Lower sales impact Escorts' net income, profit for the fourth quarter falls 28% to Rs 190 million

Construction equipment sales in the fourth quarter were at 1,286 units, down 19.8 percent from 1,604 units earlier. For the fiscal ended March 31, 2022, Escorts said its consolidated net profit was at Rs 735.61 crore as compared to Rs 871.63 crore in the previous fiscal, down 15.6 percent.

Revenue from operations for FY22 came in at Rs 7,238.43 crore as compared to Rs 7,014.42 crore in FY21. Escorts Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Nikhil Nanda said the farm sector is seeing some positive tailwinds.

"With prediction of a normal monsoon and good news on crop prices and production, we hope this sector will continue to flourish," he said, adding the construction and railway sectors have also shown signs of improvement. With government spending focused on these sectors, the situation shall only improve from here, Nanda added.

However, he said, "Continued inflation is a big cause of worry, both in terms of suppressing potential demand as well as for ecosystem profitability." Escorts said its Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of 70 percent, at Rs 7 per share of face value Rs 10 for the financial year 2021-22.

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In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Bharat Madan, Group CFO of Escorts said, “Indication of early monsoon is positive. Sowing will start early, so actually you will see very good numbers coming in the month of May and June so the first quarter will likely be better.”

He added, “We expect the industry should actually grow this year compared to last.”