Bharat Heavy Electricals shares surged 17 per cent on Wednesday after the state-run heavy equipment maker posted a surprise profit in the June quarter. BHEL, which has been a laggard in stock markets, was the top Nifty50 gainer today.

Bharat Heavy Electricals said its net profit rose 54 per cent to Rs 78 crore in Q1 as compared to a net profit of Rs 50 crore in the corresponding quarter. BHEL’s revenue jumped 29 per cent to Rs 5,522 crore in Q1 as compared to Rs 4,280 crore in the year ago quarter.

Analysts polled by NDTV Profit expected Bharat Heavy Electricals to report a loss of Rs 98 crore on sales of Rs 4,585 crore. 

BHEL’s profit was driven by higher revenues from its power segment, which reported 32 per cent jump in revenue at Rs 4,335 crore compared to Rs 3,290 crore last year.

The company’s outstanding order book stood at Rs 1.08 lakh crore as of June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 1.1 lakh crore at the end of March quarter, the company said.

BHEL shares closed 15.56 per cent higher at Rs 159.65 compared to 0.28 per cent decline in the broader Nifty.