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 Whirlpool of India Ltd reported a 23.7% drop in second-quarter profit on Friday, as the home appliances maker grappled with weak demand amid stiff competition.

Consolidated net profit fell to 365.8 million rupees ($4.39 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from 479.3 million rupees a year ago.

Revenue from operations dropped more than 5% to 15.22 billion rupees.

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KEY CONTEXT

Competitive intensity in the white goods sector has risen, analysts said. Pricing pressure is also expected to remain intense in the sector, leading to a reduction in operating margin to single digits in the medium term.

Whirlpool India recently rolled back prices and is focusing on reducing material and non-material costs.

The company also reported a profit decline in the previous four quarters.

Peer Voltas reported a second-quarter profit below analysts' estimates, hurt by higher raw material costs, while Havells India reported higher profit on strong demand for cables.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 months) Analysts' sentiment

months)

RIC PE EV/EBITDA Revenue Profit growth Mean rating* # of analysts Stock to price target** Div yield

growth (%)

Whirlpool of 54.80 35.53 11.26 41.71 Hold 11 1.05 0.31

India Ltd

Voltas Ltd 43.33 30.86 16.29 44.11 Hold 38 0.92 0.51

Havells India Ltd 50.61 33.60 13.84 26.95 Buy 21 0.89 0.59

* Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell ** Ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

JULY-SEPTEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG