Bajaj Auto Q2 net up 6 per cent at Rs 726 crore; record sales

[1]

Pune-based Bajaj Auto Ltd on Thursday posted profit after tax of Rs 726 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, up 6 per cent compared to the same period last fiscal.

BAL, which posted a record turnover of Rs 5,342 crore during the second quarter this fiscal, said growth in PAT was lower mainly on account of a forex loss of Rs 95 crore on valuation of forward contracts that have been charged to its profit and loss account.

"We have protected our future export realisations by entering into range forward contracts. As per the principles laid down under the accounting standard AS30, some of the range forward contracts are deemed ineffective," BAL - Finance president Kevin D'sa told PTI.

This is a purely notional loss and would get reversed on maturity of the underlying contracts, he added.

BAL said during the second quarter this fiscal, it posted record quarterly turnover of Rs 5,342 crore, up 21 per cent from the year-ago period.

The company's previous highest quarterly turnover was in the first quarter of this fiscal at Rs 5,267.26 crore.

Total unit sales volume during the quarter grew 16 per cent at a record 11,64,137 units as against 10,00,570 units in the same period last fiscal, the company said.

The previous highest quarterly unit sales volume was achieved in the first quarter at 10,92,815 units.

BAL scrips were trading at Rs 1,616.50 per share on the BSE during the late afternoon trade, down 1.24 per cent from the previous close.

BAL said its total motorcycle sales during the period under review were 10,27,357 units, a growth of 16 per cent from the corresponding period last fiscal.

Domestic bike sales were 6,84,671 units, up 8 per cent from the year-ago period, the company said, adding that exports were up 37 per cent at 3,42,686 units.

Overall commercial vehicles (CV) sales were at 1,36,780 units during the quarter, a jump of 17 per cent from the same period last fiscal, the company said.

Domestic CV sales were at 55,332 units, a decline of 9 per cent from the same quarter last fiscal, BAL said.

Exports of CVs were, however, up 44 per cent during the quarter at 81,448 units, it said.

The company's overall exports in volume terms grew 38 per cent to 4,24,134 units, translating to a record quarterly revenue of Rs 1,733 crore, BAL said.

BAL's previous record export turnover was also achieved in the first quarter of this fiscal at Rs 1,688 crore.

Commenting on the market conditions, D'sa said: "The festive season is doing well. We have seen good off-take by dealers and we will have to wait and watch how it pans out."

The industry has been growing at 16 per cent in the first half of this fiscal but it is unlikely that this could be maintained, he said.

"It is likely that the industry would end up this fiscal at a growth of around 14-15 per cent," D'sa said.