Financial Performance For Q2FY13

• Central airconditioning and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star Limited reported Total Operating Income of Rs 578.60 crores for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, as compared to Rs 599.19 crores in Q2FY12, representing a decrease of 3%.
• Operating Profit (PBIDT excluding Other Income) for the quarter increased 152% to Rs 20.15 crores from Rs 8.02 crores in Q2FY12.
• Financial Expenses for the quarter decreased significantly to Rs 11.20 crores from Rs 30.56 crores in Q2FY12.
• Provision for taxation for the quarter is nil as compared to reversal of Rs 3.17 crores during the same period last year. Although the Company is required to make a provision for MAT, due to the set-off of the carried forward business loss of the previous year, there is no taxable income for the year and hence no provision is required for tax.
• Consequently, Net Profit grew to Rs. 7.27 cr in Q2FY13 from a loss of Rs 20.80 crores in Q2FY12.
• Earnings per share for the quarter (Face value of Rs 2.00) stood at Rs 0.81 vis-à-vis a negative of Rs 2.31 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
• The revenues of Electro Mechanical Projects and Packaged Airconditioning Systems business, accounting for 65% of the total revenues in the quarter decreased by 2%, while segment results increased to Rs 26.42 crores as compared to a loss of Rs 3.41 crores during Q2FY12, due to the focus on: (1) business from more profitable segments and at better gross margins and (2) the benefit of lower cost increases in ongoing projects in the current year.
• Cooling Products revenue registered a modest increase of 7% in the quarter, while segment results declined by 7% to Rs 7.91 crores. The decline was mainly due to increase in input costs owing to foreign exchange rates and erosion of margins in sourcing and selling of installation accessories such as copper pipes.
• The Professional Electronics and Industrial Systems business revenues reduced significantly by 43%, while segment results declined 85% to Rs 2.63 crores, owing to the unfavourable industrial projects business and declining demand in capital goods sector, and delay in finalization of a few significant new orders.
• Carry Forward Order Book as on September 30, 2012 reduced to Rs 1678.6 crores compared to Rs 2162 crores as at September 30, 2011, due to slower new order bookings as well as a concerted effort to improve the quality of new order bookings both in terms of margins and capital employed.

Financial Performance For The Half-Year Ended September 30, 2012 (H1FY13)

• For the half-year ended September 30, 2012, the Company reported a Total Operating Income of Rs 1310.02 crores, as compared to Rs 1303.22 crores over the same period in the previous year, a flat growth of 0.5%.
• Operating Profit (PBIDT excluding Other Income) increased by 50.37% from Rs. 35.70 crores to Rs 53.68 crores.
• There was a Net Profit of Rs 27.81 crores in the half-year period as compared to a Net Loss of Rs 11.02 crores in the corresponding period last year.

Outlook

After having returned to profitability in the last two consecutive quarters, the Company intends to build on the gains and consolidate its position. The external market environment continues to be challenging and the focus will be to improve operational efficiency and bottomline.

For additional information, please contact: B Thiagarajan, President, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Products Group, Blue Star Limited, Bandbox House, 254D, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai – 400 030 email: btn@bluestarindia.com Telephone: 09821078098.