HAL shares hit record-high on govt's order for 34 Dhruv choppers

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited surged as much as 3.4% to hit a 52-week high of ₹3,428.75 apiece on the BSE after the company informed exchanges that it has received an order from the government for 34 new Dhruv Choppers in order to boost local manufacturing.

The scrip opened higher at ₹3,373.95, up by 1.7%, as against the previous closing price of ₹3,316.15. At 2:04 pm, the share price of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd was trading 2% higher at ₹3,382.60. In contrast to this, the broader BSE Sensex was down 360.58 points or 0.49% at 73,752.27.

The defence company's market capitalisation stood at ₹2,26,266.65 crore, with 61,666 shares exchanging hands on the BSE, as against the two-week average of 0.79 lakh shares. The company hit a 52-week low of ₹1,237.50 on March 23 last year.

In the past one month, three months and one year, the counter has given 14.01%, 21.11% and 137.29%, respectively, in returns. In the year-to-date period, the counter has given 19.60% in returns.

Last week, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved a proposal for 34 new advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv Helicopters which will be manufactured by HAL. Of the 34 Dhruv Choppers, nine is slated for Indian Coast Guard and 25 for the Indian army.

Earlier this month, Hindustan Aeronautics had received an order worth ₹5,429.72 crore for RD-33 Aero Engines for MiG-29 aircraft from the Indian government. The aero-engines will be produced by the Koraput division of HAL. “These Aero Engines are expected to fulfil the need of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to sustain the operational capability of the MiG-29 fleet for the residual service life. The aero-engines will be manufactured under a transfer of technology (TOT) license from the Russian OEM. The programme will focus on indigenisation of several high-value critical components, which would help increase the indigenous content of future Repair and Overhaul (ROH) tasks of RD-33 aero-engines,” says the government notification. 

Besides, last week, HAL signed an amendment to the LCA IOC (light combat aircraft initial operational clearance) contract. The value of the contract has been revised to ₹5,077.95 crore from ₹2,700.87 crore.

Meanwhile, in the October to December quarter of FY24, Hindustan Aeronautics’ net profit surged 9% to ₹1,261 crore, as against the ₹1,159.9 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The company’s revenue stood at ₹6,061.3 crore, witnessing a growth of 7%, as against ₹5,665.54 crore in the same period last year. The Bengaluru-headquartered company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, tax and amortization) stood at ₹1,434 crore as against ₹985.7 crore in the December quarter last year. The operating margin of Hindustan Aeronautics stood at 23.6% in the December quarter, as against 17.4% in the corresponding period of the previous year.