Bajaj posts four-fold increase in fourth-quarter net profit on higher Pulsar and Discover sales
13 May 2010
Bajaj Auto on Wednesday posted a four-fold increase in fourth-quarter net profit with higher sales of its Pulsar and Discover motorcycles helping offset higher input costs.
Profit in the three months ended 31 March was up at Rs529 crore from Rs130 crore a year earlier. Net sales for the Pune-based company increased 84 per cent to Rs 3,290 crore from Rs1,788 crore in the year-ago period.
The company's motorcycle sales in the fourth quarter registered 91 per cent increase at 7.12 lakh units, while the volumes of three wheelers were up 49 per cent at 96,304 units. According to the company its "bigger and sportier" motorcycles had helped garner a higher market share even as profit margins strengthened.
The company's operating EBITDA margin (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was at 22.9 per cent.
Like its rival Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto gained substantially by boosting production at its Pantnagar, Uttarakhand facility, where the government gives companies breaks on excise and income tax.
At Pantnagar, the company currently makes its Platina 125 cc, Discover 100 cc and Pulsar 135 cc models and will soon start making the recently-launched Discover 150 cc too.