Bajaj Electricals Q1 profit falls 13.6% as unseasonal rains, inflation hit demand

Bajaj Electricals Ltd on Thursday reported a 13.6 per cent decline in first-quarter profit, dragged by intermittent unseasonal rains and inflationary pressure, sending the consumer durables major's shares down 3.2 per cent.

Consolidated net profit was Rs 37.13 crore ($4.49 million) for the three months ended June 30, compared with Rs 42.96 crore a year earlier.

Overall revenue from operations fell about 1.5 per cent to Rs 1,112 crore, dragged by its lighting solutions segment.

Revenue from its consumer products segment, which accounts for more than 78 per cent of the business, reported a marginal 2 per cent increase to Rs 873 crore.

Analysts had flagged that sales of consumer durables in the summer season fell sharply due to unseasonal intermittent rains.

Demand was impacted in semi-urban areas due to inflationary pressures on consumer spending, leading to lower footfalls across segments, they added.

The company's total expenses remained unchanged during the quarter.

"Lighting Solutions segment is facing demand headwinds," Chairman Shekhar Bajaj said in a statement.

The scheme of demerger of its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) segment has been approved by the NCLT, Mumbai and hence the segment is shown as discontinued operations from this quarter, the company said.

Earlier this month, rival Havells India Ltd reported a 18.5 per cent rise quarterly profit on strong demand for its wires and cables.

($1 = Rs 82.77)