ABB India reported Profit after tax (PAT) of Rs151cr for the January - March 2021 quarter (Q1 2021), registering a more than 2-folds rise from Rs66cr in the same quarter a year ago. The company follows a calendar year for reporting financial performance.
ABB's profit before tax was at Rs204cr in Q1 2021 driven by operational improvement initiatives, capacity utilization and reduced expenses. It also included a one-time gain of Rs75cr due to the disposal of an asset as a part of the footprint rationalization initiative.
Moreover, the company's revenue was at Rs1,629cr e for the quarter based on the successful backlog conversion. All divisions witnessed good momentum in deliveries across various market segments. Service revenues, which were earlier impacted due to logistic challenges are slowly witnessing an upturn.
Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India said, "The first three months of the year continued to be impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent supply & demand disruptions across several market segments. At ABB India we continue to keep our employees’, contractors’, suppliers’ and customers’ health and safety as our highest priority. With a stable and growing order backlog, robust cash reserves, cost optimization initiatives and business continuity plans, we believe that we are reasonably positioned to deliver on our ambitious goals while managing renewed market uncertainty."
For the quarter, the company's total orders stand at Rs1,825cr reflecting ABB's continuous journey of improvement on a sequential basis, representing growth of 24% over Q4 2020, while being lower by 7% Y-o-Y owing to a large order previous year.
Sharma added, "As a highlight, during the past quarter, we have secured several orders in high-growth segments such as robotics and automation solutions for the world’s largest scooter factory located in India. Overall, ABB India has recorded a significant sequential order increase with improvements across all our divisions."
The company’s cash position continues to remain robust at Rs2,528cr at the end of Q1 2021 vis-a-vis Rs1,464cr in Q1 2020.
Outlook Ahead:
ABB in its financial audit statement said that while the global economy is facing headwinds due to the pandemic, India has come under severe pressure with a sharp increase in cases and subsequently a restriction in activities owing to the second wave of COVID-19. The start of the vaccination drive in the country did initially lead to a momentary recovery, however, the resurgence of the virus has brought in renewed market uncertainty and unpredictability.
ABB said, "We continue to have all our precautionary and safety protocols in place while continuously monitoring our key markets and segments. For now, we are continuing to see marginal recovery in certain segments and industries like data centers, renewables, electronics, F&B and pharmaceuticals. ABB India will continue to focus on order wins and seamless execution across projects while continuing to engage closely with customers."