Total expenses jumped by 18% to Rs 4,054 crore in Q2 FY23 from Rs 3,446 crore in Q2 FY22.

Cost of material consumed stood at Rs 1,826 crore (up 3% YoY), erection & sub-contracting expenses aggregated to Rs 1,520 crore (up 49% YoY), employee expense was Rs 354 crore (up 12% YoY) and other expenses amounted to Rs 350.39 crore (up 17% YoY).

Finance cost during the period under review increased by 74% to Rs 128 crore from Rs 73 crore in the same period last year.

Consolidated EBITDA declined by 30% to Rs 178 crore in Q2 FY23 from Rs 253 crore posted in Q2 FY22. EBITDA margin in Q2 FY23 was 4.4% as against 7.1% reported in corresponding quarter previous year.

Profit before tax slumped 74% at Rs 27 crore in the quarter ended 30 September 2022, from Rs 101 crore recorded in the same period last year.

The company's year to date (YTD) order intake was Rs 10,465 crore, a growth of 25% YoY. The YTD order book stood at Rs 27,569 crore, recording a growth of 25% YoY. The L-1 order pipeline was more than Rs 34,000 crore.

Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO, KEC International commented, “We have delivered a strong growth in revenues and order intake. The margins continue to be impacted due to the elevated logistics costs, execution of legacy projects with adverse commodity prices and SAE Brazil performance.

We have significantly reduced our exposure to legacy projects and have commenced execution of projects which are secured based on current commodity prices and logistics costs. This augurs well for us and gives us confidence of a sequential improvement in the margins in the quarters to come.

Based on the traction in order intake, record order book + L1 of over Rs 34,000 crore and a healthy tender pipeline, we are confident of delivering a continued strong growth in the coming quarters.”

KEC International is a global infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) major. It has presence in the verticals of power transmission and distribution, railways, civil, urban infrastructure, solar, smart infrastructure, oil & gas pipelines, and cables.

Shares of KEC International declined 1.45% to close at Rs 435.90 on Monday, 7 November 2022.