Hinduja Group flagship, Ashok Leyland has reported a 22.5% increase in its revenue for the third quarter of the current fiscal at Rs 2,227.25 crores as against Rs 1,817.49 crores for the corresponding quarter of 2009-10. Sales volume for the quarter witnessed a healthy increase of 14% at 18,437 nos (16,129 nos) with exports registering a jump of 147% at 3,513 nos (1,425 nos). Net profit for the quarter, however, slipped by 59% at Rs 43.37 crores (Rs 104.63 crores).
Employee cost rose by 40% at Rs 243.92 crores (Rs 173.62 crores) owing partly to increase in manpower strength. Other expenditure also increased by 35% at Rs 187.93 crores as against Rs 139.70 crores for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal attributable to expenses incurred for the setting and ramping up of the Pantnagar manufacturing facility, increased focus on R&D and the high-decibel launch of the new, innovative U-Truck platform. Financial expenses were also up by 193% at Rs 47.48 crores (Rs 16.21 crores) due to an increase in working capital.
Production volume at 19,291 nos for the quarter compares well with corresponding quarter of last year (19,411 nos).
For the nine months ended December 2010, sales revenue was higher by 69% at Rs 7,289.18 crores (Rs 4,312.84 crores). Net profit was also up 66% at Rs 333.07 crores (Rs 201.01 crores).
“As I had forewarned, after the robustness of the second quarter of this fiscal, Quarter 3 has been bit of a dampener attributable to the time taken by the market to accept the new emission norms and critical supply issues, said Mr. R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland. “However, going forward, we see a number of positive signs for the fourth quarter and beyond: there is still good traction in the economy, agricultural output is expected to be encouraging, the commercial vehicle is showing buoyancy on the back of adequate freight availability and high capacity utilization. Exports have been witnessing a boom with our strong markets witnessing a welcome robustness which should help us double our export numbers by end of the fiscal. By ramping up our production to meet this increased demand, Ashok Leyland is targeting to finish 2010-11 strongly, nearing 95,000 vehicles”, he added.
