Suzlon may sell Belgian unit amid 10-per cent loss

India's largest wind-turbine maker, Suzlon Energy Ltd, said it may sell all or part of its stake in Belgium's Hansen Transmissions International NV to cut some of its debt, amounting to $2.5 billion.

''We are in the early stages of looking at a sale,'' Sumant Sinha, chief operating officer, said in Mumbai. ''We want to keep some headroom in the current difficult market.''

There have hardly been any major orders since the slowdown hit the global economy, Sinha added while announcing the company's financial results on Sunday.

Suzlon reported a 10-per cent drop in fourth-quarter consolidated net profit, hurt by one-time foreign-exchange losses and a delay in repairs to damaged wind-turbine blades.

Consolidated net profit in the January-March quarter fell to Rs410 crore from Rs457 crore a year earlier, the turbine maker said. However, consolidated revenue rose 85 per cent to Rs912. crore with the inclusion of its German unit REpower's financial results.

An increase in provisions related to blade restoration and retrofitting work hurt profitability by Rs104 crore. Cracks had appeared in Suzlon turbine blades in the US and Portugal. The company said it missed its earlier June target for completion of the repairs and now aims to finish the work by mid-August.