Hindustan Construction Company (500185) Q4 04/05 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY05 turnover reached Rs 1,576.5 crore, up 34.6% YoY; PAT rose to Rs 74.0 crore from Rs 35.7 crore, while PBDIT increased 11.3% to Rs 161.4 crore.

• Order book stood at Rs 5,381 crore at 31 March 2005, with Rs 2,529 crore of new orders secured during the year.

Financial highlights

• Income from operations was Rs 1,576.5 crore versus Rs 1,171.4 crore; net income from operations, excluding JV turnover, was Rs 1,487.3 crore versus Rs 1,058.0 crore.

• PBT rose to Rs 75.0 crore from Rs 60.5 crore; PAT was Rs 74.0 crore versus Rs 35.7 crore, including a Rs 5.3 crore earlier-year tax provision write-back.

• EPS (weighted average) increased to Rs 36.95 from Rs 17.80; proposed dividend rose to Rs 6 per share from Rs 5.

• Operating cash flow was Rs 216.9 crore, versus Rs 81.2 crore; net cash used in investing activities was Rs 249.1 crore.

Outlook and guidance

• Work on hand was Rs 5,381 crore, nearly 25% above Rs 3,975 crore a year earlier; three projects worth Rs 950 crore awaited final award after emerging as lowest bidder.

• Decisions were pending on 21 tenders worth Rs 7,689 crore; bids for 45 projects worth Rs 12,686 crore were expected, with prequalification underway for 10 projects worth Rs 10,301 crore.

• Management expected infrastructure spending and road-sector opportunities to support growth; focus areas included execution efficiency, productivity, cost control and scaling project management capacity.