Bajaj Auto Q2 net rises 6%

Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) has registered a six per cent increase in net profit at Rs 726 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, the country’s second-largest two-wheeler maker said on Thursday.

Pune-headquartered BAL, which posted a record turnover of Rs 5,342 crore during the second quarter this financial year, said the growth in the net profit 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.

“This is purely a notional loss. We would get it reversed in the coming quarters on maturity of underlying contracts,” said BAL managing director Rajiv Bajaj. “This has been a record quarter for us. For the first time, we sold over a million motorcycles, recorded revenues over Rs 5,000 crore and managed to improve our operating margins to 20.1 per cent.”

The 1945-incorporated company’s previous highest quarterly turnover was in the first quarter of this fiscal at Rs 5,267.26 crore.

During the quarter, BAL’s sales grew by 16 per cent to a record 11,64,137 units as against 10,00,570 units sold in the corresponding period last year. While motorcycle sales increased by 16 per cent to 10,27,357 units, commercial vehicles sales shot up by 17 per cent to 1,36,780 units.

In the domestic market bike sales stood at 6,84,671 units, up by eight per cent from the year-ago period. Exports went up by 37 per cent at 3,42,686 units. Commercial vehicle sales in the domestic market declined by nine per cent to 55,332 units. Exports of CVs were, however, up 44 per cent during the quarter at 81,448 units. 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. Overseas markets now contribute to over 36 per cent of all vehicles sold.

“At the beginning of the year,” Bajaj revealed, “we had given a guidance that our turnover growth and our operating margins would be around 20 per cent. In the first half, we have been able to achieve this. I am confident we will be able to maintain this in the second half as well.”