Informist, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024

By Ayushman Mishra and Anshul Choudhary

MUMBAI – Voltas Ltd.'s joint venture Voltas Beko is expected to break even in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by the end of the current financial year, the company's management said in a post-earnings analysts' call Wednesday. The management is confident of this as Voltas Beko products are expected to continue to gain market share and report further revenue growth.

Without mentioning any clear timeline, the company said Voltas Beko's washing machines will soon touch a market share of 10% and its refrigerators will gain market share of 7-8%. At the end of September quarter, the joint venture's washing machine products had a market share of 7.5% and refrigerators had a market share of 5%.

In its major segment of room air conditioners, the company said they raised prices 3-4%. The company said the festival-that started with the end of Shraddh period and Diwali--may push consumers to buy room conditioners, but it is unlikely to add to growth significantly in this segment ahead of the winter season. However, the festival season should support sales of washing machines and refrigerators. The company said all its appliances have done well in the past one month.

The company said they are still investing in Voltas Beko brand and added that the onset of the festival season may bring early demand for cooling products. The slowdown in the growth of the electro-mechanical projects and services was a one-off, the management said.

The commercial refrigeration segment currently faces headwinds due to a reversal in the capital expenditure cycle after two to three years of consistent growth, the management said. The company said demand for this category has been subdued because capital expenditure has been put on hold at the moment. However, the demand for water coolers and dispensers within this category has been supportive.

The plant in Chennai that became operational in May 2023 and a high base in the previous year helped the commercial refrigeration products deliver a healthy performance, the company said. The new offerings in cold rooms and medical refrigerations are gaining traction on the back of a healthy order book, the management said.

Voltas Ltd. reported a consolidated net profit of INR 1.34 billion on consolidated revenues of INR 26.19 billion in the September quarter. On Wednesday, shares of the company closed at INR 1,697.90 on the National Stock Exchange, down 4.1%. End

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.