Escorts Kubota misses estimates, profit dips 8%; final dividend at Rs 7/share

At the operating level, EBITDA jumped 6.2 percent to Rs 236 crore in the fourth quarter of this fiscal over Rs 251.5 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

EBITDA margin stood at 10.8 percent in the reporting quarter as compared to 13.5 percent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.

For the year ended March 2023, the company's consolidated revenue from operations at Rs 8,428.7 crore was up by 15.7 percent as against Rs 7,282.7 crore in the previous year.

The consolidated profit before tax and before the exceptional item of Rs 53.1 crore was at Rs 887.6 crore against Rs 992.8 crore in the previous year. Consolidated profit after tax was at Rs 636.7 crore against Rs 735.6 crore in the previous year. EPS was reported at Rs 58.85 as against Rs 74.06 in the previous year.

For the quarter ended March 2023, tractor volumes at 24,765 units went up by 13.1 percent as against 21,895 units in the corresponding period last year. Segment revenue went up by 13.6 percent to Rs 1,557.5 crore in the quarter ended March 2023 as against Rs 1,370.8 crore in the corresponding period last year.

For the quarter ended March 2023, construction equipment sales volume at 1,528 machines went up by 18.8 percent as against 1,286 machines in the corresponding period last year. Segment revenues went up by 20.5 percent at Rs 384.8 crore in the quarter ending March 2023 as against Rs 319.5 crore in the corresponding period last year.

For the quarter that ended March 2023, revenue for the railways product segment came at Rs 237.2 crore, up by 37.3 percent as against Rs 172.8 crore in the corresponding period last year. EBIT margin was up to 14.0 percent in the quarter ended March 2023 as against 13.1 percent in the corresponding period last year.

Nikhil Nanda, chairman and managing director, said, "In agribusiness, while the retail sales were impacted due to unseasonal rainfall and crop damage in certain regions, however, with better crop prices, improved finance availability and good water reservoir levels, we expect demand momentum to continue across geographies in the coming quarters."

The board of directors of the company has recommended a final dividend of Rs 7.00 (70 percent) per fully paid-up equity share of Rs 10 each for the financial year 2022-23.