Ashok Leyland reports record gains in FY'11; plans Rs1,000-crore capex

Hinduja group flagship Ashok Leyland Ltd (ALL) today announced plans to make capital expenditure of up to Rs1,000 crore this year on the back of a 49 per cent increase in its net profit and a 53.5 per cent jump in sales turnover during the financial year ended 31 March 2011.

ALL reported a net profit of Rs631 crore for the 2010-11 financial year, a 49.0 per cent increase from the Rs423.67 crore net profit in the previous year.

Sales turnover during the year stood at Rs11,117.71 crore against Rs7,244.71 crore in the previous fiscal - a rise of 53.5 per cent.

The company recorded the highest volumes - both in domestic and international operations. While domestic volumes jumped 45 per cent to touch 83,800 vehicles as against 57,947 vehicles in the previous fiscal, exports surged 72 per cent to 10,306 vehicles during the year from 5,979 vehicles in the previous fiscal.

"We will be making investments of Rs800-1,000 crore this year," Vinod K Dasari, managing director of Ashok Leyland, said at a press conference. "It will be used both for Ashok Leyland and its joint venture companies," he added.

Of the total investments, 50 per cent would be utilised for ALL's initiatives, including development of the Neptune engine platform, U-Truck platform etc and the remaining for the joint venture firms.