Hyderabad/Pune, February 13, 2024: Finolex Cables Ltd., (FCL) at the meeting of its Board of Directors held today approved results for the third quarter of the financial year 2023-24.
Revenues for the quarter ended December 2023 were Rs. 1221.7 Cr as against Rs.1150.3 Cr for the corresponding period in year 2022-23, representing a 6% growth in value terms. Volumes of Electrical Cables segment improved by 8% – with visible improvement in construction activity, it is expected that volumes will improve in the coming quarters. Within Communication Cables segment, volume of Optic Fiber Cable decreased – the tender for the Govt sponsored Bharatnet project has been delayed and is now expected to be floated toward end Feb24 with possible decisions two to three months post tender floatation; further procurement by private telecom operators has also been slow as they seem to be concentrating on operationalizing the initial phase of their 5G rollouts as well delay in procurement process. Volume growth in new products within the Appliance/FMEG (except Fans) sector was higher than 20%, but pricing was under pressure.
Revenues for the nine-month period ended December 2023 were Rs.3613.4 Cr as against Rs.3256.8 Cr for the corresponding period of 2022-23, representing an 11% growth in value terms. In volume terms, Electrical Cable segment improved by 14%, while within Communication Cables segment, volume of metal-based products improved by 4% while Optic Fiber Cable volumes were lower than previous year due to reasons mentioned above.
Profit for the quarter, before taxes, was Rs. 166.9 Cr, as compared to Rs.163.0 Cr in the previous year. Profit, before taxes, for the nine months ended December 2023 was Rs.556.7 Cr as against Rs.472.5 Cr in the corresponding period of 2022-23, higher by 18%.
The Capex program announced earlier is progressing well- the first of the E-Beam equipment is expected by end Feb 24 and is expected to be operational by April 24. As regards the Preform project, factory construction is expected to be completed by April/May 24 after which equipment installation will take place – as earlier advised, equipment is expected to be operationalized in Q3/04 of 2024-25.