Mumbai, May 22 (IANS): Diversified engineering, procurement and construction conglomerate Punj Lloyd on Friday reported a stand-alone net loss of Rs.506.66 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2015, from a net profit of Rs.7.81 crore in the previous fiscal year.

"Globally, FY2015 has been a challenging year for companies in the infrastructure sector and Punj Lloyd was no exception," said Atul Punj, chairman, Punj Lloyd Group.

"We had entered the year with an insufficient order book, which is reflected in the reduced turnover for FY2015."

According to Punj, the profits and cash flows were further affected by deferment of settlement of company’s claims on certain projects, both domestic and overseas.

The company's total income for the fiscal under review decreased from Rs.8,511.09 crore to Rs.5,688.67 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2015.

In terms of consolidated results for the fiscal ended March 31, 2015, the company posted a net loss after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates at about Rs.1,141.11 crore.

The total income too declined. It decreased from Rs.11,174.33 crore to Rs.7,875.15 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2015.

The company came-out with healthy stand-alone fourth quarterly results for the period ended March 31, 2015.

The company's net profit during the quarter under review stood at Rs.268.53 crore as compared to Rs.05 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.

However, the total income during the fourth quarter decreased from Rs.2,048.38 crore to Rs.1,859.54 crore.

On the positive note the company reported a strong order backlog amounting to Rs.21,152 crore. The order backlog represents the value of un-executed orders as on March 31, 2015 in addition to new orders received after that date.

"The good news is that order booking bounced back in FY2015. In fact, the total new orders booked in the year surpassed the orders booked during the two year period between 2012-2014," Punj said.

"In India, Punj Lloyd secured an Rs.666 crore contract from the ministry of road
transport and highways for the prestigious Asian Highway."

Punj pointed out that internationally, the company has won Rs.3,515 crore ($581 million) tank farm project for Petronas’ rapid project in Malaysia and added a new country to its portfolio by securing the Rs.1,400 crore ($236.09 million) tankage order in Kuwait.

"We are aggressively pursuing a revised business strategy that is focused on overcoming the challenges at hand today and in FY2015 we have been successful into putting several building blocks in place to chart the Company's revival," Punj said.

"Several initiatives have been successfully undertaken to improve operational efficiency."

Punj added that the company has started to monetise some of its non-core assets by off-loading its shareholding in 'Global Health' which helped bring down the term loan by 30 percent.

The company's scrip at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ended the day's trade up 13.48 percent or 3.10 points at Rs.26.10 per equity share from its previous close of Rs.23 per equity share.

The company's shares zoomed-up by 18.47 percent at Rs.27.25 per equity share during the intra-day trade.