Blue Star Q1 profit rises over 12% on robust sales, revenue up 12.6%

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian air conditioner maker Blue Star on Thursday reported an over-12% rise in first-quarter profit, as a warmer summer led to a rise in sale of air conditioners.

Consolidated net profit rose to 833.5 million rupees ($10 million) for the quarter ended June 30, from 742.5 million rupees a year ago.

Revenue from operations was up 12.6% at 22.26 billion rupees.

For further results highlights, click.

KEY CONTEXT

India’s air-conditioning industry has gained significantly from the early arrival of summer this year. Room AC sales saw a sharp uptick during the quarter amid healthy consumer sentiment.

Easing inflation and a thrust on in-house manufacturing are likely to boost domestic consumption, industry watchers say.

Blue Star’s order inflows have risen nearly 71% over the past two years after a revamp of its product portfolio and its foray into the railway electrification sector.

Rival Havells India last month posted an 18.5% rise in its first-quarter profit.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuation (next Estimates (next 12 Analysts’ sentiment

12 months) months)

RIC PE EV/EBITDA Revenue Profit Mean # of Stock to Div 

growth growth rating* analysts price yield

target** (%)

Blue Star Ltd 36.98 21.60 18.43 45.11 Buy 19 0.97 0.77

Voltas Ltd 39.22 28.69 14.73 45.15 Hold 40 0.91 0.53

Havells India Ltd 51.73 34.45 15.00 29.57 Buy 23 0.92 0.57

Crompton Greaves 29.05 19.90 11.06 21.70 Buy 36 0.85 1.03

Consumer

Electricals Ltd

* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** The ratio of the stock’s last close to analysts’ mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE

— All data from Refinitiv

— $1 = 82.7470 Indian rupees

 

(Reporting by Biplob Kumar Das and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)