Havells, a prominent manufacturer of air conditioners, switchgears and cables in India declared its fourth quarter results on Wednesday. A moderate growth of near 10 percent was led by a sluggish consumer demand in the March-ended quarter. The company emphasizes on inflation affecting buyers' pockets. Consumer demand was high in first half of financial year 2022-23, which declined in the latter half of the year owing to escalating prices.

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In an interaction with CNBC-TV18 on Thursday, Anil Rai Gupta, CMD at Havells India said the demand from industrial and infrastructure segment have been strong, along with increased purchase from the government's sector. Furthermore, company shall continue to invest heavily in brand building and manufacturing. Gupta says "we are in a long term growth journey". Further, the company is among the top 3 players in air conditioners market in India. The company aims to make Lloyd a significant contributor to revenue growth of Havells India business.

In the fans category, Gupta says price hikes were taken in start on April and do not expect any further price hikes in near term.

Havells' Sri City plant commissioned in March 2023, has a potential to generate revenues of Rs 3,000 at peak capacity. The company is also looking increasing its presence in export markets.

With raw material prices softening in recent times, margin improvement is likely hereon. Gupta expects 13 to 15 margins for financial 2023-24. EBITDA margin in last quarter of financial year 2022-23 stood at 10.8 percent compared with 11.8 percent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.

The stock is trading 0.7 percent lower on the exchanges at 11:10am on Thursday.

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