Thermax Expects High Single-Digit Growth In Order Intake In FY18
Thermax aims to improve its international order book.
Engineering solutions and products provider Thermax Ltd. expects its order intake to clock high single-digit growth in the ongoing financial year, said Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer M S Unnikrishnan.
The company’s consolidated order book stood at Rs 3,980 crore at the end of March, down 5 percent over the previous year. Its standalone order book declined 3 percent.
A report by brokerage Ambit Capital said 2017-18 would be a challenging year for the company in the absence of any significant demand. Reporting a high single-digit growth in revenue and profitability may be a challenge unless there is a significant increase in short-cycle orders, it said.
51 percent of the company’s orders came from international geographies, while the rest were domestic. It expects improvement in international orders.
Thermax’s revenue rose 4 percent to Rs 1,341 crore in the fourth quarter. EBITDA margins improved 11 percent year-on-year due to a decline in other expenses.
The company wrote down investments worth Rs 133 crore, including a Rs 114 crore write-down in its joint venture with Babcok & Wilcox Ltd. This led to a loss of Rs 17 crore for the quarter ended March. Unnikrishnan said the company may consider exiting the joint venture maybe in two-three years.