HPL Electric and Power Ltd (NSE Symbol: HPL, BSE Scrip Code: 540136), has announced its financial results for the quarter ended September 30th, 2020. Gautam Seth, Joint Managing Director, said, "Our performance in the second quarter was far better supported by the robust growth in the ‘Consumer' segment. Rationalization of operating costs, employee costs and marketing expenses helped boost our EBITDA margins. This has helped us to get back to almost pre-covid level of revenue and EBITDA. Robust growth in the ‘Consumer' segment was driven by strong double-digit growth in the ‘lighting' and wires & cables categories which grew by 33% YoY and 45% YoY respectively. Further, the ‘switchgear' segment also witnessed improved traction and achieved high-single digit growth in Q2 FY21.
At present, we have a robust order book of Rs. 335 crore. This ensures revenue visibility for the rest of the fiscal year. Going forward, with festive season upon us coupled with gradual pick-up in economic activity, we expect the growth momentum in our ‘Consumer' segment to continue in H2 FY21. Even though meter dispatches have remained slow in H1 FY21, we are expecting meter dispatches to gradually pick-up pace from Q4 FY21 onwards.
Lastly, we believe that operationally the worst is far behind us. We expect the ‘smart meters' segment to drive the next leg of growth in the medium-to-long term, as both the SEBs & Private Discoms gear up towards replacing a substantial quantum of conventional meters with smart meters. Enquiry base for metering tenders continues to remain at a healthy level as tenders amounting to Rs. ~2,000 crore have been floated or expected to be floated in the near-term.
Hence, our focus remains on strengthening our position in smart meter business. In-line with this objective, we have recently launched a new state-of-the-art R&D center exclusively for smart meters at Gurugram, Haryana to foster development of innovative products. ‘HPL Electric', as a company remains geared-up and well-placed meet the requirements of the industry with best-in-class solutions."
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