Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has registered quantum growth in its profitability and entered several new business areas in fiscal 2018-19. During the year, the company achieved a profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 2,058 crore, compared to a PBT of Rs 1,585 crore in the year before, registering a surge of 29.8 per cent. The net profit (PAT) for the year stands at Rs 1,215 crore, against Rs 807 crore in the previous fiscal, a 50.7 per cent jump.
The topline has also grown by 5.4 per cent to Rs 29,349 crore, as against Rs 27,850 crore in the previous year. An interim equity dividend of 40 per cent has been paid for 2018-19, on the equity following a bonus issue in the year before, maintaining the impeccable track record of rewarding investors by paying dividends uninterruptedly for over four decades. In addition, the company has recommended a final dividend of 60 per cent, subject to the approval of shareholders. With this, the total dividend for the year 2018-19 would stand at 100 per cent, on the equity. Significantly, the total dividend outflow for the year 2018-19 shall be the highest during the last six years. Earning Per Share (EPS) for FY18-19 is Rs 3.35 as against Rs 2.20 in FY17-18, up by 52.3 per cent.
During the year, the company booked the highest-ever orders in its transportation business segment and spares and services; developed in-house India’s first state-of-the-art regenerative braking system for 5000 HP WAG-7 electric locomotive and delivered BHEL’s first 6,000 HP electric locomotive to Indian Railways. BHEL also received its maiden order for track electrification of rail route of 440 track km. The company made forays into the floating solar power business with the first commercial scale order of 5 MW at Sagardighi, and the Electric Vehicle (EV) market with maiden order for installation of Solar-based EV Chargers along the Delhi-Chandigarh highway. With focus on core business, equal efforts are being made to increase the share of business from ‘Non-Coal’ areas to 50 per cent from the current level of 30 per cebr. BHEL is pursuing new initiatives in various areas such as solar, water, defence, aerospace, electricity storage solutions, e-mobility, railway electrification, etc.
