Welspun Enterprises jumps 5% as lower expenses boost Q4 PAT

NEW DELHI – Shares of Welspun Enterprises shot up by 5 per cent in early trade on Monday after the company said its consolidated net profit jumped over 58 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 65 crore for the quarter ended March 31, on account of reduced expenses.

In the year-ago period, the company had clocked Rs 40.94 crore net profit, Welspun Enterprises said in a statement.

The company’s share price rose to a high of Rs 80 as against Rs 76.20 at previous close on the BSE.

During January-March 2022, however, the company’s total income fell to Rs 534.64 crore, from Rs 600.97 crore in the year-ago period, PTI reported.

Total expenses reduced to Rs 450.06 crore in the quarter under review, as against Rs 535.32 crore in January-March 2021.

"Q4FY22 has been better with the pick-up in execution in some of our major hybrid annuity model (HAM) and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects. With a robust order book of Rs 84,000 million and healthy progress in key projects, we expect strong revenue performance in coming quarters," WEL MD and CEO Ajay Hans was quoted as saying in PTI’s report.

The government's thrust to improve and expand the infrastructure sector, particularly in the road and water sectors, should augur well for the industry, he said, adding the pace of activity within the industry, which had been affected by the pandemic and other factors, is picking up.

Margins across the industry are getting impacted due to rising commodity prices, however, "we believe our cost optimization and project mix provides a hedge against inflationary pressures to a large extent," Hans further noted.

According to the statement, the board of the company has also approved a dividend of Rs 1.50 per share for financial year 2021-22, PTI reported.

Part of the Welspun Group, WEL, is an infrastructure development company focusing on road, water and wastewater segments.