Honeywell's India unit posts smaller fourth-quarter profit as costs surge

May 13 (Reuters) - Honeywell Automation India HONE.NS reported a fall in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday as rising expenses outpaced revenue growth.

Profit at the Indian subsidiary of U.S. conglomerate Honeywell International HON.O fell 5.6% year-on-year to 1.4 billion rupees ($16.4 million) for the quarter ended March 31.

The company provides building automation solutions to industrial clients and designs emission-curbing and energy transition products.

Capital goods companies in India are currently facing challenges due to weakened infrastructure demand, with government spending, which had increased ahead of the 2024 national elections, now slowing down.

However, execution of existing projects helped boost Honeywell's revenue.

Honeywell Automation's revenue from operations rose 17.2% to 11.15 billion rupees but did not offset the 22% rise in expenses.

Total expenses stood at 9.71 billion rupees due to a 44.2% increase in cost of materials consumed, which constitutes more than half of the total expenses.

The company does not provide a breakdown of its revenue distribution or discloses which specific raw materials it consumes.

Honeywell International reported a 1% rise in its March-quarter net income, on April 29.

The company's stock, one of the most expensive in India, closed 1.7% higher to 35,815 rupees, ahead of the results.

($1 = 85.3100 Indian rupees)