Blue Star’s consolidated revenue for Q3FY21 recovers 91% to Rs 1,123.89 crores; Net Profit increases by 87.6% to Rs 36.72 crores; Net Borrowings reduce to Rs 131 crores

Mumbai, 29th January 2021 (GNI): The Company continued to steadily advance on the recovery trajectory during the quarter. Macro-economic stability, combined with an impressive momentum experienced in Q2 due to the festival season which continued well into Q3, lead to improved business and demand revival in Q3, resulting in enhanced recovery in revenue and profitability. Further, the Company strengthened and consolidated its fiscal position during the quarter on the back of operating cash flows which continued to be robust.

Consolidated Financial Performance for Q3FY21

• The Company has reported Revenue from Operations of Rs 1,123.89 crores for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 on a consolidated basis, compared to Rs 1,235.91 crores during the same period in the previous year, marking a recovery of 90.9%.

• The Operating Profit (PBIDTA excluding Other Income and Finance Income) for the quarter increased by 43% to Rs 81.56 crores compared to Rs 57.03 crores in Q3FY20. Improvement in profitability across businesses coupled with cost rationalization measures drove improvement in operating profitability to 7.3% of Revenue from Operations as compared to 4.6% in Q3FY20.

• Net Profit for the quarter was Rs 36.72 crores compared to a net profit of Rs 19.58 crores in Q3FY20, an increase of 87.6%.

• Other Income (including Finance Income) for Q3FY21 was Rs 8.09 crores compared to Rs 6.09 crores in Q3FY20.

• Finance Cost for the quarter increased to Rs 14.92 crores from Rs 7.55 crores in Q3FY20 due to additional borrowings and increased cost of funds.

• Higher cash flow from operations coupled with continued focus on working capital efficiency enabled a reduction of Rs 213.04 crores in net borrowings to Rs 131.02 crores as of December 2020 as compared to Rs 344.06 crores as of September 2020.

• Tax Expense for Q3FY21 was Rs 12.96 crores compared to Rs 11.97 crores in Q3FY20.

• Earnings per share for Q3FY21 (Face value of Rs 2.00) was Rs 3.81 compared to Rs 2.03 in Q3FY20.

• Carried Forward Order Book increased 12.3% to Rs 3157.90 crores as on December 31, 2020 compared to Rs 2812.40 crores as on December 31, 2019.

Consolidated Segment Performance for Q3FY21

• Revenue for the Electro-Mechanical Projects and Commercial Air Conditioning Systems segment was Rs 585.49 crores compared to Rs 758.80 crores in Q3FY20, marking a recovery of 77.2%, while the Segment Results recovered 87.5% to Rs 34.11 crores in Q3FY21 (5.8% of Revenue) compared to Rs 39.00 crores in Q3FY20 (5.1% of Revenue). Better margin profile of the jobs executed during the quarter and improved margin in the Commercial Air Conditioning business coupled with the actions taken to reduce operating costs helped improve profitability of the segment in Q3FY21. While the order inflow for the segment grew over Q3FY20 with a major order in the factory segment, execution continued at a moderate pace based on the assessment of customer credit profile and operating cash flow visibility for the ongoing jobs. Healthy traction in the Healthcare, Pharma, Industrial and Government customer segments drove revenue in the Commercial Air Conditioning business.

• Unitary Products revenue for the quarter grew 17.3% to Rs 492.97 crores compared to Rs 420.23 crores in Q3FY20. Increase in demand owing to the festive season and a general business sentiment improvement, enabled growth in revenue for the Room Air Conditioner business. Revenue of Commercial Refrigeration business was positively impacted by the development of supply chain for the vaccination program. Revenue growth and actions taken to reduce operating costs enabled an improvement in profitability for this segment in Q3FY21. Segment Results increased to Rs 38.79 crores (7.9% of Revenue) compared to Rs 7.65 crores (1.8% of Revenue) in Q3FY20.

• The Professional Electronics and Industrial Systems Business revenue was Rs 45.43 crores in Q3FY21 compared to Rs 56.88 crores in Q3FY20, marking a recovery of 79.9% on the back of continued opportunities from the BFSI sector for the Data Security Solutions business, encouraging order inflows from the Healthcare business, pick-up in orders from the industrial segment for material testing businesses, and growth in orders from the essential services of the government sector. Segment results were Rs 8.26 crores as compared to Rs 17.99 crores in Q3FY20. Segment results in Q3FY20 were higher on account of a high margin order executed in the Data Security Solutions business.

Consolidated Financial Performance for the 9 months ended December 31, 2020

• For the 9 months ended December 31, 2020, the Company reported Revenue from Operations of Rs 2,652.03 crores compared to Rs 4,060.83 crores over the same period in the previous year, marking a recovery of 65.3%.

• Operating Profit (PBIDTA excluding Other Income and Finance Income) was Rs 138.00 crores compared to Rs 245.47 crores during the same period last year.

• Net Profit for the period was Rs 32.38 crores compared to Rs 134.36 crores for the same period in the previous year.

Outlook: Vir S. Advani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Blue Star Limited adds, “We expect the markets for room air conditioners and commercial refrigeration equipment to continue to grow further in the coming quarters. Consequent to the rebound of the economy and owing to the Aathmanirbhar Bharat drive, the manufacturing sector is opening up, and we expect attractive opportunities for our projects and commercial air conditioning businesses. Digitization and Healthcare initiatives continue to offer good prospects for the Professional Electronics and Industrial Systems segment. We are optimistic about further improvement in our operating and financial performance in Q4FY21,” stated in the press release. ends