| Turnover grew 15.79 per cent to Rs 1,143.35 crore for the third quarter compared with Rs 987.4 crore for the same period in the previous year. Leyland had raised $100 million in April 2004 by way of foreign currency convertible notes (FCCN) having an interest of 0.5 per cent. |
| R Seshasayee, managing director, said, "We have countered pressures on margins with price corrections as also cost containment through e-sourcing and value engineering. Low cost funds availability thanks to our FCCN issue has helped us reduce financial costs nearly by 60 per cent". |
| N Sridharan, executive director-finance, said that almost 70 per cent of these funds kept abroad was earning an interest income of 4 per cent. This has helped the company reduce its net financial expenses (loans etc) to Rs1.8 crore in third quarter of 2004-05 from Rs 4.5 crore for the same period last year. |
| It has also booked gains from foreign exchange arbitrage also. RBI does not permit the full transfer of FCCN funds, but allows it to be brought in phases to meet capital expenditure. Ashok Leyland's total expenditure increased to Rs 885.17 crore for the third quarter in 2004-05 compared with Rs 769.30 crore for the same period last year. |
| Seshasayee said the shift in product-mix and pricing action compelled by input cost increases as two major factors that contributed to the improved turnover. Staff costs increased by 11.12 per cent to Rs 84.5 crore for the third quarter from Rs 76.07 crore for the same period last year. |
| The company's other expenditure has fallen by 11.12 per cent to Rs 87.96 crore for the third quarter in 2004-05 from Rs 98.53 crore for the same period last year. The cost of raw materials went up by 15.37 per cent to Rs 7,26.33 crore in third quarter 2004-05 compared with Rs 629.5 crore for the same period last year. |
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