Praj Industries shares surged up to 8% after reporting a stronger-than-expected first quarter, boosted by a one-off insurance payout, despite underlying profit pressures and declining exports in a mixed earnings landscape.
Praj Industries rose sharply on Friday after reporting a stronger-than-expected first quarter profit, though the gain was flattered by a one-off insurance receipt linked to a fire at its Urwade plant in March 2025. The stock climbed as much as 8% to an intraday high of Rs 347.70 before easing, while the company’s June-quarter net profit more than doubled to Rs 11.6 crore from Rs 5.3 crore a year earlier. Revenue increased almost 12% to Rs 715.8 crore, but earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, slipped to Rs 30 crore from Rs 31.2 crore, narrowing the margin to 4.19% from 4.88%. According to the company’s earnings call transcript, consolidated income from operations was Rs 6.4 billion, down from Rs 6.99 billion in the same quarter last year, underscoring the uneven nature of the recovery.
The improvement at the bottom line was driven largely by other income, which more than doubled to Rs 19.9 crore. Praj said most of the increase came from the insurance payout, making the quarter look better than the underlying operating performance might suggest. LiveMint reported that operating profit and net profit both declined sequentially, with total income falling 25.53% from the previous quarter and the operating margin slipping to 1.63%, reinforcing the view that the business is still facing pressure despite the year-on-year revenue gain.
Business momentum was strongest in bioenergy and HiPurity, while engineering lagged with revenue down 4% from a year ago. The company booked Rs 1,000 crore of fresh orders in the quarter, lifting its order book to Rs 4,589 crore. Domestic orders surged nearly 41% to Rs 538.6 crore, but overseas orders dropped more than 31% to Rs 177 crore, suggesting the near-term pipeline is being supported more by local demand than exports.
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