Bajaj Auto net profit rises 3% in December quarter

MUMBAI: Bajaj Auto Ltd on Friday reported a 3% rise in third quarter net profit, snapping out of a downward trend that lasted for four consecutive quarters up to September, on the back of higher three-wheeler and motorcycle sales in both overseas and domestic markets.

Net profit at the maker of Pulsar and Discover motorcycles rose to ₹952.44 crore in the quarter ended December from ₹924.62 crore a year ago, the company said in a statement to BSE.

Net sales rose 18.7% to ₹6,246.23 crore from ₹5,262.8 crore a year earlier.

The Pune-based automaker was expected to post a profit of ₹1,025.8 crore on net sales of ₹6,106 crore, according to a Bloomberg survey of three analysts.

Sales for this fiscal year are not comparable to the previous year’s earnings because they are disclosed net of the goods and services tax introduced in July last year, Bajaj Auto said in the statement.

The company’s motorcycle volumes during the quarter (including exports) advanced by 9.3% to 818,510 units over the same period a year ago while total three-wheeler sales jumped 78.2% to 182,959 units, led by the domestic market.

Bajaj Auto’s Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margin, a measure of operating profitability, narrowed to 20.6% in the quarter from 22% from the same period a year ago.