Hindustan Construction Company : HCC declared its third quarter results today. The company's net profit stood at Rs 23.3 crore versus Rs 25.05 crore and its Profit Befor Tax  ( PBT ) was seen at Rs 14 crore versus Rs 38 crore. Its net sales were at Rs 875.9 crore versus Rs 750 crore.
The company's tax refund was of Rs 9 crore versus tax expense of Rs 13 crore. Its forex loss was of Rs 6.8 crore versus gain of Rs 5.3 crore. Its revenues went up 16.3% to Rs 876 crore versus Rs 753 crore. Its margins were at 9.5% versus 13.6% .

The net profit was hit by higher interest of Rs 57.3 crore and forex losses of Rs 6.8 crore. The margins were impacted by higher commodity prices.

The order book increased by 35% to Rs 12000 crore. Expect interest costs to increase by Rs 45 crore in the next quarter.

Speaking on the company's orderbook postion, Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman and Managing Director of HCC, said he expects the order book to stand at approximately Rs 16,000-17,000 crore by year-end.

He said the company’s interest cost had gone up due to its investments in infrastructure and real estate, the returns of which the company will reap in the next 2-4 years.

A: Yes, it is Rs 876 crore, about 16% up from the previous figure of Rs 753 crore last year same quarter.

A: It is not really a tax write-back. We had anticipated higher profits but found that margins were under pressure. Therefore, we corrected the tax figure, a provision that we made and as a result there is really no tax write-back as much as an excess provision that is no longer required.

A: Our EBITDA margins for this quarter have been 12.94% as against 12.91% at same period last year – a marginal increase of 0.23% and if you take for the nine-month ended till the December 31, the EBITDA margins are at 12.03% as against 11.61% last year for the same period of nine-months. However, our interest costs have gone up during the period primarily because of investments in the construction sector. Our investment in our infrastructure and real estate subsidiaries has increased the interest burden for us; the returns of which we will get over a period of the next 2-4 years.

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