Tata Motors December net profit up 46%

Tata Motors on Thursday reported a 45.55 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 460.23 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2005 against the corresponding previous period's Rs 316.21 crore.

The company, during the quarter, reported 16 per cent rise in net sales to Rs 5,074.55 crore from Rs 4,362.82 crore in the last comparable period. Sales volume for the quarter grew 12.74 per cent to 1,11,228 units from 98,662 units.

The company exported 11,782 vehicles during the quarter, 35.33 per cent increase over 8,706 units in the previous-year period. Ravi Kant, managing director, outlined capital expenditure plan of Rs 1,000 crore over the next three years.

On fuel prices, Kant said any hike of over Rs 2 per litre in petrol price would adversely impact sales. Earnings per share (EPS) of the company for the quarter improved to Rs 12.23 against Rs 8.75 in the previous corresponding period.

The company's net sales for the nine months ended December 31, 2005 stood at Rs 13,719.45 crore - an increase of 13.57 per cent from Rs 12,080.26 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Net profit increased by 26.15 per cent to Rs 1,070.77 crore when compared with Rs 848.78 crores in the year-ago period.

Sales volume for the nine months increased by 9.54 per cent to 3,05,786 units from 2,79,156 units in the corresponding period last year.

The company exported 34,849 vehicles during the nine months - an increase of of 80.57 per cent from 19,299 units for the previous period.