Bajaj Auto net inches up 0.85%

BS 200 SCORECARD

Bajaj Auto has posted a marginal 0.85 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 182.66 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2004 against last corresponding period's at Rs 181.11 crore.

Net sales and income from operations grew by 22.5 per cent in this quarter at Rs 1605.67 crore from Rs 1310.11 crore during the corresponding quarter last year. Net sales went up owing to growth in the sales of motorcycles led by brands such as CT 100, Discover and Pulsar.

Sales of motorcycles went by by 63 per cent from 441,355 units during the quarter compared with 269,995 during the corresponding quarter last year.

The company's interest has shot up this quarter. While the company in the third quarter of 2003 had an interest of only Rs 1 lakh, this quarter it has jumped to Rs 27 lakh.

Earnings per share for the quarter stood at Rs 17.9 compared with the previous corresponding quarter's Rs 17.8. Buoyed by the good performance, the company has decided to increase its motorcycle capacity to 2.8 million vehicles per annum by December 2006, taking the total capacity to 3.6 million vehicles per annum, the company said in a media statement.

The company's three-wheeler segment saw a 22.1 per cent decline in sales at 49,501 units from 63,516 units.

A media release said the decline in sales was owing to a combination of slack in demand and freeze on permits issued by certain states.

This has affected the company's export volumes as well, which were stagnant at 42,141 units for this year's quarter compared with 43,918 units during the last year's quarter.