PremiumFarm equipment major Escorts Limited on Friday reported a standalone net profit of ₹271.3 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2021, up by 93.2% as against ₹140.4 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
For the quarter ended March 2021, revenue from operations to ₹2,210.5 crore, was up by 60.1% as against ₹ 1,380.7 crore in the quarter ended March 2020.
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Premium Premium At a consolidated level, revenue from operations at ₹ 7,014.4 crore in the year ended March 2021 was up by 20.7 % as against ₹ 5,810.1 crore in the year ended March 2020. Consolidated net profit recorded at ₹ 871.6 crore in the year ended March 2021 was up by 85%, as against a profit of ₹ 471.7 crore in the corresponding period last year.
The company's board recommended a total dividend of 75% comprising normal final dividend of 50% and one-time platinum jubilee year special dividend of 25%, which comes to a total dividend of ₹ 7.5/- per share of face value ₹ 10/-, for the financial year 2020-21 as against the dividend of ₹ 2.5/- per share of face value of ₹ 10/- for 2019-20.
Speaking on the results, Chairman and Managing Director Nikhil Nanda said, “The entire country is under a severe impact of second wave of pandemic. This time it has impacted the rural geographies as well affecting our core customer base."
He further added, "We are taking all possible measures to support all our stakeholders to sail through these challenging times. Escorts, and the sectors we operate in, proved their resilience during the first wave. We are sure we will overcome this wave too with collective strength and safeguards."
"Agri machinery industry remained buoyant in Q4 of FY21 owing to positive macro-economic factors and pent-up demand from first and second quarters of the year. Escorts did well in this space by registering higher share of market in Q4 than our average market share of the year. While currently the demand is subdued and various state lockdowns are impacting supply chain, we believe this is a temporary phase which shall soon be over. Following all government guidelines, we are making all efforts to ensure that farming communities are well served in the upcoming sowing season. While we witnessed some positive developments in the construction equipment & railway equipment space too in Q4, we might see an impact of the current environment on these businesses going ahead..." he said.
SEGMENT WISE PERFORMANCE:
Escorts Agri Machinery Tractor volumes were up by 24.1% at 1,06,741 units in the fiscal year 2020-21 as against 86,018 units in the previous year. Segmental revenue came at ₹ 5,667.3 crore in the fiscal year 2020-21, up by 27.7%, as against ₹ 4,437.6 crore in the previous year.
This year operating leverage, favourable product mix and cost efficiencies, resulted in the ever highest EBIT margin at 18.2% in the fiscal year 2020-21 as compared to 13.0% in the previous year, the company stated.
For the quarter ended March 2021, tractor sales were at 32,588 units as against 20,108 units in the corresponding period last year. Segmental revenue came at ₹ 1,738.8 crore in the quarter ended March 2021, up by 64.3% as against ₹ 1,058.4 crore in the corresponding period last year. EBIT margins for the quarter ended March 2021 was at 17%, up by 120 bps, as compared to 15.8% in the corresponding period last year.
Escorts Construction Equipment:
Construction equipment sales were at 3,913 units in the fiscal year 2020-21 as against 4,042 units in the previous year. Segmental revenue came at ₹ 776.1 crore in the fiscal year 2020-21 as against ₹ 839.8 crore in the previous year. EBIT margin maintained at 3.6%. For the quarter ended March 2021, Construction equipment sales were at 1,604 units, up by 62.7% as against 986 units in the corresponding period last year. Segmental revenue came at ₹ 322 crore in the quarter ended March 2021, up by 53.3% as against ₹ 210.0 crore in corresponding period last year. EBIT margins for the quarter ended March 2021 was at 7.3%, up by 300 bps, as compared to 4.3% in the corresponding period last year.
Railway Equipment Division:
Revenue from Railway Equipment Division came at ₹ 479 crore in the fiscal year 2020-21 as against ₹ 477.2 crore in previous year. Sales from new product grew by 52.9% in the fiscal year 2020-21 and now EBIT margin for the year stands at 16.0% as against 18.0% in the previous year. Indian Railways is still not running its full operations of passenger trains, due to COVID-19 pandemic situation, the company noted. Revenue for the quarter ended March 2021 at ₹ 146.5 crore was up by 35.6% as against ₹ 108.0 crore in the corresponding period last year. EBIT margin stands at 19.1% in the quarter ended March 2021, up by 510 bps as compared to 14.0% in the corresponding period last year. Order book for the division stood at more than ₹ 340 crore as at end of March 2021, that will get executed in the next 6 to 8 months.
Escorts scrip on BSE was trading 1.33% lower in late trade at ₹1,154.10.
Last month, Escorts had announced it will temporarily shut down its manufacturing operations on a selective basis between May 1 and May 3 amid the deteriorating COVID-19 situation in the country.
"At Escorts, safety and health of our employees, and wellness of our business ecosystem is of utmost importance.
"Considering COVID-19 spread escalation, as a precautionary measure, we will be temporarily shutting down our manufacturing operations, on a selective basis, between May 1 and May 3," the company said in a regulatory filing.
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