Mahindra net profit rises 52%

BS 200 SCORECARD

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has recorded a 52 per cent growth in its net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2004.

The company posted a profit of Rs 133.2 crore in October-December 2004 compared with Rs 87.4 per cent in the same period of the previous year. Net sales and income from operations for the quarter was up 33 per cent to Rs 1772.3 crore against Rs 1327.8 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company's other income rose 12.09 per cent at Rs 22.23 crore. Gross profit for the quarter increased 24.34 per cent from Rs 233.88 crore to Rs 188.09 crore. Operating profit was up 25.8 per cent to Rs 211.65 crore.

The company's operating profit margin went down from 12.67 in the December quarter of 2003 to 11.94 in the December 2004 quarter.

This has been a trend with the entire auto industry and can be attributed to increasing input costs in the quarter.

M&M has improved its operating profit margins quarter on quarter and analysts attribute this to the high volumes the company achieved in the December quarter.

During the quarter, the company sold 19,027 tractors, a 28 per cent growth over the same quarter of the previous year. Automotive sales were up 18 per cent at 28,497 units in the third quarter against 24,087 units in the third quarter of the previous year.

Light commercial vehicle sales have grown a mere 3 per cent, the company attributes this to a maintenance shut down its LCV plant.

Three-wheelers recorded a strong growth of 29 per cent in the December quarter. The company's spare parts operations grew 80 per cent to Rs 41.3 crore compared with Rs 22.8 crore in the third quarter of the previous year.