Larsen & Toubro posts bigger-than-expected profit of Rs 2,493 crore in Q1 

Larsen & Toubro reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday, boosted by strong performance at its core engineering and construction business, and approved buyback of shares worth up to Rs 10,000 crore.

L&T's consolidated net profit after tax surged 46.5 per cent to Rs 2,493 crore for the quarter ended June 30. Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of Rs 1,974 crore, as per Refinitiv IBES data.

The engineering company's order inflow jumped 57 per cent during the quarter, taking its consolidated order book to Rs 4.13 lakh crore.

The company's infrastructure projects, its biggest segment, logged orders worth Rs 40,051 crore, with international orders contributing 35 per cent, up from Rs 18,343 crore last year.

The company's focus will remain on cash generation and capital allocation, it said in a statement, adding that it also expects growth momentum to continue on higher government capex allocation, stable inflation and easing global supply bottlenecks.

L&T's results are often seen as a key indicator of capital expenditure in the Indian economy, due to the diverse nature and scale of projects under the company's portfolio.

The Mumbai-based company's revenue from operations for the quarter rose about 34 per cent year-on-year to Rs 47,882 crore.

L&T said that the share buyback will take place via a tender offer at price of Rs 3,000 per share and also declared a special dividend of 6 rupees per share.

Shares of L&T closed 1.7 per cent lower ahead of results, while benchmark Nifty 50 index closed up 0.04 per cent.