Suzlon posts Rs 300 cr quarterly loss

Wind turbine maker Suzlon Group on Friday posted a net loss of Rs 300.24 crore in the three months ended March 2012, mainly due to higher interest costs and lower revenues.

In the year-ago period, the company had a net profit of Rs 211.05 crore. These figures are post deductions of share in associate's profit and minority interest.

Suzlon's total income in the March 2012 quarter slumped to Rs 6,815.15 crore from Rs 7,372.10 crore in the same period a year ago, it said in a statement.

Finance costs of the company climbed nearly 17 per cent to Rs 423.94 crore in the three months ended March. In the comparable period, the same stood at Rs 362.52 crore.

In the full-year ended March 2012, Suzlon narrowed down its net losses to Rs 478.58 crore from Rs 1,323.97 crore reported in 2010-11 period.

However, the total income in 2011-12 period went up to Rs 21,359.21 crore from Rs 18,090.23 crore in previous fiscal.

"We achieved a cash profit of Rs 418 crore for the full year. The net loss for the period stood at Rs 479 crore primarily due to high interest rates, notional forex impact and non-cash tax items," Suzlon Group CFO Kirti Vagadia said.

He said the company is expected to post higher revenues in the current financial year.

"We expect to see about 30 per cent growth in revenue in FY2012-13 on the back of strong order backlog. Revenues would be around Rs 27,000 crore -28,000 crore during this period," he said.

The company's order backlog stands at Rs 41,500 crore.

According to him, the company is well-positioned in high growth markets such as "India, Germany and Canada," among others.

Suzlon's Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs ) worth $568.96 million are due for redemption during June and October this year. The company is in the process of tying up funds for redemption of the FCCB liabilities.