Bosch Q3 net down 30% at Rs 203 cr

Net income during Q3 of 2012 went up by 3.02% to Rs 2,051.67 cr from Rs 1,991.45 cr in the year-ago period

Bosch Limited, the largest supplier of automotive components to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), on Tuesday reported 29.5 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 203 crore for the third quarter ended September 2012 compared to Rs 288 crore reported in the corresponding quarter last year. The company operates on a calendar year basis.

Growth is relatively lower, primarily due to the continuing economic slowdown and negative performance of the automotive segment, the company said in a statement.

Its total income for the third quarter were marginally up 3 per cent to Rs 2,052 crore as against Rs 1,992 crore in the year ago period. Its operating profit for the September quarter also declined 45 per cent to Rs 176 crore as against Rs 321 crore in the September quarter of 2011.

Commenting on the company’s financial results, V K Viswanathan, Managing Director, Bosch Limited, said “The sharp slowdown in the commercial vehicle and tractor segments in the domestic market and weak business conditions in Europe took a toll on the company’s performance. However, there are some signals that the worst is over, given the marginal recovery seen in recent weeks.  We anticipate that the automotive market will get a boost from the festive season sales demand. We are therefore cautiously optimistic about the near term future and are hopeful that our investments in technology, capacity expansion, marketing and sales network will start paying off in the medium term.”

Starter and Generator division continued its impressive growth by 52.6 per cent, as compared to the same period of 2011, on the back of higher sales from new base line generators to both local and export customers.

The sales in Diesel Systems business have declined by 5 per cent. Domestic sales have grown by 4.1 per cent despite negative growth in the heavy commercial vehicle and tractor segments in the third quarter of 2012. The growth in domestic sales was offset by a sharper decline in the export segment on account of the economic slowdown in the European region.

The sluggishness of the overall economic situation has impacted the high performing divisions of Power Tools and the Automotive After market which posted a moderate growth of 6.5 per cent, and 9.5 per cent respectively. Security technology posted a healthy growth due to major projects executed in both public address and video system products.