Domestic sales,other income pushes Bajaj to post record profit

Riding on good domestic sales andgrowth in other income, Bajaj Auto today reported its highest ever standalone net profit at ₹818.74 crore for the quarter ended December 31, witnessing a rise of 2.96 per cent. The company had posted a net profit of ₹795.19 crore in the corresponding quarter in last fiscal, Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) said in a statement.

The standalone net sales during the period under review stood at ₹5,307.20 crore as against ₹4,839.95 crore in the year-ago period, up 9.65 per cent, it added.

The company said it has posted 'highest ever profit after tax' and 'highest ever turnover' during the third quarter of the current financial year. In terms of sales volume, 11,27,741 units were sold during the quarter as against 10,75,441 units in the same quarter last fiscal, up 4.86 per cent. In the domestic market, Bajaj Auto's motorcycle sales increased by 7 per cent to 6,87,351 units from 6,42,395 units in the year-ago period.

The company's three-wheeler sales also went up by 23.08 per cent in the domestic market to 64,168 units in last quarter from 52,134 units in the same period last fiscal. The total exports, however, fell by 1.23 per cent to 3,76,222 units from 3,80,912 units in October-December quarter of 2011-12 financial year, the statement said. During the three-month period, BAL's other income rose by 20.89 per cent to ₹203.19 crore from ₹168.08 crore in the year-ago period, it added. However, the company's total expenses went up by 10.12 per cent to ₹4,442.04 crore from ₹4,033.90 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Commenting on the performance, Bajaj Auto said, 'Launch of new exciting and differentiated products helped the company partially address the slowdown in domestic market. As a result, the company recorded a growth of 7 per cent in domestic market, higher than the industry growth of 4 per cent.'
It, however, said demand in export markets remained subdued as various central banks and governments are curtailing consumption due to high inflation and adverse balance of payment position. 'However, the company's market share in these countries has improved... Africa continues to do well with Nigeria recording its highest ever retails in the month of December 2012,' the statement said.

The company's cash and cash equivalents increased to ₹5,374 crore as on December 31, 2012, from ₹4,521 crore on September 30, 2012.

Shares of the company were trading 1.39 per cent down at ₹2,085.75 apiece on BSE during late afternoon trade.

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