L&T shares hit 52-week high after construction major posts better-than-expected Q1 results, announces buyback

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shares rose to a 52-week high on Wednesday, a day after the construction major reported a strong set of quarterly numbers, declared a special dividend of Rs 6 apiece and announced a buyback worth up to Rs 10,000 crore. The L&T stock gained by as much as Rs 108.1 or 4.2 per cent to Rs 2,670 apiece on BSE, crossing a 52-week high of Rs 2,634.1 registered this week.

L&T Shares traded in large volumes. At 10 am, the stock was up 3.9 per cent at Rs 2,662.8 apiece on the bourse. As many as 99,000 L&T shares changed hands on the exchange as against a daily average of 57,000 in the past two weeks, according to provisional exchange data.

L&T Q1 results: A summary

After market hours on Tuesday, Larsen & Toubro reported a 46.5 per cent year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,493 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2023.

Its revenue from operations grew 34 per cent to Rs 47,882 crore compared with the corresponding period a year ago, according to a regulatory filing.

L&T's EBITDA margin — a key measure of profitability — came in at 10.2 per cent as against 11 per cent a year ago. 

According to Zee Business research, L&T was estimated to report a quarterly net profit of Rs 2,110 crore, revenue of Rs 40,619.3 crore, EBITDA of Rs 4,403 crore and margin of 10.84 per cent. Read more on L&T Q1 results

L&T special dividend

The L&T board declared a dividend of Rs 6 per share — a 300 per cent payout given the face value of Rs 2 apiece. The company set August 2 as the record date for the dividend. 

The dividend will be paid on or before August 14, it said. 

L&T share buyback

The board approved a proposal to buy back shares worth up to Rs 10,000 crore. 

What brokerages say

According to CLSA, which maintained a 'buy' rating on L&T with a target price of Rs 3,080, mega renewable orders and core execution were the key surprise in the company's earnings report.

The brokerage's target price implies an upside of more than 20 per cent in the stock from Tuesday's closing price.  

Catch latest stock market updates here. For all other news related to business, politics, tech, sports and auto, visit Zeebiz.com.