HAL Q4FY23 PAT lower by -8.8% yoy at Rs2,831 crore due to tax credits in the base year ago quarter

Hindustan Aeronautics reported 8.1% growth in total revenues for the March 2023 quarter on consolidated basis at Rs12,495cr. On a sequential basis, the revenues were up 120.5%. However, this spike in revenues can be largely attributed to the seasonal factors and the December quarter generally tends to be slow on defence orders. The company has seen substantial traction in recent years due to defence orders farmed domestically.

The profit performance at an operating level was up 3.6%, but could have been much better had it not been for supply chain constraints pushing up input costs by nearly 40% yoy. Also, the supply chain constraints led to higher inventory losses for the company. The lower net profits in the quarter was due to the tax credits which actually boosted profits in the year ago period. Being a defence company, it is exempted from giving segmental data.

Financial highlights for Mar-23 compared yoy and sequentially

The company declared a final dividend of Rs20 per share taking the total dividend for the year to Rs40 per share. Net margins have been robust above 20% although the latest fall in net margins is more on account of the tax credits in the comparable period last year. Operating margins are lower than net margins due to high other income component.