India’s BHEL posts wider quarterly loss on weak power demand, higher expenses

India’s state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) reported a wider first-quarter loss on Wednesday, hurt by lower demand for its power and industrial equipment products and rising costs.

The manufacturer’s net loss more than doubled to 4.55 billion rupees ($52 million) in the quarter ended June 30, from 2.13 billion rupees a year earlier.

India’s power demand fell 1.8% year-on-year to 481 billion units in the April-June period as early monsoons hampered construction activity and reduced air conditioning requirements.

That led to a slowdown in project orders for power equipment. BHEL’s revenue from that segment, its biggest, fell 5.6% to 38.99 billion rupees.

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The company, which accounts for 55% of India’s total installed power generation capacity, said its revenue from operations was nearly flat at 54.87 billion rupees in the quarter.

BHEL’s expenses, however, rose nearly 7% to 62.80 billion rupees, driven by a jump of 10.8% in the cost of raw materials and services.

BHEL’s rival, Tata Power missed quarterly profit estimates, weighed down by weak electricity demand.

Shares of the company closed 3.4% lower, ahead of results.