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India's Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) reported a 77% rise in its first-quarter profit on realisations from aircraft manufacturing contracts.

The state-owned fighter jet manufacturer and maintenance firm said its consolidated net profit rose to 14.37 billion rupees ($171 million) in the quarter ended June 30.

HAL is one of the several capital goods and manufacturing firms in India that have benefited from increased government capital expenditure as well as a push to localise defence manufacturing.

The company manufactures military aircraft, helicopters and engines, and also offers maintenance and repair services. Maintenance is HAL's biggest business, accounting for 72% of revenue in the year to March 2024.

Analysts had noted earlier that steady aircraft and engine maintenance demand and strong realisations from manufacturing contracts would likely aid HAL's earnings in the seasonally weak quarter.

However, while HAL's earnings growth "came in-line" according to Elara Capital's Harshit Kapadia, gross margins – which fell to 3.02%, from 4.8% a year earlier – "reported a bigger-than-expected fall".

HAL's stock, which was down 0.8% before the results, rose as much as 2.3% and then trimmed its gains. Shares last traded 0.8% lower.

Defence sector peers Bharat Electronics reported a rise in quarterly profit, while Bharat Dynamics posted a fall.

($1 = 83.9525 Indian rupees)