Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today reported a 40% growth in net profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2005, at Rs 145.3 crore against Rs 103.9 crore for the corresponding quater previous year."The improvement in the profits was due to good sales performance by both automotive and farm equipment sectors, containment of operating expenditure and reduction in financial costs," the company said in a statement today.M&M said gross sales and income from operations for Q1 of the current fiscal was Rs 2,049.2 crore as compared to Rs 1,686 crore in the same period last year."Net sales and income from operations at Rs 1,811.9 crore for the current quarter registered a growth of 27% over Rs 1,423.2 crore in Q1 last fiscal," it said.Giving a positive outlook, the company, however, listed rising oil and raw material prices as areas of concern."With the monsoon being normal, we hope that the economic growth will continue and will augur well for the company. However, keeping in mind the volatility in prices of oil and raw materials like steel, the company will continue to be vigilant on cost reduction and efficiency improvements," it said.In the automotive sector, utility vehicle sales for the company grew 5.4% to 24,845 vehicles in the April-June '05 period from 23,581 vehicles sold in Q1 FY 2005."The late postponement of the decision to introduce Bharat Stage II vehicles in some of the states, by the government, affected the sales growth to some extent during the quarter," the company said.
