In chat with Anil Singhvi, Blue Star's Vir Advani says full recovery expected by Q4 FY21

Coronavirus pandemic hit the overall business of Blue Star during the June quarter, company’s Vice Chairman (VC) and Managing Director (MD) Vir Advani said while speaking to Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi today. The business was only 40 per cent in this quarter as compared to the corresponding quarter in FY20. 

On the extent of the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on his company's business, Advani said that the order inflow has been slow and was around Rs 600 cr in Q1, down by as much as 60-70 per cent.

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 He, however, said that the month of June saw some recovery as the business grew  by up to 70 per cent. In July it was 75 per cent, he added. Advani said that he expects a full recovery by February-March of Q4'21. 

The recovery in project business is expected in the next 6-9 months, he said adding that the consumer business is likely to come back to normalcy first, followed by the B2B business. 

The order book for Blue Star is strong and is worth Rs 2900 cr, the VC revealed and added that this will be executed over the next 15-17 months. 

The main problem is the liquidity position of the customers, the VC said. The company was clear in its approach and would resume the project work only when the cash flow starts to come. He said that it was slow at this juncture. 

Exuding confidence, he said that the RBI announcement on restructuring of loans and focus on real estate sector, will gradually improve the situation for customers. He said that he was hopeful that this order book will get executed by March-April 2021. 

Liquidity position for Blue Star is quite comfortable. After the Rs 350 cr, which it raised through NCDs (Non-convertible debentures), the gross debt was Rs 930 cr as on 30 June, but the net debt is only Rs 450 cr, he said.

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The net debt is likely to get down further to Rs 350 cr by March, he said.