Larsen & Toubro (L&T), an engineering and construction conglomerate, disclosed a steep drop in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended Jun. 30, 2015. During the quarter, the profit of the company declined 37.31% to Rs 6.06 billion from Rs 9.66 billion in the same quarter previous year. Profit for the corresponding quarter of the previous included divestment gains of Rs 13.83 billion.

Revenues for the quarter rose 6.74% to Rs 202.52 billion, compared with Rs 189.74 billion for the prior year period.

Analysts, on average, expected L&T to report a profit of Rs 8.30 billion, on revenue of Rs 200.66 billion.

Operating margin for the quarter stood at 8.13 percent as compared to 8.85 percent for the previous year period. Operating Income for the quarter was Rs 16,679.90 million, compared with Rs 17036.8 million in the previous year period.

The company successfully won new orders worth Rs 263.76 billion at the group level during the quarter ended Jun. 30, 2015. International orders during the quarter at Rs 81.10 billion constituted 31% of the total order inflow. Major orders during the quarter were secured by infrastructure and Hydrocarbon segments.

Consolidated order book of the group stood at Rs 2389.73 billion as at Jun. 30, 2015 higher by 22% on a y-o-y basis. International order book constituted 26% of the total order book.

Commenting on the outlook, the company said, 'The business environment stays challenging in the short term while the prospects in urban infra, transportation infra, power transmission, water, renewable energy and defence manufacturing remain promising in the medium term.'

'The company has prominent presence and proven capabilities over wide spectrum of capital goods and infrastructure sectors. The company is hopeful of benefitting from the growth opportunities as they emerge,' it added.

Shares of the company gained Rs 13.4, or 0.75%, to settle at Rs 1,789.55. The total volume of shares traded was 208,663 at the BSE (Friday).