L&T Q2 net down 45% to 1,410 cr due to Covid

New Delhi: Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday posted a 45 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,410.29 crore for the quarter ended September, hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 2,551.67 crore in the year-ago period, it said.

"Net Profit After Tax (PAT) and share in profit / (loss) of joint ventures / associates from continuing operations before exceptional items for the quarter is at Rs 1,410 crore, registering a sequential improvement of nearly 4 times reflecting pickup in the business momentum," said the company said in a statement. However, the impact of pandemic in terms of lower revenue, higher credit provisions in the Financial Services business and disruption of the Metro services, led to decline of 45 per cent vis-à-vis reported PAT of corresponding quarter of the previous year at Rs 2,552 crore, it added.

Total consolidated income fell to Rs 31,593.77 crore in July-September quarter, from Rs 35,924.89 crore in the year-ago period. Total expenses slipped to Rs 29,455.57 crore as against Rs 32,622.14 crore earlier.

During the quarter, the company completed divestment of its electrical and automation (E&A) business to Schneider Electric (SE), France and has transferred the business to Schneider on receipt of consideration on August 31, 2020, it said.