BEL Q3 Results: Earnings beat expectations led by strong order book; Defence stock up 10%

Shares of Bharat Electronics Ltd

. (BEL) surged as much as 10% on Wednesday, January 28, in response to their December quarter results, that were significantly better than analyst projections.

BEL's revenue for the period increased by 23.7% to ₹7,122 crore from ₹5,756 crore last year. The figure was higher than the CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹6,710 crore.

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 28% year-on-year to ₹2,117 crore, which was also higher than the CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹1,884 crore.

EBITDA margin expanded by 100 basis points to 29.7% from 28.7% last year. A CNBC-TV18 poll had in fact, projected a 60 basis points contraction in its margins to 28.1%.

Net profit for the period saw a growth of 20.8% year-on-year to ₹1,590 crore, higher than the CNBC-TV18 poll estimate of ₹1,474 crore. The growth in profitability is despite a ₹16.6 crore impact due to the new labour laws.

At the end of the quarter, Bharat Electronics reported an order book of ₹73,015 crore.

Shares of Bharat Electronics are trading 10% higher on Wednesday after the results announcement, and are currently among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 index. The stock is now trading at a record high of ₹457.5.

The stock has risen 70% over the last 12 months.