Lloyd Consumer, part of electrical goods company Havells, posted a decline of 9.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) in profit before tax at Rs 47.62 crore for the September quarter. The revenue was down 4.4 percent YoY at Rs 257.85 crore in Q2FY19 as unseasonal rains hurt air-conditioner sales.
Lloyd Consumer predominantly sells air-conditioners among other products in the consumer durables space.
Air-conditioner sales have declined almost 6-7 percent this year due to cooler weather forcing customers to postpone their purchases. Further, prices of air-conditioners were also raised due to rupee depreciation against the dollar. In addition, goods and services tax (GST) for air-conditioners is at 28 percent.
It is unlikely that AC sales will pick up in the calendar year 2017 since March to May is considered the season of air-conditioner purchases.
All the other revenue segments of Havells, including switchgears (28.3 percent), cable (34.6 percent), and electrical consumer durables (42.4 percent) saw a YoY increase in revenue. Only lighting and fixtures’ revenue was flat at Rs 285.61 crore, down by 0.4 percent.
Havells’ revenue from operations saw an 18.9 percent YoY increase to Rs 2,190.99 crore in Q2.
Havells had acquired the consumer durables business of Lloyd Electric in February 2017.
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