 17 per cent to Rs 476.3 crore.
“The lockdown impacted adversely in what was otherwise expected to be a very healthy quarter. On a full year basis, Whirlpool has had an outstanding year, as we continued to perform well on key financial levers. While the full extent of this pandemic still remains uncertain, given the nature of home appliance industry, we remain optimistic that our business will bounce back sooner rather than later," said Arvind Uppal, Chairman Whirlpool of India
Managing Director Vishal Bhola said March quarter numbers were impacted by the lockdown announced in March. “Both top line and bottom line were significantly impacted, as we were not able to produce or sell in the last 10 days of March. Pre-lockdown, we had a very strong momentum going our way. Our new launches in the quarter were well accepted in the market. These are uncertain times. But we feel confident that Whirlpool is well placed to tide over this crisis and continue to provide value to our consumers,” he said.