Net profits at Larsen & Toubro (L&T) have remained largely flat in the first quarter in 2019, despite the Indian engineering and construction giant reporting significant revenues increases in its infrastructure and heavy engineering businesses compared to the same period in 2018.
For the three month period ending 31 March 2019, net profit after tax stood at $339.3m (INR23.8bn), a slight 2.8% fall on Q1 2018’s corresponding figure of $349.3m (INR24.5bn).
According to its latest financial statement on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), where the engineering heavyweight is listed, total income across the group in the opening three months of this year stood at $4.5bn (INR316.2bn) – a 16% increase on the $3.9bn (INR272.4bn) brought in during Q1 2018.
Total revenue from the Mumbai-headquartered group’s infrastructure segment stood at $3.7bn (INR258.4bn), representing a 15% increase on Q1 2018 when the business line brought in $3.2bn (INR223.9bn) in revenue.
The group’s heavy engineering business in the first quarter of 2019 told a similarly positive story compared to a year ago.
Gross revenue in this segment hit $128.3m (INR9bn) in Q1 2019, a marked 87% increase on the corresponding $68.4m (INR4.8bn) figure from the first three months of 2018.
L&T is one of the biggest names in the GCC’s engineering and construction space, announcing a string of contract wins over the past year.
February this year saw its construction arm announce several engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) order wins in its home country and the Middle East.
A month later it declared a next-gen technology initiative in a bid to bolster its credentials in areas such as the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality.