HCC sees profit rebound

Indian contractor HCC reported net profit of INR 19.2 crore (US$ 3.15 million) for its first quarter, compared to a loss of INR -30.9 crore (US$ 5 million) in the corresponding period last year.

The engineering and contracting group saw turnover up +18% to INR 1,150 crore (US$ 190 million) for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Operating profit was also up, at INR 201 crore (US$ 32.8 million) compared with INR 69.1 crore (US$ 11 million) for Q1 2012. The firm’s order backlog stood at INR 13,969 crore (US$ 2.3 billion).

Praveen Sood, HCC chief financial officer, said, “HCC’s performance amidst a challenging environment for the infrastructure sector affirms the management’s commitment to shore up our operations. Continued cost rationalisation, improved execution and arbitration awards, has yielded better results. We will continue to pursue these measures aimed at further strengthening of performance despite the challenging economic environment.”