India`s L&T misses Q3 earnings view but new orders jump to record
India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a third-quarter earnings miss on Thursday, but said its order growth quickened helped by strength in international business while the domestic economy slowed.
L&T is seen as a bellwether for India's infrastructure spending due to the scale and breadth of the orders it receives.
The company saw a 53% jump in orders to 1.16 trillion rupees ($13.39 billion), its highest ever, with more than half coming from outside India.
In the previous three months, orders had declined 10% while in the year-ago quarter, they were up by 25%.
The company's consolidated net profit rose 14% to 33.59 billion rupees for the quarter ending Dec. 31, below analysts' average expectation of 38.31 billion rupees.
The third quarter is a seasonally-weak one for Indian infrastructure companies as the lack of labour during festivals slows construction activities, which hits execution of projects.
That led the infrastructure giant to miss revenue estimates, despite a rise of 17.3% on-year.
Analysts and multiple Indian companies have flagged that Indian government's spending - a key revenue stream for L&T - has not picked up since the last year's general elections.
However, strong international prospects helped the firm cushion the hit.
($1 = 86.6100 Indian rupees)
